Mavericks' '10-11 schedule released

The Minnesota State men's hockey team will open the 2010-11 season with an exhibition game against British Columbia on Monday, Oct. 4 and start the regular season four days later with a nonconference series against St. Lawrence. The WCHA season will open a week later with the Mavericks going to Michigan Tech.

Some interesting notes on the schedule:

• There will be no home-and-home series this year. Minnesota will come to Mankato for two games Dec. 3-4, and the Mavericks will go to St. Cloud State Jan 28-29.

• Nonconference opponents include St. Lawrence and American International at home and road trips to UMass-Lowell and the Notre Dame tournament in Chicago on Jan. 1-2 (Boston U and Brown are the other teams at the tournament)

• MSU will play eight straight road games that will keep them out of Mankato for the month of November. The road swing includes three flights -- Anchorage, Denver and Lowell -- surrounding the first trip to Nebraska-Omaha as a WCHA rival. It gets no easier when the Mavs return, either, as they will host Minnesota and North Dakota.

• With Omaha and Bemidji State now in the league, MSU will play four conference games (two home, two away) against Anchorage, Denver and Colorado College; single home series against Minnesota, North Dakota, Bemidji and Duluth and single road series at Tech, Omaha, Wisconsin and St. Cloud.

• Three of the Mavericks' final WCHA series will be played at home.

Here is the schedule:

Oct. 4          British Columbia (exhibition)
Oct. 8-9       St. Lawrence
Oct. 15-16   @ Michigan Tech
Oct. 22-23   Colorado College
Oct. 29-30   @ Alaska-Anchorage
Nov. 5-6      @ Nebraska-Omaha
Nov. 12-13  @ Denver
Nov. 26-27  @ Massachusetts-Lowell
Dec. 3-4       Minnesota
Dec. 10-11   North Dakota
Jan. 1-2        @ Shillelagh Tournament, Chicago
Jan. 7-8        American International
Jan. 14-15    Denver
Jan. 21-22    @ Wisconsin
Jan. 28-29    @ St. Cloud State
Feb. 4-5       Bemidji State
Feb. 11-12   @ Colorado College
Feb. 18-19   Minnesota Duluth
Mar. 4-5       Alaska-Anchorage
Mar. 11-13   WCHA first round
Mar. 17-19   WCHA Final Five