Lines are posted below the live chat
MINNESOTA STATE
21-Grant ... 18-Leitner ... 9-Gervais
25-Stepan ... 23-Blueger ... 22-McInnis
12-LaFontaine ... 26-Margonari ... 19-Lehrke
24-Knowles ... 17-Huntebrinker ... 8-Gaede
27-Stern ... 7-Palmquist
28-Jutzi ... 6-C. Nelson
11-Flanagan ... 3-Thompson
34-Huggins
35-Williams
Scratches: Buchanan, Foguth (inj.), Herndon, Knoll, Jor. Nelson, Josh Nelson (inj.)
BOWLING GREEN
2-Mercier ... 22-Carpetner ... 20-Pohlkamp
10-Dufour ... 11-DeSalvo ... 13-Berkle
12-Williamson ... 26-Cooper ... 17-Murphy
14-Wojtala ... 27-Wallace ... 24-MMohler
15-Perrier ... 29-Freibergs
3-Kucera ... 28-Walker
7-Sloat ... 4-Sullivan
31-Burke
32-Sholl
Referees: Pete Friesema, Butch Mousseaux. Linesmen: Paul Tunison, Eric Forberg
Friday, March 21, 2014
Friday Morning Skate (Final Five edition)
Greetings from Grand Rapids, site of this year's WCHA Final Five. This seems like a great city to host a tournament such as this. Lots of downtown restaurants and bars. Plenty of other things to do. Will people show up (they didn't during the first game of the Big Ten tournament in St. Paul)? Will find out at 2 p.m. (1 p.m. CDT) today.
The Final Five features Minnesota State vs. Bowling Green, followed by Ferris State vs. Alaska Anchorage. The coaches involved don't expect a cakewalk for anybody — just like the regular season.
Minnesota State is in the Final Five for the fourth time and is looking for its first win (it's 0-4). The Mavericks will have to do it without two defensemen, Carter Foguth and Josh Nelson, who suffered injuries last Saturday. Expect Blake Thompson and Casey Nelson to take their spots in the lineup.
Speaking of defensemen, junior D Zach Palmquist has upped his game — along with several other players — over the course of the team's 11-game unbeaten streak. A great skater, Palmquist continues to log many minutes — 22-30 a game, coach Mike Hastings said, and probably closer to the latter —as he has since his freshman year.
The Mavericks are still considered a bubble team for the NCAA tournament and are approaching the Final Five with the idea that they probably have to win it. They remain ranked 12th in the Pairwise following Thursday's Big Ten play-in games (including Michigan's 2-1 2OT loss to Penn State).
As for Bowling Green, the Falcons are playing well, entering the weekend with five wins in a row. A big key to their recent success has been their power play, something that Hastings said has kept him up at night.
In the other matchup, Ferris State enters the tournament with the WCHA's only Hobey Baker Award finalist, as goaltender C.J. Motte was named one of the top 10 nominees on Thursday. The Bulldogs could have some home-ice advantage with their campus located just 60 miles away. There was a push in Big Rapids, Mich., to fill five fan buses for the games. Alaska Anchorage won't be a pushover, especially the way the Seawolves played on the road at Alaska last week and the week before. First-team All-WCHA forward Matt Bailey leads the way for college hockey's biggest turnaround team.
All three of this weekend's games are televised on Fox Sports North.
Matt Wellens and I preview the Final Five here and give our weekend picks here.
The Grand Rapids Press also has a tournament primer. Read that here.
For those of you who are in Grand Rapids, a restaurant called Peppino's Downtown Sports Grille is considered MSU's official fan/team restaurant. Also, tonight's game between the Seawolves and the Bulldogs will continue a Friday-night tradition of the Grand Rapids Griffins, the minor-league hockey team that place in Van Andel Arena and will serve $2 beer and $2 hot dogs.
The Final Five features Minnesota State vs. Bowling Green, followed by Ferris State vs. Alaska Anchorage. The coaches involved don't expect a cakewalk for anybody — just like the regular season.
Minnesota State is in the Final Five for the fourth time and is looking for its first win (it's 0-4). The Mavericks will have to do it without two defensemen, Carter Foguth and Josh Nelson, who suffered injuries last Saturday. Expect Blake Thompson and Casey Nelson to take their spots in the lineup.
Speaking of defensemen, junior D Zach Palmquist has upped his game — along with several other players — over the course of the team's 11-game unbeaten streak. A great skater, Palmquist continues to log many minutes — 22-30 a game, coach Mike Hastings said, and probably closer to the latter —as he has since his freshman year.
The Mavericks are still considered a bubble team for the NCAA tournament and are approaching the Final Five with the idea that they probably have to win it. They remain ranked 12th in the Pairwise following Thursday's Big Ten play-in games (including Michigan's 2-1 2OT loss to Penn State).
