Saturday morning skate

The hockey season is finally here, and the Mavericks will host St. Cloud State in a clash between longtime rivals.

For Minnesota State, Brad McClure is hoping to build off last year's 28-point season while also cautioning his younger teammates about the pitfalls that might lie ahead. He doesn't want them to suffer the sophomore slump, as he did two years ago.

It will be interesting to see the Mavericks' lineup. Many of the lines this week were similar to what was together during Sunday's exhibition game against Regina, but coach Mike Hastings said things are always in flux. That includes in goal where Jason Pawloski and Connor LaCouvee are competing, along with Aaron Nelson.

Hastings told the St. Cloud Times this week that he's enjoying the increased expectations placed upon his team. The Times' Mick Hatten also reports that last year's leading scorer for St. Cloud State, Mikey Eyssimont, is expected to miss the game with an illness. Mick also has a feature on the Huskies' Blake Winiecki.

Other WCHA teams got their seasons cranked up on Friday night with Michigan Tech defeating No. 16 Union 6-3 in the IceBreaker in Duluth. Today, the Huskies will play No. 6 Minnesota Duluth, which topped No. 3 Minnesota in overtime.

A few other league teams didn't fare as well, as Ferris State lost to No. 20 Western Michigan 6-1, Alabama Huntsville fell to No. 8 Notre Dame 5-3 and Alaska lost to Air Force 3-2.

Lake Superior State defeated WCHA-rival Northern Michigan in a nonconference game, spoiling new coach Grant Potulny's debut. That series moves Sault Ste. Marie to Marquette tonight.

But the surprise was in Anchorage where Alaska Anchorage played No. 7 North Dakota to a 1-1 overtime tie.

It's almost Hockey Night!

It seems a little odd to be going into opening weekend of the college hockey season and not have a Friday-night game to cover.

As the late, great Tom Petty sang: The waiting is the hardest part!

The Mavericks open things up on Saturday night at the Verizon Center against in-state rival St. Cloud State. Should be a good one, hopefully in front of a big crowd.

Speaking of big crowds, be warned that security might slow entry into the arena, so plan accordingly:

A reminder from @VerizonCenterMN policy regarding entry to Minnesota State hockey games. pic.twitter.com/VhLyV7fPTi

— Minn. St. Athletics (@msumavericks) October 3, 2017

Saturday is also Hockey Night in Mankato and, outside the Verizon, there will be live music, food vendors and other activities from 4:30 to 7 p.m.

Some WCHA teams are in action tonight, as Ferris State plays at Western Michigan, Lake Superior State hosts Northern Michigan (in nonconference play), Alabama Huntsville goes to Notre Dame, Alaska Anchorage hosts North Dakota and Alaska hosts Air Force. Michigan Tech is playing in the IceBreaker tournament in Duluth against Union today and against either UMD or Minnesota on Saturday.

Mavericks 8, Cougars 0 (ex.)

Freddy's three thoughts of the game:

1. How much did we learn? There's no question the team and the coaches get something out of these exhibition games — teaching moments, practicing some systems, work on special teams, etc. But for the rest of us, gleaning too much from a preseason game that followed the first official day of practice might be tough. The freshmen looked very good (see my gamer below) and should gain a lot of confidence from their first time in an MSU uniform, but it's all uphill from here for them. This was the fourth blowout exhibition win in coach Mike Hastings' six seasons. There was also a 5-3 win last year against Regina and a 3-2 loss the previous year to Alberta. In the other seasons that started with a dominating exhibition win, the Mavericks made the NCAA tournament at the end of the year.

2. Goalies got game: My gamer didn't go into too much detail about the goaltending. Jason Pawloski (10 saves) and Aaron Nelson (11) got the most work in the first and third periods, respectively. Newcomer Connor LaCouvee didn't see as much action, facing just four shots in the second period as the Maverick put 23 on net in the middle frame. "We came out really well in the first five minutes and then, after that, kind of went into a little bit of a slumber. (Pawloski) had to be good," Hastings said. "We need him to be that way. LaCouvee didn't have as much traffic, as much rubber thrown at him. And then Nelson, as he always has, comes in prepared, even though he's been sitting on the bench for two periods. From that standpoint, I'm really happy with what those guys did tonight."

3. And away we go: Now the season starts for real with the Mavericks hosting St. Cloud State on Saturday night (also Hockey Night in Mankato). The Huskies played Regina on Saturday and also won 8-0. St. Cloud State had a 53-25 shot advantage (MSU's was 44-25) and was 2 for 6 on the power play (MSU was 3 for 6). Very similar games — by those numbers, anyway. Should be a fun atmosphere at the Verizon Center for that one. Another good thing in preparation for that game is that some of the Mavericks' veterans stood out in limited time Sunday. C.J. Suess scored a goal, and Brad McClure and a goal and two assists. Marc Michaelis, Parker Tuomie and Ian Scheid each had two assists. Max Coatta also scored.

