ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The game times for the best-of-three NCHC quarterfinals playoff series between the St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth men's hockey teams have been released.
The fourth-seeded Huskies (18-12-4) and fifth-seeded Bulldogs (17-15-4) will play at 7 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday and, if necessary, 6 p.m. Sunday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The games will be televised on Charter/Spectrum channel 823 in the St. Cloud area and KBJR-My9 Network in Duluth. The games can also be seen on NCHC.tv.
The winner of the series will advance to the semifinals of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff and will play a game (4 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.) on March 18 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The championship game of the Frozen Faceoff will be at 7:30 p.m. March 19 at Xcel. The winner of the conference tournament will receive an automatic bid to the 16-team NCAA Division I tournament field.
St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth both reached the NCAA Frozen Four last season and both appear to be locks to get back into the NCAA tournament, regardless of the outcome of this weekend's series. In the PairWise Rankings, which try to mimic the criteria used by the NCAA to pick the tournament field, the Huskies are No. 7 and the Bulldogs are No. 11.
The Huskies and Bulldogs have faced one another a lot in the last two seasons, including seven times in 2020-21 and four times this season. This season, the teams are 1-1-2 against one another. In 2020-21, St. Cloud State held a 5-2 advantage, including a 3-2 win in the NCHC semifinals.
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Tickets for the series are available at scsutickets.com . St. Cloud State Students can access tickets through the same process as the regular season but will cost $8 due to NCHC regulations for playoff games.
Hrenak honored by NCHC
St. Cloud State's David Hrenak has been named NCHC Co-Goaltender of the Week. Hrenak, a fifth-year senior from Povazska Bystrica, Slovakia, stopped 57 of 60 shots he faced in a win and an overtime loss last weekend at UMD. He made 34 saves to pick up his third shutout of the season and program record 14th of his career on Saturday. Hrenak shares the honor with Western Michigan junior Brandon Bussi.
SCSU vs. UMD in postseason play
