Good morning. No Friday-morning skate today, as I have the day off. But I did get a chance to answer most of your questions. Here we go:
From Sam: 1) Any chance the Mavericks would consider replacing their regular uniforms for their regular uniforms for their current Saturday-night alternates? They are so much better. All of my non-MSU friends comment about how impressive and professional they look. 2) Has Jutting had anything to say about Kevin Murdock's status lately? Any plans for him to get a shot again sometime soon? 3) How about those Vikings?
Sam, I also like the Saturday-night unis. They designed them for the 40th anniversary of MSU hockey. They're not replicas, though, just an old-school look. The uniforms they wore in 1970 had the word Indians on them, since that was the college's nickname then. There was no way they were bringing that back. I'm not sure if they'll try to wear them fulltime or not. I believe they are auctioning off those jerseys every weekend and will be giving them away to the winners after the season. ...
Jutting hasn't had much to say about Murdock, except to say that there probably won't be a clear-cut No. 1 this season. Murdock was listed as Lee's backup on the line chart Friday and Saturday against Duluth. That might have been because of Cook's injury the week before (although Cook did practice starting midway through the week). I'll be curious to see which two go to Michigan Tech next week.
From BIGhkyfan: 1) And what about those Vikes? ... 2) As confidence is vital to any position, yet goalies most of all, how do you feel the three very qualified goalies are handling being juggled? 3) Like above, the same for players like Schiller, Cooper, Mosey, Gaulrapp. Not just dressing, yet limited playing time? Can this hurt going into the playoffs and next season? 4) Dorr transferred to MSU for playing time. Do we have any players that would consider doing what Dorr did in reverse?
BIGhkyfan, It seems like the goalies are handling that just fine right now. They understand that the decision is the coach's and that they're all competing for the job. Interestingly, Jutting told the North Dakota booster club during a lunch up there before the UND series that Cook was not handling very well his not playing early on and needed a bit of an attitude adjustment. To the goalie's credit, Jutting said, Cook turned that around pretty fast. It's a tough position. Only one can play. Traditionally, Jutting, like many other coaches, has stayed with the hot goalie. Most goalies understand that, I think. ...
Same thing should go for other players. This is Division I college hockey. If you want to play, you need to compete and win a job and then hold that job when you get it. You can't pout. The good news for the Mavericks is, at least from my perspective, is that none of those players seems to be pouting. Three of the players you mention are young defensemen. The other is a senior forward. The Mavericks have one senior D graduating and three juniors. There are going to be opportunities for those guys. ...
I don't get the impression that there are any players on this team thinking of transferring. Dorr was told by a lot of teams that he would be stepping in and playing right away. The team he chose, Minnesota, didn't play him, and he realized early that it was a poor fit. Minnesota State must have thought he could play right away because they put him in the lineup as soon as he was eligible. With three goals and three assists in nine games, he certainly hasn't disappointed.
From Joe: 1) What has happened with Kael Mouillierat and Geoff Irwin this season? I expected these guys to lead the Mavs forward, not Stewart and Harrison, agree? 2) You had mentioned that Eriah Hayes was doing well earlier in the year, but he hasn't been on the scoring charts lately. Has he been in a slump? 3) Is Andy Sackrison close to coming back?
Joe, There's no question that Stewart and Harrison are having career seasons. If you had told me they'd be producing like this before the season, I would have expected the Mavericks to be one of the better teams in the WCHA because I would have assumed Mouillerat and Irwin would be putting up bigger numbers. It's certainly not for a lack of effort. In my opinion, both have played well but they haven't put up the big numbers I and many others have expected. ...
Hayes really surprised everybody by his play early on. His production in terms of numbers has dropped, but he has stayed in the lineup and even got a few weeks on the top line. He might have hit that rookie wall a bit but they're certainly letting him play through it.
As for Sackrison, he's been skating. He told me when he first started skating that he was shooting for the Wisconsin series. That would give him an extra bye week (the Mavs are off again the week after the Tech series) to get back into shape and get his wind.
From Zeb: 1) The preseason poll had MSU at #8, if I recall correctly. They are currently 9th, but have played a lot of close games. I haven't been able to watch too awful close, but is this team REALLY close to being a "winner" or is it just pretending? How does 9th place bode for the future in your opinion? ... 2) Troy Jutting has made the following comments in the last two weeks: "we won the last 55 minutes of the game" regarding game 2 at Grand Forks, ND and "we killed x minutes of PP against UMD's top PP" regarding the contest last weekend (obviously paraphrased because I don't want to look up the exact quotes, but we all know the ones). To me, these sound like excuses from someone that is NOT trying to adjust the game plan even though the team is losing. Last time I checked, winning the game on the scoreboard is what matters. Am I out of line for demanding more? Your thoughts? ... 3) If you feel like you can comment, how do you feel the player leadership is being received this year? Any prognostications on the player leadership for next year? ... Extra Credit: I'm also interested in your opinion on where Pitlick goes in the draft and how long he might stick at MSU.
Zeb, Yikes, that's a lot but here goes ... The Mavericks were picked to finish eighth, and it looks like that's where they'll probably end up. I picked them sixth, I believe. They're ninth now, but I have a hard time thinking they'll finish behind Anchorage. They have lost seven one-goal games in conference play. They have hung with the WCHA's best teams -- Denver, CC, NoDak and Duluth. They split a series with Wisconsin. They swept a red-hot Bemidji State team on the road. They seem like they're close, but they have some deficiencies. The good thing is that if they can find a way to finish strong, there's always a chance for a first-round upset in the playoffs. ...
Your thoughts on Jutting's comments are interesting. What he said didn't sound like "excuses" when I was interviewing him. To me, he was just trying to emphasize what he thought were the positives in those close games. Would I have appreciated a little more candor? Sure. But I don't think he was patting himself on the back and bragging about losses. I'm not sure what you want him to say when, in his mind, his team played well but just came up short. When he expressed some frustration the previous night at NoDak, I got comments from readers saying those were unnecessary, too. ...
Player leadership is hard to quantify for me. I'm not in the locker room or behind the scenes. However, it is one area I thought would be strong this season because there are so many seniors and they were trying some different things at the beginning of the season -- team-building excursions like paintball and work with the ROTC, etc. As for next year, it's probably too early to say. Channing Boe is an assistant captain this year and could very well get the "C" next year. ...
As for Pitlick, I'm going to guess late first round/early second round. Who knows how long he'll stick around. It may depend on who drafts him. Some teams seem to have a greater respect for the college game than others. I agree with the college coaches who say players should wait until they're ready to be on the big club and not leave college to be a minor-league player. Pitlick's got a lot of talent, that's for sure. I say it every game.
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