Mavericks ranked 14th

With nine wins in their last 10 games, including two over the weekend to capture the UConn tournament championship, Minnesota State moved up four spots to No. 14 in the lastest USCHO.com rankings, which were tallied on Monday.

Here are the rankings:

1. Minnesota (35 first-place votes)

2. Boston College (5)

3. Notre Dame (9)

4. New Hampshire

5. Quinnipiac

6. Miami

7. North Dakota

8. Dartmouth (1)

9. Boston University

10. Western Michigan

11. Denver

12. Cornell

13. Union

14. Minnesota State

15. St. Cloud State

16. Nebraska Omaha

17. Yale

18. Niagara

19. Robert Morris

20. Holy Cross

Others receiving votes: Colgate, Ferris State, Providence, Harvard, Michigan Tech, UMass, UMass-Lowell, Northern Michigan, Colorado College

Mavericks 3, UConn 1

Minnesota State photo

Johnny McInnis, playing just a couple of hours from his hometown of Boston, scored two second-period goals and was named tournament MVP as Minnesota State defeated Connecticut 3-1 to win the UConn Hockey Classic on Sunday night in Storrs, Conn.

McInnis, a junior forward, now has 10 goals, which is a career high (eight was his previous high) and is tied for the team lead.

McInnis; goalie Stephon Williams, forward Jean-Paul LaFontaine and defenseman Tyler Elbrecht were named to the all-tournament team.

The Mavericks trailed 1-0 after one period, but McInnis scored two goals in a span of about 3 1/2 minutes early in the second. Defenseman Zach Palmquist added an empty-net goal in the final moments of the third.

Minnesota State (12-6-2) will return to Mankato on Monday and will prepare for its final nonconference series of the season Friday and Saturday against Providence at the Verizon Wireless Center.

See the box score here.

Mavericks 3, Bears 1

Jean-Paul LaFontaine scored two third-period goals, and Minnesota State defeated Brown 3-1 in the first game of the UConn Hockey Classic on Saturday in Storrs, Conn.

The Mavericks led 1-0 through two periods after Zach Palmquist's first-period goal. LaFontaine made it 2-0 at 9:02 of the third period with a power-play goal from Matt Leitner and Zach Lehrke.

After Brown scored a short-handed goal to make it 2-1 with 6:44 to play, the Mavericks held off the Bears the rest of the way before LaFontaine's empty-netter with 4 seconds to go.

Freshman goalie Stephon Williams won his eighth game of the season, stopping 18 shots, including 11 in the first period. MSU outshot Brown 27-19 and controlled play in the third period with a 9-4 shot advantage.

The first assist on Palmquist's goal was by Taylor Herndon, the freshman from Oklahoma City who was playing in his first career game.

Minnesota State (11-6-2) will play Connecticut at 6:15 p.m. on Sunday. UConn defeated American International 7-2 in Saturday's second game.

The MSU-Brown boxscore can be found here.

Minnesota State vs. Brown

I didn't make the trip to Connecticut for this weekend's tournament. I'll post updates on Twitter during today's and will have a postgame recap right here later.

Meanwhile, here are the Mavericks' lines for today's game against Brown:

Margonari—Leitner—Lehrke
Knowles—LaFontaine—Hayes
Grant—Zuck—McInnis
Gervais—Herndon—Gaede

Elbrecht—Nelson
Palmquist—Mosey
Stern—Jutzi

Williams
Cook

With Teddy Blueger playing at the World Junior Championship, Eli Zuck has moved up to the third line center spot, giving freshman Taylor Herndon his first action of the season as the fourth-line center. ... On defense, senior Evan Mosey is back in the lineup, replacing freshman Nick Buchanan.

Leivermann leaving

Pat Christman/The Free Press

The first Mankato native to play for the Minnesota State men's hockey team will not finish his college career as a Maverick.

Corey Leivermann, the school announced on Friday, is leaving the program and will continue his playing career elsewhere. Leivermann confirmed via text message that he will transfer down the road to Division III Gustavus Adolphus where he will be able to play immediately (once enrolled) and play his final season and a half of college hockey.

Leivermann, the former Mankato West High School standout, played in 42 career games for the Mavericks but just two this year — MSU's first two of the year. As a freshman, he scored three goals and had four assists in 19 games. Last season, he scored one goal in 21 games.

The writing might have been on the wall as far as playing time was concerned when Leivermann was moved to defense for practice in recent weeks.

In MSU's press release, coach Mike Hasting said: "We appreciate and recognize Corey's contributions to Maverick Hockey during the past two and a half years. We wish him the best as he moves forward in his future endeavors."

