By Ryan Stieg
It’s late October, but the St. Thomas men’s hockey team are finally going to play a home series at its own rink, and that rink is a nice one.
UST opens the brand-new Lee & Penny Anderson Arena Friday night and it should be a sight to behold. The Tommies were also impressive to watch last weekend as they fired 11 goals into the back of the net against Air Force in the opener. However, things didn’t go as well the following night as the Falcons scored three unanswered goals in the second period to force a series split.
“I thought we played pretty good on Friday,” UST head coach Rico Blasi said Wednesday. “Obviously, we got some pretty good bounces along the way. To score 11 goals, you have to have that. I thought Friday’s third period was more of what we expected from Air Force. They really came out hard, and they push the pace, which watching them on video, is what they did to Denver and Colorado College. They tied Denver and CC beat them in the third period. So, we knew that was going to happen on Saturday.
“1-1 hockey game after one, I thought we were playing fairly decent. I didn’t think we had a great jump on Saturday and they did, and in the second period, they got a couple of bounces to make it 4-1. I thought we played really well on the third and we kind of carried the play, scoring the one goal, but we couldn’t get the third. So, I pulled the goalie, and they scored a couple goals, but I’m really happy with the way we played Friday obviously, and I thought not having our best hockey, to play well in the third (on Saturday) was a good sign for our team.”
Now, No. 15-ranked Providence comes to town to try to ruin the festivities this weekend. The Friars are coming off a NCAA Tournament appearance last year and seem poised to make it back there this season since they’re returning five of their top six scorers and have a strong set of newcomers led by 10th overall NHL draft pick Roger McQueen.
“Their skill level is right up there with the best in the country and they’re well coached,” Blasi said. “So, we’ve got our hands full, and we got to focus on what we do and be ready to play because it’ll be a tough one.”
The Tommies were without star captain Lucas Wahlin last weekend after he was injured during a loss to North Dakota two weeks ago. Blasi said Wahlin’s status is day-to-day, so he may or may not be in the lineup against the Friars. UST also rotated goalies Carsen Musser and Aaron Trotter in net against Air Force, and Blasi said he wasn’t sure yet if he’ll do the same thing this weekend.
As far as the new arena goes, Blasi said the players have enjoyed the facility so far as well as all of its special features.
“It’s been great,” Blasi said. “Obviously, we’re coming from a place (St. Thomas Ice Arena) where it wasn’t our home in terms of being on campus. Even though the (St. Thomas) Academy was great for us and bent over backwards to help us, but just to be able to be on campus, and the amenities that we have where our guys can be there, and be together, and work on their game when we’re not there, or study in the in the players lounge, the weight room, the training room, everything’s right there, so it’s just been great. The guys have been really grateful to be in such a great building and so thankful for everybody that had a piece of putting it together, and all of our donors, and the construction workers to the design team to all of our administration starting with Dr. (athletic director Phil) Esten to President (Robert) Vischer, and all the people that worked so hard to get this done. So, they’ve been really excited.”
Unlike some other college hockey programs, the Tommies will have a practice rink attached to the LPAA as they’ll be sharing the arena with the women’s hockey team as well as the men’s and women’s basketball teams. The rink is also not just for the Tommies to practice in, but for the surrounding community.
“This is not just for St. Thomas, but we want to open it up to the community and have our youth hockey players play in there, which they already have,” Blasi said. “They’ve been practicing in there and I noticed that the other day. This is not just a university building, but a community building that we can be proud of and people can use on times where varsity hockey is not playing.”
When asked if a beautiful on-campus arena will show people that the Tommies are truly a Division I program, Blasi said it helps, but they’ve been proving they’re DI for quite some time.
“Obviously, it’s been an addition to what we’ve been doing, but we felt like we’ve been D1 after that first year where we understood what we needed to do,” he said. “I think we’ve slowly progressed into being a very competitive team at this level. Certainly, the arena adds to that, but playing in the (CCHA) championship game last year was no easy task and our guys, I think a few years ago when we were in first place for quite a while, I think everybody at that point was understanding that we’re a D1 team now and nobody should take us lightly.”
Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. CDT Friday and Saturday in St. Paul.