Jutzi inks AHL deal

With his college career wrapped up, Minnesota State defenseman Jon Jutzi signed a professional deal to finish the season with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League.

The Moose are an affiliate of the NHL's Winnipeg Jets.

Jutzi had nine goals and 35 assists for 44 points in 144 games during his Mavericks career. He also blocked 166 shots and was plus-26 in his four seasons. He was also a three-time WCHA scholar-athlete and all-academic selection. Jutzi was an assistant captain this season and finished his senior campaign with five goals and 15 assists.

Jutzi is the fourth MSU player to turn pro following the season, joining junior defensmeman Casey Nelson and fellow seniors Teddy Blueger and Bryce Gervais.

Nelson has four points in three games for the NHL's Buffalo Sabres. Blueger and Gervais are also in the AHL, although Blueger has a deal with the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins starting next season.

Jutting out at Omaha

Omaha went to the Frozen Four last season and was 14-3-1 at Christmas break this year. However, the Mavericks lost 14 of their next 18 games, including their final eight, and didn't make the NCAA tournament.

That prompted on Wednesday coach Dean Blais' announcement that he was making changes to his coaching staff, firing both of his assistants. One of those was former Minnesota State coach Troy Jutting. Jutting was on the Omaha for the last four seasons, following his 12-year head-coaching stint (and 22 years total on the coaching staff) at MSU. Alex Todd, who was part of the UNO staff for the last three years, was also let go.

“Given the difficult end to our season, we took a hard look at our team and how we support the players as a staff,” Blais said in the press release linked above.“In the end, I decided that this was one area where we needed to improve to stay competitive in the NCHC.

“I want to thank Troy and Alex for their work on behalf of Maverick hockey. We’ll immediately begin to look for the best candidates to fill the assistant coach positions.”

It will be interesting to see where Jutting ends up in the hockey world after this.

Nelson starts strong

The Associated Press

Got a chance to check out Casey Nelson (34 in the photo) playing on national television last night as his Buffalo Sabres played at the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit won 3-2 and was up 3-0 before a furious rally by Buffalo. Nelson was involved in much of that rally, assisting on both goals one of the goals (he was originally awarded an assist on the first goal) and being put on the ice in the Sabres' attempt to tie the game in the final minute. He looked comfortable and poised (especially on the pass that set up Buffalo's second goal) and ended up playing nearly 14 minutes and was plus-2.

For more on Nelson, read my column in today's Free Press.

The rule of thumb for players leaving college early is: Are they ready to play in the NHL, as opposed to the minor leagues. If so, go. If you're AHL-bound then stay in school. Two games is a small sample size, but Nelson appears to have made the right choice.

What did I miss?

I've been off the grid (sort of) for the last few days, so here's a little college hockey housekeeping from a long weekend away ...

Frozen Four set
The Frozen Four field was decided over the weekend, with North Dakota, Boston College, Denver and Quinnipiac advancing out of the regionals. The biggest surprise of the tournament was the WCHA's Ferris State knocking off St. Cloud State in overtime on Saturday afternoon at the Xcel Energy Center. The Bulldogs proved their last-season run, which included Final Five victories over WCHA co-champs Michigan Tech and Minnesota State, were not flukes. They hung with Denver until the third period before bowing out. On April 7 in Tampa, Fla., NCHC rivals North Dakota and Denver will play each other in one semifinal, and Quinnipiac and Boston College will play in the other. The championship will take place on April 9.

Nelson makes NHL debut
Who would have guessed at the beginning of the college hockey season that the next banner to go up honoring an MSU hockey alum playing in the NHL would be that of Casey Nelson? But there will be one next year. Nelson was in the lineup for the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday and got his first NHL point, assisting on a goal by former Minnesota player Hudson Fasching, who also signed with Buffalo last week. The Sabres play again tonight (Monday) on NBC Sports Network, if you're interested in watching him play.

Blueger, Gervais turn pro
Teddy Blueger and Bryce Gervais made their professional debuts this weekend, too. Blueger, who signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins but is starting out with that team's AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He played two games over the weekend. Gervais signed with the AHL's Chicago Wolves and played in his first two games, assisting on a goal in the first game and scoring one in the second.

Reports: Wisconsin lands a coach
USCHO and other outlets reported on Sunday that Wisconsin is set to hire alum Tony Granato as its new coach, replacing Mike Eaves, who was fired after 14 seasons. Granato, who played for the Badgers from 1983 to 1987, is currently an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings (he did have a head-coaching stint with the Colorado Avalanche). USCHO reported that Granato could be hiring his brother, Don Granato, and former Ohio State coach Mark Osiecki, both Wisconsin alumni and both mentioned as head-coaching candidates, as his assistants.

Referee dies
Finally, in the saddest news of the weekend, referee Oliver "Butch" Mousseau died on Friday, a week after suffering a critical head injury after falling to the ice during the WCHA Final Five in Grand Rapids, Mich. He was 48. Mousseau died at Mercy Health St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Rapids. The WCHA issued a statement following his death. But I'll quite a bit of his bio from the statement: Mousseau was a full-time WCHA referee for 16 seasons, beginning with the 2003-04 campaign, and a part-time official in the NCHC since the league's inception in 2013-14. He was also a USA Hockey official since 1998 and had pro assignments in the ECHL, AHL and CHL. As the first Native American to work a game at the top level of the sport, Mousseau's National Hockey League officials' sweater and skates are in the league's Hall of Fame in Toronto. Mousseau is survived by his wife, Macaire; their three children Sam, Abbie and Olivia; his parents and four siblings. In a College Hockey News story, Mavericks coach Mike Hastings said, "How many guys do you know that can put a smile on your face for so many different reasons? Every time I was around him, when I walked away, I always thought 'I need to be better.' I'm going to miss him."

Re-realignment begins?

Several media outlets on Tuesday reported that Notre Dame will be leaving Hockey East and joining the Big Ten for hockey in 2017, perhaps starting another seismic shift in conference realignment. Many folks have been predicting more changes coming down the road, but, other than Arizona State making a decision on where it was going to play, I'm not sure people expected it to start happening this quickly.

Now there's speculation about another team, perhaps Arizona State, also joining the Big Ten, so it can be an eight-team conference, and the Sun Devils' coach says the school is close to making a decision.

Geographically, Notre Dame's move makes sense, as it practically sits smack-dab in the middle of Big Ten hockey country, with Minnesota and Wisconsin to the west, Michigan State and Michigan to the north and Ohio State and Penn State to the east. The Irish should improve the competitive balance of the league, too.

Prior to the last round of realignment, Notre Dame was kind of the X-factor. After it was announced that the Big Ten was starting a hockey league, the WCHA had given then-commissioner Bruce McLeod to talk to Notre Dame about leaving the CCHA for the WCHA. At the same time, plans for the NCHC were quietly under way. The Big Ten didn't have precedent for pulling in an affiliate member at the time (although has since brought aboard Johns Hopkins lacrosse).

Notre Dame seemed to be and should have been the big get for the NCHC, but the upstart group ironically decided to turn down the Irish because they would be coming in with their own TV contract. That's when the NCHC went after St. Cloud State. Notre Dame didn't want to be part of the leftovers in the WCHA, so it went to Hockey East, and we have the current college hockey setup.

What domino rally takes place after Notre Dame makes the move to the Big Ten official indeed will be interesting. Hockey East might be looking for a new 12th member, so there could be some shuffling out east, and there continue to be rumblings about the stability of the NCHC and WCHA in their current states.

Could the addition of Notre Dame (and Arizona State?) to the Big Ten also foul up any hopes of a single-city, multi-tournament conference championship weekend, which the WCHA is starting to shop? Perhaps.

Nelson signs with Sabres

Minnesota State junior defenseman Casey Nelson has signed an entry-level deal with the NHL's Buffalo Sabres, forgoing his final season of college hockey.

Nelson was the WCHA's Defensive Player of the Year and a First Team All-WCHA pick after scoring 22 points in 40 games and leading MSU win plus-minus at +15.

“We’ve been consistently impressed with Casey’s play for the last two years,” Buffalo general manager Tim Murray said in a press release. “We identified him as one of the top college free agents available and we’re excited to have him join the organization.”

It's been quite a three-year run for Nelson, who was recruited late out of the North American Hockey League, accepting a scholarship from Minnesota State when he was 20 years old. The Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., native played sparingly as a freshman, scoring six points in 19 games, but he exploded as a sophomore with a career-high 33 points in 40 games.

He finishes his MSU career with 60 points in 99 games, ranking 10th in scoring among the school's Division I defensemen. He was also +29 with 227 shots on goal and 127 blocked shots.

"He's shown where a young man can go when he puts his mind to it," MSU coach Mike Hastings said.

Blueger signs, Nelson next?

Pittsburgh Penguins photo

As expected, Minnesota State's Teddy Blueger, who just finished his final college season, has signed a professional deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team that drafted him in the second round (52nd overall) in 2012.

Blueger's two-year, entry-level contract begins next season, according to the Penguins' press release, and will finish this season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League, with whom he signed an amateur tryout contract for the rest of the season.

A Riga, Latvia, native who played at Faribault's Shattuck-St. Mary's before coming to Minnesota State, Blueger , 21, led MSU in scoring with 35 points and in assists with 24 helpers. Seven of his 11 goals were game-winners. He was a first-team All-WCHA pick. Blueger finished his MSU career with 108 points in 155 games. Thirteen of his 31 goals were game-winners.

Meanwhile, Blueger's teammate Casey Nelson could be the next MSU player to sign. The junior defenseman is planning on forgoing his senior season to sign with an NHL team. After the Mavericks' season ended on Saturday, there were rumblings that Nelson was listening to multiple NHL offers, and he confirmed Monday that was indeed true and that a signing could be imminent. Stay tuned.

For more on the end of MSU's season and a peek at next year, check out my Free Press story here. I also have a column on the WCHA Final Five and the future of conference tournaments.