Johnnie hockey looks for MIAC success this season

After being named MIAC champions in the 2019-20 season, the SJU hockey team looks to defend their title this upcoming season. With a shortened season last year and a fresh roster with new first-years and
transfers, Doug Schueller, head coach, is hopeful.

Schueller has received four transfer students, three from St. Thomas and one from Alabama-Huntsville. This is in addition to the team’s large number of incoming first-years.

“They have all meshed well with all of the guys. Also, the freshmen have been awesome and have been exciting to watch,” senior Michael Magnuson said.

Due to COVID and a stressful year in terms of finances for colleges and universities, many Division I programs have been cut, causing the rate of transfers to be higher than normal this year. This will make for interesting competition down the road.

“I believe our league will be very deep this year and all the teams will be competitive…There will be a lot of good players in our league,” Schueller said.

After tryouts last week, Schueller is hopeful that SJU will once again be strong contenders for the MIAC Championships.

“We had a lot of players tryout this year and the competition for spots on the roster was high. We feel we have the right group of guys, and we are ready to get to work,” Schueller said.

Many of the St. John’s players played in junior leagues across Canada and the United States. These leagues provided players with some of the best coaching staff and training opportunities in the country, working closely
with the NCAA hockey associations.

A new addition to the MIAC, St. Scholastica promises competitive potential this upcoming season. Despite the removal of St. Thomas from the MIAC, there will still be ample inter-conference competition.

Another major contender this season includes Concordia-Moorhead, who were ranked second after St. John’s, and also qualified for the MIAC playoffs in the 2019-20 season.

Augsburg is also a strong contender for the upcoming season as they were ranked third in the 2019-2020 season. They just named a new head coach after their previous coach left the institution to coach a Division I team.

“One [team] in particular that we really look forward to playing are the Auggies. We have had great games with them in the past and they will have a good team this year so those games will be very fun,” Magnuson said.

After St. Thomas, Gustavus was ranked next on the list of men’s hockey and was the final team to qualify for the MIAC playoffs in the 2019-2020 season.

From 2016 to 2019, Augsburg earned the MIAC’s automatic qualification to advance to the NCAA Division III tournament and was only beat out in 2020 by St. Thomas. The 2020 tournament was ultimately canceled due to the onset of the COVID pandemic.

Gustavus has also been a familiar contender in the NCAA playoffs, with their most recent appearances in 2009 and 2012.

The last time the Johnnies advanced to the national tournament was in 2013, and before that in 2003.

Overall, the Tommies had the most championship appearances of any MIAC team. However, now that they are gone, Gustavus leads the MIAC with the most championship appearances, and St. John’s follows. The Johnnies are geared up for a good season after a successful week of tryouts. They will take to the ice for the first time this season on Oct 30., against UW-Eau Claire at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.