Injury bug strikes back?

Just rolled into Duluth a bit ago (it's snowing!) and saw that Paul Allan posted the Mavericks' lineup on Twitter. Turns out, MSU is down another defenseman.

Senior D Cameron Cooper is not in the lineup. He sat out of Wednesday's practice with an undisclosed injury but said he'd be good to go this weekend. Apparently that's not the case tonight.

So the Mavericks will put Mike Louwerse on the blue line with Joe Schiller, a pairing of two senior forwards. Schiller has been playing D the last four games, and coach Troy Jutting said he's done a very good job there. He is +2 with two assists in that stretch. Louwerse was listed as a D the second game against UMass-Lowell but lasted less than a period before getting the gate for checking from behind. At the time, Jutting said Louwerse was chosen for that spot because he had the ability to break out the puck from the D zone.

The Mavericks' three other defensemen — Tyler Elbrecht, Brett Stern and Danny Heath — are back in Mankato nursing various ailments. It sounds like Stern is close to returning. Elbrecht should return sometime in December. Heath might be out for awhile.

Meanwhile, with Louwerse on defense, Corey Leivermann will play wing on the fourth line, with Justin Jokinen moving to center.

The Mavericks

Here are Minnesota State's lines tonight:

Adam Mueller - Eli Zuck - Michael Dorr
J.P. Burkemper - Zach Lehrke - Eriah Hayes
Jean-Paul LaFontaine - Matt Leitner - Max Gaede
Johnny McInnis - Justin Jokinen - Corey Leivermann

Mike Louwerse - Joe Schiller
Zach Palmquist - Evan Mosey
Josh Nelson - Mat Knoll

Austin Lee
Phil Cook

Be sure to come back later for tonight's live chat. We'll see how those D hold up against the champs.

Mavericks 4, Huskies 2 (updated)

SportPix

Freddy's 3 thoughts of the game ...

1. Hangin' with Mr. Cooper: Senior Cameron Cooper had a goal and an assist, not a bad night for a defensive defenseman who had just nine career points going into Friday's game. Cooper assisted on Eli Zuck's short-handed goal — also the game-winner — at 10:08 of the second period and scored a momentum-swinging goal at 3:55 of the third period to make it 4-2. Before that goal, St. Cloud State had killed a five-minute major to close out the second period and scored to make it 3-2 less than a minute into the third.

2. Veterans' day: Much has been made (mostly by me, I suppose) of MSU's freshmen and their scoring to start the season, and, indeed, Zach Palmquist tallied his third goal of the season in the second period, but the Mavericks' older guys carried the day. Besides Cooper and Zuck (pictured), a junior, sophomore Zach Lehrke assisted on two goals, and sophomore J.P. Burkemper, back from missing the last six games with injury, had a goal. Senior Joe Schiller and junior Eriah Hayes also had assists. Lehrke was voted No. 1 star of the game.

3. Austin power: Senior goalie Austin Lee continues to impress in goal. He stopped 34 shots, including 10 during St. Cloud State power plays (the Huskies were 0 for 5 on the power play). In his last three starts, Lee is 2-1-0 while allowing 2 goals per game and stopping 95.1 percent of opponents' shots. Lee seems to be playing with confidence and relaxed out there. Maybe it's just me, but he also seems to be moving better than years past. A lot of confidence with the glove, too, which was sometimes an adventure for him in the early years.

Deep thought: The Mavericks have to figure out their power play. They were 0 for 5 (really 0 for 4, one of the PPs was the game's final .9 seconds) with nine shots on goal. For the season they are 4 for 47. They've failed to score on three majors, including one Friday. They also had a healthy 5x3 to work with. Coach Troy Jutting would like to see the Mavs shoot the puck more — as would the dude sitting a few rows behind me tonight.

Read The Free Press' game story here. Read the St. Cloud times' story here.

Quote of the night: "No question, getting healthier has helped us. Sometimes people don't believe you, but with all those injuries it was tough. Not only in games but in practice." — Troy Jutting.

Around the WCHA: Wisconsin 3, Minnesota 1; Minnesota-Duluth 5, Alaska-Anchorage 0; Nebraska-Omaha 3, Bemidji State 3 OT

MSU award winners, captains

Minnesota State announced its 2011-12 captains as well as its '10-11 award winners on Sunday.

Tyler Elbrecht and Michael Dorr will be next season's captains, with the alternate captains rotating monthly throughout the season. Cameron Cooper will be the October alternate captain. Elbrecht, a defenseman, will be a junior next season. Dorr, a forward, will be a senior. Cooper, a defenseman, will be a senior.

As for the awards ...

Most Valuable Player: Kurt Davis, sr. D
Unsung Hero and Star of the Year: Ben Youds, sr. D
Most Improved Player: Cameron Cooper, jr. D
Hustle Award (hardest worker): Tyler Elbrecht, so., D
Don Brose Leadership Award: Rylan Galiardi, sr. F

To see player bios, read the entire MSU release on the awards here.