Mavericks 1, Beavers 1

JULIAN NAPRAVNIK. FILTHY 😈 pic.twitter.com/ynJhChqnEb

— Minnesota State Hockey (@MavHockey) December 20, 2020

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Different pace: Saturday's game wasn't quite as fast-paced as Friday's 5-4 game, which was no real surprise. The game's two goals came 18 seconds apart in the first period. Bemidji State struck first on a redirect by Lukas Sillinger, and MSU's Reggie Lutz answered right back, getting an assist from — you guessed it — Jake Jaremko. Sure, it was Dec. 19, but with only four games under their belts going in, you could tell the teams just weren't used to playing back-to-backs due to the crazy COVID schedule. That will change in the second half of the year. After some more nonconference games against conference foes were added, MSU won't have a weekend off from Jan. 2-3 through the end of the regular season.

2. New faces in new places: Minnesota State changed up its lineup a bit, including in goal where Ryan Edquist made is MSU debut, stopped 16 shots and kept his net clean during the shootout. Edquist, a Lakeville native, is a grad-transfer from Boston College where he played in 21 games over four years. The Mavericks had two other transfers in the lineup, including Todd Burgess (RPI), who has played in every game so far this season, and Sam Morton, who made his MSU debut. Morton, a junior from Colorado, played a season and a half at Union before retuning to junior hockey for the second half of last season.

3. New OT format: The NCAA this offseason approved 3-on-3 overtime to be immediately played after regulation. For several conferences, including the WCHA, there was a 5-on-5 OT followed by their own 3-on-3, then a shootout, for an extra point in the standings. Now, it's right to 3-on-3, just like the NHL and other professional levels. MSU and BSU were scoreless after the 5-minute OT, and since it was an nonconference game, there was no need to go to a shootout. However, the coaches must have agreed to play a shootout, and the Mavericks won in, thanks to a nasty Julian Napravnik goal and a perfect performance from Edquist

The Mavericks are now off until Jan. 2-3 when they go to Northern Michigan.

Mavericks 5, Beavers 4

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Hockey's back in Mankato: On Dec. 18, Minnesota State was back playing a game in its own building  for the first time since March 7. There were no fans in the stands, just several dozen cardboard cutouts of MSU faithful. Crowd noise that sounded like a muzzle of bees droned over the ice, hardly replicating the real thing, which surely would have been fun given how close things got when Bemidji State made it a one-goal game with under 5 minutes to play. But this is the reality for now. Hopefully the vaccine along with, in the meantime, some smart, safe behavior — especially over the holidays — will eventually lead to getting some people back in the building.

2. Waiting for his turn: A lot of new players had to sit tight last season, knowing their chance to get a lot of game action might not come until their second year of college hockey because of MSU's senior-laden squad. Cade Borchardt played in just 10 games as a freshman and had no points. But on Friday, he proved that patience pays off. The forward from Burnsville had two goals and two assists. That included a goal and an assist on the power play. He also had to do some late penalty killing to help preserve the win. Julian Napravnik finished with two goals and an assist, and Ryan Sandelin had goal.

3. Different sport, different scoring: Bemidji State's Ethan Somoza scored two goals late in the second period to tie the game at 3-all. His second goal was a breakaway. The first, he didn't put in himself. He fired a hard shot off goalie Dryden McKay's left shoulder, and the puck went to MSU's Jared Spooner near the right post. Spooner couldn't clean up the rebound, though, and the puck bobbled off his stick and went in to the net. In hockey, Somoza gets the credit. In soccer, it would have gone down as an own goal. McKay gave up four goals for the first time since allowing five in a 7-2 loss to St. Cloud State last Dec. 28 at the Mariucci Classic.

Around the WCHA: Michigan Tech 4, Northern Michigan 3 (OT) ... Bowling Green 4, Quinnipiac 1

Friday Morning Skate

It's Friday morning, and Minnesota State (at least at this point) is playing tonight. The No. 5 Mavericks are also at home for the first time (crazy, that it's Dec. 18), hosting in-state conference rival Bemidji State (1-2) in a nonconference series. The games were postponed from Thanksgiving weekend due to COVID-19. 

The two teams' schedules have been similar so far. They played each other on Nov. 22 in Bemidji with MSU winning 5-0. Then each split a series against Michigan Tech. 

