Flu outbreak cancels second Princeton game

Saturday night's Minnesota State men's hockey game against Princeton has been cancelled due to an illness that has affected several members of MSU's team.

"At this point (around 2 p.m.) Saturday, we're sick and getting sicker," coach Mike Hastings said. (Read more on The Free Press website here.) "We couldn't have put a team on the ice."

Athletic director Kevin Buisman, in a press release sent out Saturday afternoon, said:

"Several members of our men's hockey team have come down with the flu and we do not have enough healthy student-athletes to field a team tonight. After consulting with several stakeholders, including the NCAA, Verizon Wireless Center and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, and discussing our options, it was decided to cancel the game. There were several complicating factors in the decision which involved facility scheduling, individual and team travel and the fact that there is no guarantee that we would have enough bodies to play tomorrow. We know that our fan base and those that follow us would have wanted to see the third-rated Mavericks play tonight and hope everyone can understand this difficult situation and the issues we faced in coming to this decision."

Buisman said that the game would be declared a "no contest" and that plans for ticket reimbursement will be announced at a later date.

According to NCAA policies and guidelines, no contest may be declared in cases in which a team cannot participate due to illness, weather conditions, vehicle breakdowns, etc. It is not a forfeit.

"It's an unfortunate situation," Princeton coach Ron Fogarty said in a release. "As our staff, our priority is to the well-being of the student-athlete."

Minnesota State is off until Jan. 2-3 when it will play a WCHA series at Northern Michigan.

The third-ranked Mavericks defeated Princeton 5-0 on Friday night. With the cancellation, they closed out the first half of their season with a 13-4-0 record.