Saint John's hockey opens its 2025-26 season with a 7 p.m. non-conference game at Marian this Friday, Oct. 31, at the Blue Line Family Ice Center in Fond du Lac, Wis. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's made its seventh MIAC playoff appearance in the past nine seasons a year ago.

But the Johnnies still felt there was plenty of room for improvement. Head coach Doug Schueller's team finished 8-7-1 in MIAC play and 11-14-1 overall.

Five of those losses, though, came by just one goal, and two of them were decided in 3-on-3 overtime.

With 70.5 percent of its scoring (55 of 78 goals scored) back from a year ago, SJU is hoping to turn some of those narrow margins in its favor this season.

Here is a more detailed look at the players who will try to do that:

Captain Campbell
Senior defenseman Mason Campbell (Rosemount, Minn.) was elected team captain in 2025-26 after serving as an assistant captain last season. 

He played all but one game for the Johnnies (25 of 26) from the blue line last season, totaling 12 points (4g/8a). He led SJU with 71 shots, was tied for fourth in assists (8), fifth in power play points (3), seventh in points (12) and eighth in goals (4). 

He was named the MIAC Offensive Player of the Week in February after a three-point outing against Concordia, collected All-MIAC Honorable Mention honors and served as an assistant captain.

Campbell has played in 75 games – 25 a season – in his career, totaling 35 points (14g/21a). He was an All-MIAC first team selection in 2023 as well as an All-USCHO Rookie first team honoree. 

Three Assistants
Campbell will be joined by three assistant captains this season: senior forward Rob Christy (St. Paul, 
Minn.), senior defenseman Conner Couet (St. Michael, Minn.) and junior defenseman Parker Gnos (Excelsior, Minn.). 

Both Couet (3g/12a) and Gnos (5g/10a) have 15 career points as defensemen for SJU. Couet has a plus/minus rating of +11 in 47 games as a Johnnie after spending his freshman season at Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 2022-23, while Gnos has three game-winning goals in 44 games. 

Christy begins his senior season with seven points (4g/3a) and just three penalties in 43 games.

A Senior-Led Net
The Johnnies' trio of goaltenders this season is led by a pair of seniors in Jon Howe (Chanhassen, Minn.) and Tom Kuriscak (Stillwater, Minn.). 

Howe appeared in 14 games (12 starts) and posted a 5-6-1 record with a 2.65 GAA and .926 save percentage (375 saves). He was named the MIAC Defensive Player of the Week in November after a 44-save shutout early in the season. 

Howe enters his senior season having played in 34 career games with a 13-15-3 record, 2.64 GAA and .917 save percentage (892 saves). Kuriscak has played in three career games (0-1-0 record) with three goals against (2.29 GAA) and 44 saves (.936 save percentage).

The third goaltender is a newcomer, freshman Kyle Abrahamson (Cloquet, Minn.), who went 12-6-1 with three shutouts in 22 games for the NA3HL's Alexandria Blizzard in 2022-23. He played for NAHL's St. Cloud Norsemen (0-1-0 in one game) and Fairbanks Ice Dogs (2-3-2 in nine games), and MJHL's Swan Valley Stampeders (1-8-1 in 11 games) in 2023-24. 

Abrahamson returned to the Blizzard in 2024-25 and tallied an 18-13-2 record in 33 games.

Seasoned Seniors
The SJU roster boasts seven seniors that have contributed to the program for the last three years with a combined record of 33-36-8 (23-21-4 MIAC). Howe and Kuriscak will lead the Johnnies between the pipes, while Campbell, Couet, Zach Enebak (Lakeville, Minn.) and Michael Spinner (Prior Lake, Minn.) will quarterback the defense from the blue line. 

Couet played in 25 of 26 games last season, totaling nine points (2g/7a) on 42 shots. He also led the team in plus/minus (+6). Spinner skated in 16 games and recorded four assists while Enebak added four points (1g/3a) in 20 games last year.

Christy is the lone forward among the graduating group, collecting four points (2g/2a) in 18 games last winter.

Johnnie Juniors
Ten juniors represent the largest class on the team, as well as nearly half of the team's points last year (106 of 215). Eight of those 10 are forwards, while Gnos and Sam Berry (St. Louis Park, Minn.) are the two junior blue-liners. Berry played in 18 games with eight points (2g/6a), scoring a shorthanded goal and tying for first in plus/minus (+6).

Six of the junior forwards recorded double-digit points last year, led by Cam Boche's (Lakeville, Minn.) 14 (9g/5a). He played 21 games and shared the team lead in power-play (4) and game-winning goals (2), tied for third in points (14) and goals (9), and was named to the MIAC All-Playoff Team. 

Jackson Bisson (Edina, Minn.) and Logan Lyke (Medina, Minn.) each collected 13 points. Bisson skated in 20 games with 10 goals and three assists, while Lyke suited up for 25 games with six goals and five assists. Chris Kernan (Maple Grove, Minn.) recorded 12 points (10g/2a) in 25 games, while Jackson Borst (3g/8a; Edina, Minn.), Jacob McPartland (3g/8a; Victoria, Minn.) and Jack Wandmacher (0g/11a; St. Louis Park, Minn.) each had 11. Kasen Sauer (Maple Grove, Minn.) added a point in two games. 

