In a record-breaking year for success, all five Division 1 college teams in Minnesota made the 16-teams selected by the NCAA to play in four regionals, with two-time defending champion Minnesota-Duluth forced to play in Fargo at the Midwest Regional where No. 1 ranked North Dakota was top seed, while Big Ten playoff champion Minnesota was the No. 1 seed at the West Region in Loveland, Colo., where WCHA season champ Minnesota State-Mankato was also positioned and won the final. In the Northeast Region, Bemidji State earned the right to play from the WCHA, as the fifth team from Minnesota.

The only interloper is Massachusetts, better known as UMass, in a return to the Frozen Four where they lost a 3-0 final to UMD two years ago in the last Frozen Four before the pandemic shut things down a year ago.

In an amazing display, all five Minnesota teams won their opening regional semifinal games, including Bemidji State’s huge 6-3 upset over Big Ten regular-season champion Wisconsin. The game was 5-1 midway through the third period before the stunned Badgers got two late goals. That sent the Beavers into the Bridgeport, Conn., region final, where they were struck down 4-0 on a pure hat trick by Carson Gicewicz and the shutout goaltending of Filip Lindberg.

In a cruel twist, Gicewicz and Lindberg were among four UMass players ruled out of the Frozen Four by positive tests for COVID-19, so they will be unable to help their team against UMD.

In the West regional, Minnesota jumped to a 3-0 first-period lead and cruised past Nebraska Omaha 7-2 behind two goals from Mason Nevers, while MSU-Mankato needed a sensational finishing rally to squeeze past Quinnipiac 4-3 in overtime in the other semifinal. Mankato trailed 2-0 after one, cut it to 2-1 on a goal by Jake Jaremko in the second, but fell back behind 3-1 midway through the third. Nathan Smith cut it to 3-2 with a goal for the Mavericks at 14:54 of the third, and with star goaltender Dryden McKay pulled for a sixth attacker, Cade Borchardt tied it with 1:02 remaining. The game went to overtime, and after 11:13 had elapsed, Ryan Sandelin — son of UMD coach Scott Sandelin — battled to the crease to score after spotting a loose rebound, for a 4-3 triumph.

On Sunday, MSU-Mankato, the pride of the WCHA, took on Minnesota, the last remaining hope of the Big Ten, which has yet to convince other college leagues that it has reached parity. That quest remains, because Mankato completely squelched the Gophers in Loveland, Colo., scoring two minutes apart in the first period as Ryan Sandelin set up Sam Morton’s opening goal, then scored himself for the 2-0 jump-start. There was no scoring in the second period, but goaltender Dryden McKay kept the Gophers off the board, and goals by Nathan Smith and Dallas Gerads in the third carried the Mavericks to a shocking 4-0 triumph.

It’s fitting, in a way, that the proud WCHA and all its 37 NCAA champions since 1951 will end its days as the top men’s conference in the country with one last representative heading for the Frozen Four. The league will cease to operate men’s hockey next season as a third uprising will see the formation of the “new” CCHA, following departures that started the Big Ten and NCHC operations.

Minnesota Duluth’s Kobe Roth (10), Hunter Lellig (8), Jackson Cates (20) and Matt Anderson (3) rejoice in what was thought to be Roth’s game-winning goal in the first overtime of the Midwest Regional Final. The joy was short-lived as the goal was reversed upon review. But the Bulldogs would have the last laugh, however, on Luke Mylymok’s winner four overtimes later.
Photo by Russell Hons

The NCHC, won by North Dakota in both regular season and playoffs, will have great camaraderie as well as solid representation from UMD and St. Cloud State. Scott Sandelin takes his UMD Bulldogs to their unprecedented fourth straight Frozen Four, in quest of their third consecutive championship. St. Cloud State is coached by Brett Larson, who twice assisted Sandelin in building two of those UMD champions.

