TRL reporters' question: Who is a veteran on the team you cover who has taken a noticeable leap up in play?

By Mick Hatten

March 01, 2022 at 11:24 AM

Our question this week for The Rink Live beat reporters is: Who is a veteran on the team you cover who has taken a noticeable leap up in play?

Those reporters are Mick Hatten, Jess Myers, Christian Babcock, Brad Schlossman, and Matt Wellens. Hatten covers St. Cloud State, Myers covers the University of Minnesota, Babcock covers Bemidji State, Schlossman covers the University of North Dakota and Wellens covers Minnesota Duluth.

If you have a question for the group, follow us on Twitter and use #asktherinklive.

Mick Hatten (Huskies): Graduate student forward Kevin Fitzgerald has 14 more points than he has had in any of his previous four seasons. He also leads SCSU in power-play goals (7) and faceoff wins (338), has won 51.8% of his faceoffs and is third on the team in plus/minus (plus-12).

Christian Babcock (Beavers): Senior forward Ross Armour had an excellent weekend for Bemidji State, notching a hat trick on Friday. If he can keep up even a fraction of that scoring punch, it would be a critical complement to the Beavers' top line, which has done much of the scoring this season.

Jess Myers (Gophers): In the first half of the season Grant Cruikshank battled injury and the challenge of transitioning from the NCHC to the Big Ten after he transferred from Colorado College to the Gophers. That he is having more of an offensive impact at the same time that Minnesota is playing its best hockey of 2021-22 is not a coincidence.

Matt Wellens (Bulldogs): Senior defenseman Hunter Lellig has quietly put together a strong season for the Bulldogs on the blue line. He's by no means an offensive force with his career high six points off a goal and five assists, but he is a steady, consistent defensive presence back there, and he's not afraid to get in front of a shot, either, with 43 blocks in 34 games.

Brad Schlossman (Fighting Hawks): Junior defenseman Ethan Frisch has always been a steady blue liner, but he's started to add a lot more offense this season (nine goals) and has rejuvenated the top power-play unit with his one-timer from the left circle.

By Mick Hatten

Mick Hatten is a reporter and editor for Forum News Service and helps manage TheRinkLive.com, a website dedicated to hockey. He began working for Forum Communications in November 2018 and has covered St. Cloud State University hockey since 2010. A graduate of St. Cloud State, he has more than 30 years of experience as a journalist and has been a youth hockey coach since 2014. mhatten@forumcomm.com

For more coverage of St. Cloud and the surrounding communities, check out St. Cloud Live.

TRL reporters' question: Who is a veteran on the team you cover who has taken a noticeable leap up in play?

The Rink Live beat reporters answer the question about the University of Minnesota, Minnesota Duluth, University of North Dakota, Bemidji State, Minnesota State University-Mankato and St. Cloud State.