Minnesota State is playing in the UConn Hockey Classic in Storrs, Conn., this weekend. Gustavus' next game is Friday at St. Scholastica, but Leivermann said he won't be able to play until after Jan. 7. Gustavus will play Jan. 11 at St. John's.

Back from vacation

I'm back on the blog after a few days away for Christmas. I hope everyone had a good holiday.

The Mavericks took off on Thursday for Connecticut where they will be playing in the UConn Hockey Classic on Saturday and Sunday. Minnesota State will face Brown at 3 p.m. Saturday and either host UConn or American International on at 3 p.m. or 6:15 p.m. Sunday. I'm not on the trip but will be monitoring both games from Mankato.

As for the rest of the WCHA, here is the weekend schedule:

Thursday
RPI 4, St. Cloud State 3

Friday
RPI at St. Cloud State
Minnesota Duluth vs. Maine (Florida College Classic)

Saturday
Nebraska Omaha at Quinnipiac
Boston University at Denver
Minnesota Duluth vs. Ferris State or Cornell (Florida College Classic)
Michigan Tech vs. Michigan (Great Lakes Invitational, Detroit)
Minnesota vs. Air Force (Mariucci Classic)

Sunday
Nebraska Omaha at Quinnipiac
Michigan Tech vs. Western Michigan or Michigan State (Great Lakes Invitational, Detroit)
Minnesota vs. Boston College (Mariucci Classic)
Bemidji State vs. UMass (Ledyard Bank Classic, N.H.)

Monday
Bemidji State vs. New Hampshire or Dartmouth (Ledyard Bank Classic, N.H.)

Mavs move up

Despite losing their first game since before Thanksgiving and splitting a series at Nebraska Omaha, Minnesota State moved up in the latest USCHO rankings. The Mavericks are ranked No. 18, up two spots from No. 20. See the entire poll here.

UNO 5, MSU 1

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. All good things ... Must come to an end, the saying goes, and so ended Minnesota State's impressive seven-game winning streak, tied for the longest in the Division I era. Looking back over the last month, MSU has to be thrilled with going 7-1 and getting a big series split in Omaha. A win would have put the Mavericks in first place in the WCHA standings at Christmas break, but what's more important is the run of eight games that ensured they'll be competing for home ice at the end of the season, something Omaha coach Dean Blais all but predicted would be the case during his postgame press conference.

2. That's different: One of the first things I do when I get to the press box before a game is grab the line charts. I had to a double-take when I glanced at Omaha's. Two big white spaces among the forward spots and some extra names crammed in among the defensemen. Blais dressed just 10 forwards and eight defensemen for the game, playing around with his lineup in hopes of not having a repeat of Friday night's episode of firewagon hockey. It sure seemed to slow down the red-hot MSU Mavericks, who didn't score until Matt Leitner's goal made it 3-1 in the third period. It helped that freshman goalie Anthony Stolarz (27 saves) was on his game.

3. Mixing and matching: With one injury exception, the MSU line chart hasn't changed at all over the last eight games. And during games, there has been little movement, as Hastings has been able to roll four forward lines and three sets of defensemen. But when things got stagnant on Saturday, the coach didn't waste anytime trying to change things up, and there were all sorts of combinations out there. Matt Leitner was part of a few of them, even getting double-shifted at times. "We tried to mix it up," Leitner said. "We had no goals after two periods. I felt good tonight; I had a lot of energy tonight. We had a little push there and almost made it interesting."

Deep thought: The Mavericks are off until the UConn tournament Dec. 29-30. Happy holidays, folks!

Around the WCHA: North Dakota 4, Michigan Tech 1 ... St. Cloud State 3, Colorado College 1 ... Bemidji State 5, Denver 1 ... Minnesota Duluth at Alaska Anchorage (late, UMD won 5-1 on Friday)

MSU at Omaha — Game 2 live blog

Lines can be found below the chat box ...



MINNESOTA STATE MAVERICKS

26-Margonari      18-Leitner           19-Lehrke
24-Knowles         12-LaFontaine     25-Hayes
21-Grant              23-Blueger          22-McInnis
9-Gervais             29-Zuck               8-Gaede

16-Elbrecht          2-Nelson
7-Palmquist          4-Buchanan
27-Stern               28-Jutzi

35-Williams
30-Cook

Scratches: Burkemper, Herndon, Karambelas, Knoll, Leivermann, Mosey, Thauwald

NEBRASKA OMAHA MAVERICKS

19-Lane             12-Montpetit         21-White
17-Walters         14-Zombo             15-Archibald
25-Gwidt           23-Searfoss           13-Raubenheimer
                                                        18-Adams