The Huskies went to the East region and earned their way to the Frozen Four by dispatching Boston’s top two rivals in Albany. St. Cloud State spotted Boston University a 1-0 second-period lead before Micah Miller and Nick Perbix scored retaliatory goals, and after BU tied it 2-2, Easton Brodzinski broke the tie with a goal for a 3-2 St. Cloud lead. In the third period, the Huskies finished off the Terriers with precision, as Finnish imports Jami Krannila and Veeti Miettinen scored goals, sandwiching the second goal of the game by Brodzinski for a 6-2 victory. BU threatened, getting a major power play, but Krannila got hauled down on a short-handed breakaway and scored on the ensuing penalty shot.

That victory sent St. Cloud State back to Times Union Center to face top seeded Boston College, which took a 1-0 first-period lead on a goal by Matt Boldy, who was to sign an NHL contract with the Wild a few days later. The Huskies facilitated that move by burying the Eagles under a 3-goal barrage in the second period. Luke Jaycox, Will Hammer and Nolan Walker connected for a 3-1 lead, and Micah Miller scored his second in two days in the third period to clinch a 4-1 victory.

That will send St. Cloud to its first Frozen Four, where the Huskies will face off against Mankato, its biggest rival through the years in all sports, especially basketball and football, until hockey took both programs to Division 1.

UMD got an unexpected boost in Fargo, when Michigan was forced to drop out of the tournament with an outbreak of COVID-19 — leaving UMD without an opponent in the semifinals. North Dakota, meanwhile, crushed American International 5-1 in the semis and stormed back to Scheel’s Arena in Fargo for the showdown against UMD.

The game was called by many the best-played game of the season, and it took on legendary proportions when UMD broke a scoreless tie in the third period with goals by Jackson Cates and Cole Koepke barely a minute apart. Goaltender Zach Stejskal made the 2-0 lead stand until the closing two minutes, when the Fighting Hawks pulled their goalie and scored twice for a 2-2 tie that forced overtime. Make that “overtimes,” because they played into the fifth overtime before little-used freshman Luke Mylymok raced end to end up the left boards and sent a pinpoint shot between the legs of a screening defenseman and through the legs of goaltender Adam School for a 3-2 victory that ended the longest game in NCAA tournament history — 142 minutes and 13 seconds, spanning 6 hours and 12 minutes.

For more storylines, Stejskal made 57 saves before severe cramps knocked him out in the fourth overtime, and fellow-rookie Ryan Fanti stepped in to make six more saves in 17:36 to close out the game.

St. Cloud State teammates Kevin Fitzgerald, Nick Perbix and Seamus Donohue congratulate junior forward Sam Hentges on the Minnesota Wild prospect’s third period goal in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship game on March 16, 2021 in Grand Forks, N.D.
Photo by Russell Hons

In St. Cloud’s victory, scoring leader Easton Brodzinski was carrying the puck when a BC player delivered a hard, legal, but blindside hip check that dropped Brodzinski to the ice. He was helped to the bench and the dressing room, and then an Albany hospital where the injury was diagnosed as a fractured leg, to end his senior season on the sidelines. The Huskies vowed to keep going in the name of their fallen senior leader, and whipped BC as evidence.

“The toughest part is for him,” said coach Larson. “Here’s a guy who has poured his heart and soul into our program, and now he can’t be part of it. Our guys all know we want to do it for Easton, and all have bought into it a little bit more.

“Nobody picked us to be in the top 20 at the start of the year,” Larson added. “We knew it would be tough, because the NCHC is the toughest league in college hockey. We played North Dakota when we had our first nine games in the pod, and we played Duluth seven times. All of that helped prepare our resilience, and we didn’t ever get rattled.”

MSU-Mankato’s victory over Minnesota was its seventh in a row against the Gophers, spanning the years when the WCHA teams branched off and now the five Minnesota colleges play in three different conferences.

UMass goaltender Filip Lindberg was the seventh-round draft pick of the Wild in 2018, and he finished his senior year with a 9-1-4 record in Hockey East, where he led the league with a 1.33 goals-against average, and he led the league and the nation with a .946 save percentage. Gicewicz, a senior who transferred to UMass from St. Lawrence, wound up with 17 goals and 24 points after his hat trick against Bemidji State. The loss of the quarantined players leaves only senior Matt Murray as a goaltender. He went 9-4 in 13 of the first 15 games, with a .913 save percentage.

