Crowd size grows; Mavs out of poll

There's gotta be a Sean Spicer joke here somewhere, right? ...

Minnesota State re-examined the numbers from Saturday night and determined that the official attendance was 5,406, the second-largest crowed in program history. During the game, it was announced at 5,030, the 17th-largest crowd.

@MavHockey top 5 crowds:
1. MTU 2/28/15 5,446 W
2. SCSU 10/7/17 5,406 L
3. UMD 10/18/14 5,375 L
4. UM 1/30/09 5,201 W
5. UM 11/9/07 5,196 L

— Shane Frederick (@puckato) October 9, 2017

Either way, it seemed 5,000-plus turned out to be too many for the Verizon Center's security to handle. The hope is those bugs will be figured out by the time Minnesota State returns from its four-game road swing. Same with the Mavericks' scoring.

Meanwhile, Minnesota State dropped out of the USCHO rankings following the 4-0 loss to St. Cloud State. The Mavericks were No. 18 and are now just receiving votes.

Huskies 4, Mavericks 0

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. No finish: The Mavericks returned plenty of fire power from last season but were unable to score in their regular-season and home opener. The put 42 shots on net, but it didn't seem like St. Cloud State goalie Jeff Smith had to make too many highlight-reels saves. Maybe one or two, but otherwise he was in good position all night and didn't give up any second or third opportunities. "We have to be harder in front of the net," junior captain Max Coatta said.

2. Silver lining: While the lack of scoring was troublesome, there were a few bright spots, especially the play of sophomore forward Charlie Gerard, who played with great energy and led the Mavericks with eight shots on goal. Two other sophomores stood out, too: forward Parker Tuomie and defenseman Ian Scheid, who had 11 combined shots. Did anyone stand out as much as St. Cloud State defenseman Jimmy Schuldt, though? No. He had the game's first goal and was plus-4.

3. Long lines: It was the season-opener, one of the Mavericks' biggest in-state rivals was in town and there was a Hockey Night in Mankato event until 7 p.m. outside. Add those things to the Verizon Center's new security protocol, and there was a long wait to get into the building. It took half, if not more of the first period for everyone to get in. Fans were venting both online and in the arena. That's something that's going to have to get fixed before the next home games in three weeks, especially if they want to continue to have big crowds.

Read my gamer here.

Around the WCHA: Notre Dame 4, Alabama Huntsville 0 ... Ferris State 3, Western Michigan 2 ... Northern Michigan 4, Lake Superior State 1, Michigan Tech 4, Minnesota Duluth 3 ... North Dakota at Alaska Anchorage (late), Air Force at Alaska (late)

Live coverage: MSU vs. St. Cloud State

Minnesota State and St. Cloud State will face off at 7:07 p.m. today at the Verizon Center. The live chat/Twitter feed can be found below tonight's lines:

MINNESOTA STATE
20-Michaelis, 15-Suess, 19-McClure
6-Tuomie, 5-Jaremko, 10-Knutson
9-Gerard, 26-French, 12-Coatta
23-Rivera, 11-Spooner, 27-Schwalbe

8-Brickley, 18-Scheid
4-Lewis, 3-McNeely
25-Zmolek, 2-Mackey

39-Pawloski
37-LaCouvee
29-Nelson

Scratches: Bigelbach, Cooper, Duehr, Gerads, Hookenson, Lutz, Vanko

ST. CLOUD STATE
21-Wahlin, 28-Fitzgerald, 26-Brodzinski
3-J. Poehling, 18-Peterson, 7-N. Poehling
23-Jackson, 11-R. Poehling, 17-Benson
42-Winiecki, 27-B. Lizotte, 14-Newell

22-Schuldt, 10-J. Lizotte
12-Ahcan, 20-Borgen
55-Ilvonen, 2-Kuster

1-Smith
34-Hrenak

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