Read my game story here.

Around the WCHA (games from the weekend): Wisconsin 3, Michigan Tech 2 ... Alaska 6, Simon Fraser 0 (ex.) ... Alaska Anchorage 6, Simon Fraser 1 (ex.) ... Bowling Green 3, Wilfrid Laurier 1 (ex.) ... Lake Superior State 3, Laurentian 2

Minnesota State vs. Regina

Minnesota State is taking on Regina in an exhibition game to kick off the 2017-18 season. Here are tonight's lines (the Mavericks are allowed to dress everyone for an exhibition game):

MINNESOTA STATE
20-Michaelis, 15-Suess, 19-McClure
6-Tuomie, 5-Jaremko, 10-Knutson
16-Lutz, 26-French, 12-Coatta
23-Rivera, 11-Spooner, 9-Gerard
7-Cooper, 27-Schwalbe, 17-Duehr, 22-Gerads

8-Brickley, 18-Scheid
25-Zmolek, 2-Mackey
4-Lewis, 3-McNeely
14-Bigelbach, 21-Vanko, 24-Hookenson

39-Pawloski
37-LaCouvee
29-Nelson

REGINA
32-Zborosky, 16-McPhee, 27-Fowlie
20-Duperreault, 13-Frei, 19-Marr
21-Langford, 23-Magnus
15-Hansen, 12-Stevely, 17-Kosloski

8-Bourhis, 4-Schacher
2-Bear, 5-Burns
7-King, 18-Luhning

31-MacAuley
30-Holtby

Happy new year!

The men's college hockey season officially began on Saturday, and Minnesota State was on the ice — twice — for practice. Today, the Mavericks will play an exhibition game against Regina at 5:07 p.m. at the Verizon Center.

Check out Sunday's edition of The Free Press for my season preview story as well as a feature on C.J. Suess' decision to change his name from C.J. Franklin.

Earlier in the week, I opined about Minnesota State's many preseason accolades and how quickly those predictions will be forgotten once the Mavericks begin their tough schedule.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota State women's team opened their season this weekend and went 1-0-1 in a nonconference series at Lindenwood. Read about the Mavericks' prospects here, along with a feature on captain Anna Keys here.

Back to the men, Regina played St. Cloud State on Saturday and lost 8-0. It might be worth comparing that result to what happens tonight, as the Mavericks will host the ninth-ranked Huskies next Saturday to kick off the regular season. MSU's following opponent, No. 2 Boston University, played a real game on the first day of the season, defeating Union 4-1.

In other real-game action this weekend, Colgate defeated Niagara 5-1, and Michigan Tech will play at Wisconsin today.

Minnesota State 18th in first USCHO poll

Minnesota State ended up 18th in the country in the first USCHO poll, which was released on Monday. Defending national champion Denver was overwhelmingly voted No. 1, getting all but two votes. Boston University, who hosts Minnesota State on the second weekend of the season, was No. 2. Here's the poll:

Preseason USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
Minneapolis, Minn./September 25, 2017

 1 Denver                    (48)   33- 7-4   998     1
 2 Boston University                24-11-3   837     6
 3 Minnesota                        23-12-3   822     7
 4 Harvard                   ( 1)   28- 6-2   744     3
 5 UMass Lowell                     27-11-3   711     4
 6 Minnesota Duluth          ( 1)   28- 7-7   642     2
 7 North Dakota                     21-16-3   632     9
 8 Notre Dame                       23-12-5   611     5
 9 St. Cloud State                  16-19-1   547    NR
10 Penn State                       25-12-2   530     8
11 Providence                       22-12-5   494    15
12 Wisconsin                        20-15-1   414    17
13 Boston College                   21-15-4   366    16
14 Quinnipiac                       23-15-2   286    20
15 Cornell                          21- 9-5   279    13
16 Union                            25-10-3   215    11
17 Air Force                        27-10-5   203    12
18 Minnesota State                  22-13-4   198    NR
19 Ohio State                       21-12-6   180    14
20 Northeastern                     18-15-5   172    NR
20 Western Michigan                 22-13-5   172    10

Others receiving votes: Vermont 119, Michigan Tech 60,
Bemidji State 52, Clarkson 45, Robert Morris 39, Miami 37,
Michigan 24, St. Lawrence 18, Omaha 17, Bowling Green 16,
Yale 11, Ferris State 5, Brown 1, Canisius 1, Dartmouth 1,
New Hampshire 1.

Mavericks are coaches' pick in WCHA

Minnesota State is the overwhelming choice to win the WCHA in the fifth annual Mankato Free Press WCHA Preseason Coaches Poll.

The Mavericks received nine first-place votes as well as the choices for Preseason Player of the Year — a tie between sophomore forward Marc Michaelis and junior defenseman Daniel Brickley — and Preseason Rookie of the Year — freshman forward Jake Jaremko.

Michaelis, Brickley and senior forward C.J. Suess were named to the Preseason All-WCHA Team.

Minnesota State was also the choice of in the preseason media poll (see below), and Brickley was the media's pick for player of the year. The poll was conducted by UAHHockey.com, which covers Alabama Huntsville.

You can read more here, but here are the results of the polls:

WCHA PRESEASON COACHES POLL
1. Minnesota State 90 points (9 first-place votes)
2. Bemidji State 81 (1)
3. Michigan Tech 70
4. Bowling Green 67
5. Ferris State 59
6. Lake Superior St. 51
7. Northern Michigan 40
8. Alaska 35
9. Ala. Huntsville 29
10. Alaska Anchorage 18

Teams get 10 points for first place, 9 for second, etc. Coaches could not vote for their own teams. Coaches could vote for their own players for preseason awards.

WCHA Preseason Player of the Year: Marc Michaelis, F, Minnesota State (4) and Daniel Brickley, D, Minnesota State (4)

Other receiving votes: Michael Bitzer, G, BSU; Gerry Fitzgerald, F, BSU.

WCHA Preseason Rookie of the Year: Jake Jaremko, F, Minnesota State (4).

Others receiving votes: Connor Mackey, D, MSU (2); Brendan Harris, F, BSU (2); Joseph Nardi, F, NMU; Reggie Lutz, F, MSU.

Preseason All-WCHA Team
Forwards: Marc Michaelis, MSU; C.J. Suess, MSU; Mitch McLain, BG

Defensemen: Daniel Brickley, MSU; Mark Auk, MTU

Goalie: Michael Bitzer, BSU

Others receiving votes: Gerry Fitzgerald, F, BSU; Corey Mackin, F, FSU; Tyler Spezia, F, BG; J.T. Henke, F, LSSU; Ian Scheid, D, MSU; Kurt Gosselin, D, UAH; Mitch Reinke, D, MTU; Zach Frye, D, UAF; Olivier Mantha, G, UAA.

WCHA PRESEASON MEDIA POLL
1. Minnesota State 137 points (12 first-place votes)
2. Bemidji State 115
3. Michigan Tech 110 (1)
4. Bowling Green 108 (1)
5. Ferris State 81
6. Lake Superior State 62
7. Northern Michigan 59
8. Alaska 43
9. Alabama Huntsville 36
10. Alaska Anchorage 19

WCHA Preseason Player of the Year: Daniel Brickley, D, Minnesota State

Others receiving votes: Marc Michaelis, F, MSU; Mitch McLain, F, BG; Michael Bitzer G, BSU

Preseason All-WCHA First Team
Forwards: Mitch McLain, BG; Marc Michaelis, MSU; Corey Mackin, FSU

Defensemen: Daniel Brickley, MSU; Kurt Gosselin, UAH

Goaltender: Michael Bitzer, BSU

Preseason All-WCHA Second TeamForwards: Gerry Fitzgerald, BSU; C.J. Suess, MSU; Joel L’Esperance, MTU

Defensemen: Mitch Reinke, MTU; Mark Auk, MTU

Goaltender: Atte Tolvanen, NMU

Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically by position): Forwards – Kyle Bauman, Sr., Bemidji State; Gavin Gould, So., Michigan Tech; J.T. Henke, Sr., Lake Superior State; Max Humitz, So., Lake Superior State; Brad McClure, Sr., Minnesota State; Tyler Spezia, Sr., Bowling Green. Defensemen – Clint Lewis, Sr., Minnesota State; Alec Rauhauser, So., Bowling Green; Joe Rutkowski, So., Ferris State; Collin Saccoman, So., Lake Superior State; Ian Scheid, So., Minnesota State; David Trinkberger, So., Alaska Anchorage; Zach Whitecloud, So., Bemidji State; Justin Woods, Sr., Alaska. Goaltenders – Justin Kapelmaster, So., Ferris State; Olivier Mantha, Sr., Alaska Anchorage; Jason Pawloski, Jr., Minnesota State.