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.