By Frank Rajkowski, SJU Writer/Video Producer

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - On one side of the back of his mask is the logo of the New York Rangers, the team for which his younger brother Ryan is a defenseman.

On the other is the logo of the Montreal Canadiens, the team for which his older brother Charlie is a goalie.

And in the middle is the logo of Saint John's, the team with which senior Andrew Lindgren has established his own brand of hockey success the past several seasons.

"Another student here, (senior baseball player) Nick Skluzacek, actually painted that for me," said Lindgren, an All-MIAC first-team goalie as a sophomore and junior.

"I asked him to put something like that on there. I'm really close to both of my brothers. And they've obviously helped me with my own hockey career. I've gone to a lot of their games over the years. And they've always supported me, too. So I just wanted something on my helmet that represented that."

Lindgren said growing up in such a talented hockey family helped make him a better player.

"We're definitely competitive with each other," he said. "Growing up, we'd play street hockey every day for hours until our parents finally had to pull us out of the driveway for dinner. We pushed each other pretty hard and that made us all better.

"It's still that way. Even when we were all home for Christmas last month, we were playing cards and it got heated. My Dad might be the most competitive person in the family actually. It's just how we're wired."

Charlie, 26, played three seasons at Division I St. Cloud State and Ryan, 21, played two seasons at Minnesota before each embarked on their NHL careers.

Andrew, 23, played junior hockey for several teams before ending up at Saint John's, where he has made a huge impact in net.

He started 21 games a year ago, leading the MIAC in save percentage (.935) and ranking second in conference play in both winning percentage (.731, 8-2-1) and goals-against-average (1.90) among those with 400 minutes played.

His efforts helped lead the Johnnies to a 12-10-5 record and a berth in the MIAC championship game where Saint John's dropped a heartbreaker to Augsburg, falling 2-1 in four overtimes.

Lindgren recorded an astounding 86 saves in that game, the third-most in a single contest in Division III history.

"I don't think he feels any higher expectations because of who his brothers are," SJU head coach Doug Schueller said. "But he certainly places high expectations on himself. He's just a competitively-driven person.

"I'd say he's probably one of the most competitive players we have on our team."

This season, Lindgren and junior Mac Berglove have traded time in the net for the Johnnies, who bring an overall record of 3-5-4 into Friday night's nonconference matchup at Wisconsin-Superior, scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at Wessman Arena.

Through the first 12 games, Berglove has a save percentage of .901 and a goals-against-average of 2.87. Lindgren brings a save percentage of .912 and a goals-against-average of 2.92.

"We're definitely competitive with each other," Lindgren said. "I want to play every day, and I'm sure he'd say he feels the same way. But we also help each other out a lot. We back each other up.

"At a lot of other schools, we'd probably both have played a lot more games. It just worked out that we have two really talented goalies on this team and that pushes us both to keep getting better."

While his brothers have gone on to the NHL, Lindgren – a global business major – has a different career aspiration in mind.

After graduating this May, he plans to apply for a position with the Minneapolis Fire Department while teaming up with his mother and uncle in the real estate business on the side.

"Our (strength and conditioning coach) Kevin Ziegler is a captain with the Minneapolis Fire Department and I've known him for quite a few years," said Lindgren, who earned his Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) license in the summer of 2018.

"He's worked with my brothers and I in the summer. And he's talked to me about what it would be like. Growing up I wanted to be a police officer. But when I got to college, my trajectory changed and firefighting became the path I wanted to pursue."

But that comes later. The second half of his senior season still lies in front of him. And though the first half did not exactly go the way he and his teammates were hoping, he knows there remains plenty of time left for the Johnnies to achieve the lofty goals they have set for themselves.

"We want to win the MIAC championship and get into the NCAA tournament," he said. "The first year I was here, we didn't make the playoffs and that was hard. The last two years, we've gotten knocked off by Augsburg. 

"But if we could win the MIAC title, all of those bad memories would get wiped away. That's what we're aiming for."