Saint John's hockey travels to face Bethel for a 7 p.m. non-conference game on Friday, Feb. 5, at the Super Rink in Blaine. The Johnnies then play host to the Royals for the MIAC opener at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 7, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.

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Friday
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Sunday
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SORRY, NO FANS: Spectators will not be allowed at contests during the winter season. The MIAC released a statement regarding this decision:

"We have a small window for success this winter season. Our COVID Working Group, made up of conference members and medical advisors, supported no spectators for indoor winter sports due to health and safety concerns. This decision, supported by our institutions' athletic directors and presidents, provides our best path forward to successfully and safely conduct winter sports. The decision was not made lightly.  It is critical that we see success in the first few weeks of competition."

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Boosted by a four-goal first period, Saint John's (1-1 overall) earned a 5-2 non-conference win Wednesday night (Feb. 3) at St. Scholastica.

Sophomore forward Henry Enebak (Lakeville, Minn.) scored two power-play goals, sophomore forward Jack Johnson (Bemidji, Minn.) collected three assists and junior goaltender Michael Magnuson (Sunfish Lake, Minn.) made 33 saves in his first collegiate appearance/start for the Johnnies (1-1 overall).

SJU was awarded a power play 59 seconds into the game and did not wait long to find the scoreboard as Enebak ripped a one-timer from the left faceoff circle 1:04 later.

The Johnnies erupted for two goals in a span of 20 seconds near the halfway mark of the opening frame. Freshman forward Jack Kilroy (Denver, Colo.) made it 2-0 with his first collegiate goal 8:43 in and junior forward Jerome Newhouse (Shorewood, Minn.) lit the lamp 20 seconds later.

Sophomore forward Auggie Moore (Edina, Minn.), the Johnnies' leader in goals (11) and points (27) in 2019-20, found the stat sheet with a goal at the 12:32 mark of the first period. 

Tyler Hinterser erased the shutout for CSS (0-2 overall) on a breakaway goal with 3:45 remaining in the first and Jon Hansen cut the deficit to 4-2 with 35 seconds left before intermission.

Enebak stretched SJU's lead back to three with his second power-play goal of the night 5:54 into the second period.

MAGS' DEBUT: The Johnnies are now unbeaten in their last 10 instances (9-0-1 record) in which their goaltender is making his first collegiate start. Magnuson's 33 saves Wednesday night are the most by an SJU netminder in his first start since Tony Civello '12 made a whopping 52 saves in the Johnnies' 3-1 win on Nov. 6, 2009, at - ironically - then-No. 13 St. Scholastica.

JOHNNIE FIRSTS: In addition to Magnuson's first win, Wednesday's win at St. Scholastica will also be a milestone date for a number of other Johnnies. Enebak and Kilroy scored their first collegiate goal/s (and first point/s), and freshman forward Max Borst (Edina, Minn.) and sophomore forward Joe Papa (St. Charles, Ill.) tallied their first assist (first point).

BETTER ON THE POWER PLAY: SJU's power play, which went 0-for-6 in Saturday night's (Jan. 30) opener, bounced back with a 2-for-5 showing Wednesday evening. The Johnnies finished fourth in the MIAC on the man advantage last season, both overall (20.2 percent, 24-for-119) and in MIAC play (23.3 percent, 17-for-73).

NO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS IN 2021: The NCAA Division III Administrative Committee, acting on behalf of the Division III Management and Presidents Council, approved the recommendation from the Division III Championships Committee to cancel all winter championships due to low participation numbers among member schools. The announcement was made Wednesday night (Feb. 3). 

The Championships Committee decision was based on the results of a winter declaration form distributed to members about their intention to compete this season in a capacity that would permit them to meet the minimum contest requirements to be eligible for championship selection by the established selection dates. The declaration form was sent to Division III athletics directors Jan. 19 and completed by 98% of the membership.

The national championships affected are men's and women's basketball, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's ice hockey, and wrestling.

A LOOK AT THE ROYALS: Bethel (1-1 overall) opened its 2020-21 season with a 5-2 win at Hamline Saturday night (Jan. 30), but dropped a narrow 5-4 decision Tuesday (Feb. 2) at home to Saint Mary's. Sophomore forward Luke Posner is off to a hot start with a team-leading five points (2g/3a), while one of the team's two seniors, Michael Piehler, is close behind with four (2g/2a).

BACK IN 2019-20: The Johnnies extended their unbeaten streak to 13 games against the Royals with a 1-0-1 record in 2019-20.

at Saint John's 8, Bethel 2
SJU scored six goals on its first eight shots on net en route to an 8-2 win over Bethel in the Johnnies' home and MIAC opener last Nov. 8 (2019) in St. Cloud.

Nine different Johnnies recorded a point, led by forward Kyle Wagner's '20 four (1g/3a) on the night. Forward Brady Heppner '20 (2g/1a) and senior defenseman Travis Brown (1g/2a) added three points apiece.

Wagner started the scoring for SJU 8:46 into the game before the Johnnies erupted for five goals over a 7:27 span across the first and second periods. 

Blake Nelson erased the shutout with two second-period goals, including one on the man advantage, for BU.

Heppner tallied his second goal of the contest 3:53 into the third period and junior forward Jerome Newhouse (Shorewood, Minn.) ended the scoring with his first goal as a Johnnie with 3:54 remaining.

Goaltender Andrew Lindgren '20 made 24 saves to earn his 25th career win (25-15-8 record).

t-Saint John's 3, at Bethel 3 (OT)
The Johnnies and Royals skated to a 3-3 tie the following night (Nov. 9, 2019) in Blaine. SJU earned the additional point in the conference standings when Brown tallied a power-play goal 12 seconds into the post-overtime frame. The goal, however, did not count in the official stats.

SJU had multiple opportunities to score the game-winning goal on a power play but could not light the lamp. The visitors had 11:39 on a man advantage and totaled nine shots, one of which hit the back of the net. 

The Johnnies had 4:19 on the power play near the end of regulation, including two minutes of 5-on-3. Another 5-minute major penalty on the Royals 22 seconds into overtime gave SJU a man advantage for the remainder of the extra frame and carried over to the 3-on-3 session (which Brown and Co. took advantage of). 

Dylan Giorgio gave BU an early 1-0 lead with his first collegiate goal 4:49 into the game and Jackson Roen made it 2-0 on the power play with 2:20 left in the opening frame. 

The Johnnies came out flying to start the second period and the effort paid off. Senior forward Ryan Kero (Hermantown, Minn.) cut SJU's deficit in half with a power-play goal, his 25th career point (7g/18a), at the 15:46 mark. 

Sophomore forward Auggie Moore (Edina, Minn.) tied the game with his first collegiate goal, and first of two on the night, 1:28 later.

Nick Ketola gave the lead back to the Royals when a rebound off the end-wall bounced to him at the right side of the net with 5:15 left in the second period. Moore, however, re-tied the game with 1:36 left in the second frame.

Berglove made his first start since Jan. 12, 2019, and stopped 29 shots in the tie. SJU out-shot BU 41-32 and went 1-for-5 on the power play.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 55-28-9 against BU since the 1981-82 season, including a 19-8-1 record under the direction of head coach Doug Schueller. The Johnnies have won 16 of the last 18 meetings (16-1-1 record) and each of the last 10 at the National Hockey Center.