Saturday Morning Skate

The Mavericks' season starts today! Check out the Saturday Morning Skate on the Puckato Substack. Be sure to subscribe. Hoping to grow that site as the season goes on! 

Next on the pod: Nathan Davis ... er ... Smith!

CCHA Preseason Player of the Year and MSU junior forward Nathan Smith joins me on the Maverick Hockey Live Podcast this week to talk about the upcoming season, his preseason award, roller hockey and his decision to return for another year of college hockey. Take a listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Mavericks dominate CCHA preseason picks

As I continue to consider the logistics of a Substack page/newsletter, possibly with a paid subscription. (for now, sign up here), the new CCHA came out with its preseason awards and predictions on Monday.

Minnesota State, which won the last four straight WCHA championships, is the favorite to win the first CCHA regular season title, per the league's head coaches, five of whom gave the Mavericks their first-place vote. Here are the results:

1. Minnesota State (5) 67 points

2. Bemidji State (1) 63 

3. Michigan Tech (2) 55

4. Northern Michigan 54

5. Bowling Green 46

6. Lake Superior State 45

7. Ferris State 32

8. St. Thomas 30

Mavericks junior forward Nathan Smith, who came on strong in the NCAA tournament, was picked as the conference's Preseason Player of the Year, a bit of a surprise, as senior goalie Dryden McKay was the WCHA's top player last season, as well as a Hobey Baker and Richter Award finalist. Smith, a second-team All-WCHA selection last season, had 25 points, including nine goals a year ago and was the WCHA's top power-play point scorer (13).

Smith and McKay were among four MSU players to make the CCHA's Preseason All-Conference Team, joining senior forward Julian Napravnik and sophomore defenseman Akito Hirose. Northern Michigan forward Joseph Nardi and Michigan Tech defenseman Colin Swoyer were the other selections.

Finally, Bowling Green forward Austen Swankler was named CCHA Preseason Rookie of the Year.

A new season, a new venture

Hello! 

We're only a couple of weeks away from the start of the 2021-22 hockey season, and I'm excited to say that I'm still hanging around the sport!

After taking a bit of a stab at it last spring before the playoffs, I'm proud to announce that I'll be hosting the Maverick Hockey Live Podcast this season. This will be a weekly feature as part of a bunch of content Minnesota State hockey is rolling out this year.

I recorded the first episode this week, and it was released today. I talked to a couple of super-senior, fifth-year players, both defensemen — one you all know well and one you might not. Jack McNeely is returning to the Mavericks with his extra year of eligibility granted due to the pandemic, and Benton Maas comes to MSU for his extra season after four years at New Hampshire. Each offered a different perspective as to why he is at Minnesota State for a fifth year of college hockey (McNeely isn't alone; teammate Reggie Lutz is also back with the Mavs for a fifth season). 

Give it a listen here (or go to Apple Podcasts or other podcast apps and subscribe):

I'm considering some other areas to involve myself in covering some college hockey this season. One consideration is to start a Substack page, possibly with a paid subscription. For now, get in on the ground floor with that by signing up here.

Feeling Blue: Mavericks' longtime assistant steps away

Over the last two decades plus, I'm not sure I met anyone more passionate about Minnesota State men's hockey than Darren Blue. The guy simply bleeds purple and gold.

A former Mavericks player and captain, he became an assistant coach for his alma mater in 2000, when Troy Jutting took over as head coach for the retiring Don Brose. Blue spent 12 seasons with Jutting and then, after Jutting was fired, stayed on with Mike Hastings (and fellow assistant Todd Knott) for nine seasons. I'm sure it was a thrill for him to be behind the bench as the Mavericks became a powerhouse in the WCHA and eventually made it to the Division I Frozen Four for the first time last April.

On Monday, Minnesota State announced that Blue is stepping away from the bench to take a job in the private sector. For a lot of people, it will be strange not to see him around the rink. There simply aren't that many people who have been associated with the program for more years than he. Brose started the program and coached for 30 years. Jutting was a four-year player and a 10-year assistant before taking the reins for a dozen years. Paul Allan has been in athletic communications at the university since 1985.

"Darren Blue has been synonymous with Maverick hockey for over two decades. ..." Hastings said in a press release. "His integrity, class and passion for Maverick hockey and the city of Mankato has helped build our program to where it is today. ... (He) has been instrumental from day one on helping me understand what it means to be a Maverick."

Blue literally helped build MSU into a Division I program. As a player in the 1990s, he led efforts to whip up community support for the building of the downtown arena the Mavericks eventually called home. When the facility was being renovated to become MSU's everyday home in 2015, Blue's penchant for detail was often noted in the design of the new locker rooms, offices and training areas. (It certainly makes sense, then, that his next move is to be a business strategist for the sports and recreation business unit at ISG.)

Blue has been the connection between the hockey program and its alumni, finding ways to keep them involved with the the program well beyond their playing days and even making sure they completed their college degrees. (It will be interesting to see if, perhaps, Hastings hires a former MSU player to replace Blue, and, if so, who might be a candidate.)

"It's hard to believe 21 years in this position have gone by so fast," Blue said in a statement. "I think that's a testament to the quality of people and players I have had the opportunity to work with during this time."

McKay shut out for Richter, Hobey

The Associated Press

It was no surprise that Dryden McKay didn't win the Hobey Baker Award as the nation's top men's college hockey player. That he didn't get the Richter Award as the country's top goalie, though, was a bit of a shocker, at least in these parts.

McKay, who racked up 10 shutouts this season and had stunning numbers, especially over the first half of the season, lost out to Minnesota's Jack LaFontaine for the Richter. High-scoring Wisconsin forward Cole Caufield, as expected, won the Hobey.

Interestingly, McKay was a top three Hobey finalist — the Hobey Hat Trick —and LaFontaine was not. It should be noted, however, that those awards have two different committees and different voting windows. It's been reported that the Richter vote came after conference championship weekend (not great for McKay and pretty good for LaFontaine), while the Hobey vote came after the NCAA regional round (when McKay shut out the Gophers in a head-to-head meeting with LaFontaine to get to the Frozen Four).

LaFontaine stopped 46 of 50 shots in the Big Ten title game against Wisconsin for a 6-4 win, while McKay got pulled after giving up four goals on 14 shots in the WCHA semifinal against Northern Michigan. If that was the last impression voters got of two extremely close candidates before turning in their ballots, that might have made a difference. A week later, following that head-to-head matchup, who knows what the result would have been? Perhaps that result was why McKay, and not LaFontaine, made the Hobey Hat Trick.

Following Minnesota State's 5-4 loss to St. Cloud State in the Frozen Four semifinals on Thursday, McKay finished the season 21-4-0 — all against WCHA opponents prior to the NCAAs — with a .924 save percentage and a 1.54 goals-against average. He also had 10 shutouts to raise his career total to 24, two shy of Ryan Miller's NCAA record.

LaFontaine, playing only Big Ten games before the tournament, went 22-7-0 with stats of .934, 1.79 and five shutouts. 

Both goalies, interestingly enough, had series shutouts on the road this season, McKay at Northern Michigan and LaFontaine at Notre Dame.

Although I can live with the result — LaFontaine indeed had a great season — I, for one, will defend McKay on a few fronts: His consistency over three seasons has been incredible. The confidence with which his team plays in front of him is impressive. And the shutout total, no matter who MSU played, is insane. It's hard to get shutouts, and, at one point this season strung together three in a row — all on the road! McKay shut out Bemidji State, Lake Superior State, Northern Michigan (twice), Bowling Green, Michigan Tech and Minnesota — not just the WCHA bottom feeders. 

Finally, I'll add that, unlike LaFontaine and Boston College's Spencer Knight, McKay is not a 6-foot-3 NHL draft pick who makes scouts go gaga when he steps on the ice for warmups. He's 5-11 (maybe) and, who knows, might end up playing five season of college hockey when all is said and done.

As for all of the arguing (and there was plenty on Twitter for an hour-plus after the announcement), it's not like anyone who voted for LaFontaine thinks McKay is terrible. I'm guessing it was a very, very close vote, a flip of a coin, perhaps. It's just tough, I'm sure, for Minnesota State and its fans to swallow this for a second year in a row.

On a positive note, McKay was also named second-team West All-American on Friday (LaFontaine was first-team), becoming MSU's first two-time Division I All-American.

Huskies 5, Mavericks 4

The Associated Press

Freddy's three thoughts ...

1. So, so close: It was a great game between Minnesota State and St. Cloud State. Mike Hastings said afterward, "When you have two evenly matched teams, a play at the end of the game can make the difference." And that's what happen when the Huskies' Nolan Walker scored the game-winner on a deflected shot with 53.2 seconds to play in regulation. Minnesota State got down early and was down 3-1 before storming back to take a 4-3 lead at 4:18 of the third period. But it couldn't add to that lead or close out this final-period lead, and the Huskies made the comeback to win it and move on to the championship game.

2. Smith steps up: Minnesota State sophomore forward Nathan Smith might have been the best player on the ice, scoring two goals, both on the power play. If the Winnipeg Jets draft pick returns next season, he could be quite a force in the new CCHA. "The steps he made over the last few weeks are going to serve him well," Hasting said. "I thought (he) was outstanding in the regional and was impactful tonight." Walker Duehr had a big goal to spark MSU's second-period comeback and a big assist to fellow senior Dallas Gerads for the go-ahead goal.

3. Historic season: This season won't soon be forgotten, as the Mavericks got to the Frozen Four for the first time. "They wrote some new history," Hastings said. "Last March, a year ago, when that group was on that journey, they didn't get a chance to write it. I think this group picked those pieces up." Senior Riese Zmolek fought back tears during the post-game press conference, saying: "Obviously, it's tough, what we just went through, But I'm proud of the group we have in there. It's a special group of guys. I'm proud of every single person in that locker room. ... And the coaching staff, coach Hastings, they'll be back. They'll be back for more."

Deep thought: The ESPN broadcast left so much to be desired. Between Nathan Smith being called "Davis," Todd Burgess being called "Tom" or even "Tommy," and Barry Melrose clearly not knowing which team was which or what conference they played in, it was really tough to watch. I appreciate John Buccigross' passion for college hockey and his commitment to trying to give a niche, regional sport some national exposure, but a little prep can go a long way to improve a broadcast. Be better, ESPN.

Frozen Four morning skate

Associated Press

It's been almost exactly a year since I left the Minnesota State hockey beat for The Free Press, so, yes, today, not being in Pittsburgh, is a little tough personally. I'll be watching, from afar, of course, but to see this team make it to the sport's biggest stage just one year after my 20-year career covering the Mavericks ended gives me the slightest twinge of sadness.

On the other hand, I have no regrets about the job change, and, if not for some COVID protocols that will make covering this event unique, if not difficult, I might have taken some PTO and gone to Pittsburgh anyway. Anyway, this is not about me. I think about those players on last year's team who saw their chance to play for a championship dashed by COVID-19. And, of course, there are those players who suffered those difficult first-round losses over the years. I think about the fans who have been waiting a long, long time for this day. A newspaper writer who maybe quit a year early? Well, there's always the blog, right!

All right, let's get to game day. The Mavericks take on in-state rival St. Cloud State at 4 p.m. today on ESPN2. The winner will play the winner of Minnesota-Duluth and UMass on Saturday.

For the Mavericks, they'll try to use a familiar formula to get past the Huskies and play for a championships. They're enjoying their first trip to the Frozen Four, but they're not satisfied with just being there. St. Cloud State is hoping to find a way to beat one of the nation's best goaltenders, Hobey Baker and Richter Award finalist Dryden McKay.

The Star Tribune previews the game here and gives its players to watch (including, naturally, McKay) here.

College Hockey News notes that the best conference in college hockey right now might be the ... Northern Sun and has more coverage here.

USCHO looks at MSU's starts and notes that a fast one might be in order against St. Cloud State. Full coverage here.

Enjoy the day, Maverick fans!

One day more

Minnesota State and the three other teams in the Frozen Four practiced and had their press conferences in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, and everyone's still holding their breath on COVID protocols, especially after UMass lost four players for its semifinal game, including its No. 1 goaltender and leading scorer, due to contract tracing.

There's a lot of excitement, though, especially around Mankato and the Mavericks program where alumni and, yes, the old founder, Don Brose, are all but declaring Thursday a local holiday. 

(This just in ... they are declaring it a holiday, of sorts, in Mankato and North Mankato!)

Great to see that Brosey is making his way to Pittsburgh to see this.

The coverage is coming fast and furious, and as much as it's killing this former beat writer not to be in Pittsburgh right now, I did get to contribute to another college hockey broadcast. And, of course, there are a lot of good people there doing good work. Check out College Hockey News and USCHO, in addition to your local papers.

Hastings named national coach of the year

Minnesota State coach Mike Hastings won the American Hockey Coaches Association's Spencer Penrose Award as national coach of the year, the group announced on Tuesday. It was the second time Hastings has received the honor, having first won in 2015.

Hastings has the Mavericks in the Frozen Four for the first time ever in a season in which the team is 22-4-1 and captured its fourth straight WCHA regular-season championship.

While it's hard to say if this season has been Hastings' best coaching job, it has been impressive, considering the significant turnover from last year's team (two All-Americans, 3 of their top 4 scorers, half their D-corps, eight seniors who had played no fewer than 121 games each, etc.) and the severe disappointment that loaded team suffered when COVID-19 shut down the season and canceled the NCAA Tournament.

Granted, another All-American, Dryden McKay returned in goal, and there remained plenty more experience — from Riese Zmolek and Jack McNeely on the back end to Julian Napravnik and Nathan Smith and seniors Jake Jaremko, Reggie Lutz and Dallas Gerads up front (to name a few) — on the roster. But who would have guessed this would be the team to break the NCAA curse and take this program into April? Quite a story.

Entering the Frozen Four, Hastings has a career college record of 236-89-24 for a .711 winning percentage, best among active Division I men's coaches.

Playing in April

Minnesota State is prepping for Pittsburgh and the Frozen Four this week, and the content is coming in. Here's a little for your Monday-night reading (more tomorrow):

In case you missed it, ol' Puckato appeared on College Hockey News' Frozen Four Preview Podcast and, on Tuesday, will join Ryan Stanzel's State of the Skates broadcast.

The Free Press' Kevin Dudley had a great feature on Mike Hastings, talking to peers and former players to find out what makes him tick. Meanwhile Jason Feldman of The Rink Live takes a closer look at Hastings' trusty assistant coaches.

With three Minnesota teams playing in the Frozen Four this week, a lot of people are envoking the dream of Herb Brooks and John Mariucci.

The Mavericks will be playing St. Cloud State at 4 p.m. Thursday, and the Star Tribune's Pat Reusse takes a look back at the old rivals' long history.

With COVID still lingering, everyone's crossing their fingers that college hockey is going to make it through the final weekend of the season unscathed.

There is only one team remaining in the tournament that has a Hobey Baker finalist and a Richter Award finalist, and that is Minnesota State with goalie Dryden McKay. McKay was named to the Hobey Hat Trick, the top three finalists, last week, along with two forwards, Hobey-favorite Cole Caufield of Wisconsin and Shane Pinto of North Dakota. Those awards will be announced on Friday afternoon, the day between the Frozen Four semifinals and championship, along with the AHCA West and East All-Americans.

Frozen Four-bound!

The Associated Press

Freddy's three thoughts (from afar ... sigh):

1. Carrying the banner: At the beginning of each season, Mike Hastings makes sure to emphasize that it's a new year, a new team, one that has to build its own "book of business" or "go back to the basement" and "build a new foundation." The past being the past and all. But this Mavericks team, which is Pittsburgh-bound after defeating — really, dominating — Minnesota 4-0 on Sunday, might have been playing for all of those MSU teams that suffered through bad bounces, controversial goals, comebacks and collapses. Certainly they must have had last year's team — the one that so many thought would be competing for a national title, only to have its chances wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic — on their minds. With the weight of 0 for 6 off their backs after defeating Quinnipiac in OT on Saturday, the Mavericks played one of their finest, most-complete games in recent memory to get to their first Frozen Four.

2. 29 on the Richter scale: Dryden McKay, as usual, got a lot of help from his defense, which blocked 23 shot and held the Gophers to just nine shots on net over the first two periods. But he still came up big when he had to, stopping 13 shots in the third period and finishing with his 10th shutout of the season and the 24th of his career in the biggest game of his career (so far). McKay is one of three finalists for the Mike Richter Award, which goes to the nation's top goaltender. He out-dueled one of the others tonight in the Gophers' Jack LaFontaine (23 saves), while the other, Boston College's Spencer Knight, lost 4-1 to St. Cloud State, MSU's opponent in the national semifinal. McKay is also the only one of the 10 Hobey Baker Award finalists whose season is still alive.

3. Breakout weekend: Ryan Sandelin was named the regional's MVP after his two-goal, on-assist weekend that included Saturday's OT winner. He scored the second goal on Sunday, tipping in a Jack McNeely point shot. Sandelin, Sam Morton and Brendan Furry earned Hastings' trust over the course of the weekend and seemed to get more and more playing time as the weekend went on. Morton scored the first goal against Minnesota. Nathan Smith also had a two-goal weekend, and his goal in the third period was the backbreaker. Dallas Gerads added an empty-netter. It was quite a weekend for the Sandelin family, of course, after Minnesota Duluth, coached by Ryan's dad, Scott, made a fourth straight Frozen Four after a five-OT win over North Dakota late Saturday night.

Relive the historic night in Colorado! #HornsUp😈 #FrozenFourBound pic.twitter.com/zom09vq2tu

— Minnesota State Hockey (@MavHockey) March 29, 2021

Mavericks 4, Bobcats 3 (OT)

THE CURSE IS DONE FOR GOOD! 😈 pic.twitter.com/eMKgnz7c8m

— Minnesota State Hockey (@MavHockey) March 28, 2021

Freddy's three thoughts ...

1. Finally! Minnesota State got its long-awaited NCAA tournament victory, ending a six-game string of bad luck, heartbreak and failure with a win over Quinnipiac. To exorcise their cruise, the Mavericks had to make a remarkable, two-goal, third-period comeback that included Cade Borchardt's game-tying, extra-attacker goal with 1:02 remaining in regulation. Ryan Sandelin was the overtime hero, slamming in a loose puck on a scramble in front of the Bobcats net and sending his team on to a regional final for the first time. (Mike Sullivan's radio call of the GWG is in the above tweet.) Goaltender Dryden McKay stopped 27 shots for his 20th win of the season.

2. Tough start: The Mavericks came out of the gates slow — not ideal — and Quinnipiac grabbed a 2-0 lead, outshooting MSU 13-6, in the first period. But MSU had early leads in its previous two NCAA games — 3-0 against Providence in 2019 and 2-0 against Minnesota Duluth in 2018 — and let them slip away. On Saturday, they didn't let their deficit bring them down and took over from the second period on, outshooting the Bobcats 32-17 the rest of the way. Jake Jaremko scored in the second, and even though they fell behind 3-1 in the third period, they kept up the pressure, cutting their deficit to one score on a Nathan Smith goal with 5:06 left in regulation. 

3. Making plays: Borchardt's goal was set up by a brilliant play by freshman defenseman Jake Livingstone, who carried the puck deep, going through traffic, and dished a perfect pass for Borchardt to fire in. (Sully's radio call of that goal is in the tweet below.) Sandelin's was set up by hard plays around the net by Brendan Furry and Reggie Lutz. Sandelin had been knocked to the ice but got up quickly and went to the net where he appeared to be the only player to notice the loose puck that goalie Keith Petruzzelli couldn't find to cover.

Yeah I did record ourselves watching the game. And yeah, I did sync it to radio. And yeah, winning is personal. Huge moment for @MavHockey. Long time coming! So excited for everyone😀 pic.twitter.com/Ck5aUAYU1K

— Greg Vandermause (@GregVandermause) March 28, 2021

The Mavericks will play Minnesota in the West Regional Final at 7 p.m. Sunday. The game will be on ESPN2.

Saturday Morning Skate

Minnesota State will try to snap its NCAA winless streak today when it plays Quinnipiac in the West Regional at 4 p.m. in Loveland, Colo. (ESPN3). 

It's been an interesting tournament so far, with two teams, Notre Dame and Michigan, pulled from the field due to positive COVID tests. Those results came after Monday, so their games were declared no contests, and Boston College and Minnesota Duluth advanced to their respective regional finals.

Bemidji State pulled off the big upset on Friday with a decisive 6-3 victory over Wisconsin in Bridgeport, Conn. The Beavers got up early and never really looked back against the East Region's No. 1 seed. Bemidji State will play UMass at 4 p.m. today (seriously, NCAA, how hard is it to not have these games be played at the same time!) for a trip to the Frozen Four. UMass knocked off WCHA playoff champion Lake Superior State 5-1. 

In other first day action, North Dakota beat American International 5-1 and will play NCHC-rival UMD at 6:30 p.m. today in the Midwest Regional final in Fargo, N.D.

First-round games today include Minnesota vs. Omaha at 8 p.m. on the other side of the West bracket and St. Cloud State vs. Boston University at noon in the Northeast Regional in Albany, N.Y., with BC awaiting the winner.

As for the Mavericks, they feel they need to establish their "ground game" early in order to break through. They've had some slow starts this year and can't afford to do that in an elimination game. Perhaps last week's loss to Northern Michigan in the WCHA semifinals helped them hit the reset button. Minnesota State is also trying to be COVID cautious and avoid any situation such as whatever got Notre Dame or Michigan in trouble.

The Free Press' Kevin Dudley is in Loveland and has been reporting on the Mavericks, including a nice feature about goalie Dryden McKay and his father, Ross. McKay on Friday was named one of three finalists for the Richter Award as the nation's top goalie, along with Minnesota's Jack LaFontaine and BC's Spencer Knight.

The Rink Live's Jason Feldman gives you 10 things to know about MSU's matchup with Quinnipiac, and the Star Tribune's Randy Johnson is also covering the Mavs, along with the Gophers.

Mavericks heading West

Minnesota State is heading to the West Regional in Loveland, Colorado, for the NCAA tournament. The Mavericks will be the No. 2 seed in the region and take on No. 3 Quinnipiac at 3 p.m. The game will be shown on ESPN3. Minnesota is the No. 1 seed in the region and will play No. 4 Omaha.

"We’re excited," MSU coach Mike Hastings said. "Everybody’s excited. I think anybody that gets into this tournament is excited about what their opportunities are. The idea is getting there and then having the opportunity to win a championship."

For the first time ever, all five of Minnesota's Division I men's programs are in the national tournament. Besides the Mavericks and Gophers, Minnesota Duluth will be the No. 3 seed at the Midwest Regional in Fargo; St. Cloud State will be the 2 at Albany, N.Y.; and Bemidji State will be the 4 at Bridgeport, Conn.

"I think it says a lot when you're looking at 5 of 16 teams being within our border," Hastings said. "I'm really happy for the group, considering every one of those head coaches a very good friend of mine. Hopefully we can all go and represent the state of Minnesota the way we want to."

Also, for the first time since 2013 realignment, the WCHA will have three teams in the NCAAs. Lake Superior State, which won the WCHA playoff championship on Saturday in Mankato, will be the No. 3 seed in Bridgeport.

"Very well deserving," Hastings said. "Congratulations to Lake Superior State, and congratulations to Bemidji State. I think our league this year was an incredible grind."

Quinnipiac is 17-7-4 and lost to St. Lawrence in overtime in the ECAC championship game on Saturday (St. Lawrence ended up declining the auto-bid due to a positive COVID test from its coach). The Bobcats have two Hobey Baker candidates in Odeen Tufto and Keith Petruzelli. Tufto has 45 points, including a nation-leading 38 assists in 28 games. Petruzelli, a goalie has a .927 save percentage and a 1.82 goals-against average.

"There are some guys that jump off the paper," Hastings said. "And they're as sound defensively as you'll find in college hockey."

The Loveland regional will be played without fans. The Mavericks will leave Wednesday for the regional and will be required to undergo COVID testing in advance of the tournament.

Wildcats 5, Mavericks 1

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Un-Dryden-like: Who would have thought Minnesota State goaltender Dryden McKay was going to give up four goals, including one from the blue line, and get the hook a little more than halfway through a WCHA semifinal game? Hard to blame him on the first two goals, and he made a highlight save in the closing seconds of the first period to keep it 1-0 at the first break, but it was hardly a Richter-esque performance from one of the best goalies in college hockey this season.

2. Out of sorts: The Mavericks didn't have a shot on goal for nearly 13 minutes in the first period and had 26 shots blocked. Northern Michigan was all over them, and MSU began to struggle completing passes and getting to second chances around the net. It's a bit of what happened a week earlier against Ferris State, in the first game of sweep that definitely didn't satisfy them. Reggie Lutz scored the Mavericks' lone goal on a power play in the third period. 

3. What's next? The Mavericks are a lock for the NCAA tournament, but it will be interesting to see where they're seeded and where they'll go? Will the loss keep them from a No. 1 seed? They're still No, 1 in the Pairwise, but that's not being used to determine the field this year. Meanwhile, Northern Michigan at 11-16-1 is a win away from stealing the WCHA's auto-bid and spoiling someone's at-large chance, perhaps one of the two teams playing tonight, Bemidji State and Lake Superior State.

For more coverage, read my gamer on College Hockey News.

Friday Morning Skate

The WCHA championship weekend is here, and it's all taking place in Mankato. I like this format. I'd like it better if the arena could be full. As it stands with COVID restrictions, here is the schedule:

• 1-Minnesota State vs. 6-Northern Michigan, 2:07 p.m.

• 2-Lake Superior State vs. 4-Bemidij State, 7:37 p.m.

• Sauer Trophy championship game, 7:07 p.m. Saturday

The third-ranked Mavericks enter the weekend with four wins in a row and having won 11 of their last 12 games. They're playing well right now, showing off some depth. One player who's rolling is senior forward Walker Duehr, undeterred by his slow start to the season, The Free Press' Kevin Dudley writes. Dudley also reports that Reggie Lutz has been cleared to play after missing last weekend, which should be a boost to MSU's offense.

The, of course, there's goaltender Dryden McKay, who was named a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award this week, the second year in a row he has reached that point for the nation's top-player honor. He's one of four goalies on the list and the only WCHA player.

In other honors this week, Mavericks coach Mike Hastings was named WCHA coach of the decade for the 2010s, while McKay, Marc Michaelis and Matt Leitner were named to the all-decade team, as the league celebrates 70 seasons. I'm proud to have been part of the season-long project, writing about the 2000s and the 2010s. Be sure to check it out.

Also, if you haven't already, take a listen to my podcast with Minnesota State senior captain Riese Zmolek. Need to catch up, here's a link to last week's podcast with McKay.

For more on the Mavericks' awards and a look at this weekend, check out The Rink Live's coverage. Jason Feldman also writes about the four goaltenders in the tournament, and FloHockey's Tim Rappleye looks at MSU's German influence that started with Michaelis and Parker Tuomie and continues with Julian Napravnik.

Meanwhile, Northern Michigan enters the weekend as the only remaining team to go three games last weekend and pull off a first-round upset. The Wildcats knocked off third-seeded Bowling Green last weekend and are confident and relaxed heading into today's semifinal matchup, writes The Mining Journal's Ryan Stieg.

While Minnesota State is a virtual lock for the NCAA tournament, and Northern Michigan knows it needs to win twice this weekend to get in, Lake Superior State and Bemidji State appear to be on the NCAA bubble, per the prognosticators, so tonight's matchup could have huge implications. The Lakers haven't been to the national tournament since 1996, the last of nine straight appearances that included three championships.

For the Beavers, meanwhile, Mankato native Kyle Looft is excited to return home for the playoffs.

The Beavers have won six of their last seven games, including a split at home against the Lakers, who have won five of their last six.

I'll be covering games for College Hockey News this weekend, so be sure to go there for further coverage.

Another podcast: My conversation with Riese Zmolek

I sat down with Minnesota State captain Riese Zmolek to talk about this unique season, winning four MacNaughton Cups and this weekend's WCHA semifinals and championship.

Mavericks 3, Bulldogs 1

Freddy's three thoughts ...

1. Better effort: Minnesota State clearly wasn't happy with its performance on Friday despite a 3-0 victory. Jared Spooner described their play as "arrogant" and "ungrateful" afterward. The Mavericks came out much better on Saturday, going hard to the net and making plays amid the Ferris State traffic, which it simply did not do much on Friday. If not for a stellar effort by Bulldogs goaltender Ron Salmenkangas (28 saves, 14 in the first period), the Mavericks would have put the game away early in the first period. As it turned out, the game was scoreless again through the first 20 minutes. Go figure. "It was a battle," coach Mike Hastings said. "The last one is always hard to win in a series, and a Bob Daniels (coached) team is not going to go away."

2. Do it, Duehr: Walker Duehr broke the scoreless stalemate at 9:03 of the second period, burying a nice behind-the-net pass from Spooner. Spooner and Shane McMahan did the dirty work along the wall and behind the net, but Walker had the nice finish and improved his point-scoring streak to five games. He's really come on over the second half of the season after a slow start. His 15 points equal his total from last year and is one shy of his total from his sophomore season. "A real honest, heavy line," Hastings said.

3. And the rest: Sam Morton put MSU up 2-0 at 2:19 of the third period with a shot that hit the pipe but went into the net after hitting Salmenkangas in the skates. Jake Livingstone gave the Mavericks a 3-1 cushion with a 180-foot empty-net goal with 45 seconds to play. Livingstone and his D partner, Riese Zmolek each finished plus-3. As for Dryden McKay, no shutout this night, but he was rock-solid once again, making 23 saves, including a few flurries. Ferris broke through with 7:00 to go on Marshall Moise's power-play goal.

Up next: Minnesota State will host the WCHA semifinals and finals on Friday and Saturday. Schedule to be determined. As of right now, the Mavericks and Lake Superior State, the No. 2 seed, are in. The Lakers swept Alabama Huntsville, 6-1 and 4-1.

Mavericks 3, Bulldogs 0

Freddy's three thoughts ...

1. Let's wait awhile: The playoff game between the No. 1 and No. 8 seeds in the WCHA was a tight one and remained scoreless until 8:49 of the third period when Julian Napravnik scored a power-play goal. The WCHA Offensive Player of the Year cashed in with his 10th goal of the season and his sixth game-winner. That loosened up the Bulldogs' tightly packed defense a bit, and the Mavericks added two more goals, one from Jared Spooner just 53 seconds later and another from Walker Duehr, who continues to stay hot.

2. Big day: On Friday afternoon, the WCHA announced that Dryden McKay had won the league's Player of the Year Award, joining Marc Michaelis and C.J. Suess to claim that honor. He backed that up by recording his ninth shutout of the season and the 23rd of his career — 23 of his 72 career wins have been shutouts. Crazy. McKay made just 15 saves but several tough ones, especially over the game's first 10 minutes but also throughout the game's scoreless stretch. "We hung him out to dry a couple times," coach Mike Hastings said. "But he's OK at handling that type of situation. He gave us an opportunity to get our feet underneath us."

3. Playing hard: Watching MSU play Ferris State a few times this season, you figured the Bulldogs might be a tough out. They play hard defensively and block shots, and they were aggressive offensively early on Friday's game to try to get a quick lead. "They played with a lot more jam and desperation," Hastings said. "Thank goodness we had Dryden McKay." It's been a tough season for them, going 1-21-1 with the lone win coming against a Division III team. The Bulldogs look like a better team than than that. They'll try to get a win and keep their season alive in Game 2 at 4:07 p.m. Saturday.

Friday Morning Skate

It was one year ago today, March 12, that sports shut down around the country. I don't think I'll ever forget the deep sadness that lingered around the Minnesota State hockey facility when those players found out their season was over, that their dreams of getting to the Frozen Four, or even winning a national championship, had died. Heartbreaking.