8-Megna             3-Sustr
11-Seeler            24-Aneloski
4-Turgeon           7-Young
2-Cooper            28-O'Rourke


33-Stolarz

29-Belfour

30-Faulkner

Referees: Don Adam, Tim Walsh. Linesmen: Chad Evers, Nathan Stanton

MSU 6, UNO 3

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Keep on rolling: Minnesota State got down by a goal less than a minute in on the road and got into some penalty trouble early, but, to quote junior forward Johnny McInnis after the game: "Nothing rattles us." McInnis scored two goals and assisted on another, Teddy Blueger had three assists and MSU won its seventh game in a row in impressive fashion against a very good and highly skilled Omaha team. With the way the game started, it seemed like it might have been a bump in the road for the visiting team, but that was not the case. Can the purple Mavs make it eight in a row to close the first half of the season on Saturday night?

2. Special team: The 43 seconds of 5x3 penalty kill time early on settled down MSU. Their kill was good all night, allowing one goal on six tries. Stephon Williams (25 saves) came up huge at times, and Bryce Gervais' short-handed breakaway goal less than two minutes into the third period was all the cushion Minnesota State needed. They also had a big kill with about 7 minutes left in the third period when UNO coach Dean Blais pulled his goalie for a 6-on-4 attack. Minnesota State also scored a pair of power play goals, one from McInnis, on a nice feed out of the corner from Chase Grant and one by Jean-Paul LaFontaine on a similar pass from Matt Leitner.

3. Hey, rookie! This is the time of year when coaches love to say their freshmen aren't freshmen anymore. Well, MSU's first-year players came up huge. Blueger with three assists. Gervais with the shorty. Dylan Margonari with a goal. Jon Jutzi with his first career goal (with 2 minutes left, sealing the win by finishing off a 2-on-1 on a beautiful little backhanded pass from Blueger). "I think we're just trying to do the same things that have made us successful before," Blueger said. "We just try to outwork the other team and play to our system."

Deep thought: One thing I love about covering sports is seeing things I've never seen before. Tonight? How about a goalie interference penalty at one end of the rink (Eriah Hayes) and a second one called at the other end seconds later during the delay (Brock Montpetit) for matching minors? MSU dodged a bullet there and even scored a goal to go up 2-1 while those two were in the box.

Read The Free Press game story here.

Around the WCHA: North Dakota 6, Michigan Tech 1 ... Wisconsin 4, Alabama Huntsville 1 ... St. Cloud State 5, Colorado College 3 ... Denver 1, Bemidji State 1 (OT) ... Minnesota Duluth at Alaska Anchorage (late)

MSU at Omaha — Game 1 live blog

Lines are posted below the live chat ...

MINNESOTA STATE MAVERICKS
26-Margonari      18-Leitner           19-Lehrke
24-Knowles         12-LaFontaine     25-Hayes
21-Grant              23-Blueger          22-McInnis
9-Gervais             29-Zuck               8-Gaede

16-Elbrecht          2-Nelson
7-Palmquist          4-Buchanan
27-Stern               28-Jutzi

35-Williams
30-Cook

Scratches: Burkemper, Herndon, Karambelas, Knoll, Leivermann, Mosey, Thauwald

NEBRASKA OMAHA MAVERICKS
25-Gwidt           12-Montpetit         21-White
17-Walters         14-Zombo             15-Archibald
23-Searfoss        27-Pearce              13-Raubenheimer
9-Polk                19-Lane                 18-Adams

8-Megna             3-Sustr
11-Seeler            24-Aneloski
2-Cooper            7-Young

30-Faulkner
29-Belfour
33-Stolarz

Referees: Don Adam, Tim Walsh. Linesmen: Chad Evers, Nathan Stanton

Friday morning skate

I'll be leaving for Omaha in a few hours, which gives me enough time to get on with the skate ...

It's Mavericks vs. Mavericks as No. 20 Minnesota State heads to No. 13 Nebraska Omaha. The series closes out the first-half WCHA schedule for MSU.

There's lots of intrigue in this series, considering these teams have both been red hot of late and both sit near the top of the league standings. They have some of the top scorers in the league (Omaha's Ryan Walters leads the conference in points, while MSU's Eriah Hayes is tied for the goal-scoring lead). But we'd be remiss if we failed to acknowledge the relationship certain coaches have with the other program. Mike Hastings, of course, spent the last three seasons on UNO's bench and was a junior coach in that city for 14 years. Troy Jutting, now an Omaha assistant, was MSU's coach for the last 12 years.

