Jutting stories

Former MSU coach Troy Jutting listens to President Richard Davenport discuss Jutting's reassignment  during a press conference on Monday morning in the Johnson Alumni Room in Taylor Center. Next to Jutting is Mavericks assistant coach Todd Knott. Seated is player Tyler Elbrecht. (John Cross/The Free Press)

Here's what went down in today's Free Press: Three stories on the Troy Jutting reassignment at Minnesota State:

Both MSU President Richard Davenport and athletic director Kevin Buisman heaped praise upon Jutting during the press conference. So much so that the question had to be repeated: Why make the change? All of the speakers, including Jutting, came back to one real theme, and that was economics. Specifically, they're hoping a new coach will pump some life into a dwindling fan base, boost walk-up ticket sales, season-ticket sales and Blue Line Club memberships. Said Buisman: "We hope the investment we make in a new coach will help us revive interest in the program and bring fans back into the stands. All those factors will help turn it financially.

Jutting addressed his team, as did Buisman, on Sunday night, and they were pretty shocked by the move, according to the players present at the press conference. They didn't seem angry. Eriah Hayes said he had mixed feelings about it but owed a lot to Jutting. Tyler Elbrecht said he hopes this will bring the team closer together. Former MSU coach Don Brose also attended the event and said he was "saddened" about the decision.

Finally, we look to the the future a bit. Buisman said he has a short list of candidates that he'd like to recruit, and Davenport said the university has already received calls about the head coaching job. When will they get a person in place? Quickly, they said but did not mention a timeline. Davenport said by the end of summer, but he may have misspoke. Buisman said there's a 5-6 week window between now and the end of the school year. The players both said they'd like to know who will be leading them before the semester ends.

A couple of other nuggets worth noting: 

• Associate coach Darren Blue's contract with MSU runs through June 30, 2013, the same time Jutting's deal ends. Assistant coach Todd Knott has a contract through June 30 of this year. Buisman said he would encourage whomever is hired to consider both coaches.

• According to MSU VP of finance and administration Rick Straka, the fact that Jutting is due to make about $200,000 over the remaining 15 months of his contract will not be a detriment to the search for a new coach. Straka called it a "university cost," not a cost specific to the budgets of the hockey team or the athletic department. He also doesn't believe it will be a "sunk cost," considering Jutting's new position at the university and if attendance/support increase with the presence of  new coach.

• Both Davenport and Buisman said that outside pressure did not factor into the coaching change. Said the president: "There are always a lot of rumors in regard to the hockey program. I didn't personally feel any pressure to make the change." 

Weekend reaction

With the Mavericks playing at St. Lawrence, I ended up covering some Mankato East basketball and Gustavus Adolphus men's hockey over the weekend (check out my story on the Gusties' 6-foot-8 goaltender — yes, 6-foot-8 — John McLean, here ... he's helped Gustavus to a seven-game winning streak).

Anyway, I wasn't able to get reaction to Minnesota State's split with the Saints until after what appeared to be a pretty hard-skating practice on Monday (MSU has today off). You can see some of coach Troy Jutting's comments in this story.

Jutting said his team played five good periods against a fast-skating St. Lawrence team that has a real stud player in Kyle Flanagan. The one not-so-good period, however, was not the one in which they allowed two late goals. It was the first of the weekend when the Mavericks took some time to adjust to the small rink. Jutting said the Saints' game-winning goal was a combination defensive breakdown/soft goal.

The Mavericks bounced back to win on Saturday, thanks in part to a spectacular outing by Phil Cook in goal. Jutting said Cook got back to playing "like Phil" and that Austin Lee did a fine job on Friday night.

Now, it's back to WCHA action. If you want a jumpstart on what's going on with Wisconsin, this weekend's opponent, you can read the transcript of coach Mike Eaves' Monday press conference here.

In other WCHA news, St. Cloud State forward Cam Reid is leaving the team to play in the Western Hockey League. Reid has 15 points in 22 games for the Huskies, so that's a bit of a blow for St. Cloud.

Big win, tough loss

Minnesota State opened the season with a 1-0 victory at No. 18 RPI on Friday night. Austin Lee stopped 36 shots for his first career shutout, and defenseman Cameron Cooper scored the lone goal with 1:22 remaining in the third third period.

All was not well afterward, though, as Tyler Elbrecht, the junior defenseman and co-captain, suffered what the radio broadcast described as an apparent arm injury late in the second period and did not return. Reached by phone after the game, MSU coach Troy Jutting would not detail the injury but did say that Elbrecht is "out for awhile."

"It's a huge loss for us," he said. "We're inexperienced as it is (on defense). Now we're really inexperienced."

Freshman Max Gaede also suffered an injury.

"It was a gutty win," Jutting said. "With the injuries and all of the penalty killing we had to do, it was a gutty win. I'm proud of them."

