A day after St. Cloud State lost former Lakeville North goaltender Charlie Lindgren to the NHL, the Huskies gained another Panther.
Junior forward Henry Enebak announced his verbal commitment to play men’s hockey for St. Cloud State on Wednesday night via Twitter. Enebak is the latest in the Lakeville North to St. Cloud State pipeline, joining Lindgren, Blake Winiecki and Jack, Nick and Ryan Poehling.
He is also the second member of his family who will compete in Husky athletics. Enebak’s mother, Becky, earned six all-american honors in track-and-field and is a member of the St. Cloud State Athletic Hall of Fame.
Enebak said the decision to commit became obvious after he visited St. Cloud.
“I liked the small campus feel where hockey is very important and a big deal to a lot of the student body,” he said.
Other elements that factored into Enebak’s decision include his family being close enough to come watch games, the competitive nature of the NCHC and the Husky coaching staff.
Enebak told me he will return to Lakeville North High School for his senior season, and after that, he plans to play at least one year of junior hockey. He said he may decide to play a second year depending on how the first year goes.
Once Enebak heads to St. Cloud, he will likely join the Poehling brothers who all committed to play for the Huskies. Jack and Nick, who both graduated from Lakeville North in 2015, officially signed their national letters of intent in the fall of 2014. They currently play in the United States Hockey League (USHL).
Ryan Poehling, a junior at Lakeville North, will also head to St. Cloud State at some point, but he may follow a similar path as Enebak.
The chance to play college hockey with the Poehlings, who Enebak won the Minnesota boys’ state hockey championship with in 2015, played a role in Enebak’s decision to commit to SCSU.
“They’ve been my friends as long as I can remember, so it’s pretty cool to hopefully have the opportunity to someday play with them,” Enebak said.
Enebak scored 20 goals while registering 31 assists for Lakeville North in 2015-2016.
Nick Kelly 