Rob White of the Omaha World Herald, naturally, tackled the same storyline. But at the end of the weekend, we probably won't be talking about the coaches. Instead, it will be about the hockey, and Omaha knows it has a hot team coming to town.

Read more about Minnesota State by USCHO here.

Going around the WCHA ...

North Dakota at Michigan Tech: North Dakota apparently has a secret weapon in Corban Knight, who doesn't get much attention despite some outstanding play throughout his career. This year is no different. Meanwhile, the Huskies are feeling better about themselves after securing two points (two ties) at Wisconsin last weekend.

Colorado College at St. Cloud State: The struggling Tigers are hoping a long road swing can cure what ails them. This series begins a stretch of 11 games in which nine will be played away from Colorado Springs. For the Huskies, one of the league's better defenseman, Nick Jensen, is starting to show off his tough-guy side.

Denver at Bemidji State: The Pioneers are, shockingly, on a six-game winless streak, and it looks like their three-headed monster in goal is now down to one. The Beavers, of course, are hoping to keep Denver's streak going. Also, lots of good stuff and great reporting by Bemidji Pioneer writer Jack Hittinger on BSU's financial struggles and how they relate to hockey. Worth the read(s). Part 1. Part 2.

Minnesota Duluth at Alaska Anchorage: The Bulldogs are having an up-and-down season and trying to find their stride. It helps that they're getting a little scoring from some unlikely players. The Seawolves, meanwhile, would take scoring from just about anywhere, especially after getting just one goal last weekend in Mankato.

Alabama Huntsville at Wisconsin: The Badgers won the series opener 5-0 on Thursday night. They played without the services of Ryan Little, who was suspended one game by the WCHA for an dangerous hit last week again Michigan Tech. No penalty was called on the play during the game.

Nelson earns league honor

Pat Christman/The Free Press

For the third week in a row and the seventh time this season, an MSU hockey player has been honored as a WCHA player of the week. This time, it's junior defenseman Josh Nelson, who was named the league's Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in last weekend's sweep over Alaska Anchorage.

Nelson, a 6-foot-0, 180-pound blueliner from Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., had an assist in each game. He also had three shots on goal and was +1 in Friday's 3-1 win. In Saturday's 3-0 victory, he was +2 and helped goalie Stephon Williams earn his second shutout in as many series.

Nelson has a three-game scoring streak and has three goals and three assists in 15 games.

Other league honors went to North Dakota senior forward Carter Rowney (Offensive) and freshmen Rocco Grimaldi of North Dakota and David Morley of St. Cloud State (Rookies).

Among the ranked

Pat Christman/The Free Press

Minnesota State has been rewarded for its six-game winning streak and 9-5-2 start to the season by landing a spot in the national rankings. The Mavericks are ranked 20th in the latest USCHO.com poll, which was released on Monday afternoon. Minnesota State is in a tie for third place in the WCHA and is the sixth team from the conference in the poll. MSU will go to Nebraska Omaha this week; UNO moved up to No. 13 in the rankings.

Mavericks 3, Seawolves 0

Pat Christman/The Free Press

Freddy's three thoughts of the game:

1. Six in a row? Make it three: The winning streak is six games now, one shy of the MSU's last long one, a seven-game stretch in 2007-08. What's impressive about the streak, currently the third-longest unbeaten streak in the country, is that it's three series sweeps in a row. Not any easy task, especially in the WCHA. Anchorage had not been swept in a conference series yet this season, taking at least one point from the likes of Minnesota, North Dakota and St. Cloud State. Coach Mike Hastings put it in some perspective afterwards, pointing out that his team is 3-2 in series sweeps this season.

2. Willy, Willy good: Rookie goalie Stephon Williams recorded his second shutout in four games, stopping 15 shots on Saturday. He has allowed just two goals the last two weekends and six throughout the winning streak. Williams now leads the WCHA (overall games) in goals-against average at 1.61 and is third in save percentage at .932. The Mavericks' dominant puck possession and improved defense made it fairly easy for the goalie on Saturday, but he still made a couple of timely saves when he needed to. And that was key with the way the Seawolves' Chris Kamal was playing.

3. Everyone's playing: Hastings pointed out that his team is getting contributions from all over the line chart and not just offensively. Freshman defenseman Nick Buchanan played his best game of the season, Hastings said, and rookie forward Brett Knowles showed solid two-way play throughout the weekend. Of course, the big guns contributed, too, as Eriah Hayes scored his team-leading 10th goal of the season. Chase Grant and Zach Lehrke (power play) had the other goals.

