After having a solid junior season as a transfer from Wisconsin, Malmquist has emerged as the Tommies’ most potent offensive threat as he currently has 19 points, with 13 of them being assists. Two of his six goals have been shorthanded.

Malmquist may put on a good show on the ice at times, but when asked about his accomplishments so far, he stays humble. However, he does admit that as an Edina alum, he’s embraced the stigma of being a “cake eater” to hockey fans around Minnesota.

“I think it’s awesome,” he said, with a laugh. “You grow up and guys know what Edina is. You get so used to it. You never really hear it (at first) because you’re always around other Edina guys growing up, but when you branch out, you’ll hear it. I think it’s funny.

“We were playing at Bemidji State this year and we were coming off intermission during Saturday’s game and they had some Bemidji alumni thing. We were walking through the tunnel and one of the alumni screamed ‘Hey Malmquist, you cake eater.’ It was a crucial game, so I was trying to stay focused, but I smirked and laughed at it. I’m used to it and it doesn’t bother me at all.”

It’s hard to rattle Malmquist on the ice as he carries himself with a quiet poise. As a former tennis player, he knows how to take advantage of any opportunity that comes his way.

“I like having the puck,” he said. “I like having the plays there for me and being able to see the whole ice sheet and seeing guys move to where they’re going to be. I like when I can do some quick cut-ups and enter the zone with speed and use my edges to change direction to try to catch people off guard. I also like if there’s a play and I can take a chance to try to do it by using my speed.

“Hockey is like a tennis match in a sense. Each shift and each period and each game is brand new. Maybe in different games, I try to use my speed depending on the team, and other times, I’ll need to be a lot smarter and use my head more than my legs.”

Liam Malmquist said being called an Edina “cake eater” doesn’t bother him. (MHM Photo / Ryan Stieg)

College-hockey decision was a tough choice
When it came time to decide on where to play college hockey, Malmquist had a tough time deciding as he wanted to find the perfect fit like his father found playing for Harvard or his brother Dylan found suiting up for Notre Dame. Liam eventually found it in Madison playing for the Badgers.

“It was a tough decision,” he said. “I was talking to other schools and a lot of the people I was talking with were really nice, and I have nothing but good things to say about my recruitment process. I wanted to make sure I was going to a place where I was going to get an opportunity. I didn’t want to rush, but I also had an opportunity to play junior hockey at the same time. Madison, at the end of the day, was the right fit. I respected (then head coach) Tony Granato and his way of thinking about the game and how he approached recruiting me.

“My two years in Madison were unbelievable. We didn’t have the best records or the playoff runs that we’d hoped for, but the guys were really nice and supportive. I learned a lot from my first two years just going to a big school with a city feel to it. At the end of the day, it worked out where I got to experience it and now, I’m back closer to home.”

After Malmquist’s sophomore year at Wisconsin, Granato was fired and replaced by former Minnesota State head coach Mike Hastings. After some initial discussions with his new coach, Malmquist decided the perfect fit might be somewhere else.

“I was still hoping to play hockey in Madison, but they had Mike Hastings come in, and I had a couple conversations with him prior to entering the portal,” Malmquist said. “I have nothing but respect for him as well. He’s the real deal. I wanted to express what I thought I could be and where I saw myself. I’m sure he had his own system and his own ideas in place, and it didn’t end up fitting mutually.

“So, it was a personal decision to enter the portal. I kind of took a leap of faith. I had a lot of people supporting me and people who had my back and taught me how to manage. It was pretty stressful and it’s hard when you’re at a place for two years and it feels like your home. But then time moves so fast and you kind of blink and it’s gone and then you’re back to where it started with recruitment.

“I was fortunate to talk with some schools and heard a lot hockey minds and perspectives on things, and I guess it all shifted when I got the call from (Tommies head coach) Rico (Blasi), (assistant coaches) Leon (Hayward) and Cory (Laylin). They were super supportive and really excited to talk to me. It was easy for me at the time because I knew what they were bringing in and I knew a lot of the guys already and who they had already recruited from the portal. My decision to leave Madison wasn’t against anyone. It was just kind of personal and wanting to try a different experience. I’m taking what I learned at Madison and am trying to continue to grow at St. Thomas.”

Before skating with Wisconsin and St. Thomas in college hockey, Liam Malmquist won the Class 2A state championship with Edina in 2019. (MHM Photo / Ryan Stieg)

Malmquist has produced on the stats sheet for Tommies
The Tommies were predicted to be better last season, but ended up surpassing preseason expectations by finishing second in the CCHA. Malmquist was a big reason for that as he finished with 10 goals and was second on the team in points with 27. When asked what created that sudden offensive explosion, Malmquist said there were a lot of factors, but it might’ve just come down to a new mindset.

