Mavericks slip to 10th

Minnesota State dropped a spot, from No. 9 to No. 10, in both national polls on Monday, following its series split at home against Ferris State. The Mavericks are 6-2-0, still one of the better records in college hockey and their own best October since joining the WCHA in 1999.

Minnesota Duluth was the unanimous No. 1 in the USCHO.com poll after its sweep of previous No. 1 North Dakota, which dropped to third. Denver is No. 2 and received one first-place vote in the USA Today/USA Hockey poll.

Bemidji State, which is also 6-2-0, is the only other WCHA team in the top 20, moving up to No. 18. Lake Superior State, this coming weekend's opponent for Minnesota State, is also receiving votes.

Bulldogs 4, Mavericks 3

Freddy's three thoughts of the game:

1. Stay in your seats: Minnesota State didn't give fans much to cheer about for 2 1/2 periods but then made a crazy comeback over the final 10 minutes to tie the game only to give up the game-winner with 1:01 to play. Alec Vanko, Michael Huntebrinker and Brad McClure scored MSU's goals to turn a 3-0 deficit into a 3-3 game. Huntebrinker's goal came with 3:18 remaining after coach Mike Hastings opted to pull goalie Cole Huggins for an extra attacker with about 4 minutes to go. Some call that the Dean Blais Rules, but it's become the Mike Hastings Rules. It worked and it looked like overtime was inevitable, maybe even 3-on-3 or a shootout, but the WCHA's preseason player of the year, Gerald Mayhew showed why he deserved those accolades as he got his team its first (non-shootout) win of the season.

2. Welcome to college hockey: Minnesota State's freshmen have been the talk of the WCHA over the first month of the season, but this weekend's tough, physical, grind-it-out series might have been an eye-opener to the rookies. It's not always going to be so easy. As a group, they didn't do much against Ferris State. Marc Michaelis did assist on Huntebrinker's goal and had two helpers in the series. Nicholas Rivera appeared to score a goal, but it was waved off as the Bulldogs wen to the other end and scored (the call on the ice stood upon review, giving Ferris, and not MSU, the 1-0 lead). Rivera, who had five shots on goal, is a tough kid, though, and seemed to fit in with the style of play.

3. Power outage: The Mavericks went 0 for 6 on the power play and were 1 for 8 on Friday night. After clicking at nearly 30 percent over their first five games, they are 1 for 20 in the last three games, two of which they didn't have defenseman Daniel Brickley available (upper body injury). Trailing 3-1 with 6 1/2 minutes left, the Mavericks had a 5-on-3 power play for 80 seconds, but they couldn't find a way to score. Goalie Justin Kapelmaster did make one point-blank save during that stretch. The Mavericks also missed the net plenty of times during the game. Of their 70 shot attempts, 21 missed the net. They finished with 31 on goal.

Read my game story here.

Around the WCHA: Bowling Green 4, Miami 1 ... Alaska 4, Lake Superior State 3 ... Michigan Tech 5, Northern Michigan 1 ... Bemidji State 4, Alaska Anchorage 0 ... St. Cloud State 5, Alabama Huntsville 2

Live coverage, MSU vs. Ferris State, Game 2

The live chat can be found below tonight's lines:

MINNESOTA STATE

20-Michaelis, 15-Franklin, 19-McClure
6-Tuomie, 17-Huntebrinker, 10-Knutson
23-Rivera, 16-Nelson, 12-Coatta
25-Stepan, 26-French, 27-Schwalbe

4-Lewis, 5-Foguth
11-Flanagan, 21-Vanko
14-Bigelbach, 18-Scheid

34-Huggins
39-Pawloski
29-Nelson

Scratches: Brickley, Cooper, Gerard, Hookenson, Madry

FERRIS STATE

9-McDonald, 8-Dorantes, 17-VanWormer
24-Maloney, 24-Pefley, 20-Mayhew
7-Killins, 18-Szajner, 16-Andrew
11-Lutz, 22-Tackett, 2-Fernandez

10-Lowney, 27-Tierney
5-Torantes, 3-Clarke
26-Rutkowski, 23-Kallen

35-Kapelmaster
1-Smith

Mavericks 4, Bulldogs 2

Freddy's three thoughts of the game:

1. Veterans come through: Two goals by Brad McClure. Another by Jordan Nelson. Hard-area play by C.J. Franklin. A rock-solid performance by Cole Huggins. The older players for Minnesota State came through in a tough game on Friday night. Nothing got out of hand like other games between the Mavericks and the Bulldogs, but it was a grind with a lot of stopping and starting and a lot of special teams play. McClure, who has been working closely with student-assistant and longtime NHLer Tim Jackman (see my game story below), scored a pair of beauties, tying the game in the first period and giving the Mavericks 4-1 lead in the second.

2. And a couple of youngsters: Freshman forward Ian Scheid scored what would end up being the game-winning goal, putting MSU up 3-1 midway through the second period on the power play. It was his third goal in as many games. He also had a good play out of the penalty box, racing into the defensive zone and diving to the ice to break up a slap shot from the point. He's off to a good start with six points in seven games. Another rookie, Michael Bigelbach, got the nod on D with Daniel Brickley out with injury. He didn't play a ton of minutes but did assist on McClure's second goal.