Minnesota State has some new leadership this year after the departure of so many seniors, and senior defenseman Riese Zmolek is leading the way, taking on a bigger role, writes The Free Press' Kevin Dudley. Kevin also takes a closer look at this weekend's series in the story.

In Bemidji, Austin Monteith writes about the series and takes a look at the Beavers' Sillinger brothers. You can find that story on The Rink Live, along with Jason Feldman's feature on a couple of unfamiliar faces finding their way into MSU's lineup. Earlier, Feldy focused on how the Mavs have handled the season's crazy schedule. 

The schedule has indeed been in flux, with games not in the traditional Friday-Saturday set. Tonight in the WCHA, Northern Michigan plays at Michigan Tech (the series goes to Marquette tomorrow), and Bowling Green starts a nonconference series with Quinnipiac. On Wednesday night, Northern Michigan defeated visiting Ferris State 5-4.

Bowling Green has been able to play the most games so far, thanks to having some non-WCHA teams close by. The Falcons are 6-1-0. Lake Superior State is 4-0-2, playing mostly league teams, although both Lake State and BG have played Adrian, a Division III opponent.

Enjoy this weekend, if you're able to watch, as MSU will be off for Christmas and play next at Northern Michigan on Jan. 2-3.

Keeping up with the Skedashians

It seems like the college hockey schedule is going to be rather fluid for the entire season. 

Minnesota State tried to fill in an open weekend with a series against D3 Milwaukee School of Engineering, but those games, scheduled for Saturday and today, were axed last week due to a COVID situation with the MSOE team.

The Mavericks announced a tweak to their schedule to start their conference schedule, as the series at Northern Michigan was pushed back one day, to Jan. 2-3, with times still TBA.

On Friday, Alaska announced that it was opting out of the season (for both hockey and basketball), which eliminated a Feb. 19-20 home weekend for MSU. 

The Fairbanks program joined Anchorage's in scrapping this season due to COVID concerns. UAA's decision effectively ended the program, as the school had announced that it would be dropping hockey in 2021 (although there is a save-the-program campaign underway), while UAF's decision means it might be quite sometime before the Nanooks and Mavericks play again as MSU, six other WCHA teams and St. Thomas are moving into the new CCHA next season.

As for this year, the WCHA is now and eight-team league. The conference announced that any adjustments to the schedule "are to be determined."

Minnesota State is slated to play Bemidji State in a nonconference series in Mankato on Friday and Saturday. After that, the Mavericks, who are 2-1-0 currently have a 14-game league schedule that includes one series against each team. 

There are now open weekends on Jan. 29-30 and Feb. 19-20. I'll be curious to see if MSU tries to add any more games (if there's anyone outside the WCHA it could even play) or if it keeps them vacant to allow for any other postponements.

Monday night Mavericks

 Freddy's three thoughts ...

1. Goalie split: Minnesota State lost and won at Michigan Tech, playing on Sunday and Monday. The Mavericks outshot the Huskies 81-43 in the series but had trouble solving goaltender Blake Pietila throughout. Pietila made 43 saves in Game 1 and won 3-1. He didn't allow a goal until Dallas Gerads' extra-attacker goal with 1:16 remaining. On Monday, Pietila made 35 saves, but the Mavericks (2-1-0) got two pucks by him in the second period, enough for Dryden McKay to earn a 19-save shutout victory. It was McKay's second shutout of the young season and the 16th of his college career.

2. New faces: Todd Burgess and Cade Borchardt each scored his first goal in an MSU uniform on Monday. Burgess is a graduate transfer from RPI. He has played on the Mavericks' most-productive line thus far with Jake Jaremko and Reggie Lutz. The Ottawa Senators draft pick, who has three points in three games, now has 23 collegiate goals. Borchardt, meanwhile, played in just 10 games as a rookie last season but has played in all three this year, earning a spot vacated by the departure of four graduated seniors.

3. Up next: Minnesota State announced on Monday that it has found an opponent for next weekend and will host Milwaukee School of Engineering, a Division III team, on Saturday and Sunday. A few WCHA teams have played D-III opponents thus far to fill some dates in this unusual schedule. MSU really has no one to play outside of its league, with its closest foes from the Big Ten and NCHC currently not playing out-of-conference competition. St. Thomas, which will be D-I and in the CCHA with the Mavericks next season, won't begin play until January at the earliest.

