ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The St. Cloud State men's hockey team has sustained a fair number of injuries during the season. The Huskies got some bad news on an injury for senior defenseman Dylan Anhorn.
Anhorn, a transfer from Union College , was a late scratch on Saturday after suffering a lower body injury. Brett Larson, on his weekly radio show, said that Anhorn suffered an injury warming up before the game Saturday, will have to have surgery and will miss the rest of the season.
"(Associate athletic trainer) Bryan DeMaine came running into my office and said, 'It's serious. You've got to come out,'" Larson said. "We had been doing our off-ice warmup, which we do before every game. Something happened where Dylan was warming up quickly and something turned wrong in his leg.
"It ended up being an injury requiring surgery and he will be out the rest of the year."
Anhorn has played a big role in the Huskies (10-4 NCHC ,18-6 overall) getting off to one of the best starts in program history and being ranked No. 1 in both NCAA Division I polls this week.
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Anhorn leads the Huskies in time on ice (21 minutes, 19 seconds) and blocked shots (30), is fourth on the team in plus/minus (plus-15) and is second in the nation in both assists (20) and points (25) by a defenseman.
"He's worked so hard to put himself in this spot and feeling so good about where his game is at and where it's going," Larson said. "It's a really tough situation.
"Our team's reaction to that — this happened right before the game. They could have been in shock. I had to get Brady Ziemer off his couch and get the Doritos out of his mouth to get over to the rink to get his gear on. Other than that, the team responded really well. It was next man up. Not only next man up, but I think everyone felt they needed to bring a little more. And I think the fans could tell that our compete level for 60 minutes was as good as it's ever been.
"I think the kids are going to rally around this. I think they're going to rally around Dylan."
Anhorn has been playing on St. Cloud State's top defensive pairing with sophomore Josh Luedtke. On Saturday, graduate student Brendan Bushy was Luedtke's partner and junior Brady Ziemer was added as the seventh defenseman. The other defensive pairings for the Huskies were senior Ondrej Trejbal with freshman Mason Reiners and sophomore Jack Peart with fifth-year senior Spencer Meier.
"The good news for Dylan is that this is not going to affect his career in the long term," Larson said. "It is not going to stop him from being 100% of the hockey player that he has been. It shouldn't cause any issues.
"It was an absolute freak accident and a one in a million thing. I feel terrible for him. If you know Dylan at all, he loves hockey as much as any kid I've been around. He's still going to be a big part of this thing. He'll be around doing his rehab. I told him already that I want him up watching games and I want your opinion after periods."
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As was mentioned, the Huskies have had to sustain a number of injuries this season. Luedtke missed eight games after suffering a concussion in the team's opening game. Senior wing Kyler Kupka missed six games after going through an appendectomy. Meier missed eight games resting an upper body injury. Senior wing Chase Brand has missed seven games with three injuries.
The Huskies play Minnesota Duluth (5-9, 10-13-1) at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday (NCHC.tv) at Amsoil Arena.
Krannila, Rogers receive NCHC honors
St. Cloud State center Jami Krannila and wing Jack Rogers have received weekly honors from the NCHC.
Krannila, a senior from Nokia, Finland, has been named Forward of the Week. Krannila had two goals, including the game-winner, in Friday's 7-3 win over Denver. Krannila added two assists in SCSU's 2-0 win over the Pioneers. In the series, he was a plus-4, had five shots on goal and won 57.9% of his faceoffs.
Rogers, a freshman from East Northport, N.Y., was named Rookie of the Week. Rogers had a goal in each win over Denver, including the game-winner on Saturday.
Nebraska Omaha freshman Jacob Guevin was named Defenseman of the Week and Western Michigan junior Cameron Rowe was named Goaltender of the Week.
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