Hastings, Williams earn major awards

The WCHA awards were announced Thursday afternoon, and Mike Hastings was named the league's Coach of the Year, while goaltender Stephon Williams was named Rookie of the Year, First Team All-WCHA and to the league's All-Rookie Team.

Senior forward Eriah Hayes and sophomore center Matt Leitner were named Third Team All-WCHA.

St. Cloud State's Drew LeBlanc is the WCHA's Player of the Year.

Here are the WCHA awards:

All-WCHA Awards

First team

Forwards: Drew LeBlanc, St. Cloud State; Ryan Walters, Nebraska Omaha; Danny Kristo, North Dakota

Defensemen: Nate Schmidt, Minnesota; Nick Jensen, St. Cloud State

Goaltender: Stephon Williams, Minnesota State

Second team

Forwards: Corban Knight, North Dakota; Erik Haula, Minnesota; Rylan Schwartz, Colorado College

Defensemen: Joey LaLeggia, Denver; Mike Boivin, Colorado College

Goaltender: Juno Olkinuora, Denver

Third team

Forwards: Matt Leitner, Minnesota State; Eriah Hayes, Minnesota State; Nick Bjugstad, Minnesota

Defensemen: Andrej Sustr, Nebraska Omaha; Jake McCabe, Wisconsin

Goaltender: Adam Wilcox, Minnesota

Rookie team

Forwards: Tony Cameranesi, Minnesota Duluth; Alex Petan, Michigan Tech; Rocco Grimaldi, North Dakota

Defensemen: Nolan Zajac, Denver; Andy Welinski, Minnesota Duluth

Goaltender: Stephon Williams, Minnesota State

Player of the Year: Drew LeBlanc, St. Cloud State

Rookie of the Year: Stephon Williams, Minnesota State

Defensive Player of the Year: Nick Jensen, St. Cloud State

Student-Athlete of the Year: Drew LeBlanc, St. Cloud State

Coach of the Year: Mike Hastings, Minnesota State

Scoring Champion: Ryan Walters, Nebraska Omaha

Goaltending Champion: Stephon Williams, Minnesota State

Read the MSU release here and the WCHA release here.

Join me for lunch

I'll be live chatting at noon on Thursday, the day before the WCHA playoffs begin. So join the conversation. Let's talk some hockey.

Thursday update

It's playoff time, and the (purple) Mavericks are preparing to meet the (red) Mavericks. Here are links to some of the coverage (including my own) leading up to this weekend's games in Mankato ...

We all know the storylines, right, and the reunion of coaches past and present for Minnesota State and Nebraska Omaha was taken care of back in December when the they played in Omaha. Where there's a lot these two teams know about each other, the games and the players playing them are what really matter, MSU coach Mike Hastings said.

USCHO also talked to Hastings about the matchup against his former club.

The hiring of Hastings nearly 11 months ago began Minnesota State's turnaround and record-setting season (22 wins), but did the Mavericks really think they'd be in this spot after two 11th-place finishes and even a 1-5 start to the WCHA season?

In Omaha, UNO is trying to plug a leaky defense that has allowed 26 goals in its last five games. That includes 13 power-play goals in its last 26 kills. Omaha took Monday off after getting swept at Duluth and losing its fourth game in a row, which put it in the seventh spot in the WCHA for the second year in a row.

Check back on the blog today for more, including my live lunch chat at noon and the announcement of the WCHA award winners later in the day.

Where they stand

Not that polls matter a whole heck of a lot (and I say that as a voter), but it was somewhat perplexing to see North Dakota move up a spot in both national polls and MSU stay pat on one and move down on another. So it goes. Here's a look at this week's rankings:

USCHO.com poll
1. Quinnipiac (39)
2. Minnesota (11)
3. Miami
4. North Dakota
5. Boston College
6. UMass-Lowell
7. New Hampshire
8. St. Cloud State
9. Western Michigan
10. MINNESOTA STATE
11. Denver
12. Notre Dame
13. Yale
14. Wisconsin
15. Niagara
16. Rensselaer
17. Providence
18. Boston University
19. Union
20. Nebraska Omaha
Others receiving votes: Dartmouth, St. Lawrence, Merrimack, Air Force, Robert Morris, Alaska, Michigan, Ferris State

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll
1. Quinnipiac (31)
2. Minnesota (3)
3. Miami
4. North Dakota
5. Boston College
6. UMass-Lowell
7. New Hampshire
8. St. Cloud State
9. Western Michigan
10. Denver
11. MINNESOTA STATE
12. Notre Dame
13. Yale
14. Niagara
15. Wisconsin
Others receiving votes: Rensselaer, Providence, Union, Boston University, Nebraska Omaha

Pairwise Rankings (what really counts)1. Quinnipiac
2. Minnesota
3. Miami
4. UMass-Lowell
5. North Dakota
6. Denver
7. Boston College
8. New Hampshire
9. MINNESOTA STATE
10. Western Michigan
11. Yale
12. St. Cloud State
13. Niagara
14. Rensselaer
15. Notre Dame
16. Union.
17. Boston University
18. Wisconsin
19. Dartmouth
20. Robert Morris
To see the complete Pairwise Rankings, go here.