“I think the biggest thing when I got to St. Thomas was the feeling of ‘I’ve got nothing to lose,’” he said. “Rico was really appreciative of who I was right away, and he gave me confidence and an opportunity that a lot of guys would want. I had the support of teammates and some really good guys and got set up with special teams with really good players. It kind of took off and after that first game at St. Cloud, we got that win and everything burst wide open. It was just, go out and play and just enjoy it.”

Now that he’s on track to probably having an even better statistical season this year, Malmquist said that he’s continuing to block out the noise around him.

“When you’re not focusing on the things you can’t control, things tend to work out point-wise,” he said. “You get compliments and you get some confidence from it. I’m just continuing on what it was last year. Everyone in that room, including myself, is there to win a hockey game. I know everyone will do whatever they can to get a result. Individually, I try not to focus on any of that. If we can get a clean breakout and move five guys on the ice and snap it around five or six times and create a chance, that catches my eye more than stats.

“It goes back to having confidence in myself. Last week, I was playing with (teammates) Matt (Gleason) and Lucas (Wahlin), who are unbelievable players, and two years ago at Madison, I maybe wasn’t playing as much. Now, I’m here as a senior, and it’s pretty amazing. I’m playing a top role on a top team with all these top players.”

Malmquist may be underrated nationally, but right now, it’s clear that he’s the Tommies’ top guy.

The post Tommies’ Top Guy appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Hockey fans are the same as normal people. We don’t ever get enough hockey, so we don’t need a Christmas break from, for example, the tension and pressures of college hockey races. But the teams definitely could use a pause, and all the major Division I conferences take a Christmas break, just to recharge the systems and take a deep, collective breath to get ready for what is sure to be a wild and crazy second half.

It also gives us the perfect opportunity to evaluate the way the late, great country songwriter Guy Clark would put it: ‘Wondering what it’s coming to, and how we got this far.’

The best guess is that the final standings will bear little resemblance to what the various conference standings show now at the midpoint. But looking at the six mens Division I college hockey teams in Minnesota, we can see into three of the country’s top college hockey conferences. We all think “our” conference is the best, and they all have their moments, but which one has been the biggest surprise so far? Which teams? Which players? You decide.

St. Thomas leads CCHA standings
My nomination is the CCHA, the league that had retained the best name in the game as the WCHA but wasn’t satisfied and switched it to another regenerated name for the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. That conference has been dominated from its current incarnation by Minnesota State Mankato. There was no reason the Mavericks couldn’t do the same again, even though living legend coach Mike Hastings took the money and ran to take over the Wisconsin program in the Big Ten. Unfortunately for the Mavs, some of their top players followed along and went with him.

So after 10 or 12 games, who is leading the CCHA? As top candidates we have the usual suspects — Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan, Bemidji State, MSU-Mankato, Lake Superior State, Northern Michigan and Bowling Green. Oh, and don’t forget the new guys on the block, St. Thomas.

You’d better not forget the Tommies, because they are in first place, leaders at Christmas break with a 7-5 record and 21 points. Second is Michigan Tech, 6-4 with 19 points, then comes MSU-Mankato at 5-4-1 with 17 points in third place, with Bemidji State, 5-5 with 16 points, a surprise in fourth place. Bemidji State is feeling the heat from a three-way tie for fifth at 15 points with Lake Superior State at 5-6-1, Bowling Green 5-5 and Northern Michigan 5-5. Ferris State is eighth at 3-7 with 8 points.

NCHC is full of surprises, Bulldogs struggle
For just last weekend, though, nobody pulled off bigger surprises than the NCHC, where Denver and North Dakota had switched off being ranked No. 1 in the nation, and both seemed primed to fight off the surprising challenge of St. Cloud State.

But Colorado College made what must be an historic trip to Grand Forks, stunning the North Dakota Fighting Hawks 3-2 in overtime. The Tigers finished the weekend with an improbable sweep of the Fighting Hawks, who had just been voted No. 1 in the country a week earlier. 

The shocker of the weekend, though, was in Kalamazoo, Mich., where Western Michigan broke from a 3-3 tie eight minutes into the third period in the first game, and whipped the University of Denver 7-3. The next night, Western Michigan almost struck for a sweep but lost 6-5 in overtime. 

