Hockey Day 2018: Brodzinski continues family tradition of success at SCSU

Xcel Energy Center, the home of the Minnesota Wild, will host the National Collegiate Hockey Conference's (NCHC) Frozen Faceoff championship tournament March 16-17, 2018. Leading up to the Frozen Faceoff, Wild.com will feature different aspects of the NCHC related to the Wild and Xcel Energy Center. More information, including tickets, is available at the Xcel Energy Center's Frozen Faceoff page.
ST. CLOUD --The Brodzinski name is as synonymous with St. Cloud State as it is with success in collegiate hockey.
Former Huskies forward Jonny Brodzinski recorded 112 points from 2012-2015 as he helped SCSU reach three straight NCAA Tournaments and the program's first Frozen Four in 2013. His father, Mike, and uncle, Steve, helped propel the program to an NCAA Division II third-place finish under Herb Brooks in 1986-1987.

So while Easton Brodzinski's name wasn't entirely unknown to Huskies fans when he joined the program this season, the first-year forward has certainly made a name for himself thus far. Brodzinski is third on the team with eight goals just past the season's halfway point. With 13 regular season games left, he's on pace to finish with at least 14 goals.
He'll certainly be a name to watch when SCSU hosts Minnesota State Mankato at 5 p.m. Saturday as part of the 12th annual Hockey Day Minnesota.
To most freshmen, that would be an impressive achievement. But for Brodzinski, it would be second to his brother Jonny, who put up 22 goals in his freshman year, which would probably earn him a friendly jab or two in the brothers' ongoing group text. Comprised of Easton and his brothers Jonny, Michael and Bryce, the cellular messaging is a way they stay connected as brothers, as Jonny is currently in the Los Angeles Kings system and Michael is in the San Jose Sharks' pipeline.
Of course, it's also a group of high-level hockey players, and excluding Michael -- a former standout Minnesota Gopher -- a collection of past, present and future Huskies skaters.
"We talk almost every single day," Easton said, noting that the conversations can fluctuate from brotherly advice to brotherly chirps. "We're across the country from each other, but we're still right next to each other thanks to technology."
It's a rarity for a family to have what could eventually be four Division I hockey players, let alone three who played for the same program. Almost equally as rare, however, is for a Twin Cities kid to grow up dreaming of playing for the Huskies rather than the hometown Golden Gophers. But the Brodzinskis are no ordinary hockey family.
Mike and Steve played for the Huskies from 1984-1987, after Mike transferred from Minnesota. They played alongside current Huskies head coach Bob Motzko, and Motzko stuck around as a graduate assistant with Herb Brooks' coaching staff in 1986-1987, a team Mike captained. As a result, Easton went to far more Huskies games than Gopher games, and dreamed of donning red and black threads from an early age.
"It's in the family blood; we've always come to games here, we've always watched St. Cloud players, so it's sort of adapted in our mindset that that's where we want to play," Easton said. "It's a special bond we have; it'll be a nice little family tree we have here, and hopefully there'll be more to come after that."
Once Motzko took over the Huskies in 2005, the Brodzinskis had a natural connection to the program. After all, Mike and Motzko had maintained a close relationship since the two were teammates.
"We were very close in college, and years after we've stayed in very close contact," Motzko said. "Once you're a teammate and a friend it doesn't end when you're done playing; it stays for life."
On the surface, it may seem that because of their relationship, Brodzinski's kids already had their common No. 22 jersey reserved for the Huskies program for years to come. However, it was quite the opposite. There was a lot of tip-toeing involved in the recruiting process, and the train of Brodzinskis to St. Cloud almost never pulled out of the station.
"I'm always reluctant to coach a friend's son," Motzko said. "When I was recruiting Jonny, I wanted to make sure that he was going to have success here."
It wasn't until his first year of junior hockey when Jonny received an offer from SCSU. If it weren't for a late-night phone call from Motzko, he would have likely gone to Maine.
"Bob called me one night and said, 'He's not a Black Bear, he's a Husky,'" Mike said. "You don't ever want to jeopardize a friendship, (so) I've never pushed any of my kids on him. The one I sort of tried to push on him was Michael, and it didn't work out. But it's not a bad place to play, the University of Minnesota."
After Jonny's success at SCSU, Easton received an offer to play for the Huskies as a high school senior. His 16-year-old brother, Bryce, verbally committed to the program this fall before ever playing a high school game.
"It was a long time coming for him," Easton said of Bryce's commitment. "He's one of the better ones of us four; he's got a lot of the things that none of us have."
Even so, it's plain to see that there's an underlying scoring gene in the Brodzinski family.
"Easton is showing every bit of his scoring ability that Jonny had. He can shoot a hockey puck, and he knows where to put it, and he's going to continue to get better," Motzko said. "From dad down to his sons, those guys can all score goals. It's part of their genetic makeup."
Although he scored 70 goals in 72 games and finished his collegiate career with 146 points, Mike attributes the Brodzinskis' scoring ability less to genetics and more to plain old practice.
"Scoring is a knack, but I think the knack can be developed over time, too," Mike said.
When he could make the time, he'd pick up his boys after school and and drive right to Happy Acres Park in Blaine with a few 5-gallon buckets filled with pucks. There they would work on shooting drills and play 2-on-2. Those games carried over to the Schwan Super Rink, where their mother, Kathy, worked. With the extra ice time, the Brodzinskis developed their skills and satisfied their competitive natures.
Easton noted that it was an uphill battle for the him and Bryce, as they were oftentimes forced to go up against their older brothers in these 2-on-2 games. It certainly paid dividends for the younger two brothers -- especially Bryce, who has the skills and the advice of three older brothers to go off of.
"He's got a long way to go, but I sort of believe the youngest one has the most skill, because they've watched it longer and see their brothers' mistakes," Mike said.
Bearing the Brodzinski name, Easton, and later Bryce, who will likely join the team for the 2019-2020 season, have some big shoes to fill in St. Cloud. But just as they polished their skills facing off against their older brothers, they now have their experience -- and that of their father's -- to go on.
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