Today, although we're all still under the cloud of COVID-19, the Mavericks begin another playoff run. They will host Ferris State in the first game of a best-of-three series in the first round of the WCHA tournament. This weekend's other matchups include Lake Superior State vs. Alabama Huntsville, Bowling Green vs. Northern Michigan and Bemidji State vs. Michigan Tech. 

As always, the question is: Will anyone be playing on Sunday?

The four winners will advance to a single-elimination semifinal/championship weekend. That will take place in Mankato, if Minnesota State advances past this weekend.

Remember: MSU's game times this weekend are 6 p.m. today, 4 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday (if necessary).

A lot of the coverage this week centers around the WCHA awards, which the Mavericks cleaned up on. Here's coverage from The Rink Live's Jason Feldman and The Free Press' Kevin Dudley.

One player who did not get an award this week was forward Walker Duehr, but the senior has been on a tear over the second half of the season, Feldman writes.

Last season's top WCHA player, Marc Michaelis, made his NHL debut a week ago, and Dudley caught up with the Vancouver Canucks rookie to see how it went.

College Hockey News has a WCHA tournament preview.

If you missed it, be sure to check out the Maverick Hockey Podcast this week. I interview Richter Award finalist and two-time WCHA Goaltender of the Year Dryden McKay.

Mavericks clean up awards

The WCHA announced most of its postseason awards this week, and MacNaughton Cup champion Minnesota State did quite well, not surprisingly.

Mike Hastings was named WCHA Coach of the Year for the fourth time, while Dryden McKay earned the league's Goaltender of the Year award for the second year in a row, forward Julian Napravnik won Offensive Player of the Year and defenseman Akito Hirose was named Rookie of the Year. 

Other individual award winners were Bemidji State goaltender Zach Driscoll, who won Student-Athlete of the Year, while Defensive Player of the Year ended in a tie between BSU's Elias Rosen and Bowling Green's Will Cullen.

Only the WCHA's overall Player of the Year was not announced. The guess here is that McKay takes that hardware. We'll see.

Meanwhile, the All-WCHA Teams were also announced, and McKay and Napravnik were named to the first team. MSU's Nathan Smith made the second team, Hirose and Riese Zmolek were the third-team defensemen and Hirose and Jake Livingstone were the rookie-team D-men.

A conversation with Dryden McKay

I had the pleasure to interview Mavericks goaltender Dryden McKay for the Maverick Hockey Podcast this week. It was a lot of fun. Maybe this will turn into a thing. For now, enjoy my conversation with the Richter Award candidate:

 

Mavericks sweep Huskies

Freddy's three thoughts ...

1. Goal of the game: Julian Napravnik ended up with the game-winning goal on a beauty of a play Saturday to make it 3-1 in what would end up as a 3-2 victory. Napravnik started it with a nice back check at neutral ice that forced a turnover. Walker Duehr, who is playing the best hockey of his career, carried the puck to the hash marks and dropped a behind-the-back pass to Napravnik, who fired past goalie Blake Pietila. Napravnik leads the Mavericks with 24 points and has five GWGs.

2. Save of the game: Not long after Napravnik's goal, Dryden McKay stretched out wide to glove a great scoring chance by the Huskies' Chris Lipe, who had gotten a step on an MSU defender. McKay stopped 16 of 18 shots and picked up his 71st collegiate victory. His career record is now 71-13-4 in three seasons. As for this year, he is now 17-2-0 with a .933 save percentage and a 1.32 goals-against average. Richter-worthy numbers? We'll see!

3. Step right up: Sophomore defenseman Tony Malinowski had a goal and an assist, playing in just his eighth career game (all eight have been this season). The goal was the first of his career. A scratch on Friday, Malinowski got more and more ice time as the game went on, as the coaches showed they were trusting his play. He missed two great scoring chances on one shift, with the second resulting in a Duehr goal. Then, on his next shift, 61 seconds after Duehr's goal, he buried an open shot for a 2-0 MSU lead.

Up next: The WCHA tournament begins next week, with the top-seeded Mavericks hosting eighth-place Ferris State in the best-of-three quarterfinal round. The other matchups will be 2-Lake Superior State vs. 7-Alabama Huntsville, 3-Bowling Green vs. 6-Northern Michigan and 4-Bemidji State vs. 5-Michigan Tech. 

End of the regular season

Minnesota State will close out the regular season at home tonight against Michigan Tech after defeating the Huskies 2-1 in a tight, playoff-like game on Friday.

The Mavericks clinched the MacNaughton Cup a little over a week ago and know they'll be hosting Ferris State in the first round of the WCHA tournament next weekend. Barring an upset in the best-of-three series, MSU will host the single-elimination WCHA semifinals and championship a week later, a sort of mini-Final Five (minus one).

On Friday, the fourth-ranked Mavericks got first-period goals from Sam Morton and Nathan Smith and held on in the third period after giving up an early power-play goal. Goaltender Dryden McKay returned to his Richter Award-favorite form after giving up seven goals in a home-and-home split with Bemidji State last weekend, making some key saves while stopping 25 of 26 shots.

Earlier this week, former Mavericks standout Marc Michaelis made is NHL debut for the Vancouver Canucks, becoming the second MSU alum to skate in the show, following Connor Mackey:

Big welcome to Marc Michaelis, making his @NHL debut! #HockeyFightsCancer pic.twitter.com/RvfMUv1UFV

— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) March 5, 2021

Back to the WCHA there are four games remaining in league play, as this was originally set as an open weekend for COVID-related makeup games. Ferris State plays at Lake Superior State this afternoon, and Alabama Huntsville and Bemidji State begin a Saturday-Sunday series.

Lake State, with a win, can tie Bowling Green for second place in the conference and grab the second seed for the tournament. Bemidji State, meanwhile, can secure home-ice position with a sweep of the Chargers. With its loss to Minnesota State last night, Michigan Tech is still in the fourth spot currently but, even with a win tonight, has to wait out the BSU-UAH results to see if it will be on the road or at home next week.*

* All based on my math.

MacNaughton x4

 

Only 250 fans were allowed in the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center on Thursday night but they got to witness some history. Minnesota State captured its fourth straight MacNaughton Cup as WCHA regular-season champions, a feat never before accomplished in the conference's 70-year history. It was also MSU's sixth title in seven years.

Four championships in a row is quite a feat in any league. It's amazing that seniors Jack McNeely, Jake Jaremko, Jared Spooner, Reggie Lutz, Walker Duehr, Dallas Gerads and Riese Zmolek have won titles in each of their four seasons with the Mavericks.

"Very blessed with this group," coach Mike Hastings said, "especially the seniors, to win four in a row."

The Mavericks defeated Bemidji State 4-3 in overtime on a Julian Napravnik goal. It was a back-door pass intended for Akito Hirose, but it caromed in off a defender's stick and sparked a celebration. Napravnik leads the Mavericks with 21 points, including eight goals — four of them game-winners.

Minnesota State led 3-1 after Brendon Furry and Andy Carroll scored a pair of highlight-reel goals less than a minute apart early in the second period. But the Beavers clawed back and eventually tied the game in the final minute after pulling goalie Zach Driscoll for an extra attacker.

Dryden McKay stopped 23 shots, four in overtime, none bigger than a sprawling save to stop an almost-sure game-winner on an odd-man rush. 

Todd Burgess had a goal and an assist for the third-ranked Mavericks, who improved to 11-0-0 in WCHA play.

The Mavericks will play at Bemidji on Saturday and close the regular season with a home series against Michigan Tech.

Mavericks sweep Ferris State

 Freddy's three thoughts ...

1. Crisis averted: No. 3 Minnesota State avoided any potential Pairwise problems by sweeping Ferris State in a nonconference series at Big Rapids, Mich. The feisty Bulldogs, who have won just one game (against a Division III opponent), took MSU to overtime on Friday. Minnesota State won 5-4, as Reggie Lutz scored the game-winner in the final minute. Saturday's game was tied 1-1 after one period, but the Mavericks pulled away after that, scoring four unanswered goals for a 5-1 victory. Eight different players scored goals for the Mavericks, especially impressive since they went 2 for 12 on the power play (including three majors; in all six major penalties were called in the series). Jake Jaremko and Brendan Furry each finished the series with two goals and an assist, and Lutz also had a three-point weekend. Nathan Smith had the most-impressive goal of the series, weaving his way around the Bulldogs defense before tying the game 4-4 with 14 seconds left in Friday's second period.

