Four St. Cloud State men's hockey recruits were selected in Phase II of the United States Hockey League draft that was held on Wednesday.
The Phase II Draft allows USHL teams to select any player that was eligible to play junior hockey, as long as they weren’t on a USHL roster or affiliate list. Phase II goes until each team fills out its 45-man roster, hence the uneven number of picks per team.
Defenseman Warren Clark was taken by the Waterloo Black Hawks in the fifth round with the 74th overall pick. Clark had a breakthrough season with the Steinbach Pistons of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League as an 18-year-old rookie.
Clark had six goals and 38 points in 55 regular season games and added eight points in 18 playoff games, helping the Pistons win the Turnbull Cup as MJHL playoff champions. Clark, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, is listed at No. 169 in NHL Central Scouting's final rankings for North American Players eligible for the 2023 NHL Draft, which will take place June 28-29 in Nashville.
Forward Austin Burnevik was taken by the Madison Capitols in the second round with the 23rd overall pick. Burnevik, 18, spent the last two seasons with the United States National Team Development Program based in Plymouth, Mich. In 83 games with Team USA, Burnevik had 20 goals and 40 points in 83 games. Burnevik, who is listed at 6-4 and 199 pounds, is ranked No. 92 No. 169 in NHL Central Scouting's final rankings.
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Forward Brock Souch was taken by the Waterloo Black Hawks in the eighth round with the 116th overall pick. As a 16-year-old rookie, Souch had 12 goals, 35 points and 34 penalty minutes in 58 regular season games for the Sherwood Park Crusaders of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. In 12 playoff games, he had a goal and an assist. He is listed at 5-9 and 158 pounds.
Forward Nathan Brown was taken by the Fargo Force in the 22nd round with the 333rd overall pick. Brown, 16, played three games with the Niverville Nighthawks of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. He spent most of the season playing for the Winnipeg Bruins Under-18 AAA team. With the Bruins, Brown had 28 goals, 59 points and 88 penalty minutes in 44 regular season games. In the playoffs, he had five goals, 14 points and 16 penalty minutes in 10 games. He is listed at 6-0 and 146 pounds.
Perbix named to Team USA
Nick Perbix is headed back to play for Team USA. This time, it will be in the IIHF World Championships, which will take place May 12-28 in Tampere, Finland and Riga, Latvia.
Perbix, a 24-year-old defenseman from Elk River, played for Team USA in the 2022 Winter Olympics. Perbix, who played for the Huskies from 2018-22, had a solid rookie season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Perbix had 20 points and was a plus-11 in 69 NHL regular season games and three assists and was a plus-1 in six playoff games.
Bushy retires
Brendan Bushy, who played defense the last five seasons for the Huskies, played nine games and had a goal and three points for the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL after his college season ended.
Bushy, a 24-year-old from Thief River Falls, decided that was enough hockey. He announced his retirement from the game in an Instagram post on Thursday, May 4.
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Kossila wins title in Sweden
Former St. Cloud State forward Kalle Kossila helped the Växjö Lakers win the Swedish Hockey League playoff title.
Kossila had three goals, six points, four penalty minutes and was a plus-6 in 13 playoff games. In 28 regular season games, he had 11 goals, 25 points, 22 penalty minutes and was a plus-12.
This was Kossila's first season playing in the SHL. Last season, he was playing for Jokerit Helsinki in the KHL in February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. Jokerit announced it was leaving the league after the invasion and Kossila finished the season playing for SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers in Switzerland.
Kossila, who played for the Huskies from 2012-16, played mostly in the AHL from 2016-21. He has played 19 games in the NHL with the Anaheim Ducks.
Kossila was an All-NCHC Second Team pick as a senior when he set the SCSU record for most assists in a season with 40 and had the fifth-most points for a Huskies player in a season (54). He is tied for second on the school's career assists list (105) and is sixth in career points (153) in 157 games.
Kossila, 30, is signed to play for Växjö in 2023-24.
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