Coming out of the NCHC’s season-opening pod in Omaha, UMD faced St. Cloud State in four consecutive games, with UMD winning 4-3 in overtime and losing 3-1 at St. Cloud, then heading North, where St. Cloud State swept, winning 4-3 and then 1-0 in an overtime classic. The teams concluded the regular season with another series, with the Bulldogs winning a 5-1 blowout at AMSOIL Arena before St. Cloud State blew a 3-0 lead but won 4-3 in overtime at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. They weren’t done yet, as they collided again in Grand Forks in the NCHC playoff semifinals, with Chase Brand’s short-handed goal standing up to give the Huskies a 3-2 victory.

They could meet one more time, if St. Cloud State gets past Mankato and UMD can beat UMass, and that would pit coach Sandelin against former assistant Larson. Of course, if UMD beats UMass and Mankato gets past St. Cloud State, the Bulldogs and Mavericks would meet with coach Sandelin against his son, Mankato sophomore Ryan Sandelin.

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Get up to speed with Dustin Nelson’s women’s WCHA  postseason primer

The WCHA playoffs start this weekend, featuring three teams that rank in the top four nationally. It’s yet another year where a WCHA team could grab a national championship, but with more parity in the conference this year, there’s also the chance for a significant upset.

No. 1 – University of Wisconsin Badgers

(Photo by David Stluka)

The Badgers are the team to beat. They’ve been number one in the nation since the first preseason poll and lead the nation and the WCHA in almost every statistical category.

With an in-conference record of 22-2-4-3, the only team that was able to split their season series with them was the Gophers. They’re the only team in the nation that allowed less than one goal per game on average at 0.91 per game. Amazingly, it was even less when starting Ann-Renee Desbiens was between the pipes. She leads the nation with a 0.741 goals-against average.

The Badgers start the playoffs with a series against the eighth-ranked Mavericks. In four games against the Mavs this season, the Badgers went 4-0 with a 16-2 goal differential. There’s an expectation that they’ll be able to march through the first two rounds with relative ease.

PLAYER TO WATCH:

Annie Pankowski, Jr, F — Though Desbiens is the one who is capable of single-handedly stealing games, Pankowski has been outstanding after an early-season slump. Considering she didn’t score at all in the first nine games of the year, it’s amazing she finished the regular season ranked seventh in points.  She put up 20 goals and 16 assists in the final 20 games of the year. 

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Scanlan, Fryklund bench pairing not all that sets Bemidji State apart

The Bemidji State women’s hockey program is unique. If you talk to anyone about the team you’ll hear that word pop up and it’s justified.

“Bemidji is a unique school in the WCHA,” Head Coach Jim Scanlan said before a November series against the Gophers. “Obviously you’ve got Big Ten schools, Big Ten programs, Big Ten cities. Duluth, Mankato, St. Cloud, Grand Forks, they’re all much bigger than Bemidji State. We’re a unique school in those terms. We’re smallest in terms of enrollments. We’re a small community.

“You’re not going up there for the malls.”

It’s not just the school’s location and size that sets it apart, though. The way the coaching staff came together isn’t a common story. It reveals a lot of what is special about the program and what has it poised for continued growth.

Scanlan took the head coach position in the summer of 2014 when Steve Sertich stepped down after eight years at the helm. Among the finalists for the position were Scanlan, a former goaltender for the Beavers, and Amber Fryklund, who was not only a former Beaver but also an assistant under Sertich.

When Scanlan took the job he asked both Fryklund and assistant Shane Venkeer, who also attended Bemidji State, to stay with the program. Fryklund became the Associate Head Coach.

“For me, it was real easy. I just hoped she would want to stay on. I never thought at one time of not asking her to stay or not be a part of the team based on what I was told.” – Jim Scanlan on Amber Fryklund

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Beavers’ young blue line to receive early test

Bemidji State
Coach: Tom Serratore (Bemidji State ‘87), 15th Season 244-240-67 with Beavers
2015-16: 17-16-6 Overall (11-12-5 Conference)
Picked by media and coaches to finish 6th in WCHA

Key Returning Players: Brendan Harms, Jr. F (8-17), Gerry Fitzgerald, Jr. F (14-11), Kyle Bauman, Jr. F (7-13), and Michael Bitzer, Jr. G (.915 Sv%-2.16 GAA).
Key Newcomers: Adam Brady, Fr. F, Hampus Sjödahl, Fr. F, Tommy Muck, Fr. D and Zach Whitecloud, Fr. D.

Tom Serratore is going to find out what kind of team he has early in 2016-17, as the Beavers face the WCHA media and coaches’ poll favorite Bowling Green the opening week of the season and then the consensus fifth ranked team Northern Michigan in the second weekend.

“This is the first time we’ve started with conference games, and you feel like you need to do more and get more things in,” said Serratore. “But you just can’t. The bottom line is the players have to play and you have to put the ownership on the players.”

Bemidji State returns the majority of a team that finished sixth in the conference last season, but Serratore notes the departed not only scored goals for the Beavers, but set the pace in practice and off the ice. The team will count on their undersized, but speedy forwards spread out over two or three lines for scoring.

The steadiest piece calling the Sanford Center home this year will be goalie Michael Bitzer. Serratore says the junior has been their rock the last two years, and there isn’t any question he’ll be again this season.

“He’s not only a good goaltender, but he’s got a great mentality, his work ethic, his approach to the game, his athleticism,” Serratore said. “He’s been a winner his whole life.”

A big question mark for the team will be the play of their young and inexperienced defensive corps as they integrate six underclassmen into their lineup. Serratore says they’re farther along than they were a month ago, and that Muck and Whitecloud look like veterans ready to step in and play.

Serratore expects the conference to be very tight from the opening weekend of conference play all the way to March as the league moves towards its new on-campus post-season tournament. Finishing in the top four gets home ice for a quarterfinal best-of-three series, leading to the top two remaining seeds hosting best-of-three semifinals, and then a single game championship at the highest remaining seed home rink.

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The WCHA looks to be one of college hockey’s best conferences once again, and that’s no surprise. Though there are plenty of surprises inside the conference, including the continued rise of the Badgers who start the season ranked number one in preseason polls. They’re followed by the Gophers, who have won four of the last five national championships.

But there is plenty of room for competition inside the division below the two behemoths. Here’s a full preview of the 2016-17 WCHA season.

University of Wisconsin Badgers:

Wayzata’s Sophia Shaver (#12) scored twice and added an assist helping lift Wisconsin to a season-opening sweep of St. Cloud State Sept. 23-24. (MHM photo / Jaylynn Nash)

The Badgers enter the season ranked number one in the nation in the preseason USCHO poll. It’s easy to see why. They were dominant last year, emerging as the WCHA regular season champions and WCHA Tournament Champions, and they haven’t lost many key players.

The Badgers return six of their seven top-scoring players, including their top four which featured Annie Pankowski, a Patty Kazmaier Top-10 Finalist who finished seventh overall in points nationwide.

Even more crucial to their ranking is the return of record-setting goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens, who was a Top-3 Patty Kazmaier Finalist, WCHA Player of the Year and set NCAA single-season records for goals-against average (0.76), save percentage (.960), and shutouts (21). That shutout record included a run where the Badgers didn’t allow a goal in 10 hours, 24 minutes and 18 seconds, a stretch that ran from Oct. 3 to Nov. 14.

With Courtney Burke the only key player to depart the program, the Badgers could be even better this season. Desbiens was named the WCHA’s preseason Player of the Year and the Badgers are home to two of the three players who tied for WCHA preseason Rookie of the Year, Presley Norby and Abby Roque.

