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.