2. Wait, what? Dryden McKay had an uncharacteristically rough outing on Friday, allowing four goals on 10 shots over two periods before being pulled from the game. "It just wasn't his night," coach Mike Hastings told The Free Press. "There isn't anybody in the world that doesn't happen to. It was about time we tried to give him a helping hand." Ryan Edquist finished up and made one save over the third period and OT for his first win in an MSU uniform. McKay returned Saturday and saved 14 of 15 shots. McKay's tough night moved his goals-against average over 1.00 (1.03) for the first time in awhile. His save percentage is .946.

3. Any other concerns? A near-upset on Friday and a tough night for the country's best goaltender were enough to give the Mavericks bit of a pause. But losing defenseman Jack McNeely to an injury for the rest of the weekend after he was hit in the head on Friday could be more concerning — if Saturday's scratch was more than just precautionary, that is. A major penalty for contact to the head was called on the play, but that would be the second time in three weeks that a major infraction has led to games missed by a senior assistant captain. Jared Spooner remained out after he was viciously hit from behind at the end of the Bowling Green series. On a more positive note, sophomore forward Lucas Sowder returned to action for the Mavericks this weekend after missing 13 games in a row.

Deep thought: Minnesota State can clinch the MacNaughton Cup with a win at home on Thursday against Bemidji State. With four conference games remaining, the Mavericks have 30 points. Only Bemidji and Lake Superior State remain alive for the regular-season championship, and they can max out at 31 and 32 points, respectively, in the standings.

Friday Morning Skate

Minnesota State is on the road for the second week in a row, this time going to Ferris State for a nonconference series. The No. 3 Mavericks have won four games straight, while the Bulldogs still have just one win (over Division III Trine), not counting a shootout win (officially a tie) against Bemidji State on Feb. 5.

The Mavericks are led in scoring by Julian Napravnik, who has had an outstanding season since being a scratch early on, according to a story in The Free Press. The Rink Live, meanwhile, takes a look at MSU's defensive corps, which has played in the shadow of goalkeeper Dryden McKay.

That D-core had a 50% turnover from last season, with Connor Mackey, Ian Scheid and Edwin Hookenson leaving. There was a lot of talk about Mackey this week after he made his NHL debut. His former coaches and players raved about his opportunity with the Calgary Flames.

Finally, The Freep's Kevin Dudley opined about the WCHA suspension of Bowling Green's Will Cullen following Cullen's hit on MSU's Jared Spooner. With Cullen eligible to return on Sunday and Spooner still out, Dudley says the three-game ban simply wasn't enough.

In other WCHA action this weekend, Bemidji State plays at Michigan Tech, Alabama Huntsville goes to Lake Superior State and Bowling Green plays at Northern Michigan (Saturday-Sunday).

Mackey makes NHL debut

Time for the hot lap ... Connor Mackey will make his NHL debut in Vancouver! pic.twitter.com/bi23OvxjSh

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) February 14, 2021

Former Minnesota State defenseman Connor Mackey made his Calgary Flames debut on Saturday night, becoming the 15th MSU alum to play in the NHL. 

Here's a nice story about Mackey's family, including his former NHLer dad, Dave, watching the game.

The Flames lost to the Vancouver Canucks 3-1.

Mackey, who was part of the Flames' taxi squad, got 13:56 of ice time and was minus-1. 

Mackey signed with Calgary last spring, following three seasons at MSU. He was a second-team All-American and first-team All-WCHA last season. He finished his career with 18 goals and 61 points in 118 games.

Mackey is one of four former Mavs to play in the NHL this year, along with David Backes (Anaheim), Teddy Blueger (Pittsburgh) and Tyler Pitlick (Arizona). 

Staying on the subject of former MSU defensemen, Casey Nelson announced his retirement from hockey a month ago, something I found out while looking up Mavericks alumni as part of this post. Nelson, who played for the Mavericks from 2013-16, played in 93 games for the Buffalo Sabres. He played in a career-high 38 NHL games in 2018-19 but spent all of last season in the AHL. In his Instagram post, Nelson thanked family, friends, coaches, teammates, with a little extra praise for his brother Josh, another former MSU player who is currently coaching in the USHL.

Mavericks sweep Chargers

Freddy's three thoughts ...

1. Record-setter: Dryden McKay set the WCHA record for career shutouts, blanking Alabama Huntsville on 16 shots Friday in a 5-0 Mavericks win. McKay now has 22 shutouts overall and 17 in WCHA games, both league records. He's four shutouts behind Ryan Miller's NCAA-record 26 shutouts. McKay has eight shutouts in 14 starts this season. In Thursday night's 4-1 victory, McKay stopped nine of 10 shots. He has a .959 save percentage and an amazing 0.79 goals-against average for the season. 

2. Almost perfect: Minnesota State trailed 1-0 after the first period on Thursday, but the Mavericks rolled after that, scoring nine unanswered goals over the next five periods. They were dominant in the second period each night, scoring three times on Thursday and four times on Friday. The Mavericks have been really good in second periods. A week earlier, they scored five of their nine goals against Bowling Green in the two second periods. 

3. Point producers: Todd Burgess had the big weekend, scoring four points with two assists in the first game and two goals in the second. Dallas Gerads scored two goals, too. Three Mavericks this season are averaging more than a point per game. Leading scorer Julian Napravnik (7-12—19, 15 games) had a goal and two assists in the series. Cade Borchardt (7-11—18, 16 games) had a goal and an assist. And Nathan Smith (3-14—17, 16 games) had an assist. Jake Jaremko finished the weekend with three assists.

Deep thought: Nice screen grab by Chris Dilks on this impressive play by freshman D Akito Hirose:

Your weekly Akito Hirose highlight is him pulling up on a nice rush and finding Cade Borchardt for a one-time goal. pic.twitter.com/VItAlks8fk

— Chris Dilks (@ChrisDilks) February 12, 2021

Mavericks 5, Falcons 1

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Super sweep: It looked to be the toughest weekend on the schedule, but Minnesota State cruised to a pair of wins over No. 8 Bowling Green to stay undefeated in WCHA play (8-0-0, 11-2-1 overall). Although it was the second straight sweep over the rival Falcons, sweeps have been historically rare between the two teams. And there certainly haven't been many blowouts along the way. Following Friday's 4-0 MSU win, Saturday's series finale was a tight, defensive game — until a three-goal outburst by the No. 6 Mavericks in the final 3:15 of the second period. Ryan Sandelin, Jared Spooner and Reggie Lutz scored those goals, and Lutz scored again 3:00 into the third period to all but put the game away.

2. Shane, Shane, come back: Sophomore forward Shane McMahan scored the game's first goal, sniping a shot over goalie Zach Rose's stick-side shoulder less than five minutes into the game. It was his first goal of the season and the fourth of his career. It must have been a sweet feeling, however, as McMahan missed all of last season for personal reasons. He has played in eight of MSU's 14 games this season, contributing as a solid fourth-line forward. He was the unsung hero against Bowling Green in the 2019 WCHA championship game, doing the hard work along the boards to secure the puck before it got across to Nick Rivera for the game-winning overtime goal. "Shane McMahan had an outstanding weekend," coach Mike Hastings said. "He killed penalties and played a real honest game."

3. No shutout tonight: Dryden McKay finished with 20 saves to improve his record to 11-1-0 this year. It was also his 65th career victory. He blanked the Falcons until 7:22 remained in the third period when Bowling Green scored a power-play goal on Brendan Furry's major penalty. With the exception of early in the first period, he wasn't as busy as he was in Friday's impressive shutout, but he continues to be as steady as it gets back there. Meanwhile Bowling Green, which has two good goalies in Eric Dop and Zack Rose, had to make a goalie change after two periods, going to Friday's starter Dop after Rose allowed the three late goals in the second.

