Oct. 10, 2000
Contact: Tom Nelson (320-255-2141)

St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Report for Oct. 9, 2000

St. Cloud State Hockey Release - Oct. 9, 2000

2000-01 SEASON OPENER: The St. Cloud State men's hockey team will open its
2000-01 season on Friday, Oct. 13 with a 7:05 p.m. home match against Ferris
State University. On Saturday, Oct. 14, the Huskies will complete the season
opening series with a 7:05 p.m. game against Ferris State University...the
Huskies are 1-2-1 in games played against Ferris State. The last time these
two teams played was in 1988-89, and the series started in 1987-88.

FINAL 2000-01 RECORD: In 1999-2000, the Huskies continued their tradition of
excellence with a 23-14-3 overall record and a 16-9-3 third place record in
the always rugged WCHA. The Huskies advanced to the Final Five of the WCHA
tournament last season, which included a 6-4 third place win over Minnesota.
The icing on the cake was a trip to the 2000 NCAA Division I East Regional,
and a number 12 ranking in the final Division I national poll. The 23 wins
ties a school record for most wins in a season. The Huskies also had 23 wins
during the 1997-98 campaign.

HEAD COACH: SCSU coach Craig Dahl (Pacific Lutheran, 1976) is in his 14th
season as head coach for the Huskies. He is the only coach that SCSU has had
since moving to the NCAA Division I level in 1987-88. Dahl has a career
record of 229-233-37 at SCSU and a 19-year career coaching mark of
305-321-39. Dahl won his 300th career game on 2/19/00. In 1997-98, Dahl was
named the WCHA Coach of the Year. He has won more games than any SCSU hockey
coach. In 2000-01, Dahl will be assisted by Doc DelCastillo (SCSU, 1992) in
his third season and first year coach Brad Willner (Lake Superior State,
1995).

*  SCSU will see a change on the bench this season as Brad Willner joins
the Huskies as an assistant coach.  Willner previously served as an
assistant at Providence College and is a graduate of Lake Superior
State, where he played on two national title teams.  Willner replaces
Brett Petersen, who moved downstate to take the head coaching job at
Division III Gustavus Adolphus College.  Petersen had been with the
program for six seasons.

2000-01 TEAM CAPTAINS: The 2000-01 team captain is senior forward Brandon
Sampair (Mahtomedi). Assistant captains are senior forward Keith Anderson
(Thief River Falls) and senior defenseman Ritchie Larson (Winnipeg, Mant.).

*  The National Hockey Center, home to Husky hockey, went through some
changes over the summer.  Chairbacks were added to the middle section of
the upper level seating on the building's north side.  Due to the change
from bleacher style seating to chairbacks, the overall seating capacity
of the NHC will go from 6,000 to 5,763.   In addition, the NHC's press
box was remodeled and enlarged to better serve the needs of the media,
coaches and video crews that cover Husky hockey.


NCAA REGIONAL RECAP: The Huskies completed their 1999-00 season with a 5-3
loss to Boston University in the first round of the NCAA Division I East
Regional in Albany, N.Y. This marked the second time in team history that
the Huskies have advanced to NCAA Division I tournament play. The first time
was in 1988-89. SCSU is 0-3-0 in NCAA tournament play.

WCHA FINAL FIVE RECAP: The Huskies entered the WCHA Final Five Tournament as
the #3 seed. In first round play, SCSU dropped a 7-3 loss to eventual WCHA
and NCAA tournament champion North Dakota. In second round action, SCSU
charted a 6-4 win over Minnesota to place third in Final Five play.

ON THE RADIO: Husky hockey can be heard on KNSI Radio 1450 AM during the
2000-01 season. The broadcasts will also be available on the web at
www.1450knsi.com. Don Lyons will call the play-by-play and former SCSU
All-American Dave Reichel will provide the color commentary for home
games...selected games this season will also be broadcast live by KVSC FM
88.1.

HUSKIES ON TV: A total of 18 Husky home games this season will be televised
live on St. Cloud's Charter Communications cable channel 65 this season.
Charter Communications are also slated to carry the games live on their
systems in Alexandria, Willmar and Little Falls. KSTC channel 45 (Charter
cable channel 17 in St. Cloud) out of the Twin Cities. Veteran announcer
Wally Shaver will call the play-by-play along with color commentary from
Doug Johnson. KSTC games slated for this season are Oct. 28 Denver, Nov. 17
Minnesota, Dec. 9 Wisconsin, Feb. 24 Mankato and Match 3 Minnesota.

ON THE NET: Can't get enough of Husky hockey news? Check out the Husky Home
Page at www.stcloudstate.edu/~sports. The WCHA website is www.wcha.com For
college hockey stats, please go to www.collegehockeystats.com.

TICKETS: For SCSU hockey ticket information, please call the Athletic Ticket
Office at 320-255-2137 or 1-877-SCSUTIX.

NUMBERS, NUMBERS: The Huskies were 14-6-1 at home in 1999-00. SCSU has
posted a 121-68-19 all-time record at the National Hockey Center. St. Cloud
State was 8-6-2 on the road and 1-2-0 in neutral site games last winter.

TEAM RECORDS The Huskies set or tied nine single season records in
1999-2000. SCSU tied the single season record for victories with 23 this
season. The original mark was set in 1996-97. SCSU set new marks for
consecutive wins in a season with seven (old mark was established in1993-94)
and the longest unbeaten streak of ten games (set in 1994-95 and 1997-98) .
SCSU also established a new mark for shutout wins in a season with seven.
(the old mark of four was set in 1993-94). SCSU set a new mark for winning
percentage, .612 (old mark .575), most assists with 255 (old mark 245), most
points with 411 (old mark 409) and fewest goals allowed of 103 (old mark
122).

INDIVIDUAL RECORDS: Two Huskies established new individual records during
last season. Junior goaltender Scott Meyer set three new season marks for
best goals against average of 2.37 (previous mark of 2.97 was held by Dean
Weasler), best save percentage of .920 (old mark of .910 was held by Jason
Jiskra) and most shutouts with seven (old mark of three held by Grant
Sjerven and Dean Weasler). He also surpassed the career record for shutouts
with seven (theold mark of six was held by Brian Leitza, 1995-98). Junior
right wing Brandon Sampair set a new mark for most assists in a game by a
forward with five against Minnesota on March 18.

ABOUT SCSU: The 1999-2000 season marked the 13th year that SCSU has been a
member of NCAA Division I hockey. SCSU joined the Division I hockey ranks in
1987-88 and became a member of the WCHA in 1990-91. That first year in the
league, SCSU finished fifth with a 12-16-4 league record and an 18-19-4
overall record. SCSU's highest league finish has been third place, a
standing that was reached in 1996-97 and again in 1999-2000.

ALL-WCHA HONORS: Sophomore defenseman Mike Pudlick was named to the
1999-2000 All--WCHA First Team and sophomore center Tyler Arnason and junior
goaltender Scott Meyer were named to the All-WCHA Second Team. Pudlick is
the first Husky to be named to the first team since the 1992-93 season and
is only the third Husky to be named first team. Forward Fred Knipscheer
(1992-93) and defenseman Bret Hedican (1990-91) are the other Huskies to be
named first team. Pudlick signed a professional contract with NHL's Los
Angeles Kings over the summer.

SAMPAIR GAINS AWARD: Junior right wing Brandon Sampair was named to the 2000
WCHA All-Tournament Team. Sampair tallied a school record five assists in
the Huskies 6-4 win over Minnesota in the third place game.

WISE GUYS: Juniors Keith Anderson, Scott Meyer, Brandon Sampair and Peter
Torsson, sophomore Duvie Westcott and first year player Jon Cullen were
named to the 1999-2000 WCHA All-Academic Team.

FINAL FIVE NOTES: St. Cloud State made its fifth straight WCHA Final Five
appearance and sixth in the last seven years. SCSU is 3-8 overall in Final
Five games. SCSU reached the WCHA Final Five Championship game in 1994 after
beating Wisconsin 3-2 in overtime in the semifinal. SCSU's other Final Five
win was a 4-3 overtime win over Minnesota-Duluth in 1998 in the play-in
game.

NET PROFITS: Junior goaltender Scott Meyer (White Bear Lake) set SCSU
records for shutouts in a season with seven and career shutouts with seven.
The previous record of six career shutouts was held by Brian Leitza, who set
the mark over a four-year career. He set single season records for best
goals against average and best save percentage. He had a season and career
high 44 saves against North Dakota on Feb. 4. Meyer posted 20 wins on the
season and started 31 straight games. He posted a 20-8-3 record with a 2.37
goals against average and .920 saves percentage.He led the WCHA in save
percentage and winning percentage and was second in goals against average.
He was named All-WCHA 2nd Team.