Deep thought: Tough series coming up to close the first half of the conference season at Nebraska Omaha. The Mavs are tied for third place in the WCHA standings right now, and they'd love to be hanging among the top teams at the break.

Read The Free Press game story here.

Around the WCHA: Bemidji State 2, Minnesota Duluth 1 ... North Dakota 6, Denver 3 ... Michigan Tech 3, Wisconsin 3 (OT) ... St. Cloud State 2, Nebraska Omaha 1 ... Minnesota 4, Colorado College 4 (OT)

MSU vs. Anchorage — Game 2 live chat

Lines can be found below the live blog ...

MINNESOTA STATE MAVERICKS
26-Margonari      18-Leitner           19-Lehrke
24-Knowles        12-LaFontaine     25-Hayes
21-Grant              23-Blueger          22-McInnis
9-Gervais             29-Zuck               8-Gaede

16-Elbrecht          2-Nelson
7-Palmquist          4-Buchanan
27-Stern               28-Jutzi

35-Williams
30-Cook
31-Karambelas

Scratches: Burkemper, Herndon, Knoll (inj.), Leivermann, Mosey, Thauwald

ALASKA ANCHORAGE SEAWOLVES
29-Allen             9-Tatchell            12-Gellert
20-Trupp            40-Naslun            16-Pettitt
23-Roy               21-Bailey             16-Kwas
13-Sproule         26-Currier            18-Crowell

3-Docken           7-Coldwell
8-Warner            22-Leask
5-Sevalrud          37-Williams

35-Kamal
33-Gunderson

Referees: Craig Welker, Brett Klosowski. Linesmen: Nick Bradshaw, Sam Shikowsky.

Mavericks 3, Seawolves 1

Pat Christman/The Free Press

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. First responders: For the first time in their winning streak — now at five games — the Mavericks' opponent scored the first goal of the game. Anchorage's Matt Bailey scored on somewhat of an excuse-me shot between goalie Stephon Williams' shoulder and the right post just 1:49 into the game. Was this the start of the wheels coming off? Nope. Minnesota State tied the game on the power play just 70 seconds later (an Eriah Hayes redirect ... changed after the game, it was announced as a Zach Palmquist goal) and ground out the win from there.

2. Nice to Knowles: Freshman forward Brett Knowles scored his first college goal, putting MSU up 3-1 at 4:42 of the second period. While it seems like the Vanderhoof, B.C., native has had a quiet start, he's done many good things. Going into the game, he had five assists, led the Mavericks in plus-minus and has proven to be quite the backchecker and penalty killer. "They've given me the opportunity to kill penalties, and I enjoy it," he said. "It's a big part of the game. I try to take pride in killing penalties." But it had to be nice to score the goal, too. He had chances before that, including earlier Friday when he had a partial breakaway stymied when a defender lifted his stick off the puck at the last second.

3. Goalie stories: The Mavericks outshot the Seawolves 40-21 and had no easy time getting the puck past Anchorage's Chris Kamal, who made a couple of highlight saves (two on Dylan Margonari). Hayes had a deflection and Knowles scored on a rebound, as did Johnny McInnis (pictured), whose score with 4:36 left in the first period ended up as the game-winning goal. But it was Williams, once again, who came out with the win. The MSU rookie stopped 20 shots, including a couple of timely ones among his nine saves in the third period. Williams has allowed just six goals in the last five games.

Deep thought: Not quite at the halfway point of the WCHA season and the Mavericks are in a tie for fourth place, just one out of third, yet just 3,041 attended Friday's game. Hey, the Verizon Wireless Center might just be the place to warm up after the big MSU football game on Saturday.

Read my Free Press game story here.

Around the WCHA: Minnesota Duluth 4, Bemidji State 2 ... Michigan Tech 1, Wisconsin 1 (OT) ... Denver 2, North Dakota 2 (OT) ... Nebraska Omaha 6, St. Cloud State 5 ... Minnesota 4, Colorado College 2

MSU vs. Alaska Anchorage — Game 1 live chat

Lines can be found below the live chat ...




MINNESOTA STATE MAVERICKS
26-Margonari      18-Leitner           19-Lehrke
24-Knowles        12-LaFontaine     25-Hayes
21-Grant              23-Blueger          22-McInnis
9-Gervais             29-Zuck               8-Gaede

16-Elbrecht          2-Nelson
7-Palmquist          4-Buchanan
27-Stern               28-Jutzi

35-Williams
30-Cook
31-Karambelas

Scratches: Burkemper, Herndon, Knoll (inj.), Leivermann, Mosey, Thauwald

ALASKA ANCHORAGE SEAWOLVES
29-Allen             9-Tatchell            12-Gellert
20-Trupp            40-Naslun            17-Kwass
23-Roy               21-Bailey             16-Pettitt
13-Sproule         26-Currier            18-Crowell

3-Docken           7-Coldwell
8-Warner            22-Leask
5-Sevalrud          37-Williams

35-Kamal
33-Gunderson

Referees: Craig Welker, Brett Klosowski. Linesmen: Nick Bradshaw, Sam Shikowsky.