Deep thought: Things got a little out of hand in the final minute when BG's Will Cullen viciously checked Spooner from behind. That led to a fight (fighting majors were called) between MSU captain Riese Zmolek and BG's Sam Craggs. Sandelin was also involved in another wrestling match, but that was not ruled a fight. Cullen got a DQ for the hit, which Hastings called "incredibly dangerous," "terrible" and "actually embarrassing" and hopes "the league takes care of it." He also said Spooner is "not very good" after the hit, which you can see here:

Things got ugly tonight in Kato.. we hope Spooner is okay. Yikes. Thoughts? (Via @FloHockey) pic.twitter.com/PvZQJWlwMh

— EVERYTHING COLLEGE HOCKEY (@TeamECH) February 7, 2021

Around the WCHA: Lake Superior State 5, Northern Michigan 4, OT ... Michigan Tech 4, Alabama Huntsville 1 ... Bemidji State 7, Ferris State 2

Mavericks 4, Falcons 0

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. What else is there to say? Ho-hum, another shutout for Dryden McKay. Uh, better not go there! Better appreciate what this guy is doing. He now has seven shutouts in 11 starts this season and 21 for his career, tying Bemidji State's Michael Bitzer for second all-time in college hockey. Michigan State's Ryan Miller holds the NCAA record with 26, and McKay is still just a junior. He stopped 30 shots tonight against a good Bowling Green team that had four power plays to work with, including a five-minute major. Eight of his saves came on the PK. His teammates also blocked 17 shots throughout the game. McKay now has a .960 save percentage and a 0.82 GAA. "Dryden was Dryden," coach Mike Hastings said. Yep, he sure was.

2. Intensity, gentlemen! The game was an intense, physical, hard-fought one for the entire 60 minutes. The first period, despite being scoreless, was exciting. It was the kind of game you'd expect between top-10 teams and conference rivals battling for a regular-season championship. It was just unfortunate that the building was mostly empty (150 fans — family members of the two teams were allowed in) because this would have been one of those raucous weekends in Mankato with 5,000-plus in the arena each night. Asked how the players kept that up despite the empty building, Hastings said, "When the guys get competing against each other, there's the same intensity in the building whether there are people there or not."

3. Getting goals: The game was scoreless until the 12:45 mark of the second period (BG's Eric Dop, who had 25 saves, was rock-solid for much of the game) when Nathan Smith scored on a rush from Jack Livingstone during a power play. Dallas Gerads scored a power-play goal, deflecting in a Riese Zmolek shot with 2:00 left in the middle frame. Walker Duehr and Zmolek added goals a little more than three minutes apart midway through the third period. Zmolek, who missed MSU's last three games with an injury, looked like the offensive defenseman he's never been, weaving through traffic before scoring his goal. "He makes such a difference when he's in our lineup and when he's in our locker room," Hastings said of Zmolek.

Around the WCHA: Ferris State 3, Bemidji State 3 (FSU wins shootout) ... Michigan Tech 3, Alabama Huntsville 1

Friday Morning Skate

 I can only imagine the excitement about this weekend in a season without COVID:

Minnesota State hosting Bowling Green in a February series. No. 6 vs. No. 8. First place in the WCHA vs. second place. Teams separated by just two points in the league standings.

Minnesota State is allowing 150 people to attend the games — family members of the two teams — but, in any other year, there most certainly would have been 5,000-plus packing the Mankato arena both nights.

Sigh.

The Mavericks (9-2-1, 6-0-0 in WCHA) are coming off their first loss in 10 games, falling in a nonconference game at Bemidji State a week ago. They were a bit short-handed due to injury and didn't start Dryden McKay in goal. They also outshot the Beavers 36-10.

Sounds like they're expected to be healthier this weekend, but we'll have to wait and see the line chart. Senior defenseman Riese Zmolek, who has missed the last three games, participated in MSU's weekly press conference on Wednesday, so that's a good sign, anyway.

It's been a busy week for McKay, who was named (co) national goaltender of the month and WCHA goaltender of the month and landed spots on the Mike Richter Award watch list and the Hobey Baker Award fan ballot (go here to participate in fan voting), the latter of which he was joined by teammates Cade Borchardt and Nathan Smith.

Smith got the Kevin Dudley treatment in this morning's Mankato Free Press. Kevin this week also wrote about McKay's recognition and opined about this weekend's big series. McKay was also the feature of choice from The Rink Live's Jason Feldman.

Bowling Green (16-4-0, 5-1-0), meanwhile, is a team that has been fortunate enough to have played 20 games already. The Falcons swept Michigan Tech last weekend, following a pair of nonconference losses at Bemidji State. Earlier this season, they had a nine-game winning streak. The Falcons are eyeing their first WCHA championship, but there's already some talk of winning a national title. The Falcons are indeed confident, but it might be best not to look past this weekend's big series.

In other WCHA action this weekend, Bemidji State plays at Ferris State, Michigan Tech goes to Alabama Huntsville and Northern Michigan travels to Lakes Superior State (Saturday-Sunday).

We're still waiting for the WCHA to announce its playoff format/venue. The WCHA women announced theirs this week, and the decision has more than ruffled a few feathers. The league voted to have the top four teams only travel to Ridder Arena in Minneapolis for the conference championship. Those teams currently are Minnesota, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Minnesota Duluth. Minnesota State is still alive but would pretty much need to run the table to get in (the Mavericks play at St. Cloud State this weekend and close the season with four straight games against UMD), while Bemidji State and St. Cloud State have been eliminated with six games remaining. Bad timing! Seems like they easily could have included everyone and had a couple of play-in games. 

Another sweep for the Mavericks

Freddy's three thoughts ... 

1. Rolling: With wins of 4-0 and 4-1 at home against Ferris State, No. 2 Minnesota State has now won six games in a row and owns a nine-game unbeaten streak. Over the six-game win streak — all official WCHA games — the Mavericks have outscored opponents 26-3. Their record now stands at 9-1-1, and they've outscored all foes 40-11. Seven different players scored goals in the series, with Walker Duehr scoring twice. Reggie Lutz had a three-point game on Saturday, and Duehr and Brendan Furry each had three-point weekends. The Mavericks played without senior captain Riese Zmolek, who "got a little dinged up" a week earlier at Lake Superior State. Coach Mike Hastings said Saturday that Zmolek is "progressing in the right direction."

2. Clean cage: Goalie Dryden McKay recorded his 20th career shutout — and sixth of the season — in the first game and stopped 25 of 26 shots for the weekend. Shutouts ain't easy, even when you face as few shows as McKay faced against the Bulldogs (11 on Saturday). And, as good as he is (.954 SV%, 0.90 GAA currently), he's getting tremendous help from his teammates. After two periods on Saturday, defenseman Wyatt Aamodt had more saves with six blocked shots than McKay, who had five. In the most-impressive sequence of the game Aamodt blocked a shot with his helmet, which broke, got up and, moments later, blocked another shot. "It's a good thing about our helmets nowadays," Aamodt said, "you don't really feel it too much."

3. They've got the power: Minnesota State went 4 for 7 on the power play over the weekend and is now 14 for 41 on the season, a ridiculous 34.1% success rate, best in the country by nearly five percentage points. Nine of Cade Borchardt's team' leading 15 points have come on the power play, including a goal and an assist on Sunday afternoon. Eight of Nathan Smith's 12 points have come on the power play, including his two assists on Sunday.

Saturday Morning skate

No. 2-ranked Minnesota State will play a home series for just the second time this season when it hosts Ferris State in a WCHA set at 5 p.m. today and 3 p.m. Sunday. The Mavericks have won four straight and are undefeated in their last seven.

Much of their success stems from a defensive corps that doesn't seem to have lost a beat, despite losing three regular from last season. That's because freshmen Akito Hirose and Jake Livingstone have stepped right in and filled those voids, writes The Free Press' Kevin Dudley. Also, as Dudley opined in his Thursday column, Dryden McKay continues to put up gaudy numbers in goal.