3. A little revenge: The Mavericks lost to the Bulldogs in the championship game of the WCHA tournament last March in Grand Rapids, Mich. They were held to just 14 shots on goal that game, and the 2-1 loss ended their season. On Friday, they got back to their goal-scoring ways after scoring just two in last Saturday's loss at Alaska, and even chased Final Five MVP Darren Smith from the game in the second period. Smith finished with 15 saves, and freshman Justin Kapelmaster got his first collegiate action after that, stopping all six shots he faced the rest of the way. It will be interesting to see which goalie starts on Saturday for the winless Bulldogs.

Read my game story here.

Around the WCHA: Michigan Tech 2, Northern Michigan 0 ... Miami 2, Bowling Green 1 (OT) ... Lake Superior State 3, Alaska 2 ... Bemidji State 2, Alaska Anchorage 1 (OT) ... St. Cloud State 5, Alabama Huntsville 1

Live coverage: MSU vs. Ferris State

The live chat can be found below tonight's lines:

MINNESOTA STATE

20-Michaelis, 15-Franklin, 19-McClure
6-Tuomie, 17-Huntebrinker, 10-Knutson
23-Rivera, 16-Nelson, 12-Coatta
25-Stepan, 26-French, 27-Schwalbe

4-Lewis, 5-Foguth
11-Flanagan, 21-Vanko
14-Bigelbach, 18-Scheid

34-Huggins
39-Pawloski
29-Nelson

Scratches: Brickley, Cooper, Gerard, Hookenson, Madry

FERRIS STATE

21-Mackin, 8-Dorantes, 17-VanWormer
15-Maloney, 24-Pefley, 20-Mayhew
9-McDonald, 12-Recktenwald, 16-Andrew
11-Lutz, 22-Tackett, 2-Fernandez

10-Lowney, 27-Tierney
5-Torantes, 3-Clarke
26-Rutkowski, 23-Kallen

1-Smith
35-Kapelmaster

Friday Morning Skate

The No. 9 Mavericks are back home following their split at Alaska to take on Ferris State in a WCHA series. In their last meeting, the Bulldogs defeated MSU 2-1 for the league playoff championship and got the WCHA's lone berth into the NCAA tournament.

Minnesota State will be without sophomore defenseman Daniel Brickley, its leading scorer. He represents a lot of points (10, with nine assists) and a lot of minutes on the ice. Those minutes, coach Mike Hastings said, "will be absorbed by the group, not by one individual."

Read more about what's ahead in The Free Press' College Hockey Gameday.

You can also read about senior forward Jordan Nelson and how he's become Mr. Reliable to both his Maverick family and his own family in North Dakota where his sister has been is battling leukemia for the last 10 months. On the ice, Nelson has been rock-solid so far this year. He and wingers Nicholas Rivera and Max Coatta were MSU's best line in Alaska, Hastings said, as the group accounted for three goals and eight points.

"He's playing like a senior," Hastings said of Nelson. "A lot of players come to you and ask for more. He wants it — but is able to take advantage of his more. He's getting more ice time, he's producing offensively, he's committed defensively. He's taking advantage of those opportunities. That's what you want your seniors to do."

As for Ferris State, it is 0-6-1 with a shootout win over Northern Michigan on Saturday. Several Bulldogs have been battling injuries, including the WCHA's preseason player of the year Gerald Mayhew, who has played in just three games.

"(Mayhew) and (last season's WCHA rookie of the year Corey) Mackin, they're hard," Hastings said. "They play hard; they play with an edge. There's no difference; they're the same team we played last time we played them."

Going around the WCHA ...

The Alaska teams are both on the road, with Alaska going to Lake Superior State and Alaska Anchorage going to Bemidji State. In an attempt to keep their hockey programs afloat amid big budget cuts, the Alaska universities proposed the cutting of other sports on Thursday and are requesting a waiver to be below the minimum number of sports requirement to be in the NCAA. If approved, that may save hockey at both institutions. They were

As for Bemidji State, which is sitting in first place in the WCHA, it's coming off its first two losses of the season, at No. 1 North Dakota. They're not "good losses" per se, coach Tom Serratore told the Bemidji Pioneer, but the team can learn from them.

Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech will play a home-and-home series this weekend, with the rivalry starting in Houghton.

In nonconfernece action, Bowling Green travels to Miami, and Alabama Huntsville is on the road again, going to St. Cloud State. The Falcons will try to overcome their surprising winless start to the season, while the Chargers are winless in their last six games since starting the season with two wins at Ferris State.

For more on the WCHA, read the USCHO weekly column here.

Brickley hurt, Rivera honored

It was a good-news, bad-news day for the Minnesota State men's hockey team.

The bad news was that sophomore defenseman Daniel Brickley will be out "for awhile," according to coach Mike Hastings, with an upper body injury. Brickley was hurt late in the third period of Saturday's 4-2 loss at Alaska. He got off to a great start to the season, scoring 10 points, which leads the Mavericks and the WCHA. His strong play this season, along with an excellent freshman season, has drawn much attention from pro scouts. They'll have to wait a few weeks, it seems, to get their eyes on him again.

The good news was that freshman forward Nicholas Rivera was named WCHA Rookie of the Week for his performance in last week's series split at Alaska. Rivera finished the series with four points, including two goals and an assist in Friday's 7-1 victory. Lake Superior State's Diego Cuglietta (offensive) and Collin Saccoman (defensive) were the other league players of the week. Hastings has had good things to say about Rivera from the start of the season. On Monday, Hastings said Rivera, senior Jordan Nelson and sophomore Max Coatta were the Mavericks' most consistent line all weekend against the Nanooks.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks remained in ninth place in both national polls, USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine.