Nineteen

Minnesota State broke into the uscho.com poll for the first time this season, coming in at No. 19 after going 6-1-2 in their last nine games. More important to the Mavericks, however was their Pairwise ranking, which is 15th (tied with Minnesota). The Pairwise mimics the way the NCAA determines its 16-team tournament field.

Here is this week's USCHO.com/CSTV poll (WCHA teams in bold):

Team(first place) Record Points Previous
1 Miami (24) 18-2-0 743 1
2 Michigan (12) 18-2-0 727 2
3 Denver ( 2) 16-4-0 692 3
4 Colorado College 12-6-0 591 4
5 Massachusetts 9-3-5 575 9
6 Notre Dame 17-5-0 568 6
7 New Hampshire 10-5-1 487 10
8 North Dakota 9-7-1 480 7
9 Northeastern 9-4-2 472 11
10 Michigan State 12-5-2 433 5
11 Boston College 8-4-5 395 14
12 Clarkson 10-6-1 333 8
13 Wisconsin 8-7-3 271 13
14 Mass.-Lowell 9-4-4 236 20
15 St. Cloud State 9-9-2 202 16
16 Minnesota 9-9-2 123 12
16 Minnesota-Duluth 6-6-4 123 18
18 Quinnipiac 10-5-2 121 NR
19 Minnesota State 9-7-3 76 NR
20 Michigan Tech 7-9-2 68 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Harvard 67, Rensselaer 58, Niagara 48, Bowling Green 33, Air Force 23, Providence 18, Ferris State 8, RIT 7, Colgate 1, Yale 1.

If it ain't broke ...

It's a half hour before the puck drops, and the Alltel Center is mostly empty, which isn't too surprising considering the 5:07 p.m. start, holiday vacation, a nonconference opponent and the Vikings game. 

The Mavericks will go with the same lineup as they went with in Friday's 6-1 win over Princeton (see post below).

One-sided affair

Officially, it was the last game of the first half of the season, but the Mavericks started their second half right with a 6-1 win over Princeton at the Alltel Center.

Joel Hanson scored two goals and assisted on another. Jason Wiley scored two late goals. And Trevor Bruess and Nick Canzanello each had two assists.

The line of Hanson, Bruess and Kael Mouillierat was dominant as was the defense, which allowed 19 shots to get to goalie Mike Zacharias, who won his seventh game.

The Mavericks are now 8-7-3, which includes a 5-1-2 mark over their last eight games. Hanson has eight points over that stretch after starting the season pointless in MSU's first 10 games.

His game-winning goal Friday was a tip in from Bruess after Bruess won an offensive-zone faceoff through his opponent's legs then slipped by the center to retrieve the puck before sliding it over to Hanson.

There were pretty goals galore as Mouillierat opened the scoring after making a nifty move to beat goalie Zane Kalemba, Mick Berge scored a wrap-around goal and Wiley, well, Wiley got credit for a goal after a length-of-the-ice dump-in that Kalemba played to a teammate, only to have the puck carom back into the net.

Opening warmups

There aren't too many changes since we last left the Mavericks. Forward Jerad Stewart is back in the lineup after missing two games with injury. Mike Zacharias will make his eighth consecutive start in goal.

Here are the Mavericks' lines:

Irwin-Kalinski-Berge

Hanson-Bruess-Mouillierat

Galiardi-Harrison-Stewart

Gaulrapp-Sackrison-Wiley

Davis-Kilburg

Youds-Friesen

Linder-Cnzanello

Zacharias

Tormey

Lee

I'm back (and I'm not the only one)

PucKato is back from Christmas vacation just in time for tonight's game between the Mavericks and the Princeton Tigers. I'll have more on that with a pregame post in an hour or so.

Staying on the subject of returning ...

The St. Louis Blues have recalled ex-Mav Steve Wagner after a stint in Peoria. Earlier this month, the Anaheim Ducks called up Ryan Carter and the New York Islanders brought up Tim Jackman. Meanwhile, the Blues' David Backes apparently has become a thorn in the Detroit Red Wings' side.

As for other MSU alumni, Grant Stevenson remains in Quad City. The Calgary Flames prospect has 11 goals and 16 assists for 27 points in 33 American Hockey League games.

Happy holidays

No, I'm not pulling a Kyle Okposo. I'm just taking a few days off for the holidays. I'll be back in Mankato just before the Princeton Tigers roll into town. If you need your MSU hockey fix, you can check out a one-game-shy-of-midseason report on the Mavericks in Sunday's edition of The Free Press.

Until next week, happy holidays!

Greetings from ...

... Mankato.

Didn't make the trip to Omaha tonight, so PucKato will be tuning in to Mike Sullivan's radio call like everyone else in town.

A few pregame notes from Monday morning's practice: Jared Stewart is out with an undisclosed injury and senior Matt Tyree will take his spot on the third line with Zach Harrison and Rylan Galiardi. ... The only other lineup change from Saturday is on defense where Blake Friesen will go in for Channing Boe. ... Coach Troy Jutting said he's going to keep rolling with Mike Zacharias in goal right now. And why not? Zacharias moved up to third in the nation in GAA (1.63) and fourth in SV% (.939).