This weekend's opponent, the Bulldogs, are 1-8-0, winless until defeating Division III Trine last week. As I worked recently on a story for the WCHA on the decade of the 2010s to be featured in the league's 70 Years of Excellence special feature, I looked back on that first series between MSU and FSU as WCHA opponents, which took place right around this time seven years ago. The rivalry those teams established that weekend really helped boost the new version of the conference and proved that, with good teams and good rivalries, everything was going to be OK. It's too bad that Ferris State has fallen on some hard times the last couple of years. After splitting two series with the Bulldogs in 2016-17, the Mavericks have won eight straight games against them.

In Ferris State news, this week it was announced that longtime Bulldogs assistant coach Mark Kaufman received the American Hockey Coaches Association Terry Flanagan Award, which honors an assistant coach's career body of work. Kaufman is in his 15th season as part of coach Bob Daniels' staff.

Going around the WCHA, Bemidji State has an impressive Thursday and Friday, sweeping No. 5 Bowling Green 2-1 and 3-1 at Bemidji. The teams split a series at Bowling Green just two weeks earlier. As for other series, Lake Superior State at Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan at Alabama Huntsville were both postponed due to COVID, so Tech and Northern decided to play each other in a nonconference series today and Monday. Keeping up on the schedule changes sure ain't easy.

Hopefully things will return to normal next season, and speaking of next season, the CCHA made some news this week by announcing the hiring of its new Director of Strategic Communications and Brand Advancement, Dominic Hennig. College Hockey News also looked ahead to the CCHA next year with an update on St. Thomas that includes some interesting speculation about the Tommies' first D-I coach.

Mavericks ranked 2nd, earn WCHA honors

Minnesota State moved up to No. 2 in the USCHO rankings on Monday following their second straight road sweep. The Mavericks are now 7-1-1 after beating Lake Superior State twice and are, believe it or not, No. 1 in the Pairwise, which is likely pretty volatile, considering COVID cancelations and postponements that have caused quite a variation in the number of games played. Enjoy it while you can, MSU fans, and we'll wait to see how this year's NCAA tournament field will actually be determined.

Meantime, Minnesota State had two players receive WCHA honors, as sophomore forward and Mavericks leading scorer Cade Borchardt was named Forward of the Week, and junior superstar goalie Dryden McKay was named Goaltender of the Week for the second time this year. It was McKay's 16 WCHA weekly award.

Minnesota State is scheduled to host Ferris State this weekend.

Another road sweep

Freddy's three thoughts ...

1. Dryden does his thing: On Friday, Dryden McKay recorded his third consecutive shutout, as Minnesota State defeated Lake Superior State 3-0. It was his fifth shutout in seven starts this season and the 19th of his career. That streak ended on Saturday during a 6-2 victory for a series sweep that improved the Mavericks to 7-1-1 and 4-0-0 in the WCHA when the Lakers scored in the second period that ended McKay's shutout stretch at 217 minutes, 37 seconds, the ninth-longest in WCHA history, according to the league. He's the only goalie in league history with two 200+ scoreless streaks. Last season, he had a stretch of 234:25. Yes, we all know he's on a team that plays so sound defensively in front of him, but he's also just damn good.

2. Three-pointers: Four players had three-point games in the series, as Julian Napravnik (2G, 1A) and Cade Borchardt (3A) did it on Friday, and Sam Morton (2G, 1A) and Riese Zmolek (3A) did it on Saturday. For Morton, the junior transfer from Union, the goals were his first two as a Maverick. Borchardt, who had an assist on Saturday for a four-point weekend, now leads the Mavericks with 13 points, followed by Napravnik with 11 and Nathan Smith (1G, 2A in the series) with 10. Borchardt has a point in all but two games this season, and MSU didn't win either of those games, losing one and tying the other.

3. Why don't we do it in the road? Minnesota State has played just two games at home so far, as COVID has postponed a few of its home games. No problem, it seems, as they are 6-1-0 outside of Mankato. They've already taken three trips to the Michigan UP, too! Lake Superior State is a tough place to travel to and a tough place to play. The Lakers were also ranked 19th after going 6-1-3 over their first 10 games. That's an impressive road sweep for anyone. Up next are three straight home weekends, starting Friday against Ferris State — COVID-permitting, of course.

Around the WCHA: The only other series involving conference teams took place at Bowling Green where the Falcons swept Northern Michigan 5-1 and 6-2. BG is now 14-2-0, while the Wildcats fell to 2-8-0.

Mavericks sweep Wildcats

 Freddy's three thoughts (from afar) ...

1. Twin blankings: Call him Mr. Consistent. Goalie Dryden McKay continues to impress for the Mavericks, even with three outstanding defensemen gone in front of him. McKay posted a pair of road shutouts against Northern Michigan to open the WCHA schedule, stopping 16 shots on Saturday and then 21 on Sunday in 5-0 and 4-0 victories. The clean sheets were his third and fourth of the young season (in six starts) and the 17th and 18th of the All-American's career. The junior now ranks tied for seventh in NCAA history for shutouts.

2. Still scoring: Eight different players scored goals for the Mavericks in the series. One, Cade Borchardt had two goals. He also had an assist for a three-point weekend and continues to lead MSU in points with five goals and nine points in seven games. Borchardt continues to prove that being patient and waiting your turn pays off. Just 10 games last season. No pouting. No transferring. Just working. Nathan Smith and freshman D Akito Hirose each had a four-point weekend (one goal, three assists each), and Julian Napravnik had a goal and three points. The Mavericks also finished 4 for 9 on the power play in the series.

3. How's their health? Jared Spooner scored the first goal on Saturday but didn't appear to finish the game and was a scratch on Sunday. Smith went hard into the boards on Sunday and was getting his shoulder checked out. He didn't to return to the game, and coach Mike Hastings to The Free Press after the game that he will be further evaluated when the team returns to Mankato. Those are two pretty important players for the Mavericks, along with Lucas Sowder, who remained out of the lineup and has now missed four straight games. The good news is Minnesota State continues to be one of the deepest teams in the WCHA, if not college hockey.

Around the WCHA: Saturday—Bowling Green 6, Ferris State 1; Michigan Tech 4, Alabama Huntsville 0; Bemidji State 4, Lake Superior State 1 ... Sunday—Bowling Green 4, Ferris State 2; Michigan Tech 2, Alabama Huntsville 1; Bemidji State 2, Lake Superior State 2 (OT)

2021 Morning Skate

Happy new year, everyone!

After playing just five games since Nov. 22, Minnesota State is ready to embark on a long stretch of a schedule with games every weekend between now and the end of February —18 games in nine weeks.

COVID-permitting, of course.

Although all of the games are against WCHA opponents, 14 of them will be official conference games, including this weekend when the No. 5 Mavericks (3-1-1) begin league play at Northern Michigan. Games are at 5:07 p.m. CST today and 3:07 p.m. Sunday in Marquette, Mich. The Wildcats (2-2-0) are coming off a 6-5 OT win at Ferris State on Wednesday.

Traditionally, the first games after Christmas mark the start of the second half of the season. But with only five games played — MSU and most other WCHA teams — are hardly in series shape, meaning they're not yet used to playing back-to-backs. Read more from The Free Press' Kevin Dudley in the link above.

The Rink Live's Jason Feldman, meanwhile, takes a look at the Mavericks at this point of the season and also features MSU senior and alternate captain Dallas Gerads, who is developing into a real team leader.

As for the Mavericks' young players, freshman defenseman Akito Hirose was named WCHA rookie of the month for December. Also, two MSU women's players were named league players of the month: junior D Anna Wilgren (defender) and freshman F Jamie Nelson (rookie). The women host No. 1 Wisconsin today and Sunday.

All eight WCHA men's teams that are playing (remember: the two Alaska teams opted out of the season due to the COVID situation) are in action today and Sunday. The other series include: Bowling Green at Ferris State, Bemidji State at Lake Superior State and Alabama Huntsville at Michigan Tech.

The start of the new year is also the time when we can start peeking at the PairWise Rankings. However, with the strange start to the season, that's out of whack right now. Interestingly, that's already causing some debate, including among conference commissioners, as to how the NCAA field should be chosen come March. Stay tuned.