Friday Morning Skate

Pat Christman/The Free Press

Hey there hockey fans ... Depressed about seeing no end to the NHL lockout? ... Well have no fear, college hockey is here!

Once again, all 12 WCHA teams are in action against each other this weekend, including right here in Mankato with Minnesota State hosting Alaska Anchorage. The Mavericks will try to make it five, maybe six, wins in a row as they play another of their fellow left-behind teams.

While the Mavericks' success has been largely due to the play of their high-end veterans, like Matt Leitner, Eriah Hayes and Jean-Paul LaFontaine, the freshmen are certainly making an impact now, most notably goaltender Stephon Williams (pictured). Also, Dylan Margonari is on a five-game scoring streak, while World Juniors-bound Teddy Blueger is coming off probably his best game as a college player.

For more on the series, see The Free Press' gameday preview here.

As for the Seawolves, they scored their first WCHA victory last Saturday, but MSU coach Mike Hastings isn't taking them lightly, noting that they've taken at least one point in every series they've played so far. However, Anchorage also has a pretty thin roster right now.

If you haven't read it yet, here is my column on the WCHA's hands being tied a bit when it comes to promoting its future new-look league while the upstart NCHC touts its future teams. Appropriate considering Minnesota State and Alaska Anchorage are playing each other this weekend.

Going around the rest of the WCHA ...

Bemidji State at Minnesota Duluth: The Beavers are coming off a forgettable series (for them) in Mankato and are back at "ground zero" says senior defenseman Jake Areshenko. For the Bullodgs, they're showing improvement after a tough start, and their freshmen are starting to come through.

Denver at North Dakota: The WCHA's two best teams over the last 10 years (and the ringleaders for the NCHC's formation) will square off at The Ralph. This must be the week college hockey writers like me, Duluth's Kevin Pates and Grand Forks' Brad Schlossman are scrambling for ideas and heading for the freshmen, as Schloss takes a look at UND's Drake Caggiula. The Pioneers, meanwhile, are coming off a one-point home weekend against Wisconsin and are on a four-game winless skid.

Nebraska Omaha at St. Cloud State: The red Mavericks were 7-0 in November before losing at Minnesota last Saturday (Dec. 1) and would like to keep it rolling. For the Huskies, they're beginning a stretch of 10 straight home games that goes through Jan. 19.

Minnesota at Colorado College: All right, Mike Russo, joining the trend and writing about freshmen, too! The Gophers have two rookies heading to the United States' World Junior Team camp later this month, but for now, their focus is on CC. In other Minnesota news, sophomore Nick Bjugstad, by the numbers, appears to be off to a surprisingly slow start. Not so, Bjugstad says. For the Tigers, they're 1-4-1 in their last six games, but don't blame the goalies.

Michigan Tech at Wisconsin: The Huskies are coming off a tough, even bitter and certainly frustrating, nonconference loss to rival Northern Michigan on Tuesday night and now head to Madison for a key series for both teams. For the Badgers, who bounced back from their two losses to MSU with a win and a tie at Denver last week, the concern isn't just winning games but putting butts in the Kohl Center seats.

More WCHA coverage from USCHO.

Be sure to check back later for more news and during the game tonight when I'll be live blogging during the game.

You want answers?!?! You got 'em

Sam said ...
First and foremost, I love this year’s squad. Perhaps the most talented collection of players MSU has ever assembled.
1) Can we expect Coach Hastings to stick with Stephon Williams in goal the rest of the way, barring a disaster? He’s clearly the most talented netminder on the team, and one of the most talented in all of the WCHA.
2) Any word on how the imminent decline of the WCHA is affecting the recruiting efforts of MSU? I’ve got to imagine sights are going to be shifted to lesser-known commodities in the junior circuit, sadly.
3) Do you anticipate Teddy Blueger will be a one and done, or will we be lucky enough to see him in a Mavs uniform for at least one more season?
4) Can you tell us anymore about the pro prospects of some of the other talented Mavs? Hayes is obviously going to get something, but what about the under-sized, yet gifted, duo of Leitner and Lafontaine? Are they destined for the overseas ranks like a Jack Connolly?
Keep it going MSU! No surprise to me that you’re starting to click!