Starts and stops

When the coronavirus shut down everything on or around March 12, a strong case could be made that no sports team was more disappointed or distraught than the Minnesota State men's hockey team. 

Looking to get to its first Frozen Four and possibly win a national championship, it was as good and deep and balanced a team as the Mavericks have ever had — at least at the Division I level. Seven seniors. Three All-Americans. One of the best goaltenders in college hockey. A burning desire to right some wrongs from previous postseasons.

As heartbreaking as last season's ending was, this season's start has been more frustrating, as COVID-19 continues to impact our lives. 

After causing a month-plus delay to the start the season, the disease hasn't allowed for a smooth beginning, doing the same thing to hockey that it's done in college football and other sports.

The Mavericks opened the season with an impressive 5-0 victory at Bemidji State on Nov. 22 and had to postpone the next day's rematch due to positive COVID test results. The following week's home series against the Beavers was also postponed, and this weekend's series at Michigan Tech was pushed back a couple of days — to today and tomorrow. (Yes, the Mavericks are playing today!)

Tech (0-1-1) also hasn't played since Nov. 22.

As good as it will be to get MSU's season started again, there's already another glitch in the schedule, as next weekend's home games against Northern Michigan have been canceled due to a COVID situation at NMU. The following weekend, Minnesota State and Bemidji State are slated to play their rescheduled series in Mankato. The dates were free for MSU because Alaska Anchorage opted not to play this season (effectively putting the final nail in the coffin of the Seawolves' program).

The Mavericks and other WCHA teams appear to be doing their best to get the season going amid a tough and trying situation, but they're getting little traction out of the gate. MSU and BSU have each played just the one game, and Tech has played twice. Lake Superior State (3-0-2), Bowling Green (3-1-0) and Alabama Huntsville (0-2-1) have played a handful of games, although some of those were against a Division III team. Alaska, Ferris State and Northern Michigan have yet to play.

They're not alone. Several programs in the east have yet to get started while others, including Ivy League and some other ECAC teams, have canceled their seasons altogether.

So far, the Big Ten (with Arizona State as part of its schedule) seems to have be off to a good start, but that conference does not have a schedule beyond the end of December. The NCHC is trying out a bubble, with all of its teams beginning play in Omaha over a three-week stretch that started this past week. And then there's Long Island University, which, unbelievably, started a program from scratch during a pandemic and has played twice.

Nobody knows the right or wrong way to do this. Any outbreak or even a single positive test can throw any scheduling system out of whack. The hope is that everything is being done wisely and safely and that there are no short- or long-term health problems for anyone involved. (Remember: there are more than just players involved here; there are coaches and staff members and officials and media and more.)

Although Sundays (because of NFL games) and Monday afternoons are not ideal from a fan standpoint (no fans in the stands, of course, but some have paid for FloHockey or want to listen to the radio broadcast), the season is back on for Minnesota State. 

As a media member, I've learned to loathe the "one game at a time" cliché over the years, but it's never been a more appropriate term than it is right now.

A couple more days

Minnesota State's restart to the season will take a couple more days, as this weekend's games at Michigan Tech have been moved to a Sunday-Monday series.

The Mavericks and the Huskies will play at 5:07 p.m. Sunday and 4:07 p.m. Monday.

Minnesota State hasn't played since a 5-0 victory at Bemidji State on Nov. 22. 

Update: On Friday, it was announced that MSU's Dec. 11-12 nonconference series against Northern Michigan has been canceled due to a COVID situation involving NMU, so, as of now, the Mavericks are scheduled to play their first home games Dec. 18-19 against Bemidji State.

Bemidji State series rescheduled

Minnesota State's series against Bemidji State, which was postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests on the MSU team, has been rescheduled for Dec. 18-19 in Mankato.

The series was originally scheduled for Nov. 27-28 but postponed, along with a Nov. 23 game in Bemidji. The Mavericks and Beavers played on Nov. 22, a game MSU won 5-0. Neither team has played since.

These games are all nonconference games. Minnesota State is scheduled to play a nonconference series this coming weekend at Michigan Tech and then host Northern Michigan for a pair of non-league games Dec. 11-12. The Dec. 18-19 weekend was open on MSU's schedule after Alaska Anchorage opted out of this season due to COVID, essentially ending its program.

Minnesota State and Bemidji State will play in conjunction with a previously scheduled WCHA women's series between the two schools. Those games will take place in Mankato on Dec. 17-18.