RECORD SETTER: Right wing Brandon Sampair set an SCSU single game record for
assists on March 18 against Minnesota at the WCHA Final Five (the nation's
top assist performance in 1999-00 NCAA Division I hockey). Sampair was one
of four Huskies to tally 40 or more points during the season. In 40 games he
scored 18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points. He had seven power play goals.
He ranked 15th in WCHA scoring.

LEADERS OF THE PACK: Center Tyler Arnason (Winnipeg, Man.) led the Huskies
in overall scoring with 19 goals and and a team high 30 assists and 49
points. He is only the eighth Husky to gain 49 or more points in a single
season. He led the team in short handed goals with two. He ranked eighth in
WCHA scoring and was named to the All-WCHA Second Team...Left wing Nate
DiCasmirro (Burnsville) ranked second in team scoring with 19 goals and 24
assists. He ranked 11th in WCHA scoring...Left wing Mark Hartigan (Fort St.
John, B.C.) led the Huskies in goal scoring with 22 goals, including a team
high nine power play goals. He added 20 assists. He ranked ninth in WCHA
scoring and third in goal scoring.

TEAM NOTES/STREAKS: The Huskies 23 wins last year marks the seventh 20-win
season in Husky hockey history. It also ties the season record for wins
which the Huskies posted in 1996-97. That year SCSU was 23-13-4 and finished
third in the WCHA with an 18-10-4 record. SCSU has posted 20-win seasons in
three of the last six years. The 16 WCHA wins is the second highest total
for the Huskies in the ten years of membership in the league. The most is 18
recorded during the 1996-97 season. The Huskies longest win streak of the
season was seven games. The longest unbeaten streak was ten games. SCSU's
longest losing streak was five games at the start of the WCHA season. The
Huskies had four players, Tyler Arnason (19-30-49), Nate DiCasmirro
(19-24-43), Mark Hartigan (22-20-42) and Brandon Sampair (18-24-42) with 40
or more points this season. The last time SCSU had four players with 40 or
more points in a single season was in 1996-97 when Matt Cullen (15-30-45),
Dave Paradise (19-24-43), Sacha Molin(18-25-43) and Mark Parrish (27-15-42),
all hit the 40-point mark.

BIG CROWDS: For the fifth straight year, Husky Hockey has averaged over
5,000 fans per home game. 123,504 people attended SCSUhome games in
1999-2000, an average of 5,881 per game. The attendance figure reflects a
steady incline as SCSU averaged 5,736 in 1998-99, 5,593 in 1997-98, 5-473 in
1996-97 and 5,004 in 1995-96.

FAST LEARNERS: Three Huskies, Ryan Malone (Pittsburgh, PA), Joe Motzko
(Bemidji) and Jon Cullen (Alexandria), all ranked among the top ten in WCHA
freshman scoring. Another freshman Chris Purslow (Greenlawn, NY) also ranked
in the top ten until being sidelined with an injury.Malone played 38 games,
scoring nine goals and 21 assists. Motzko played in 36 games and scored nine
goals and 15 assists. Cullen played in 29 games (he missed seven games due
to injury) and notched five goals and 11 assists. Purslow played in 14
games, scoring seven goals and four assists.

ABOUT FERRIS STATE: Ferris is coming off its best season since the 1992-93
campaign as the Bulldogs registered a 21-16-2 overall record in their 25th
anniversary season could be on the verge of posting back-to-back winning
campaigns for the first time since 1979-80 when FSU started competing in
NCAA Division I hockey. FSU placed sixth in the CCHA for the second
consecutive season at 13-13-2 and compiled a 28-point league total in the
process. FSU, which was ranked among the nation's top 10 teams at one time
last, was able to gain a CCHA Tournament berth for the 19th time in the
program's 21-year NCAA Division I history...last season was also a success
on the national scene as FSU placed among the NCAA's top 20 in five
statistical categories ­ 11th tie in scoring defense (2.62 avg.), 15th in
scoring margin (0.64), 18th in winning percentage (.564) and 19th in both
penalty killing (.840) and scoring offense (3.26 avg.). Ferris is led by
ninth-year head coach Bob Daniels (121-157-26), and they return 18
letterwinners from last season, including 10 forwards who combined for 58%
of the squad's goal production in 1999-2000. Moreover, eight of the team's
top 10 scoring leaders from a season ago are back in the fold. Top returning
forward is Kevin Swider (15-21-36), top defender is Jim Dube (4-16-20) and
top goalie is Phil Osaer (13-8-2, 2.18 GAA, 915%