St. Cloud State seized its opportunity, winning 4-1 at Omaha to strengthen their hold on first place. Omaha won the second game in a shootout to prevent a St. Cloud State sweep.

One of the bigger surprises in a less-positive scope is that Minnesota Duluth struggled to score goals despite being projected as a contender in the NCHC. In recent weeks, the Bulldogs had been playing better and better, but still without the rewards their determination seemed to have earned. In their final weekend before the break, the Bulldogs hit the road to Oxford, Ohio, where they faced the Miami Redhawks in a series that determined who would escape last place.

The Bulldogs took a shootout victory it so desperately needed in the first game before taking a 3-1 victory the next day after adjusting lines. Blake Biondi spent some time at center and scored in the second period. 

The NCHC standings show St. Cloud State leading at 7-0-1 with 22 points, which certainly qualifies as a surprise. North Dakota is second at 5-3 with 18 points, followed by Western Michigan (4-4) with 14 points, Denver 5-3 with 13 points, Colorado College (4-4) with 10 points, Omaha (3-4-1) with 9 points and tied with UMD (2-5-1) with 9, and Miami 0-7-1 with 1 point.

Big Ten had surprising results; WCHA women’s hockey adventures
The Big Ten also had some surprises last weekend, as Minnesota went to Columbus and claimed a 5-4 victory over last-place Ohio State, but it was a battle. The Gophers rallied for a 1-1 tie in the second game, but the Buckeyes stole the extra point in the shootout. The result dropped the Gophers to 0-3 in games decided by shootouts this season. 

But the Gophers still have work to do to get to the top, where Michigan State swept Notre Dame 5-2 and 2-1 in East Lansing to claim first place with a 7-1-2 record and 25 points. That’s ahead of Wisconsin (8-2) with 24 points, after the Badgers swept Penn State 6-3 and 4-1 in Madison. Minnesota follows at 5-4-3 with 17 points, then comes Notre Dame (4-4-2) with 15 points, Michigan (3-5-1) for 11 points, Penn State (2-5-3) with 11 points, and Ohio State (0-8-1) for 1 point.

The women, not to be left out, had their own adventures in the WCHA last weekend, as Minnesota knocked off Wisconsin 5-3 in Minneapolis before the Badgers responded with a 5-1 win in the second game. First-place Ohio State extended its lead by sweeping MSU-Mankato 6-1 and 4-1 in Columbus. And St. Cloud State proved the seriousness of its intentions by splitting a series with Minnesota Duluth at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

So, the Buckeyes are first at 13-1 for a whopping 37 points, followed by Minnesota (10-3-1) with 33 points, Wisconsin (10-4) with 31 points, St. Cloud State (8-5-1) with 25 points, UMD (8-6) with 24 points, MSU-Mankato (3-11) with 9 points, Bemidji State (2-12) with 6 points, and St. Thomas (1-13) with 3 points.

The correct answer, therefore, to the question of which conference had the most and biggest surprises through the first half of this season is — all of them! Ho-Ho-Ho! But all that does is make us certain that after a welcome pass for Christmas, the surprises will just keep on coming in the second half.

The post College Standings At Christmas appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

But wait. For the current 2023-24 season a sixth Minnesota Division I program has vaulted into immediate contention, with the University of St. Thomas opening the season with a startling split with St. Cloud State and taking the then-No. 1 ranked Gophers to overtime before falling 6-5 before more than 11,000 fans at Xcel Energy Center.

The WCHA is, of course, no longer in operation. It shattered when Minnesota went off to help start a Big Ten hockey conference, prompting Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State to start up with the new, and supremely powerful, National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) and leaving MSU-Mankato and Bemidji State in what was left of the WCHA. That league changed its name to the CCHA, recapturing the Central Collegiate Hockey Association call letters forced by Michigan when it branched off from the WCHA to form its “bus league.”

While St. Thomas, under proven mastermind Rico Blasi as head coach, raised all its sports to Division I status, nobody expected the Tommies to be the surprise of the state’s college hockey stalwarts this quickly.

Sophomore Ben Steeves scored a shootout goal as UMD solved a 2-2 tie with Michigan Tech. (MHM Photo / John Gilbert)

Regardless, we have to turn back to Minnesota Duluth to find the new king of bargain promotions in college hockey. The Bulldogs started off this season unbeaten through three games, while giving their fans the benefit of a bargain for their ticket prices. In two of their first three games, the Bulldogs skated to ties, then through scoreless overtimes, and then through shootouts before prevailing to turn those deadlocks into symbolic victories.

