By Drew Steele / @wooitsdrew / sports@kvsc.org

(Photo by SCSU Athletics)

The St. Cloud State men’s hockey team announced the incoming players for next season on Thursday afternoon. Usually, it is only freshman being announced at this time of year, but two players are transferring in from other programs.

Jared Cockrell (F)

Jared Cockrell is the first of two transfers coming into the program. He comes in after playing for Colgate University since 2016. At Colgate, he was named an assistant captain in each of his last two seasons there. Prior to college, he won an AJHL Championship with the Brook Bandits. He comes in with 52 career NCAA points.

Seamus Donahue (D)

Donahue may sound familiar to high school hockey lovers in the state of Minnesota as he won two state championships with St. Thomas Academy in 2012 and 2013. He then led the Cadets as a senior in 2015 to their first ever Class AA tournament where they lost in the first round. Donahue is a transfer from Michigan Tech where he put up 55 points in three seasons.

Jack Johnston (F)

Another name that may sound familiar to high school hockey lovers, Johnston played for St. Paul Academy during his high school career. He and the Spartans qualified for state in his junior season beating St. Cloud Cathedral in the first round of state. Johnston comes in after playing three seasons for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs of the NAHL. In his last season in Fairbanks, he was named team captain.

Veeti Miettinen (F)

Miettinen will come over from Finland in the fall after playing the last two seasons with Kiekko-Espoo U20 in the Jr. A SM-Liiga. In his two seasons, Miettinen put up 134 points in 100 games. In the 2018-19 campaign, Miettinen was awarded the Jere Lehtinen Award for the league. The award is given to the gentleman of the year.

Joe Molenaar (F)

Jared Cockrell isn’t the only state champion joining the Huskies in the fall because Joe Molenaar is also joining the team. Molenaar was the captain of the 2018 Class AA State Champion Minnetonka Skippers.  During his senior season, Molenaar put up 43 points. Since then, he has laced the skates up for the Tri-City Storm and Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the USHL.

Brady Ziemer (D)

The toughest test that Molenaar and his Skippers had on the way to the state title, the Holy Family Catholic Fire. Brady Ziemer was the captain of that Holy Family team who took Minnetonka into double overtime and lost in heartbreaking fashion. Ziemer scored 77 points in his high school career while being at least an alternate captain from his sophomore season on. Since then, Ziemer has played for the Merritt Centennials of the BCHL and the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL.