A win ... and then a pause

Minnesota State had an impressive season-opening win on Sunday, defeating rival Bemidji State 5-0 at Bemidji's Sandford Center.

And then the Mavericks immediately went into a holding pattern.

Monday's series finale was postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests among MSU personnel. According to Minnesota State's release, there were no positive test results prior to Sunday's game.

Another blow came on Tuesday, as Minnesota State announced that this weekend's games against the Beavers in Mankato have been postponed due to positive test results. According to the press release:

The positive results were detected during team testing, which is being conducted three times per week. Following contract tracing, it was determined that players, coaches and support staff members deemed close contacts would need to be quarantined or isolated in accordance with health protocols. Quarantine concludes with a phased return to activity and cardiac protocols that vary based on the severity of symptoms.

"It's an unfortunate turn of events, as I know how excited our coaches and players were to get back on the ice.  The team looked very impressive in that season-opening game against Bemidji State," MSU athletic director Kevin Buisman said. "It's important, however, that we maintain safety as our top priority. The health and personal welfare of our student-athletes and coaches will always come first. We will implement appropriate medical protocols during this pause in activity and look forward to the opportunity to return to competition after carefully and thoughtfully following that guidance."

Fri — er (checks notes) — Sunday morning skate

It's Sunday, Nov. 22. The first day of the college hockey season? Well, for Minnesota State it is. 

With COVID, we should just be happy that there's a season starting at all and cross our fingers that it will continue and last.

The fifth-ranked Mavericks are opening the season with a nonconference series at No. 16 Bemidji State, playing at 5 p.m. today and 3 p.m. on Monday. The two teams will play again in Mankato next weekend. They're scheduled to play a home-and-home series Feb. 25-27 for conference points to close out the regular season.

"Exciting time," ninth-year MSU coach Mike Hastings said during his Wednesday press conference. "We've been waiting since March to get back to having a date to play, if we were going to play, when we were to be playing, who we were going to be playing. ..."

Hastings said COVID restrictions made for a much different offseason and preseason, from communications to practices and workouts. He added that, until recently, the team had to be split into separate locker rooms on opposite sides of the rink.

"That locker room's a special place," he said. "What you miss the most in the locker room is the bonding. We're already starting to see some progress now that they're all in the locker room."

He said the team has played four intrasquad scrimmages during the run up to opening day and is ready to play a real opponent.

With the graduation of seven lineup staples and the early departure of another, Minnesota State's going to look so much different this season and be young in some areas. Still, it it has plenty of experience in its lineup, most notably junior All-American goaltender Dryden McKay, the WCHA preseason player of the year..

"One of the best things about Dryden McKay is his mental makeup," Hastings said. "He's a calm young man. ... Excited about where he's at and what he can continue to accomplish. He's going to be busier this year than he was a year ago. ... But I think Dryden's prepared."

The senior class includes five players who have played in more than 100 games. The group includes forwards Jake Jaremko (30 goals, 74 points, 101 career games), Reggie Lutz (27 goals, 67 points, 113 career games), Jared Spooner (20 goals, 65 points in 112 career games), Dallas Gerads (27 goals 60 points in 97 career games) and Walker Duehr (15 goals, 34 points in 74 career games); as well as defensemen Riese Zmolek (6 goals, 27 points in 111 career games) and Jack McNeely (5 goals 29 points in 103 career games).

"They're our foundation; they're our rock," Hastings said of the senior class. "As a group, not as a single player. ... I look forward as the glue that keeps us together when things get hot."

"The majority of guys that we're talking about have played an awful lot of minutes," Hastings said. "I think we're going to have to be team that beats you with our depth."

As experienced as MSU, Lutz is the only returning player who reached double digits in goals, and its top two returning point producers were freshmen last season — Lucas Sowder (6-25—31) and Nathan Smith (9-18—27). Sowder was the WCHA rookie of the year last year, and Smith, a third-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets is one of two draft choices on MSU's roster (the other is grad-transfer Todd Burgess who had been at RPI).

"Both of them had outstanding summers," Hastings said of Sowder and Smith, both Florida natives. "I like where they're at right now. They've showed me they're not satisfied. They've come in with a hunger. They're trying to be our best players every day, and if they continue to do that, I think they'll have great sophomore seasons."

As of Wednesday, Hastings and MSU had not yet announced the Mavericks' captains.

Here are some stories you might be interested in as we set forth on the 2020-21 season:

The Mankato Free Press put out its Mavericks season preview today.

The Rink Live's Rochester guy, Jason Feldman, looks at a couple of MSU players — both senior defensemen — from his neck of the woods, Rochester's Zmolek and Lakeville's McNeely.

In Bemidji, there's been a last-minute change on the coaching staff, but head man Tom Serratore has brought in a familiar, very experienced face to his staff. The Rink Live has a preview of the MSU-BSU series and rivalry.

FloHockey has a story on this week's goaltending matchup between McKay and the Beavers' Zach Driscoll, as well as an MSU preview.

On Saturday, Michigan Tech and Lake Superior State skated to a 0-0 tie, and Alabama Huntsville fell to Robert Morris 5-2. Both of those series will continue today. Also Saturday, Bowling Green beat D-III Adrian 5-0.

MSU to start season with no fans

Minnesota State announced on Monday that its hockey teams will start the season without fans in the stands due to the rising rates of COVID-19 in the state, region and Mankato community. The policy is currently in effect through the end of the calendar year when it will be reevaluated.

This will effect men's series against Bemidji State (Nov. 27-28) and Northern Michigan (Dec. 11-12), both nonconference sets. Games will be available to watch with a FloHockey subscription, as well as on Charter-Spectrum channel 826, and to listen to on KTOE 1420 AM.

For the women's team, it will effect this weekend'sgames against Minnesota Duluth (Nov. 20-21) and a series against Bemidji State (Dec. 17-18).

Minnesota State announced it is working on other initiatives to allow fans to be part of the game-day experience, including cardboard cutouts to purchase and a virtual Chuck-a-Puck contest.

The Mavericks men's team will open the season at Bemidji State, although the series was pushed back a couple of days and will take place Sunday at 5 p.m. and Monday at 3 p.m. Bemidji State will not have fans in the stands for those games.

With McKay, MSU still considered WCHA's best

Dryden McKay

Gone are Marc Michaelis, Parker Tuomie and Charlie Gerard. Nick Rivera and Josh French. Ian Scheid and Edwin Hookenson. Connor Mackey, too.

Yet, this week, the Minnesota State men's hockey team was overwhelmingly picked to finish first in the WCHA by the league's coaches and media who cover the conference (Puckato excluded ... geez, I wonder if they have my other email address?).

The Mavericks were the unanimous pick of the media and received six first-place votes from the coaches (coaches could not vote for their own teams).

With all of those losses, why MSU? Why not Bemidji State (second in both polls) or Bowling Green (third in both)? Is it just deference to the team that's won three straight MacNaughton Cups and five (four outright) in the last six years? 

Perhaps.

Akito Hirose

Or it might be because of one particular player who is returning, junior goaltender Dryden McKay. McKay was tabbed as the media's preseason player of the year and shared that honor in the coaches' vote. McKay, who was an All-American, a top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award and a top five finalist for the Mike Richter Award last season, was 30-4-2 with a .942 save percentage and a 1.31 goals-against average.

In two seasons, he's got 54 wins, a .934 save percentage and a 1.53 GAA, so it's easy to see why so many people have faith in him. 

"He deserves being recognized as somebody who could be player of the year," coach Mike Hastings said in Tuesday's Mankato Free Press. "The competition he has within himself to play at an elite level is what separates him."

McKay, who was named to the all-preseason team in both polls, shared the player of the year honor with Bowling Green senior forward Brandon Kruse. 

The coaches also tabbed Mavericks sophomore forward Lucas Sowder to their all-preseason team and named MSU freshman defenseman Akito Hirose as preseason rookie of the year.

WCHA Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Minnesota State (6 first-place votes) 86 points
2. Bemidji State (1) 79
3. Bowling Green (3) 78
4. Michigan Tech 64
5. Northern Michigan 63
6. Lake Superior State 49
7. Alaska 40
8. Ferris State 35
9. Alaska Anchorage 28
10. Alabama Huntsville 18

Player of the Year: Brandon Kruse, F, Bowling Green; Dryden McKay, G, Minnesota State

Rookie of the Year: Akito Hirose, D, Minnesota State

All-Preseason Team: Forwards—Griffin Loughran, Northern Michigan; Brandon Kruse, Bowling Green; Connor Ford, Bowling Green; Lucas Sowder, Minnesota State. Defensemen—Elias Rosen, Bemidji State; Chris Jandric, Alaska. Goaltender Dryden McKay, Minnesota State.

WCHA Preseason Media Poll
1. Minnesota State (10 first-place votes) 100 points
2. Bemidji State 89
3. Bowling Green 76
4. Northern Michigan 68

5. Michigan Tech 67
6. Lake Superior State 44
7. Alaska 40
8. Ferris State 33
9. Alaska Anchorage 21
10. Alabama Huntsville 12

Player of the Year: Dryden McKay, G, Minnesota State

Rookie of the Year: Carson Bantle, F, Michigan Tech

All-Preseason Team: Forwards—Griffin Loughran, Northern Michigan; Connor Ford, Bowling Green; Owen Sillinger. Bemidji State. Defensemen—Elias Rosen, Bemidji State; Jake Willets, Ferris State. Goaltender Dryden McKay, Minnesota State.

To see other vote-getters, click on the links in the second paragraph of this post.