Mavericks ink five recruits

The early signing period for recruits opened on Wednesday, and Minnesota State announced five signees for the 2018 rookie class.

The group includes two forwards, two defensemen and a goaltender, all currently playing junior in the USHL.

They are forwards Julian Napravnik and Nathan Smith, defensemen Wyatt Aamodt and Andy Carrol and goaltender Dryden McKay.

“That group has a wealth of junior experience,” coach Mike Hastings said, “and we expect them to come in and contribute immediately. … They have a mix of abilities, different guys bringing different things to the table. ...

“We recruit for specific needs, and I think they will fill some specific needs. Anytime you can improve your overall skill level, you try to do that. I think this group does that.”

Napravnik is a native of Germany currently with the Des Moines Buccanners where he had 19 goals and 19 assists for 38 points last season. He has also played on German national teams at various international events.

Smith, from Hudson, Florida, is in his first season with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and is second on the team with nine points in nine games. 

Aamodt, a Hermantown native playing for the Chicago Steel was the 2016 Reed Larson Award winner as Minnesota's top high school defenseman. He helped lead the Hawks to a state championship in 2016. He had 19 points in 53 games last season for the Steel.

Carroll, a Northfield native currently with the Green Bay Gamblers had 40 points in 55 games for Aberdeen of the NAHL last season. In 2015-16, he had 56 points in 58 games for the Sioux Falls Stampede's U18 team coached by former Maverick Rylan Galiardi. His dad, Todd Carroll, was the first MSU women's hockey coach.

McKay, a Downers Grove, Illinois, native in his second season with the Madison Capitols was the USHL's goalie of the week on Oct. 29 after stopping 49 of 50 shots in win over Waterloo. In 39 games las season, he was 18-17-3 with a .917 SV% and a 2.47 GAA.

Mavericks dip to 10th

Minnesota State slipped from ninth to 10th in the latest U.S. College Hockey Online rankings Monday and ninth to 11th in the newest USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. Northern Michigan, with whom Minnesota State split a series in Marquette this past weekend, moved into the top 20 at No. 20.

All of MSU's opponents so far this season are ranked or are receiving votes: No. 1 St. Cloud State, No. 15 Boston University, Bowling Green (RV), Michigan Tech (RV) and No. 20 Northern Michigan.

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
Minneapolis, Minn./November 06, 2017

   Team             (First Place)    Record   Pts  Last Week
 1 St. Cloud State           (50)    7- 0-0  1000     2
 2 North Dakota                      6- 2-2   913     4
 3 Denver                            4- 2-2   870     1
 4 Minnesota                         7- 3-0   847     5
 5 Harvard                           2- 1-0   806     3
 6 Notre Dame                        6- 3-1   660    10
 7 Wisconsin                         6- 4-1   605     7
 8 Providence                        5- 3-0   602     6
 9 New Hampshire                     6- 1-1   552    13
10 Minnesota State                   6- 3-0   547     9
11 Clarkson                          6- 3-1   541    13
12 Minnesota Duluth                  4- 4-2   442     8
13 Northeastern                      5- 2-1   433    15
14 Cornell                           4- 0-0   419    18
15 Boston University                 4- 5-1   306    12
16 Quinnipiac                        3- 3-1   214    11
17 Ohio State                        5- 3-2   155    16
18 Western Michigan                  5- 3-1   113    NR
19 Penn State                        5- 5-0    79    17
20 Northern Michigan                 5- 3-0    61    NR

Others receiving votes: Michigan 55, Colorado College 53,
Omaha 52, Colgate 45, Bemidji State 41, Michigan Tech 18,
Air Force 17, Army 17, Boston College 12, Bowling Green 7,
Niagara 6, Yale 5, UMass Lowell 4, Miami 3.

Wildcats 4, Mavericks 1

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Kill shot: Minnesota State's penalty kill has been stellar over the last couple of weeks, but the penalties finally caught up to the Mavericks on Saturday (read more in my gamer linked below). In all, MSU took nine penalties for 29 minutes. The more important number was that it put the Wildcats on the power play six times again. The Mavericks shut them down on Friday but allowed two goals on Saturday, and that was the difference. Northern Michigan scored three goals in the second period to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead. The other goal was penalty-related, too. It was short-handed and came during a delayed penalty on MSU.

2. Points on the road: The Mavericks left Marquette with a split, meaning three points for the WCHA standings. This has rarely been an easy place for the Mavericks to play. Since the two became  WCHA mates, Minnesota State has never swept at the Berry. However, it's always come away with points. Including this weekend, they are 3-2-3 here. Mike Hastings complimented both current NMU coach Grant Potulny and previous coach Walt Kyle for how the Wildcats played. "If you ever got one out of here, like we did last night, you knew the second night was going to be incredibly difficult, just like it was tonight."

3. Northern going up: Jumping off the previous thought, this Northern Michigan team looks good. It's 5-3-0 now, with wins against Minnesota State, Wisconsin and a sweep at Ferris State. Potulny definitely inherited a team in which the cupboard was not bare. Robbie Payne (1 goal, 1 assist) and Troy Loggins (2 goals, 1 assist) were excellent on Saturday, as was Mathias Israelsson in goal, a pretty good backup to the excellent Atte Tolvanen.

Read my game story here.