Sam,

1) Whoa, there … I’m not ready to call Stephon Williams one of the most talented goalies in the WCHA just yet, but his numbers are impressive right now, and he’s been on a nice run. I’d sure expect Hastings to ride the guy while he’s hot. I think Troy Jutting recruited the kid to be a No. 1 goalie, so we’ll if he’s got that in him for the long haul.

2) I don’t know if it has or not. I think Hastings is approaching recruiting a little differently than the previous regime, and it looks (on paper, anyway) like he’s already landed some decent recruits who would be good fits no matter what the WCHA looks like in the next few years. Remember, even with the conference shakeup, only one team has been added to college hockey (Penn State), yet the talent pool remains the same.

3) I don’t think so. Blueger just turned 18 in August and still looks like he’s getting his feet wet. He’s had a solid start, but he’s certainly not dominating the game and looking like he’s ready to play for the Penguins next year. MSU is being patient with him, and, based on their reputation, I’m thinking Pittsburgh probably is, too.

4) Gotta love the way Hayes is playing right now, and I’m guessing scouts are taking notice. As for the other guys, I think they look like very good college hockey players, four-year guys (MSU hopes you can compare one or both to Jack Connolly!) who may or may not get a shot after they’re done.

Chris said ...
I am not from them there parts but have a few questions and observations. 
1. I have always been told that Minnesota is the U.S Mecca for hockey, why is the Arena never full?
- What can be done to fill the seats?
- Can you give away more tickets to students?
- Is it possible for someone to critique the arena’s “DJ”? The music could be a little fresher and have more energy. And could he stop playing “All By Myself” when our guys go to the box? 
2. Can someone tell the TV announcers to stop mentioning the words “shut out” while the game is still going? Do they know nothing about jinxes?

Chris,

Average attendance is up from last year, and I suspect that will continue to rise over the second half of the season, especially with Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota coming to town. I do, however, think more can be done to draw people in, and I think they’re working on that. Winning certainly will help. As for student tickets, they give 1,100 free ones away for each game and those usually get gobbled up. They also sell tickets to students at a discounted rate; they could probably do a better job of promoting that deal.

As for your “shutout” jinx, did the announcers talk about it on Friday night? Did Williams still get the shutout? Thought so. Jinx, schminx.

More honors for MSU players

For the second week in a row Minnesota State has two WCHA weekly award winners, and one of those again went to goalie Stephon Williams.

Williams

Williams was named WCHA Rookie of the Week for his play in the Mavericks' sweep of Bemidji State last weekend. He didn't see as much rubber as he did the week before at Wisconsin but still allowed just one goal against the Beavers (37 saves on 38 shots). The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder from Fairbanks, Alaska, has now won four consecutive games and is now 4-3-1 with a 1.92 GAA and a .923 SV%. By the way, Williams' shutout on Friday was the first by an MSU rookie in WCHA play since Dan Tormey did it twice in 2005-06.

Stern

Meanwhile, sophomore defenseman Brett Stern was named co-Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the BSU series. The 6-3, 185-pound Lino Lakes native was +4 in the series and was credited with seven hits. He also scored his first career goal and had an assist for a two-point game on Saturday.

Stern shared the award with Wisconsin goaltender Landon Peterson. Minnesota Duluth's Austin Farley was named Offensive Player of the Week. More on the WCHA awards here.

Blueger

In other MSU player news, it was announced that freshman center Teddy Blueger has been invited to participate in Latvia's pre-tournament camp for the upcoming. World Junior Championships. Blueger said on Tuesday that he will leave for the came immediately following MSU's series at Nebraska Omaha  on Dec. 14-15. Blueger, a Riga, Latvia, native who played for Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault the last few years, also played on last year's Latvian team at Worlds. The World Junior Championships. will take place Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Ufa, Russia. Read more about Blueger here. I'll have more about the MSU rookie in Thursday's Freep.

You Want Answers?!?!

It's been kind of quiet on the blog ... maybe too quiet ...

Well, we're just about two months into the season, and it seems like a good time for some Qs and As. That's right, the first and long overdue You Want Answers?!?! of the year

If you don't know the drill, here's how it goes: If you have a question about Minnesota State hockey, hockey in south-central Minnesota or anything else, really, put your question in the comment section of this blog post. Later in the week (Thursday, maybe Friday), I'll put up a post with the answers to your questions.

So, have at it. Ask away.

Movers and shakers

Pat Christman/The Free Press

Minnesota State's series sweep over Bemidji State put them into a tie for fifth place in the WCHA standings (although the teams they share that with, North Dakota and Colorado College, each have two games in hand). With 10 points, they're just two behind second-place Minnesota and St. Cloud State. Four straight wins will do that for you.