University of Minnesota Gophers: 

Junior F Kelly Pannek of Plymouth is among those expected to fill the offensive void left by Hannah Brandt’s departure. (MHM Photo / Jaylynn Nash)

The Gophers are a perennial favorite, and they start the season ranked second nationally in the USCHO coaches poll. Despite winning their second straight national title last year — their fourth in five seasons — the Gophers were pretty evenly matched with the Badgers and Boston College Eagles last season. And they may have lost more in graduating players than either team. (Though BC took some serious losses as well.)

Starting goaltender of the last three seasons, Amanda Leveille, graduated and moved on to the NWHL. Annual Patty Kazmaier finalist Hannah Brandt is gone, as is Olympian Amanda Kessel.

It’s a big burden to put on the shoulders of the team’s current leaders, including Olympic defenseman Lee Stecklein, center Kelly Pannek, leading scorer (fifth in the nation by PPG) Dani Cameranesi, and sophomore Sarah Potomak, who was voted USCHO National Rookie of the Year last season.

Additionally, the Gophers have some promising freshman, including Lindsay Agnew who was good in the gophers’ exhibition game against the Minnesota Whitecaps and tied with Norby and Roque for WCHA Preseason Rookie of the Year.

A lot may fall on the shoulders of goaltender Sidney Peters, a junior, who has been with the team under Amanda Leveille for three years. If she’s up to the task of filling Leveille’s skates the Gophers could easily make another run, but it will be tough. Last season, they split their matches with the Badgers, going 2-2-0 during the regular season. The Badgers beat the Gophers in the WCHA Championship, then the Gophers beat the Badgers (in overtime, no less) at the Frozen Four to advance to the national championship. They remain a powerhouse, but not without competitors.

University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks:

With no first-place votes, North Dakota takes a distant third to Minnesota and Wisconsin in the WCHA preseason coaches poll. However, they rank sixth in the nation, which shows just how strong Minnesota and Wisconsin are this year.

Senior forward Amy Menke will be one of their key players to watch this season, as will senior Halli Krzyzaniak, whose all-around play doesn’t come through on the score sheet but is strong enough to earn her a spot on the Canadian national team and a 16^th overall selection in the 2016 NWHL Draft.

Goaltending could be weaker than last year with the graduation of All-American Shelby Amsley-Benzie, owner of almost every goaltending record in school history. UND’s success was in no small part due to her .930 save percentage in 31 games last season. That follows on the heels of a 28-game run in her junior year with a .952 save percentage.

Senior Lexie Shaw will take over in net and while coach Brian Idalski isn’t concerned about her ability to take the reins, she hasn’t seen much game action behind the heavy workload shouldered by Amsley-Benzie. Shaw played just 13 total games over the last two seasons.

North Dakota was the only team in the conference that beat the Badgers and Gophers last season. With a large number of returning players, no one is taking them lightly.

University Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs:

Scoring shouldn’t be an issue for UMD but questions remain regarding blue line depth and goaltending as the 2016-17 season gets underway. (File photo by Dave Harwig / Special to MHM)

The Bulldogs finished sixth in the WCHA last season, but that masks what a tough schedule they had. They proved that by upsetting number three-ranked Bemidji in the WCHA Tournament’s quarterfinals.

They’ll enter this season ranked fourth in the WCHA and though they’re outside the top 10 nationally, they did receive votes. This season’s schedule isn’t going to be any easier, though. The team starts with a non-conference series against Boston College, who lost only one game last year. That was the national championship against the Gophers.

The Bulldogs only graduated three players from last season. They’ll benefit from the return of Ashleigh Brykaliuk, who ranked 10^th in the nation in points per game at 1.27. Unfortunately, key contributors Michela Cava and goaltender Kayla Black were two of the graduating players.

Duluth should be able to score, but their defense and goaltending have questions yet to be answered. Highly talented defensemen Sidney Morin and Jessica Healey are back, but the defenders after those two are going to have to step up and support their forwards.