Mavericks vs. Mavericks

After Denver's 6-1 drubbing of Alaska Anchorage on Sunday made a three-way tie for fourth place in the WCHA standings, Minnesota State will get the No. 6 seed and host No. 7 Nebraska Omaha next weekend in the first round of the conference tournament.

Minnesota State is tied with Denver and Wisconsin for fourth but ended up sixth in the tournament pairings based on the WCHA's tiebreaking criteria when more than two teams finish with the same number of points.

Here's how it works:

In a three-way tie, pluses and minuses are awarded based on the teams' head-to-head results during the season.

Wisconsin — went 2-2 with MSU (even), went 1-0-1 against DU(+1) = +1
Denver — went 2-0 against MSU (+1), went 0-1-1 against UW (-1) = even
Minnesota State — went 2-2 against UW (even), went 0-2 against DU (-1) = -1

Minnesota State had more league wins than those two teams (16) but also had more league losses (11).

So that means Omaha will be coming to town. Mike Hastings gets to face the team he worked with as associate head coach the last three seasons, and former MSU coach and current UNO assistant Troy Jutting returns to Mankato for the first time as an opponent.

A few other nuggets:

• Omaha has the WCHA's scoring champion and possible Player of the Year in Ryan Walters (40 points in league play, 50 overall), while Minnesota State has the league's goaltending champion and possible Rookie of the Year in Stephon Williams (1.93 GAA in conference, 1.83 overall).

• In the last four games, Omaha is 0-4 (vs. Wisconsin, at Duluth), and MSU is 2-2 (at Colorado College, vs. North Dakota).

• The Mavericks and Mavericks split their only regular-season series, Dec. 15-16 at Omaha. MSU won the opener 6-3, and UNO took the second game 5-1.

Mavericks 2, UND 1 (OT)

Pat Christman/The Free Press

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Top rookie? What about top goalie? Stephon Williams, who was amazing with 30 saves, including three in overtime, seems to be the favorite for the WCHA's rookie of the year. It appears he will win the WCHA's goaltending title with a 1.93 GAA in league play. Will he end up as a first-team All-WCHA goaltender? Ballots are due on Sunday, and, after his performance against North Dakota (Rocco Grimaldi doesn't want to see that glove hand anytime soon), he's got my vote. Williams finished the regular season overall with a 19-9-2 record, a 1.83 GAA and a .929 save percentage.

2. Freshman phenoms: The game seemed to belong to the rookies. Williams was good, but so was UND freshman goalie Zane Gothberg (35 saves, 72 in the series split). MSU winger Brett Knowles scored the game-winner in overtime and had an all-around fantastic game. Dylan Margonari scored the Mavericks' other goal. Meanwhile, Grimaldi was downright scary with eight shots on goal and several more attempts. Even MSU junior Zach Lehrke had to make a glove save on him in the third period.

3. Home sweet home: The win, played in front of a crowd of 5,088 (seventh-largest in program history) guaranteed Minnesota State home ice for next weekend's first round of the WCHA tournament. The Mavericks will host for the first time in five years and just the fourth time since joining the conference fulltime in 1999. Who they'll play remains to be seen, as they must await the result of Sunday's game between Denver and Anchorage. The Mavericks are tied for fourth place with Wisconsin. If Denver ties or loses, MSU wins the tiebreaker over the Badgers and will host Minnesota Duluth. If Denver wins, it moves into a tie with MSU and Wisco, and the Mavericks would drop to the sixth seed and host Nebraska Omaha.

Deep thought: The win broke a 10-game losing streak to North Dakota and came in the two teams' final meeting as WCHA foes (at least in the regular season). It also prevented UND from sharing the MacNaughton Cup with St. Cloud State and Minnesota. Also, the win gave the Mavericks a Division I-era record 22 for the year.

Read The Freep game story here.

WCHA standings (updated after Sunday's game)
1. St. Cloud State (37 points)
    Minnesota (37)
3. North Dakota (35)
4. Wisconsin (33)
    Denver (33)
    Minnesota State (33)
--------------------------------------------------
7. Nebraska Omaha (30)
8. Colorado College (26)
9. Minnesota Duluth (25)
10. Michigan Tech (20)
11. Bemidji State (17)
12. Alaska Anchorage (10)

MSU vs. North Dakota — Game 2 live blog

Lines are posted below the live chat ...

MINNESOTA STATE
21-Grant ... 18-Leitner ... 22-McInnis
26-Margonari ... 23-Blueger ... 25-Hayes
24-Knowles ... 12-LaFontaine ... 8-Gaede
14-Herndon ... 19-Lehrke ... 9-Gervais

16-Elbrecht ... 17-Mosey
27-Stern ... 7-Palmquist
2-Nelson ... 28-Jutzi

35-Williams
30-Cook
31-Karambelas

Scratches: Buchanan, Burkemper, Knoll, Thauwald, Zuck

NORTH DAKOTA
21-O'Donnell ... 10-Knight ... 7-Kristo
19-Grimaldi ... 27-Rowney ... 15-Parks
25-Mi. MacMillan ... 16-Ma. MacMillan ... 13-Gaarder
11-Rodwell ... 28-Pattyn ... 17-St. Clair

2-MacWilliam ... 18-Simpson
4-Forbort ... 24-Schmaltz
5-Mattson ... 20-Gleason

31-Gothberg
33-Saunders

Referees: C.J. Beaurline, Craig Welker. Linesemen: Tony Czech, Sterling Eagan