Sweeps aren't easy to come by. All 12 WCHA teams were in action against each other over the weekend, and Mavericks were the only team to win twice.

And before you pan the competition, remember that MSU hasn't strung together four consecutive wins in conference play since 2007-08 when it won seven in a row. The Mavericks finished in a tie for fourth place in the league that year and hosted a playoff series.

Matt Leitner is tied for fifth in the WCHA in points with 18 (Omaha's Ryan Walters leads the league with 20) and is tied with Walters for the assist lead with 14. Eriah Hayes is tied for fourth in goals with 8 (UMD's Mike Seidel and CC's Scott Winkler lead with 10). And Stephon Williams is second in the league in goals-against average with a 1.92 (Minnesota's Adam Wilcox leads with 1.61) and fourth in save percentage at .923 (Denver's Juho Olkinuora is tops at .934).

The Mavericks have just one win against a team with a winning record (Minnesota), but they don't have to apologize for the schedule. Don't forget that Wisconsin bounced back from losing twice to MSU and took three points at Denver this weekend, and earlier this season, Bemidji State won and tied at Omaha.

For more on the wins over the Beavers, including some notes on freshman Teddy Blueger's three-assist game on Saturday, check out my Monday review/notebook here.

Mavericks 6, Beavers 1

Pat Christman/The Free Press

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Surprising Stern: Sophomore defenseman Brett Stern scored his first college goal at 5:59 of the first period to start the Mavericks' onslaught. It came at a key time, too, because Bemidji State had a fast start that included a Grade A scoring chance that rookie goalie Stephon Williams stopped about 2 minutes in. Stern finished off a scramble in front of goalie Mathieu Dugas that started with is initial shot on goal. At that point, the tide had turned, and it was all MSU after that. Stern finished with a goal and an assist, doubling his career point total.

2. Dominating defense: It was easy to forget about the Beavers' fast start by the time the first period ended. At that point, the Mavericks had outshot BSU 18-2, and that 2 remained on the board until late in the second period. Bemidji attempted just seven shots in each of the first two periods, and by the time Matt Leitner scored to make it 4-0 with 3 minutes remaining in the second period, MSU had as many goals as the Beavers had shots on goal. After some major penalties in the third period, the final shot total ended up 32-18 in favor of the Mavericks.

3. Blueger plays big: Freshman center Teddy Blueger assisted on three power-play goals and now has eight points on the year. He set up Johnny McInnis, Chase Grant and Josh Nelson for goals, getting the second power-play unit to come through for the first time in awhile. For Grant, it was his first goal since getting a hat trick in the Mavericks' season-opening game at Alabama-Huntsville on Oct. 12. McInnis scored for the first time since Nov. 3 against Minnesota. "It's huge to have two good (power-play) units that can score," Blueger said.

Deep thought: A bit more on Williams, who has been in net throughout the win streak. He shut out Wisconsin and Bemidji State for 152 minutes, 18 seconds before the Beavers scored on the power play with 7:53 left in the third period on Saturday. For the year, he now has a .923 save percentage and a 1.92 goals-against average.

Read the The Free Press game story here.

Around the WCHA: Minnesota Duluth 4, Michigan Tech 4 (OT) ... Minnesota 3, Nebraska Omaha 2 ... North Dakota 3, Colorado College 2 (OT) ... Wisconsin 3, Denver 1 ... St. Cloud State at Alaska Anchorage (late)

MSU vs. Bemidji State — Game 2 live blog

Lines can be found below the live chat ...

MINNESOTA STATE
26-Margonari      18-Leitner           19-Lehrke
24-Knowles        12-LaFontaine     25-Hayes
21-Grant              23-Blueger          22-McInnis
9-Gervais             29-Zuck               8-Gaede

16-Elbrecht          2-Nelson
7-Palmquist          4-Buchanan
27-Stern               28-Jutzi

35-Williams
30-Cook
31-Karambelas

Scratches: Burkemper (inj.), Herndon, Knoll (inj.), Leivermann, Mosey, Thauwald

BEMIDJI STATE
9-Kinne              12-Jubinville         28-George
7-Orban              14-McLeod          16-Mattson
18-Illo                 13-Ward               4-Boehm
17-Robbins         29-Brewer            27-Cain

8-Areshenko       25-Wacker
22-Prapavessis    15-Windle
20-Rendle           3-Hansen

35-Dugas
30-Walsh

Referees: Tom Sterns, Chris Perrault. Linesmen: Matt Tyree, Rick Nelson