Minnesota State at St. Cloud State

The Mavericks are on the road, and Puckato is, too. Lines are posted below. Be sure to check back and follow along and join the conversation in the live chat below.

MINNESOTA STATE
15-Franklin, 23-Blueger, 14-Mullin
24-Knowles, 17-Huntebrinker, 9-Gervais
25-Stepan, 16-J. Nelson, 19-McClure
7-Cooper, 27-Schwalbe, 3-Thompson

28-Jutzi, 5-Foguth
11-Flanagan, 6-C. Nelson
4-Lewis, 21-Vanko

34-Huggins
39-Pawloski

Scratches: Brickley, Coatta, Knutson, Madri, Margonari, A. Nelson, Schmeisser

ST. CLOUD STATE
23-Jackson, 11-Kossila, 63-Russell
9-Benik, 13-Morley, 21-Murray
14-Newell, 19-Eyssimont, 18-Peterson
6-Tedesco, 42-Winiecki, 10-Papa

22-Schuldt, 12-Prow
5-Widman, 20-Borgen
7-Nevalainen, 26-Ilvonen

35-Lindgren
45-Reijola
30-Zevnik

Friday Morning Skate

It's old-school week in college hockey, at least here in Minnesota.

All of the state's D1 teams are playing old conference rivals, something that's nice to see post-realignment (Are we still talking about realignment?). That includes Bemidji State against North Dakota, Minnesota against Minnesota Duluth and, of course, Minnesota State against St. Cloud State.

The Mavericks will be playing in St. Cloud for the first time since the WCHA broke up, and, there are lots of reasons to stoke that in-state rivalry, says MSU coach Mike Hastings, including easing up on travel, drumming up fan interest, retaining some strong relationships and playing a strong out-of-conference schedule.

The games are big ones for Minnesota State, who, at 0-2, would like to get back on track and improve that nonconference record. For more on the matchup, check out The Free Press' College Hockey Gameday package.

Both Hastings and MSU women's coach John Harrington are traveling to their alma maters this weekend for games — Hastings to St. Cloud State and Harrington to Minnesota Duluth.

Tonight's MSU-SCSU game will be televised on Fox Sports North-Plus and Fox College Sports.

Looking at Mick Hatten's coverage from the St. Cloud Times this morning ... SCSU grad Hastings gets some praise for the work he's done with the Mavericks over the last three years. As for the Huskies, senior forward Jimmy Murray is off to a good start after a tough junior year.

Going around the WCHA ...

• Bemidji State vs./at North Dakota: The Beavers beat the No. 2 team in the country (UMD) a week go and now get to take on No. 1 UND home and home. Take about a tough schedule.

• Bowling Green at Canisius, RIT: The 10th-ranked Falcons hope to avoid slow starts on the road as they make this eastern road swing.

• Alaska Anchorage and Alaska in Goal Rush tournament: Fairbanks' annual early-season event also includes RPI and American International. The Seawolves' Tanner Dusyk has been a good story, returning after missing last season following three different surgeries.

• In other matchups, Michigan Tech travels to Ferris State for the first conference series of the season. Northern Michigan and Lake Superior State play each other home and home, although this weekend's games are nonconference contests. Alabama Huntsville will play an exhibition game against the Alabama Crimson Tide club team on Saturday.

For more coverage of the WCHA, read my and Jack Hittinger's USCHO column and challenge us on our weekly picks.

Omaha 2, MSU 0 (corrected)

Trevor Cokley/The Free Press

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. You don't see this everyday: Saturday's loss was significant for a number of reasons. It's something you just haven't seen in the Verizon Wireless Center over the last couple of seasons. For one thing, MSU had lost just three times in its home rink in the previous two seasons, going 31-3-2 in Mankato. The Mavericks haven't been swept at home since coach Mike Hastings' first season, when Wisconsin won a pair of overtime games (remember John Ramage?) here. Then there's getting shut out at home, something that hadn't happened in the Hastings era. The last time that happened was Jan.  14, 2012, also against Wisconsin and goalie Joel Rumpel (Phil Cook returned the favor the next night). The back-to-back losses were the first since January of 2014 when it lost three in a row to Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State and Northern Michigan. The last time MSU was shut out was Nov 16, 2013, at Minnesota. The last time the Mavericks were shut out at home was Jan. 14, 2012 against Wisconsin.

2. Better but more questions: Minnesota State was better in overall hockey play Saturday than it was Friday, out-shooting Omaha 40-18 and out-attempting its foes 88-45. Lots of credit has to go to freshman goaltender Evan Weninger, who was playing in his first-ever college game. He made some fantastic saves. He also got a lot of help from his teammates, who mucked up the ice in front of him and blocked 21 shots. The Mavericks didn't help themselves, either, missing the 24 times, a trend that seems to go back to their NCAA game against RIT last March. For 4 1/2-5 periods of hockey this weekend, Minnesota State was the better team. But, to quote the coach: "Ultimately, the end of the result is: Shots don’t win you hockey games, goals do."

3. Tough-Luck McClure: Sophomore forward Brad McClure, who scored 15 goals last season and was the hero of the WCHA Final Five, was shut out on 10 shots on goal, a quarter of the Mavericks' shots. The line of McClure, Huntebrinker and Brett Knowles seemed to be a tough matchup for Omaha to handle. Huntebrinker had five shots on goal, including a Grade-A, sure-fire, back-door chance on a power play that Weninger somehow robbed. Weninger also got just enough of a McClure shot on a 2-on-0 play with Bryce Gervais — I mean, one of those guys has got to score there, right? —who went back and forth with the puck before McClure pulled the trigger. Knowles had two shots on goal but fired just wide on a 2-on-1 rush with Jimmy Mullin shortly before the 2-on-0 play. One of those nights.

For more, read my game story here.

Around the WCHA: Michigan State 4, Lake Superior State 1 ... Western Michigan 1, Ferris State 1 (OT) ... Bowling Green 2, Ohio State 0 ... Northern Michigan 3, Wisconsin 3 (OT) ... Bemidji State 3, Minnesota Duluth 2 ... Alabama Huntsville 5, Connecticut 2 ... Arizona State 2, Alaska 1 ... St. Cloud State 6, Alaska Anchorage 2

Minnesota State vs. Omaha — Game 2 live blog

Follow along during tonight's series finale below the lines ...

MINNESOTA STATE

15-Franklin, 23-Blueger, 9-Geravis

24-Knowles, 17-Huntebrinker, 19-McClure

14-Mullin, 16-J. Nelson, 10-Knutson

25-Stepan, 27-Schwalbe, 3-Thompson

28-Jutzi, 6-C. Nelson

11-Flanagan, 5-Foguth

4-Lewis, 22-Schmeisser

24-Huggins

29-A. Nelson

39-Pawloski

Scratches: Brickley, Coatta, Cooper, Madri, Margonari, Vanko

OMAHA

28-Olofsson, 20-Guentzel, 16-Ortega

13-Randolph, 10-Vesel, 25-Parizek

12-Pope, 9-Alferd, 26-Spinner

27-Pearce, 7-Peterson, 21-Galt

22-Klehr, 5-Messner

4-Snuggerud, 23-Gallo

6-Buchta, 24-Brady

35-Weninger

1-Blankenburg

Omaha 3, MSU 2

Pat Christman/The Free Press

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. That's entertainment: It may not have been the outcome Minnesota State or its fans wanted, but Friday's game lived up to the hype of a season-opener between two top-10 teams. No. 6 MSU's furious attempt at a comeback against No. 10 Omaha in the third period after turning a 3-0 game into a 3-2 one made for an electric atmosphere in the Verizon Wireless Center. It's nice when there are 4,400+ in the building, a full student section and a 50-member pep band (including seven tubas!). The crowd didn't get the start it wanted but it hung on, as MSU out-attempted Omaha 32-14 in the second period. The Purple Mavs just weren't able to finish some excellent chances — Bryce Gervais' short-handed breakaway shot with 12 minutes left hit the post — and goalie Kirk Thompson made a couple of huge stops in the final minute when MSU had an extra attacker on.

2. Top-line players: Omaha got off to a fast start, thanks to its best players. Austin Ortega, who led the Red Mavs in goals last year, had a goal and an assist and had a whopping nine shots on goal. His goal, which came 53 seconds into the second period was the game-winner. Jake Guentzel, last season's top scorer, also had a goal and made a couple of fine defensive plays on C.J. Franklin, including one in which he checked the sophomore out of a potential back-door power-play goal before he could get off a shot. Jake Randolph, who had 26 points as a freshman, scored UNO's first goal. "That line (Guentzel, Ortega and Fredrik Olofsson) had the majority of all their opportunities," MSU coach Mike Hastings said. "Good hockey players."

3. Mullin it over: Senior forward Jimmy Mullin scored Minnesota State's first goal, a power-play goal at 13:28 of the second period. He celebrated almost like it was an overtime winner. "There was a lot of emotion on that shift; you have no idea," he said. "It was fun out there." Mullin, a graduate transfer from Miami, was playing in his first college game in 22 months. He missed his final season and a half at Miami due to injury and opted to transfer to MSU this spring after graduating. It was the 19th career goal and 48th point for Mullin, who played on the third line with Jordan Nelson and Zeb Knutson. Another transfer, Clint Lewis, who started off at Cornell and spent last season in the USHL, assisted on Franklin's goal for his first point as a Maverick (his third collegiate point).

Deep thought: Nice to see the 1980 D-II national champions be honored with a banner on Friday when MSU also dropped ones honoring last season's WCHA regular-season and Final Five titles and one for the program's history of NCAA appearances. Former coach Don Brose was on the ice to unfurl the '80 banner. Interesting that all three of MSU's coaches were in the building, as Troy Jutting is an assistant coach for Omaha.

Read my game story here.

Around the WCHA: North Dakota 5, Lake Superior State 2 ... Bowling Green 6, Ohio State 3 ... Western Michigan 3, Ferris State 2 ... Northern Michigan 2, Wisconsin 2 (OT) ... Connecticut 5, Alabama Huntsville 2 ... Bemidji State at Minnesota Duluth (ppd.) ... St. Cloud State 3, Alaska 0 ... Alaska Anchorage 3, Arizona State 2 (OT)

Minnesota State vs. Omaha — live chat

Join me for a chat or just for game updates during tonight's game between No. 6 Minnesota State and No. 10 Nebraska Omaha.

Tonight's lines:

MINNESOTA STATE
15-Franklin, 23-Blueger, 9-Gervais
24-Knowles, 17-Huntebrinker, 19-McClure
14-Mullin, 16-J. Nelson, 10-Knutson
25-Stepan, 27-Schwalbe, 3-Thompson

28-Jutzi, 6-C. Nelson
11-Flanagan, 5-Foguth
4-Lewis, 22-Schmeisser

34-Huggins
29-A. Nelson
39-Pawloski

Scratches: Brickley, Coatta, Cooper, Madry, Margonari, Vanko

NEBRASKA OMAHA
28-Olofsson, 20-Guentzel, 16-Ortega
13-Randolph, 10-Vesel, 25-Parizek
12-Pope, 7-Peterson, 26-Spinner
17-Nogard, 19-Lane, 11-Morelli

2-Cooper, 5-Messner
4-Snuggerud, 23-Gallo
15-Schulz, 24-Brady

29-Thompson
35-Weninger

Friday morning skate

Pat Christman/The Free Press

Hockey's back!

Minnesota State begins the regular season today at the Verizon Wireless Center with the first of two games against non conference rival Nebraska Omaha. It's a matchup of two preseason top-10 teams with the home team ranked sixth and the visitors coming in 10th.

For the Purple Mavericks, senior winger Bryce Gervais (pictured) comes in as one of the nation's top goal scorers. He has 51 goals over his first three college seasons, which is an accomplishment at Minnesota State. Here's a list of all of MSU's 50-goal scorers in the Division I era. Most of them took four years to get there:

Shane Joseph 68
Jesse Rooney 67
Tim Wolfe 65
Tyler Deis 60
Travis Morin 58
Aaron Fox 57
Eriah Hayes 52
Bryce Gervais 51

A quote from Gervais that didn't make the story: "I feel like I just need to bring my game. I bring a lot of energy to the team when I’m playing fast and when I’m hitting guys, not only scoring goals but doing the little things right. I think I build off that, and I think my teammates build off that as well."

Read The Free Press' gameday preview here.

The series pits two teams that appeared destined to play each other for the Frozen Four last spring, only to have that notion spoiled when MSU was upset in the first round of the Midwest Regional in South Bend. Omaha ended up winning the regional and advancing to Boston.

While there's a lot of excitement in Mankato for MSU's new hockey facility at the Verizon Wireless Center, down in Omaha, a brand new building is opening up at UNO, and coach Dean Blais couldn't be more excited.

Chris Dilks of SB Nation's College Hockey blog takes a look at MSU-UNO series, too.

Staying on the subject of MSU's arena changes (the final touches are still being completed there, and I hope to have more complete coverage when they're finally done; that includes the scoreboard), the women's team will play its first games at the Verizon Wireless Center since 2008 today and Saturday against North Dakota. They, too, are calling the downtown arena home from now on. A side note on that series: Two former Mankato East teammates will go against each other as Savannah Quandt plays for MSU and Rebekah Kolstad plays for UND.

Several WCHA teams are in action this weekend to kick off the men's season. For a full WCHA preview, check out my and Jack Hittinger's column and team capsules here. And read our weekend picks here.

In Alaska, Anchorage and Fairbanks will play in the former's Kendall Hockey Classic, along with upstart Arizona State and St. Cloud State. The Seawolves, as Doyle Woody writes, are trying to put last season's struggles behind them. The Nanooks, meanwhile, are led by WCHA Preseason Player of the Year Tyler Morley, who, according to Tim O'Donnell, relishes the pressure.

Bemidji State isn't afraid of tough early season schedules. The Beavers take on No. 2 Minnesota Duluth in a home-and-home, meaning their young blueliners will need to grow up fast, says Jack Hittinger.

In other WCHA action, Ferris State plays home-and-home with Western Michigan and Bowling Green does the same with Ohio State. Northern Michigan plays at Wisconsin, Alabama Huntsville hosts Connecticut and Lake Superior State goes to the Icebreaker tournament in Maine.

College Hockey News also takes a look at the WCHA season.