Mavericks 4, Bulldogs 1 — MSU claims Broadmoor

Adelle Whitefoot

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. If you have a job to do: Do it yourself, right? That's what the Mavericks did. They didn't mess with the Pairwise, scoreboard watch or wait for Wisconsin or UMass-Lowell to help them. They went out and won the darn thing. They claimed the Broadmoor Trophy and the WCHA's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. They stretched their unbeaten streak to 13 games. They're 10th in the Pairwise and will be a No. 3 seed somewhere (St. Paul sure would be nice, although two prognosticators have them going to Worcester, Mass.). That will be determined during the NCAA Selection Show at 11 a.m. Sunday on ESPNU. The Mavericks will hold a viewing party at Mankato's downtown Buffalo Wild Wings. My guess is that the Broadmoor will make an appearance.

2. Unlikely heroes: Michael Huntebrinker, Brett Stern and Brett Knowles came into the game with one goal combined, but they were the stars of the show, as each netted a goal against the regular-season champs. Huntebrinker and Knowles play on the team's Gold Line, an energy group (which also includes Max Gaede) that when playing well, rolls with the rest of the crew but really steps up after special team time ends. "They're our energy line, and they're always wheeling around," Stern said. Stern, a defensive defenseman, had just two career goals before Saturday. Teddy Blueger set up two of the goals, and also had an empty-netter. Even he had just three goals before the championship game.

3. Huggy is huge: Goaltender Cole Huggins was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, stopping 25 of 26 shots against Ferris State and 61 of 62 shots in the two games. He made it look easy at times and got significant help from his teammates (Zach Stepan took a puck to the knee blocking a shot late in the game and had trouble getting off the rink; he finally had to be helped over the boards by Stephan Williams. No word on his health, although he was on the ice celebrating.), however he made a few of those saves "that he shouldn't have." He was the goalie on the All-Tournament Team, of course. Other MSU players on the team were Stern at defense and forwards Blueger and Bryce Gervais.

Deep thought: Attendance tonight was listed at 3,968. That would have been a decent crowd at the Verizon Wireless Center. The WCHA — and the other leagues — have some things to figure out going forward. But that's for another day.