WCHA Coaches Poll: BG is favorite, MSU 3rd

Bowling Green has been picked as the favorite to win the MacNaughton Cup as the WCHA regular-season champion by the league's coaches in the fourth annual Mankato Free Press WCHA Men's Hockey Preseason Coaches Poll.

The coaches picked Ferris State senior forward Gerald Mayhew as the conference's Preseason Player of the Year and Minnesota State freshman forward Parker Tuomie as the Preseason Rookie of the Year.

Bowling Green, which has finished third in the standings in each of the last three seasons, received eight of the 10 coaches' first-place votes and had 89 points in the poll. Michigan Tech had the other two and finished second with 79 points. 

Minnesota State was third with 71 points. Michigan Tech and Minnesota State shared the league championship a year ago. 

Ferris State, the winner of last year's WCHA playoff title, was picked fourth, one point out of third place. The Bulldogs' Mayhew had 25 points in league play last year (9 goals, 16 assists), which ranked third in the scoring race and his 41 points overall (16 goals, 25 assists) led the conference in scoring. 

Northern Michigan (54 points) was picked fifth, followed by Bemidji State (48), Lake Superior State (44), Alaska Anchorage (29), Alabama Huntsville (23) and Alaska (21).  

Tuomi, a native of Germany, finished 11th in the United States Hockey League scoring race last season, scoring 54 points (30 goals, 24 assists) for the Sioux Falls Stampede. His goal total ranked seventh in the USHL. 

Mankato Free Press WCHA Men's Hockey Preseason Coaches Poll

1. Bowling Green (8) 89 

2. Michigan Tech (2) 79 

3. Minnesota State 71 

4. Ferris State 70 

5. Northern Michigan 54 

6. Bemidji State 48 

7. Lake Superior State 44 

8. Alaska Anchorage 29 

9. Alabama Huntsville 23 

10. Alaska 21 

Predicted order of finish. Teams received 10 points for a first-place vote, 9 for a second, etc. Coaches could not vote for their own teams. 

Preseason WCHA Player of the Year:

Gerald Mayhew, Sr. F, Ferris State (7 votes) 

Others receiving votes: Mark Friedman, Jr. D, Bowling Green (1); Brandon Hawkins, Jr. F, Bowling Green (1); Chris Nell, Jr. F, Bowling Green (1) 

 

Preseason WCHA Rookie of the Year

Parker Tuomie, F, Minnesota State (4 votes) 

Others receiving votes: Cam Clarke, D, Ferris State (2); Colton Leiter, F, Alaska (1); Marc Michaelis, F, Minnesota State (1); Collin Peters, F, Northern Michigan (1); Angus Redmond, G, Michigan Tech (1) 

 

Preseason All-WCHA Team 

Forwards—Gerald Mayhew, Sr., Ferris State; Dominik Shine, Sr., Northern Michigan; Brandon Hawkins, Jr., Bowling Green (tie); Corey Mackin, So., Ferris State (tie) 

Defensemen—Mark Friedman, Jr., Bowling Green; Matt Roy, Jr., Michigan Tech 

Goaltender Chris Nell, Jr., Bowling Green 

Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically by position): Forwards—Gerry Fitzgerald, Jr., Bemidji State; C.J. Franklin, Jr., Minnesota State; Brendan Harms, Tyler Heinonen, Sr., Michigan Tech; Sr., BSU; Joel L'Esperance, Jr., Michigan Tech. Defensemen—Mark Auk, Jr., Michigan Tech; Daniel Brickley, So., Minnesota State; Shane Hanna, Sr., Michigan Tech; Sean Walker, Sr., Bowling Green. Goaltenders—Michael Bitzer, Jr., Bemidji State; Gordon Defiel, Jr., Lake Superior State; Cole Huggins, Sr., Minnesota State; Darren Smith, So., Ferris State. 

Downtown hockey facility named after Brose

Minnesota State's 1-year-old hockey facility at the Verizon Wireless Center is now called the Don Brose Training Center. It's named after the university's first and longtime head coach.

When the Mavericks called All Seasons Arena home, their hockey facilities were named after Brose, who spent 30 years (1969-2000) as the team's coach.

"The Don Brose Training Center at Verizon Center will stand as a fitting tribute to the significance that Coach Brose has had in the City of Mankato and for Minnesota State University for the game of hockey. His contributions as a whole cannot be overstated," Mankato city manager Pat Hentges said in a statement.

Said MSU athletic director Kevin Buisman: "We are thrilled to provide this well-deserved naming recognition opportunity for Coach Brose. Don Brose is an iconic figure in this area and his name is synonymous with Maverick Hockey. His pioneering ways and vision for the impact this sport would have combined to create an indelible impact on our University, this community, and all of southern Minnesota. We are indebted for his leadership and proud to have his name associated with the new home of Maverick Hockey at Verizon Center."

Read more from MSU here and from The Free Press here.

Pressing on

We're less than a month away from the start of the 2016-17 season. Ice is going in. Calls have been sent out to WCHA coaches for the annual preseason poll. Teams are practicing two hours a week.

For Minnesota State, concentration is on the upcoming season, even after last week's announcement from the NCHC about expansion.

In my Tuesday Free Press column this week, I argued that Minnesota State needs to press on despite the NCHC's decision not to expand. Mavericks coach Mike Hastings is fond of saying his team — his program — has to get better, no matter how well it's doing. And that mantra remains true.

The NCHC, which always had the option to not expand, no matter how attractive the applicants, didn't appear to close the door completely on adding teams in the future. But also, MSU is in a conference, the WCHA, and needs to be a leader in the evolution of that league, especially considering the league's financial issues, the tenuous outlook for the Alaska schools and other changes that might be coming down the road.

Some have suggested that Minnesota State is now in the awkward position of going into the WCHA this season after making it known that it's prepared to leave for another league. I disagree. Isn't it better to have your cards on the table? Isn't it better than what happened five years ago when five teams (then six) announced they were leaving the league almost out of the blue?

In a month, all eyes will be on the ice.

NCHC says no to expansion

Minnesota State’s hopes of getting admitted into the National Collegiate Hockey Conference are on hold, at least for now.

On Wednesday, the NCHC announced that its board of directors has decided not to expand its membership.

Minnesota State, which currently is a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, announced in mid-July that it had applied to the NCHC for the 2018-19 season. Arizona State also applied to the NCHC.

“After careful consideration and a thorough vetting process, the (NCHC) Board of Directors announced the conference will not move forward with membership expansion at this time,” NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton said in an official statement. “We will continue to be attentive to the college hockey landscape and any future changes that may come. However, our focus right now is guided by what we can do to strengthen our current membership into the future.”

Through the athletic department’s official Twitter feed, Minnesota State announced:

“Officials at Minnesota State acknowledge information released earlier this afternoon by the (NCHC) regarding membership expansion. At this time Minnesota State declines any comment regarding the NCHC’s statement."

Minnesota State was seeking to rejoin six former WCHA members who left the league in 2013 for the new NCHC: Colorado College, Denver, Minnesota Duluth, Nebraska Omaha, North Dakota and St. Cloud State. Miami and Western Michigan are the other NCHC members.

In its application Minnesota State touted its success over the last four seasons under coach Mike Hastings, major improvements to the Verizon Wireless Center’s hockey facilities and strong administrative support qualities that might make the Mavericks an attractive ninth or 10th member of the NCHC. Also, Mankato is as close to the geographic center of the NCHC as any city in the six states represented by the league.

Minnesota State is one of two Minnesota schools in the WCHA, along with Bemidji State. The other members are Alabama Huntsville, Alaska (Fairbanks), Alaska Anchorage, Bowling Green (Ohio), Ferris State (Mich.), Lake Superior State (Mich.), Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan.

The future of the two Alaska schools is in doubt due to a budget crisis at the University of Alaska system. Options under consideration include cutting one or both hockey programs. There was some speculation Wednesday that the situation in Fairbanks and Anchorage might have been one of the reasons the NCHC decided top put expansion on pause.

What does this mean for Minnesota State and Arizona State going forward? For MSU, nothing really changes right now. The Mavericks were set to stay in the WCHA — where they have done quite well in the conference realignment era — for at least the next two seasons. ASU is a team without a league. The Sun Devils were an NCAA team for the first time last season and have been exploring their options. The Big Ten announced it was not interested in ASU as an affiliate member, and now the NCHC has opted not to expand. The WCHA had been pursuing Arizona State in the past. Is that still an option?

WCHA adding 3x3, shootout

WCHA games will have winners this season — at least for standings purposes — as the league on Tuesday announced that it will implement 3-on-3 overtime and shootouts to games that are still tied at the end of the NCAA-mandated five-minute, 5-on-5, sudden-death overtime.

The league also is implementing a new point system for the standings, giving three points to teams that win in regulation or in 5-on-5 overtime instead of the usual two. A team that loses in that situation gets zero.

If games are tied after the first overtime, they will go down officially as ties per NCAA and Pairwise standards. However, a five-minute, 3-on-3, sudden-death overtime will be played after that to get a winner for league purposes. If the game remains tied, a shootout will take place. Shootout and 3-on-3 winners will get two points, and the losing team will get one for the standings.

UPDATE: Mavericks coach Mike Hastings, whose team had a league-high seven ties last season and still shared the MacNaughton Cup championship, said he likes the move: "We're trying to get away from ties. Also, part of the goal is to provide entertainment to the fans who pay a dollar to watch us play."

The WCHA also announced that it will use NHL-sized nets which are shallower by four inches, leaving more room for players behind the net.

For more on the WCHA changes, go here.

College hockey at risk in Alaska

The University of Alaska system is facing a huge budget crisis, and on Thursday, a review committee released a set of options to help quell the situation across the board.

When it comes to athletics, none of the possible solutions floated would be good for college hockey at Alaska Fairbanks or Alaska Anchorage, both of which play in the WCHA along with Minnesota State.

Two of the options involve cutting hockey completely from both schools (along with other sports — in one option, all sports), while the other would cut hockey from one of the two campuses with the schools competing as one.

Anchorage hockey coach Matt Thomas told the Alaska Dispatch News he hopes "cooler heads will prevail," however, the Seawolves could help their cause by winning games and drawing fans:

"I know everyone wants us to win — it takes time, and I think we're getting there. It would be a shame for hockey to go away, because if it goes, it's never coming back. I've got a lot of confidence in knowing there is a supportive hockey community here, and we need those people to show their support."

Read more from the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner here.

Jackman returns

Photo by Bre McGee/The Free Press

August has been relatively quiet, hockey-wise, but Minnesota State's players are back in town now as classes begin next week.

There will be one student going to school next week 14 years after the last time he sat in a classroom. That's former MSU player Tim Jackman.

Jackman played for the Mavericks for two seasons, from 2000 to 2002, before departing for professional hockey. Drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets between his freshman and sophomore seasons, he played for six different NHL teams until he hung up his skates.

Trying to figure out what to do next, he got in touch with MSU assistant coach Darren Blue, who has been in his position since Jackman's freshman year, and found out that, not only could he come back to Mankato and start working on his college degree again, but he could work with his old college team as a student-assistant coach.

Jackman and his family are all in, too, buying a home in North Mankato earlier this month and settling into the community.

Read more in my feature about Jackman in today's Free Press.