SCSU Hockey Needs Wins This Weekend At Frozen Faceoff Tournament

(KNSI) – St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey will try to skate to its second consecutive National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff championship this weekend.

They’ll need two wins and a trophy to get into the national tournament. Head Coach Brett Larson tells KNSI News that he knows his team can respond to that kind of pressure.

“We knew that Sunday night against Western Michigan, as well. It was do or die, and I really liked our team with our back against the wall and fighting for our life, and we know that we’ll be fighting for our life Friday night if we want to keep breathing and keep playing.”

SCSU hosted Western Michigan, winning last Friday and Sunday in a deciding Game Three at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The team will face Denver on Friday at 7:30 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul in the tournament semifinals.

The team is counting on strong fan support. Larson says it played a big part in the 2023 Frozen Faceoff victories.

“Last year, we had a great turnout. If you look at the clips from the North Dakota or the Colorado College game, there had to be 4,000 or 5,000 people down there from St Cloud, and that type of turnout at the X is really special.”

St. Cloud is the closest school to the Xcel Energy Center, which hosts the two-round tournament. Beginning in 2026, it will transition to an on-campus format. Each round will have the higher seed hosting over three weekends. Other midwestern conferences have already adopted that style. The winner will still receive an automatic qualifier bid into the NCAA tournament.

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