St. Cloud State freshman Joey Benik was expected to be a serious offensive contributor for the Huskies this season right out of the gate. But those plans have been put on hold, as Benik suffered a broken leg in the first hour of the team's first official practice on Saturday morning in what head coach Bob Motzko called a "freak thing".
The good news for St. Cloud is that Benik's injury does not require surgery to fix, which should hopefully speed up recovery time, and ensure there are no long term consequences once the leg has healed. There's no timetable set for his return, but it likely erases much of the first half of Benik's first collegiate season. It's a tough break for the Huskies, who open up their season next weekend with a tough road series at New Hampshire, and have difficult league series against Denver, North Dakota, and Minnesota-Duluth in the early part of the season.