Editor's note: Just a heads up that there are a few curse words in this episode.
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — If you are looking for the most sustained successful stretch of the St. Cloud State men's hockey team, it is difficult to find another as good as 2014-19.
The Huskies won two NCHC regular season titles (2018 and 2019), played in four NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship games (2015, 2016—won, 2018, 2019) and made four NCAA Division I tournaments (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019).
It is safe to say that defensemen
Will Borgen
, Mika Ilvonen,
Jon Lizotte
and
Jimmy Schuldt
and forwards
Jacob Benson
and Mikey Eyssimont played big roles in all of that success.
Benson played forward for the Huskies from 2015-10. In 138 career college games, he had 27 goals, 29 assists, 56 points and 51 penalty minutes. He finished last season playing for the Tulsa Oilers in the ECHL.
Borgen played defense for the Huskies from 2015-18. In 106 games, he had five goals, 36 assists, 41 points and 164 penalty minutes. In 2017-18, Borgen was named the NCHC Defensive Defender of the Year and was an All-NCHC honorable mention pick. He played this last season for the Rochester Americans in the AHL.
Eyssimont played forward for the Huskies from 2015-18. In 115 career games, he had 45 goals, 57 assists, 102 points and 70 penalty minutes. He was named to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament team in 2016. He has played the last two seasons for the Ontario Reign in the AHL.
Ilvonen played forward and defense for the Huskies from 2014-19. In 74 career games, he had three goals, 10 assists, 13 points and four penalty minutes.
Lizotte played defense for the Huskies from 2015-19. In 147 career games, he had 10 goals, 36 assists, 46 points and 93 penalty minutes. He played last season for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the AHL.
Schuldt played defense for the Huskies from 2015-19. In 156 career games, he had 38 goals, 80 assists, 118 points and 52 penalty minutes. He is one of the most decorated players in program history. Schuldt was a top three finalist for the Hobey Baker Award in 2019, a top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award in 2018, the NCHC Player of the Year and NCHC Defensive Defender of the Year in 2019 and was named to the All-NCHC First Team twice. He played last season for the Chicago Wolves in the AHL.
The goal with this show is to have fun, bring awareness of the
St. Cloud State University Huskies Fund
and, of course, to The Rink Live. Sponsorship of the show is available.
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1/14: Mika Ilvonen played forward and defense for the Huskies from 2014-19. (Courtesy of St. Cloud State University)
2/14: Mika Ilvonen played forward and defense for the Huskies from 2014-19. (Courtesy of St. Cloud State University)
3/14: Will Borgen skating for the St. Cloud State Huskies. Photo by SCSU athletics
4/14: Will Borgen played defense for the St. Cloud State men's hockey team from 2015-18. (Courtesy of St. Cloud State University)
5/14: St. Cloud State University's Jimmy Schuldt looks for the puck as UND's Ludvig Hoff slides into the boards Feb. 4, 2017, at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. Eric Hylden/The Rink Live
6/14: Nominees Jimmy Schuldt (from left) Cale Makar, and Adam Fox sit on stage at the Hobey Baker Award ceremony during Friday Night at the Frozen Four at the HarborCenter in Buffalo, N.Y. Clint Austin / Forum News Service
7/14: NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton presents the Penrose Cup to St. Cloud State captain Jimmy Schuldt after the Huskies clinched the conference regular season title in 2019. (Courtesy of St. Cloud State University)
8/14: Jon Lizotte played defense for the St. Cloud State men's hockey team from 2015-19. (Courtesy of St. Cloud State University)
9/14: St. Cloud State's Jon Lizotte takes the puck past Colorado College's Grant Cruikshank during the first period Friday, Feb. 8, 2019, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. Jason Wachter/The Rink Live
10/14: Jon Lizotte played defense for the St. Cloud State men's hockey team from 2015-19. (Courtesy of St. Cloud State University)
11/14: St. Cloud State forward Mikey Eyssimont (19) in a game against the University of North Dakota. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)
12/14: Mikey Eyssimont played forward for the St. Cloud State men's hockey team from 2015-18. (Courtesy of St. Cloud State University)
13/14: Jacob Benson played forward for the St. Cloud State men's hockey team from 2015-19. (Courtesy of St. Cloud State University)
14/14: Jacob Benson carries the puck in a game this season against Minnesota Duluth. Benson, a Grand Forks Red River High School graduate, made his pro debut for the Jacksonville Icemen of the ECHL on Tuesday, April 2, 2019. The Rink Live
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.
