Mavericks ranked 14th (and other news)

One of the first official polls of the men's college hockey season, from USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine, was released on Monday, and Minnesota State was ranked 14th. That's lower than a couple other prognostications, including College Hockey News, which had the Mavericks 10th in its preseason top 10. College hockey's favorite ESPN personality John Buccigross had MSU seventh in a recent tweet:

BucciMane #cawlidgehawkey Top 10 1-Miami 2-Providence 3-N Dakota 4-Wisconsin 5-U Lowell 6-N Dame 7-Minnesota St 8-BC 9-Minnesota #10-RPI
— John Buccigross (@Buccigross) September 19, 2013

Here is the USA Today/USA Hockey poll: 1. UMass-Lowell, 2. Miami, 3. Wisconsin, 4. Boston College, 5. Minnesota, 6. North Dakota, 7. Notre Dame, 8. Yale, 9. St. Cloud State, 10. Michigan, 11. Quinnipiac, 12. Union, 13. New Hampshire, 14. Minnesota State, 15. Providence.

WCHA members Ferris State and Michigan Tech were among the other teams receiving votes.

In other news ...

* Minnesota State got a commitment for 2015 over the weekend as River Falls, Wis., native and current Cedar Rapids Roughriders player Casey Jerry tweeted the news. A '95, Jerry is a 6-foot-1, 180-pound forward. ...

Proud and excited to announce that I have committed to play my college hockey career at Minnesota State University #Mavericks
— Casey Jerry (@Jerry10Casey) September 22, 2013

* Tyler Elbrecht, who signed with the ECHL's Idaho Steelheads this summer, is starting his pro career at Texas Stars (AHL) training camp.

* Staying with the Texas Stars, former Mav standout Travis Morin has carved out a nice career with that team, although he's still holding out hope to play for the big club in Dallas, with whom he's played just three games. He signed a two-year contract with Dallas this offseason.

* The San Jose Sharks on Sunday sent Eriah Hayes to Worcester (AHL) as they trimmed their training camp roster. Hayes played in Friday's preseason game for San Jose, getting 12:23 of ice time and finishing -1 with no shots.

* Minnesota State athletic director Kevin Buisman is one of five finalists for the AD vacancy at Wisconsin-Green Bay. His interview was scheduled for Monday.

* Funny moment in Sunday night's episode of "Breaking Bad": A 1998 college hockey game between Wisconsin and Denver aired on a TV in a bar Walter White was having a drink in. Spoiler alert: If you're not caught up on your BrBa, you might not want to click the link. Kudos to the hockey nerds who took the time to track that down.

* The Mankato Free Press WCHA Preseason Coaches Poll will be released on Wednesday morning. Watch for it.