Friday morning skate

Photo by Pat Christman/The Free Press

Good morning. It's hockey day in Mankato as the Mavericks get set to open their home season against UMass-Lowell. Here's a look around the WCHA this weekend, starting with MSU:

Last week, The Free Press featured co-captain Tyler Elbrecht; today co-captain Mike Dorr is the focus. Dorr, a senior forward, says Mankato and MSU feel like home to him, even though he still gets labeled as the player who can't commit. He committed to Minnesota Duluth as a 16-year-old, decommitted, went to Minnesota and transferred to Minnesota State after one semester with the Gophers.  Over the last year and a half, Dorr has 17 goals and 25 assists in 62 games. Even more is expected of him this year.

"I'm happy where I'm at," he said, "and I'm glad with the road I took. No regrets."

As for this weekend's series, Minnesota State has shuffled the lineup a bit due to the numerous injuries suffered last weekend. Expect an all-senior line of Dorr, Joe Schiller and Justin Jokinen, and senior Austin Lee likely will get the start in goal. Not sure if we'll see a forward playing defense, although a couple practiced there his week. Check back later for full lines.

For the River Hawks, they are starting a new era after last season's five-win campaign (a year that included two home losses to MSU). New coach Norm Bazin, a Lowell alum and former Colorado College assistant is the man in charge now.

Going around the WCHA, six teams begin conference play:

Minnesota at Minnesota Duluth: The Gophers call themselves a work in progress as they head north to play the national champs. Meanwhile, the Star Tribune picks Minnesota to finish fourth in the league, one spot ahead of UMD (with MSU last). ... For the Bulldogs, Duluth native Keegan Flaherty is trying to get his team started on a good note.

Wisconsin at Michigan Tech: The Badgers have high hopes for talented sophomore Mark Zengerle and not just in the assist department. Madison.com also features a WCHA preview (the Mavericks are — surprise! — 11th) and a good column by Andy Baggot about the breakup of the league. ... As for the Huskies, these will be the first league games for new coach Mel Pearson.

Bemidji State at Colorado College: The Beavers hit the road after an impressive opening weekend when they split at Miami. Lots of good coverage from Bemidji Pioneer writer Eric Stromgren here. ... As for the Tigers, these will be the first games of the year, kicking off a season that comes with high expectations.

Others playing nonconference games:

North Dakota vs. Maine: Sioux goalie Aaron Dell set a record for wins last year but he's being pushed by senior Brad Eidsness, who lost the starting job to Dell last year.

Denver at Boston College, Boston University: Speaking of goalies, Adam Murray is the man in Denver, at least until injured Sam Brittain comes back — if he comes back — from a knee injury.

St. Cloud State at Northern Michigan: For the Huskies, Jared Festler is showing he has the kind of shot that scores goals — and breaks glass.

Nebraska-Omaha and Alaska-Anchorage in Fairbanks tournament: Omaha will play the two Alaska schools, while Anchorage will play Omaha and Mercyhurst. For the red Mavericks, freshman Josh Archibald, just 17, looks like the real deal. ... Meanwhile, a Seawolves sophomore said he needed to add fitness to his game after a solid rookie year.

WCHA weekly previews at USCHO and College Hockey News.

Elbrecht to have surgery, Lee honored

Tyler Elbrecht

Had a chance to talk with Tyler Elbrecht today. He had an old-school plaster cast on his left arm that went from his hand, past his elbow and halfway up his upper arm. The junior defenseman and co-captain broke both bones in his lower arm (the ulna and radius) when he was hit into the boards in the first game of last weekend's series at RPI. "Snapped them both," he said.

Elbrecht will have surgery on Friday to repair the broken arm, getting metal plates put on the bones. He said he hopes to be out 6-8 at weeks but said he will not rush it. He wants to be fully healed before he gets back in a game. Six weeks would be the Minnesota series on the first weekend of December. Eight weeks would get him games before Christmas. But since he hasn't had the surgery yet no one was giving a specific timeline for his return.

"When he's healthy and ready to go, that's when we'll get him back," coach Troy Jutting said. "It's not going to be tomorrow."

Elbrecht said he'll play the part of the "so called pom-pom guy" and be the team's top cheerleader until he can play again.

Mavericks coaches and players talked about how physical the RPI series was, and they came out of it pretty banged up. Besides Elbrecht, forwards Max Gaede and J.P. Burkemper and defenseman Danny Heath suffered upper body injuries and will not play in this weekend's games against UMass-Lowell. Coach Troy Jutting said the lineup is still being tweaked for the weekend but forwards Eli Zuck and Charlie Thauwald were getting some work on defense. The Mavericks are thin and experienced back there, that's for sure. Stay tuned.

Austin Lee

Meanwhile, I should have had this on Tuesday but better late than never: Goaltender Austin Lee was named WCHA co-defensive player of the week for his 36-save shutout performance on Friday. It was the second time Lee has been honored by the league in his career.

Lee shared the award with Minnesota goaltender Kent Patterson. Offensive player of the week went to Alaska-Anchorage's Mickey Spencer, and the rookie of the week was Michigan Tech's Blake Pietila.

More hockey stuff in Thursday's hockey notebook in The Free Press.

Ranking the Mavericks

Inside College Hockey released its annual Great 58, its power rankings listing every Division I college hockey team, and it puts Minnesota State in at No. 43.

In it's WCHA preview, INCH calls Mike Dorr the league's unsung player but also picks the Mavericks to finish last in the league, saying: "Like another purple team that practices in Mankato, we think the Mavs will be competitive, and get outscored, on most nights.

Meanwhile, this week's USCHO national poll is out and MSU caught a couple of eyes with its split at RPI last weekend, as it received two points amid the "others receiving votes." RPI fell from No. 18 to No. 20. Boston College, which won the Icebreaker at North Dakota last weekend moved up to No. 1, thanks also to Notre Dame's split at Minnesota Duluth.

RPI 4, MSU 1

Minnesota State scored first but couldn't build on its lead as it settled with a season split against 18th-ranked RPI in Troy, N.Y.

Johnny McInnis, playing for the injured Max Gaede scored the Mavericks' lone goal at the 12:00 mark of the first period. The Engineers outshot the Mavericks 38-32. Phil Cook stopped 34 shots in the loss.

After losing Gaede and Tyler Elbrecht on Friday (during the radio pregame show, coach Troy Jutting said Elbrecht could be out for "a couple months"), MSU lost two more forwards on Saturday. J.P. Burkemper went out with an injury in the first period, and Eriah Hayes was called for a contact-to-the-head penalty in the second period, getting a major and a game misconduct.

"We played with a short bench both nights," Mavericks coach Troy Jutting said. "And in the first games of the year, when you're not in great game shape yet, that's tough.

"But I really liked our compete level all weekend long."

RPI scored late in the major and added another power play goal in the third. Last-minute goals in the first and second periods also did the Mavericks in. Also, MSU committed nine more penalties and failed to cash in on a full, 2-minute 5x3 power play.

For the weekend, MSU and RPI combined for 83 penalty minutes.

"It was really intense," Jutting said. "We'll definitely be a better hockey team because of it."

So the Mavericks fall to 1-1 and will return to Mankato to take on UMass-Lowell on Friday and Saturday at the Verizon Wireless Center.

MSU-RPI, Part II

Minnesota State and No. 18 Rensselaer will square off again at 6 p.m. today in Troy, N.Y., following Friday's 1-0 Maverick victory. The Mavericks line chart is out, and there are a few changes from last night, due to injuries to Tyler Elbrecht and Max Gaede. Brett Stern and Johnny McInnis will play.

Also, as expected, it looks like Phil Cook will get the start in goal — despite Austin Lee's 36-save performance in the series opener. If Cook plays like Lee did last night, that should bode well for the Mavericks early in the season. The two goaltenders definitely have potential but is the consistency there?

Here are tonight's lines:

Dorr — Schiller — Hayes
Grant — Lehrke — McInnis
Burkemper — Zuck — Jokinen
LaFontaine — Leitner — Louwerse

Stern — Palmquist
Cooper — Heath
Nelson — Mosey

Cook
Lee

A few other tidbits from the opener: Lee's shutout was just the second season-opening shutout in MSU history. The first one came in 1985 when Ken Hilgert shut out Gustavus 11-0. ... Lehrke was called for two penalties. He committed just one as a freshman and that came in the Mavs' last game of the season. ... Chase Grant also had two of MSU's 11 penalties. ... According to the RPI game notes, the Mavericks blocked 17 shots; freshman D Zach Palmquist was credited with four blocks.

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.

Friday morning skate (updated)

It's hockey day!

The puck drops on the college season today with Minnesota State playing at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the country's 18th-ranked team. Sadly, PucKato will not be in Troy, N.Y., for the games but will try to give you the best coverage it can in spite of being 1,300 miles away.

Getting started, the Mavericks are counting on more production from their forwards, especially knowing they no longer have Kurt Davis and Ben Youds to put up the points. Davis led the team in scoring last year and was tied for the team lead as a sophomore. In between, Youds sat atop the points list. But do they have forwards to carry the load? Senior Mike Louwerse thinks so.

As for tonight's game against the Engineers, the Mavericks' lines will look similar to the way they did in Monday's exhibition game, which they won 3-1. Here are the expected lines:

FORWARDS

Dorr-Schiller-Hayes

Grant-Lehrke-Gaede
Burkemper-Zuck-Jokinen

LaFontaine-Leitner-Louwerse

Extra: McInnis

DEFENSEMEN

Elbrecht-Palmquist

Cooper-Heath

Nelson-Mosey

Extra: Stern

UPDATE: Lee is listed ahead of Cook on the line chart, posted online by MSU this morning and will be the starter tonight. Coach Troy Jutting didn't commit to a starting goaltender on Wednesday but suspected both Lee and Phil Cook would play this weekend. It might depend on Lee's performance tonight.

As for RPI, the Engineers were an NCAA team last year but lost some top-end scoring and goaltending. They're looking to fill those spots.

Going around the WCHA ...

Michigan Tech hosts American International, Bemidji State is at Miami, Wisconsin hosts Northern Michigan and Minnesota hosts Sacred Heart all in two-game series.

The series of the week, though, is in Duluth where Minnesota Duluth will play its first game as defending national champions, and get a tough matchup against No. 1 Notre Dame, the team it beat the Frozen Four semifinals.

In tournament action ...

North Dakota will host the Icebreaker, playing Air Force today and either Boston College or Michigan State on Saturday. Lots of good coverage on the tournament and North Dakota hockey here.

Nebraska-Omaha will host the Maverick Stampede, playing Mercyhurst today and either Robert Morris or Colgate on Saturday.

St. Cloud State is in Alaska for Alaska-Anchorage's Kendall Hockey Classic. The Huskies will play Alaska today and Alaska-Anchorage in a nonconference game on Saturday. Anchorage starts off with Clarkson.

Denver and Colorado College will each play one exhibition game against the U.S. Under-18 Team.

Check out WCHA previews by College Hockey News and USCHO.