Around the WCHA: Alaska Anchorage 4, Lake Superior State 1 ... Bowling Green 2, Michigan Tech 2 (BG wins in shootout) ... Alabama Huntsville at Arizona State (late) ... Bemidji State at Alaska (late

Live: Minnesota State at Northern Michigan

The Mavericks will go for the series sweep tonight against the Wildcats. Live chat can be found below tonight's lines:

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

8-Brickley, 3-McNeely
2-Mackey, 18-Scheid
4-Lewis, 24-Hookenson

39-Pawloski
37-LaCouvee

Scratches: Bigelbach, Cooper, Duehr, Gerads*, Nelson, Schwalbe, Vanko*, Zmolek

* = also on trip

NORTHERN MICHIGAN
9-Loggins, 18-Nardi, 11-Rockwood,
29-Payne, 13-Voltin, 37-Craighead
12-Heikkila, 24-Diamantoni, 8-Pierce
19-Starzynski, 21-Paskaruk, 23-Slattery

40-Klimek, 27-Roeder
2-Vermeulen, 25-Beaulieu
44-Black, 3-Fosdick

32-Israelsson
41-Tolvanen

Mavericks 3, Wildcats 0

Freddy's three thought of the game ...

1. Good goalie problem: You can read more about this in my gamer (link below), but any thoughts of the Mavericks having a set No. 1 goalie after Connor LaCouvee's two wins last weekend at home against Michigan Tech can be tempered. Jason Pawloski got the start on Friday and recorded his second shutout of the season (his first came in the second game at Boston University). It looked like it was going to be an easy night for him after one period. MSU led 1-0 and he saw just four shots on goal. But the second period turned his way, and he was up to the task, stopping 12 shots and helping the Mavericks kill three penalties. In all, he stopped 26 shots. The Mavericks had 27 shots on goal.

2. Killing time: Minnesota State was called for six penalties, and coach Mike Hastings has talked since that BU series. of trying to be better about going to the box. The bad news is that the Mavericks are still taking penalties; the good news is they're still doing a good job of killing them off. Said Hastings: "Gotta find a way to not to go to the box five or more times, but the guys are doing the job that way and it’s making the difference in games." Twelve of Northern Michigan's shots came during the power play.

3. Forwards, Line 4: Defenseman Ian Scheid got the scoring started for the Mavericks, and Brad McClure scored the third goal. The second, an important insurance marker, came at 8:09 of the third period, and it came from the fourth line. Max Coatta scored it, getting an assist from Jared Spooner. Nick Rivera is the other forward in that group, which was good from the opening faceoff tonight. The trio had six of MSU's shots and played with speed an energy — especially after power plays and penalty kills — that Northern Michigan didn't seem to have the depth to match.

Read my game story here.

Around the WCHA: Lake Superior State 3, Alaska Anchorage 2 (OT) ... Bowling Green 2, Michigan Tech 1 ... Ferris State 3, Michigan 2 (OT) ... Arizona State 3, Alabama Huntsville 2 ... Alaska 4, Bemidji State 3 (OT)

Live: Minnesota State at Northern Michigan

Minnesota State and Northern Michigan will square off at 6:07 p.m. Follow along with the action on the live chat below the lines:

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

8-Brickley, 3-McNeely
2-Mackey, 18-Scheid
4-Lewis, 24-Hookenson

39-Pawloski
37-LaCouvee

Scratches: Bigelbach, Cooper, Duehr, Gerads*, Nelson, Schwalbe, Vanko*, Zmolek

* = also on trip

NORTHERN MICHIGAN
29-Payne, 24-Diamantoni, 37-Craighead
9-Loggins, 11-Rockwood, 23-Slattery
13-Voltin, 18-Nardi, 8-Pierce
12-Heikkila, 21-Paskaruk, 15-Schroer

40-Klimek, 27-Roeder
2-Vermeulen, 25-Beaulieu
44-Black, 6-Yarmeko

41-Tolvanen
32-Israelsson

Friday Morning Skate

Good morning from the road to Marquette ...

No. 9 Minnesota State is in the U.P. to take on Northern Michigan in a WCHA series. Through seven games, the Mavericks appear to be back to their ways of dominating puck possession, outshooting teams by an average of 10 shots per game. Much of that starts on the defensive end. Flying under the radar in the D-corps a bit is Clint Lewis, who had a solid junior season and is off to a good start as a senior. Lewis had 15 points and was +11 last season. He has two assists and is +3 this year.

Read more about the Mavericks' series with the Wildcats in The Free Press' College Hockey Gameday.

As for NMU, the Wildcats were off last weekend and have been preparing for a tough home matchup against MSU.

Going around the WCHA ...

Ferris State at Michigan: This is the second game of a two-game series. On Thursday, the Wolverines pounded the Bulldogs 7-2.

Alaska Anchorage at Lake Superior State: These two teams have one win between them, and that was the Lakers' win over Northern Michigan on Oct. 6. Something's got to give.

Bowling Green at Michigan Tech: This should be a good series in Houghton between Minnesota State's last two opponents. The Huskies are glad to be back home after the road trip to Mankato.

Bemidji State at Alaska: This will be the first long road trip for the Beavers, who have played just one game away from Bemidji so far. It will the first WCHA series in Fairbanks this season.

Alabama Huntsville at Arizona State: These will be the final two games of an eight-game road swing to start the season for the one-win Chargers.