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.