As for Bowling Green, the Falcons are playing well, entering the weekend with five wins in a row. A big key to their recent success has been their power play, something that Hastings said has kept him up at night.
In the other matchup, Ferris State enters the tournament with the WCHA's only Hobey Baker Award finalist, as goaltender C.J. Motte was named one of the top 10 nominees on Thursday. The Bulldogs could have some home-ice advantage with their campus located just 60 miles away. There was a push in Big Rapids, Mich., to fill five fan buses for the games. Alaska Anchorage won't be a pushover, especially the way the Seawolves played on the road at Alaska last week and the week before. First-team All-WCHA forward Matt Bailey leads the way for college hockey's biggest turnaround team.
All three of this weekend's games are televised on Fox Sports North.
Matt Wellens and I preview the Final Five here and give our weekend picks here.
The Grand Rapids Press also has a tournament primer. Read that here.
For those of you who are in Grand Rapids, a restaurant called Peppino's Downtown Sports Grille is considered MSU's official fan/team restaurant. Also, tonight's game between the Seawolves and the Bulldogs will continue a Friday-night tradition of the Grand Rapids Griffins, the minor-league hockey team that place in Van Andel Arena and will serve $2 beer and $2 hot dogs.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Viewing party
Minnesota State's WCHA Final Five semifinal game against Bowling Green on Friday will be shown during a viewing party at Mankato's Buffalo Wild Wings downtown location. The Mavericks and Falcons will play at 1 p.m. Friday at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich. The game will be televised on Fox Sports North. It will also be carried on the radio locally on KTOE.
Everybody do the 'Michigan Rag'
PucKato is leaving for Michigan today (Wednesday morning) and has a few other duties before his Final Five coverage begins.
Look for my tournament preview story in Thursday's edition of The Free Press and the usual gameday coverage here and in the paper on Friday. Hoping to get a post-practice report on Thursday for the blog, too.
The Mavericks are scheduled to fly to Grand Rapids on Thursday morning.
Sounds like a fun town. We'll see if the WCHA can bring in some decent crowds.
Look for my tournament preview story in Thursday's edition of The Free Press and the usual gameday coverage here and in the paper on Friday. Hoping to get a post-practice report on Thursday for the blog, too.
The Mavericks are scheduled to fly to Grand Rapids on Thursday morning.
Sounds like a fun town. We'll see if the WCHA can bring in some decent crowds.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Final Five tickets
Minnesota State announced on Sunday morning that it has a limited number of reserved ticket
packages available for the Final Five, which takes place Friday and Saturday at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich.
The $95 package includes both semifinal games and the Broadmoor Trophy championship game. Call 507-389-6111 for more information.
According to the WCHA, three-game packages are also available for $95 and $50 through the Van
Andel Arena box office and through Ticketmaster. Prices for individual games are $35 and $18 for the
semifinals and $40 and $25 for the championship game.
The WCHA's fan guide can be found here.
If it's the playoffs, it must be overtime
Of course, Minnesota State's first-round WCHA playoff series went to overtime Saturday night. That was not an uncommon occurrence. The Mavericks have played at least one overtime game in each of the last five seasons. Here's a look at their first-round OT history:
March 15, 2014: MSU 5, Northern Michigan 4. GWG: Zach Stepan, 16:32, OT (MSU clinches series 2-0)
March 15, 2013: MSU 4, Nebraska Omaha 3. GWG: Chase Grant, 7:04, OT (MSU up 1-0)
March 10, 2012: Minnesota Duluth 3, MSU 2, 2OT. GWG: Mike Seidel, 4:07, 2OT (UMD wins series 2-0)
March 12, 2011: Denver 3, MSU 2. GWG: Jason Zucker, 1:29, OT (DU clinches series 2-0)
March 12, 2010: MSU 5, St. Cloud State 4. GWG: Kael Mouillierat, :20, OT (MSU up 1-0)
March 14, 2010: St. Cloud State 3, MSU 2. GWG: Drew LeBlanc, 3:21, OT (SCSU wins series 3-1)