The team is also expecting a lot out of sophomore goaltender Maddie Rooney, a Duluth-native who is going to be in her first season as the number one goaltender. Last season she went 5-12 with a 3.18 goals-against average and an .899 save percentage. She and Black both started 19 games last season, though Black’s 2.47 goals-against average and .919 save percentage looked much better.

Bemidji State Beavers:

Bemidji State’s Brittni Mowat has been a stalwart tin the BSU net and the senior goaltender gives the Beavers a chance night in and night out. (MHM Photo / Jaylynn Nash)

Bemidji State will be looking to grow once again this year. Last season, they set a school record with 22 wins but suffered a disappointing upset at the hands of Duluth in the WCHA Tournament. Nonetheless, continued growth could be on the docket.

They’ve been selected to finish fifth in the conference this year by the USCHO poll, but they’ve got some challenges ahead of them. They graduated nine players, including five of their top seven in total points and four of their top six goal scorers.

Senior goaltender Brittni Mowat was a First Team All-American in 2014-15, and will again be a key to Bemidji becoming more than the sum of their parts. Led by Mowat and defenseman Madison Hutchison their back-end is where their strength lies, and that’s a big reason they received the most votes in the national poll among teams sitting outside the top 10.

But scoring is going to be an issue. The top-end talent is gone and they’re going to need their seven freshmen, including forwards Kiki Radke and Haley Mack, to get into the swing of things fast if they’re going to be competitive.

St. Cloud State Huskies:

St. Cloud Sate looks to ride last season’s momentum to even greater heights in 2016-17. (St. Cloud Stat University Athletics photo)

St. Cloud is coming off the program’s best season since 2009-10, which, in the preseason coaches poll, was only enough to keep them floating above Ohio State and Minnesota State at the bottom of the WCHA. In his second season coaching the program, Eric Rud will look to keep pushing up the standings.

The future is getting brighter with the team’s top returning scorer being sophomore forward and 2015-16 All-WCHA Rookie Team honoree Julia Tylke. She put up nine goals and 24 points last year, the most by an SCSU rookie since the 2006-07 season when Holly Roberts and Caitlin Hogan hit 35 and 29, respectively.

However, they’ve lost 40 percent of their goals from last season to graduation, which could hit the team hard. That includes their only point per game player in Molly Illikainen.

They also lost starting goaltender Katie Fitzgerald, now with the New York Riveters of the NWHL, to graduation. The battle for number one will be between former Union goaltender Madeleine Dahl, sophomore Taylor Crosby (who stopped 49 of 52 Badger shots in an opening weekend loss), and freshman Janine Adler, who won a bronze medal in 2014 as the goaltender of the Swiss national team at the Sochi Olympics.

Their biggest asset may be that they are returning six of seven defensemen, making for a seamless transition in front of a fluid goaltending situation. That instant defensive chemistry will be an asset to whoever grabs the starting job in St. Cloud, even if it winds up being more of an even split between Dahl and Crosby.

Ohio State Buckeyes: 

It’s a time of significant transition for the Buckeyes. They’ve had yet another coach move on. Incoming head coach Nadine Muzerall — Ohio’s third head coach in three years — was previously an assistant with the Gophers and was a significant part of the recruitment process there. That experience could bode well for the future. As could the addition of former Bulldog forward Jessica Koizumi to the coaching staff. To take the position, Koizumi retired from the NWHL, where she gained valuable experience and some insight that could be valuable to incoming recruits.

However, that’s all down the road. This year could be tough sledding. It probably would have been anyhow, but the team lost leading scorer Claudia Kepler, who will red shirt with the Badgers this year, then join them for the 2016-17 season. Kepler is one of five underclassmen who left the program.

Yet, there’s hope for the future in Ohio and not just because of a coaching staff that could get things moving in the right direction. Goaltender Kassidy Sauve is back. She was the WCHA’s top rookie goaltender two seasons ago but missed last season due to injury. Defenseman Jincy Dunne had to redshirt last year due to injury, but is a highly regarded rookie and even received a vote for preseason Rookie of the Year. Additionally, sophomore Jacyn Reeves has transferred from Union and could help bring a little more offense to the table in the absence of Kepler.