Two in Year Two
SJU returns two sophomores – forward Jordan Newpower (Lino Lakes, Minn.) and defenseman George Moore III (Little Falls, Minn.). 

Newpower recorded an assist in 10 games while Moore was +4 in three contests. 

New Nine
The Johnnies' freshman class is comprised of nine players – seven forwards, one defender and Abrahamson in net. Six of the nine hail most recently from NAHL teams, while the other three played in the NA3HL. 

The 2025-26 Schedule
The Johnnies' 2025-26 schedule features three NCAA tournament teams from a year ago and includes 10 home games at St. Cloud State's Herb Brooks National Hockey Center (HBNHC), with five on Thursday night, and two neutral-site games in early January at the Municipal Athletic Complex (MAC) in St. Cloud. 

The eight non-conference opponents combined for a 111-76-12 record (.588) last season.

SJU opens the 2025-26 season on Halloween night (Oct. 31) at Marian (Wis.) and begins the MIAC schedule Nov. 7 at St. Scholastica, followed by Senior Night and the home opener Nov. 8. The Johnnies cross the border to face Wisconsin-River Falls (Nov. 14) and Wisconsin-Stout (Nov. 15) before closing the 2025 portion of the schedule with two conference series against St. Olaf (home on Nov. 22) and Bethel (home on Dec. 4). 

The New Year starts with four-straight contests in St. Cloud – a two-game series against Trine (Ind.) Jan. 2-3 at the MAC, followed by Beloit (Jan. 8) and Wisconsin-Superior (Jan. 10) at the HBNHC. 

The 2025-26 season is the first for Beloit, which absorbed the coaches and student-athletes from Northland after it closed at the end of the 2024-25 academic year and is a new member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in hockey. Trine went 21-7-2, including a 1-1 record in the NCAA Tournament, after finishing as a runner-up in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) last season.

The Johnnies close non-conference play with another trip to Wisconsin against Eau Claire (Jan. 16) and Stevens Point (Jan. 17). The Blugolds won the WIAC playoff title a year ago despite a 14-16-1 record, while the Pointers were 19-6-2.

SJU closes MIAC play with five-consecutive series against Saint Mary's (home on Jan. 24), Hamline (home on Jan. 29), Gustavus Adolphus (home on Feb. 7), Augsburg (home on Feb. 12) and Concordia-Moorhead (home on Feb. 19). The Gusties won both the conference's regular-season and playoff titles in 2024-25.

The MIAC playoffs start with the quarterfinal game (No. 4 vs. No. 5) on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at the high seed. The MIAC semifinals follow that Saturday, Feb. 28 and the MIAC championship game, which determines the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III playoffs, is Saturday, March 7.

A LOOK AT THE SABRES: Marian finished sixth in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) last season with a 6-11-1 record (9-17-1 overall) but graduated forward Daunte Fortner, its top goal scorer from the year prior (14g/15a). The Sabres are returning 62.8 percent of their scoring from a year ago (44 of 70 goals scored). Senior defender and Fond du Lac, Wis. native Noah Pickart is the top returning producer after tallying 20 points (2g/18 a) in all 27 games last season. Pickart was an All-NCHA pick and was named a DIIIHockeyNews.com Second Team All-American. Junior forward Caden Carlson also skated in all 27 games last winter, scoring nine goals with 10 assists, while sophomore forward Brendan Bottem added 18 points (8g/10a) for fourth on the team in scoring. Sophomore goaltender Tyler Fromolz saw the most time between the pipes, posting a 5-10-0 record in 15 games (12 starts) with a 3.85 GAA and .883 save percentage (378 saves). He was named to the All-NCHA Freshman Team. The Sabres were picked to tie with Lawrence (Wis.) for seventh in the NCHA preseason coaches' poll released Oct. 23.

THE LAST TIME: SJU and then-No. 14 Marian played to a 1-1 tie the last time these two teams met on Nov. 24, 2018, in St. Cloud. Brady Heppner '20 scored the equalizer for SJU with a one-timer off the offensive-faceoff win from classmate Kyle Wagner '20 2:27 into the second period.

Nick Monfils took advantage of an SJU turnover in the defensive end to give the Sabres 1-0 lead 2:24 into the game.

Marian (0-5) and SJU (0-3) combined to go 0-for-8 on the power play. The Johnnies held a slight edge in shots, 24-22.

SERIES HISTORY: The series is tied with a 1-1-2 record. The lone meeting in Fond du La, Wis., resulted in a 3-3 draw on Nov. 24, 2017. The other three games were played at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.

-Jan. 11, 2014: W, 2-1 OT (St. Cloud)
-Nov. 26, 2016: L, 4-5 (St. Cloud)
-Nov. 24, 2017: T, 3-3 OT (Fond du Lac, Wis.)
-Nov. 24, 2018: T, 1-1 OT (St. Cloud)