Yes, the penalties. The Mavericks killed off 10 RPI power plays and were whistled for 11 penalties. The Engineers committed eight penalties. Cooper's goal came in a a 4-on-4 situation. Eriah Hayes had the assist.

Lee had a great night, stopping 17 shots in the third period. The Mavericks finished the game with 20 shots on goal.

You can see the box score here.

Also, check out postgame video (interviews with Lee and Jutting) by The Daily Gazette's Ken Schott here.

Meanwhile, back in Mankato, the Minnesota State women's hockey team improved to 3-0-0 after defeating No. 8 Mercyhurst 3-2 in overtime. Nicole Germaine scored the game-winner in the final minute of OT.

Hockey's in the air

Call it the end of pre-preseason and the start of preseason.

The Minnesota State men's hockey team had its first practice of the season with coaches on Thursday, going through an hour-long workout at All Seasons Arena. Starting Thursday, coaches get two hours of ice time with their teams per week until the official start of the season on Oct. 1.

"This is the preseason," MSU coach Troy Jutting said afterward. "We're setting up for the first practice.

"It was good. The intensity was good. The kids worked hard. It was short, so we don't get too far into things. But it's a chance to start getting used to the pace."

The Mavericks will have another hour-long practice on Friday and then have three 40-minute practices in each of the next two weeks, Jutting said.

Senior goaltender Austin Lee said it was a good first day.

"It was good to get the first-year guys acclimated to the speed of practice. That's always fun," he said.

Senior Michael Dorr said he and fellow captain Tyler Elbrecht have been running captains practices as well as some on-ice drills to get ready for Thursday. The team has also been running and doing other dryland workouts.

"Guys are in good shape," Dorr said. "But there's a difference between on-ice shape and running shape."

Jutting praised MSU strength and conditioning coach Tom Inkrott, saying he "did a great job this summer with the kids."

Back on the ice

With school underway at Minnesota State, the Maverick players are on the ice, doing power skating and captains practices five days a week, according to captain Tyler Elbrecht (pictured).

"We've been working hard, working on team building, making sure we're ready to go at the beginning of the season," the junior defenseman said after a shinny (no checking) game Wednesday at All Seasons Arena.

Starting Sept. 15, coaches can be on the ice with players for two hours a week. The official first day of practice is Saturday, Oct. 1. Two days after that, MSU will play an exhibition game against British Columbia. Then on Oct. 7-8, the Mavs will head east to open the regular season against RPI.

"Everybody's come back in better shape and with something to prove," Elbrecht said. "We took it upon ourselves to get better in the offseason so we're ready to go."

If you followed Elbrecht on Twitter (@Elbrecth16), this summer, you've probably seen his almost daily comments about his workouts, along with the occasional inspirational quote. He said understands that there are people who will hold him accountable for those tweets.

"I enjoy Twitter; I'm not going to lie," he said. "I like to have fun with the boys and use it to keep us motivated. But also a big thing is to use it to stay connected, like with Ben Youds (Elbrecht's former defensive partner) or Kurt (Davis), who is in Europe."

After all of the recent news about the changes coming in college hockey and the WCHA, it was refreshing to take a look at this season, rather than the one coming in 2013. Mavericks coach Troy Jutting seemed to think the same way.

"It's two years away," Jutting said. "I'm worried about this year. We've got a game on Oct. 7."

Coaching dominoes continue to fall

Penn State made its big announcement on Sunday, hiring Princeton coach Guy Gadowsky as its first men's hockey coach. He will be introduced during a press conference Monday afternoon. Two other candidates with WCHA ties interviewed for the job: Minnesota Duluth's Scott Sandelin and Wisconsin women's coach Mark Johnson. Sandelin said he's thrilled that he's not leaving Duluth but was intrigued by the Penn State job. Undoubtedly a contract extension at UMD is in the works since had had just one year remaining on his deal.

Gadowsky has been coaching for 12 years, the last seven at Princeton where he took the Tigers to two NCAA tournaments. Before that, he spent five years at Alaska (Fairbanks) where he had two winning seasons, including a 22-win season in 2001-02. The Colorado College graduate has a career record of 173-198-37 (.469).

By the way, Sandelin's career record is 192-200-52 (.491) with three NCAA appearances (and the national title) in 11 seasons at UMD. By comparison, Minnesota State's Troy Jutting has a record of 172-200-53 (.467) with one NCAA tournament in 11 seasons.

Gadowsky's hiring creates another opening in the college coaching ranks, as Princeton will be looking to replace him. Union quickly filled its open position after Providence hired away Nate Leaman, the national coach of the year. He was replaced by one of his assistants Rick Bennett.

Other jobs that are still open include Michigan Tech and Clarkson.

Western Michigan, meanwhile, has locked up its coach-of-the-year candidate, Jeff Blashill, giving him an extension through 2016. The deal reportedly will pay him $175,000 per year with up to $100,000 more in supplemental income (media, etc.)!