They’re a program on the rise, but it could be a tough year for the Buckeyes.

Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks:

Sophomore F Emily Antony of Plymouth will be looked upon to build on her offensive output from her rookie campaign in Mankato. (MHM Photo / Jaylynn Nash)

The Mavericks had a bad 2015-16 season. They didn’t win a single game against a conference opponent and predictably start the season ranked at the bottom of the WCHA.

Second-year coach John Harrington will have a challenge on his hands to get improvement from the team with leading scorer Katie Johnson departing the program. Scoring was the team’s biggest issue last year already.

But senior goaltender Brianna Quade is back. She was pivotal in the success they did have last year, posting an .899 save percentage in 35 games.

All told, they’re returning 18 players including promising sophomore Emily Antony, who will have to shoulder more offensive responsibility this season after scoring six goals and 16 points last year.

The Mavericks also need freshman Sofia Poinar to help solve their scoring woes. The Chanhassen-native was a strong scorer in high school and the team will hope she adapts to the college game quickly.

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MANKATO — Not long ago, a No. 2 seed in the WCHA playoffs and a share of the MacNaughton Cup would have been hailed as a miracle season for Minnesota State.

But following a 1-0 loss to Bemidji State on Saturday night, a result that knocked it from the league’s top playoff seeding, there was a hint of disappointment around the Verizon Wireless Center.

That’s what happens when a culture has been changed.

MSU rolled to a 6-1 win over the Beavers here on Friday night, securing at least a share of the regular season championship for the second consecutive season.

The Mavericks will need to win their third consecutive Broadmoor Trophy if they hope to reach the NCAA Tournament for a fourth-straight season.

Anything less would constitute a down season.

“We’re at a point here where we are expected to compete for championships,” said fourth-year coach Mike Hastings, largely responsible for the raised expectations.

Since the WCHA rebooted before the 2013-14, the league has handed out a trophy five times. Minnesota State has been on the receiving end of that presentation on four occasions.

“It’s just the beginning,” Mavericks senior forward Bryce Gervais said. “You see with the rink, but what Coach Hastings, Coach [Todd] Knott and Coach [Darren] Blue have done… things are just going to get better and better.”

A $4 million-renovation of the Verizon Wireless Center is just one part of what Minnesota State has become during the Hastings era, which is nearing the end of its fourth season.

Gervais said alumni are more engaged in the program and have been pouring cash into the arena project, as evidenced by the $100,000 gift from David Backes of the St. Louis Blues for a world-class weight room just steps from the brand new locker room.

Fans have also been flocking to the arena. Attendance on Saturday night was 5,052, the 15th-largest crowd in school history, despite the fact that students are on spring break.

The university has also shown more of a willingness to provide the program with amenities that the previous regime wasn’t afforded. Much of that effort is because of pressure from Hastings, considered one of the top up-and-coming coaches in the country.

Of course, it’s easy to ask for — and receive — such help when the program is successful on the ice. And in that regard, MSU is experiencing its most successful stretch in its history.

Two victories over Lake Superior State in the first round of the WCHA playoffs next weekend would mark four-straight 20-win seasons, something that has never been done in the Division I era.

It’s tough for seniors on this year’s team to imagine it being any other way. But championships and banners were not common in Mankato prior to this year’s senior class.

Gervais relayed a story of when he was a freshman and then-senior Eriah Hayes told him something that he’s remembered to this day.

“He told me [hiring Hastings] was the best thing to ever happen to Maverick hockey,” Gervais recalled. “He said back in the day, they weren’t always fully committed. That’s the thing you’re going to get with Hastings. You gotta be completely committed if you want to be a part of this program. And obviously, it shows.”

Next fall, Minnesota State will hang at least one more banner in the rafters of the Verizon Wireless Center. It’s come as a result of a shift in culture, one that Hastings said the program is still trying to perfect.

“[The players] have continued to elevate on what the expectations are. I’m incredibly appreciative of that,” Hastings said. “I’m proud to say I have the opportunity to coach this program.”

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