March 14, 2008: MSU 1, Minnesota 0. GWG: Trevor Bruess, 17:36, 2OT (MSU up 1-0)
March 15, 2008: Minnesota 2, MSU 1. GWG: Mike Carman, 7:33, OT (UM ties series 1-1)
March 16, 2008: Minnesota 3, MSU 2. GWG: Tony Lucia, 16:59, 2OT (UM wins series 2-1)
March 10, 2006: MSU 3, North Dakota 2. GWG: Rob Rankin, 3:18, OT (MSU up 1-0)
March 12, 2004: MSU 4, Minnesota Duluth 3. GWG: Lucas Fransen, 12:18, OT (MSU up 1-0)
March 15, 2003: MSU 6, Wisconsin 5. GWG: Grant Stevenson, 1:21, 2OT (MSU wins series 2-0)
March 8, 2002: Wisconsin 3, MSU 2. GWG: Matt Murray, 7:06, OT (UW up 1-0)
March 10, 2000: MSU 2, Alaska Anchorage 1. GWG: Jesse Rooney, :53, OT (MSU up 1-0)
(Home team in bold)
March 15, 2014: MSU 5, Northern Michigan 4. GWG: Zach Stepan, 16:32, OT (MSU clinches series 2-0)
March 15, 2013: MSU 4, Nebraska Omaha 3. GWG: Chase Grant, 7:04, OT (MSU up 1-0)
March 10, 2012: Minnesota Duluth 3, MSU 2, 2OT. GWG: Mike Seidel, 4:07, 2OT (UMD wins series 2-0)
March 12, 2011: Denver 3, MSU 2. GWG: Jason Zucker, 1:29, OT (DU clinches series 2-0)
March 12, 2010: MSU 5, St. Cloud State 4. GWG: Kael Mouillierat, :20, OT (MSU up 1-0)
March 14, 2010: St. Cloud State 3, MSU 2. GWG: Drew LeBlanc, 3:21, OT (SCSU wins series 3-1)
March 14, 2008: MSU 1, Minnesota 0. GWG: Trevor Bruess, 17:36, 2OT (MSU up 1-0)
March 15, 2008: Minnesota 2, MSU 1. GWG: Mike Carman, 7:33, OT (UM ties series 1-1)
March 16, 2008: Minnesota 3, MSU 2. GWG: Tony Lucia, 16:59, 2OT (UM wins series 2-1)
March 10, 2006: MSU 3, North Dakota 2. GWG: Rob Rankin, 3:18, OT (MSU up 1-0)
March 12, 2004: MSU 4, Minnesota Duluth 3. GWG: Lucas Fransen, 12:18, OT (MSU up 1-0)
March 15, 2003: MSU 6, Wisconsin 5. GWG: Grant Stevenson, 1:21, 2OT (MSU wins series 2-0)
March 8, 2002: Wisconsin 3, MSU 2. GWG: Matt Murray, 7:06, OT (UW up 1-0)
March 10, 2000: MSU 2, Alaska Anchorage 1. GWG: Jesse Rooney, :53, OT (MSU up 1-0)
(Home team in bold)
Mavericks 5, Wildcats 4 (OT)
 |
| Pat Christman/The Free Press |
But first, check out Pat Christman's great photo gallery from the game, including pics of the game-winning goal in OT.
1. Ain't it Grand? Rapids, that is. The Mavericks are off to Grand Rapids, Mich., for the Final Five following a thrilling overtime game on Saturday. Despite putting 58 shots on goal, Minnesota State never led in the game until Zach Stepan (above, center) scored with 3:28 remaining in overtime. They fell behind by a goal four times and kept finding ways to tie it up. Even though a loss would have meant a Sunday game, the Mavericks were thrilled about the sweep. They're going to the Final Five in back-to-back years for the first time in their history and still might need to win the whole thing to get to the NCAAs.
2. Young guns: Stepan (read more about him in my game story here) had a goal and two assists in the game and a goal and four assists in the series. He now has 20 points. There were some high expectations on him coming into the season and he didn't make the All-Rookie team, but he scored MSU's biggest goal of the season. Then there's sophomore Bryce Gervais, who continues his hot streak. He also had a five-point weekend, with three goals — two in the third period on Saturday. He has 10 goals in his last 13 games games and has 15. Sophomore Teddy Blueger had an assist and showed his physical side throughout the game.
3. Stay aggressive: The Mavericks didn't play scared or not to lose in overtime. They outshot the Wildcats 14-7 and put two shots off pipes (blasts by Johnny McInnis and Brett Stern). Stepan said confidence in goalie Cole Huggins (28 saves) as well as a solid defensive corps allowed them to keep pushing without having to look over their shoulders. Hastings praised defenseman Zach Palmquist for his all-around play. Palmquist's blast from the point got through goalie Mathias Dahlstrom, but the puck trickled to the side of the net where Stepan picked it up and tucked into the net for the game-winner.
Around the WCHA: Ferris State 3, Bemidji State 2, 2OT (FSU wins series 2-0) ... Bowling Green 5, Michigan Tech 2 (BG win series 2-0) ... Alaska Anchorage 5, Alaska 4 (UAA wins series 2-1)
What's next: The Mavericks will play in the 1 p.m. CST game on Friday against Bowling Green. Anchorage and Ferris State will play in the nightcap.
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