{"id":41260,"date":"2012-01-26T05:00:16","date_gmt":"2012-01-26T11:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=41260"},"modified":"2012-01-25T22:10:24","modified_gmt":"2012-01-26T04:10:24","slug":"lees-impending-return-gives-st-cloud-state-depth-in-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2012\/01\/26\/lees-impending-return-gives-st-cloud-state-depth-in-goal\/","title":{"rendered":"Lee’s impending return gives St. Cloud State depth in goal"},"content":{"rendered":"
St. Cloud State could soon have a bit more competition in the crease.<\/p>\n
There have been reports in the last week that Mike Lee’s return from injury could be this week against Minnesota, or at least, very soon.<\/p>\n
Lee will be cleared to play in the near future but whether he returns to the crease right away is in question.<\/p>\n
“I don’t let it bother me or get in the way of anything,” said Ryan Faragher, who has occupied the Huskies’ crease for most of the season. “I’m glad that he’s back and practicing. I’d hate to have to sit out that long. It will make us a better team.”<\/p>\n
Faragher took over for Lee when the latter underwent hip surgery in October. Faragher had his struggles but he’s been hot lately, stopping 247 of 265 shots (.932 save percentage) against No. 14 Denver, No. 8 Western Michigan, No. 8 Colorado College and No. 17 North Dakota. <\/p>\n
Faragher gave up eight goals on 78 shots (.897 save percentage) in his first two games against Minnesota in November. Lee is 2-0 all-time against the Gophers, allowing three goals on 85 shots (.965 save percentage).<\/p>\n
For former Colorado College standout Chad Rau, who scored in his NHL debut for his hometown Minnesota Wild last Saturday in St. Paul against Dallas, the “stars” could hardly have been more aligned.<\/p>\n
Not only was he afforded the opportunity to play his first NHL game in front of friends and family but his beloved Tigers of CC were just a few miles away at Mariucci Arena facing the Gophers and younger brother Kyle, a freshman forward at Minnesota.<\/p>\n
Although he wasn’t able to see his alma mater play, the annual Hockey Day Minnesota celebration across the state meant a 5 p.m. start time for the WCHA clash. The early faceoff gave his parents and brother a chance to scoot down the freeway after the game in time to catch the beginning of the Wild’s unusual 8 p.m. puck drop.<\/p>\n
Wearing the No. 36 sweater, Rau wasted little time in making a splash against his home state’s former pro hockey franchise.<\/p>\n
Just 33:51 into his NHL career, Rau scored what turned out to be the game winner<\/a> on the second of what became a team-record barrage of three goals in 59 seconds to propel the Wild to a 5-2 victory over the Stars.<\/p>\n After being checked to the ice behind the Dallas goal, Rau picked up a loose puck and drove to the crease area, where his first attempt was thwarted by Stars netminder Kari Lehtonen. But Rau immediately snared the rebound and fired a shot that caromed off the stick of Dallas’ Brendan Morrow before crossing the goal line.<\/p>\n “It’s a pretty good debut right there,” said Wild coach Mike Yeo. “If you like guys who want to go out and score a game-winning goal in their first game, that was pretty good.”<\/p>\n “I noticed the [defenseman] was down so I just took it to the net, shot it and got the rebound,” said Rau, who was given the postgame shaving cream treatment by teammate Cal Clutterbuck. “I really didn’t even see it go in.”<\/p>\n But his parents Mike and Lynn did witness it in what ended up being just another day at the “X” for the Rau family.<\/p>\n The last time a Rau played on Xcel Energy Center ice was last spring when Kyle scored in overtime for Eden Prairie High School<\/a> in the title game of the Minnesota state high school hockey tournament.<\/p>\n Yeo praised Chad for his willingness to go to the hard areas of the ice to make plays and, based on what Kyle has demonstrated as a WCHA rookie, Yeo’s words could easily describe the younger Rau.<\/p>\n “He’s willing to be F1 on the forecheck and help create a turnover down there and take that puck to the net,” said Yeo. “His goal was a hard-working goal for a guy who has skill.”<\/p>\n Rau confessed to, as he put it, “quite a bit of nerves” but relaxed as the game went on and left the ice with memories to last a lifetime.<\/p>\n “I couldn’t have asked for anything better than this,” said Rau. “It was just awesome.”<\/p>\n It only took 42 games but Jake Gardiner may have finally got the memo.<\/p>\nMessage comes through loud and clear for ex-Badgers defenseman Gardiner<\/h4>\n