A young student, new to big-time hockey, saw the teams prepare for the shootout after UMD and Michigan Tech tied 2-2 in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game and asked: “Do they get a point if they win the shootout?” He was told no, that there was no tangible benefit, no points, no indication of winning, but only giving the fans the satisfaction of seeing the game end in something other than a tie.

He was unimpressed at the answer, but as the shootout saw Ben Steeves score a goal, and then freshman Anthony Menghini clinch it 2-1, the fans, all of whom stood in their AMSOIL Arena seats, erupted with a roar that would do a league playoff championship proud. The young man acknowledged, “OK, now I get it.”

A week later, in their first official non-conference game against Northern Michigan, UMD started with a 3-0 lead before allowing three unanswered goals and needing to rally to go back ahead 4-3 on Steeve’s second goal of the night, then fell behind 5-4. That left it up to Menghini, the freshman, to score another pivotal goal, tying the game 5-5 with 2:58 remaining. Then the Bulldogs and Wildcats sparred through six rounds of the shootout before Matthew Perkins, another freshman, scored to claim another 2-1 shutout victory. Again, however, it was not a victory, just an official tie. But don’t tell the 5,947 screaming fans that!

They went home happy and, thanks to the return of a previous promotional deal with area Culver’s restaurants, every fan turning in a ticket stub whenever UMD scores five goals or more gets a free scoop of frozen custard. How can you beat having extra-time hockey and free frozen custard after your team won the game — as far as you’re concerned.

The next night, UMD kept rolling through Northern Michigan in a second penalty-fest that saw a repeat of double-digit penalty calls with each team scoring three power-play goals and the Bulldogs getting an 8-5 victory and a sweep.

“These are games that test your inner strength,” UMD coach Scott Sandelin said afterward. “I thought we handled the adversity a little better tonight than in the first game, and fortunately our power play was clicking.”

Fears of struggling to score were washed away in that series sweep, thanks to Steeves and a couple of freshmen, starting a trend that seems to have engaged the whole team, which Sandelin will welcome as he tries to take his team off to the NCAA tournament in quest of his fourth national title at UMD.

Snuggerud is back for the Gophers
Down Interstate 35 a couple of hours, Bob Motzko has assembled a flashy crop of talent led by Jimmy Snuggerud, who started off hot after several of his classmates turned pro after last season’s near miss at NCAA time. Motzko got his way by narrowing the Olympic-sized, 200-by-100-foot ice sheet at 3M Arena at Mariucci to a hybrid width, now 200-by-89 feet. With an inability to use the wider ice surface favored by the late Herb Brooks and Doug Woog to win his first national title with a dressing room filled with NHL draft choices, maybe a narrower rink will help.

At the start, Snuggerud made the plan work. After scoring the overtime winner against upstart St. Thomas to climax a rally from a 4-2 deficit in the third period, Snuggerud brought his teammates back to Mariucci for the second game and scored twice for a 2-0 lead that the Gophers expanded with an empty-net goal for a 3-0 victory and a sweep.

The media-heavy Twin Cities promotional backing may have helped the Gophers gain the No 1 ranking in the nation despite losing four players to early NHL contracts. But Snuggerud makes it appear they won’t be missed as the Gophers try to repeat as Big Ten champions.

Early adversity for St. Cloud State 
The St. Cloud State Huskies, who rose up from a disappointing season to make a run at the NCAA tournament last spring, lost some big scorers. But coach Brett Larson has proven to be a master at fashioning his talent into contenders as the season progresses. The Huskies were the first victim of St. Thomas, losing 5-4 in overtime, and had to go to the Mendota Heights home of the Tommies to battle for a 1-0 victory and a split.

But next came a huge rivalry series against MSU Mankato, which spotted the Huskies the first two goals before roaring back to tie the game 2-2 in the second period and beat St. Cloud 3-2 on Adam Eisele’s overtime goal. The next night, Mankato stung the Huskies 5-1 for a sweep.

New coach leads Minnesota State Mankato
Minnesota State Mankato suffered what seemed like crushing setbacks when Mike Hastings left to become head coach at Wisconsin, and several of his top Mavericks entered the transfer portal to go with him. New head coach Luke Strand, however, has regenerated the Mavericks right from the start.

They were heartened by the return to form of Sam Morton, a fifth-year captain who went out after only 10 games with a knee injury last season. Alex Tracy looks solid in goal. The Mavericks have retained a great tradition, as they blocked 23 shots in the 5-1 game against St. Cloud State.

Beavers host Ice Breaker Tournament
Bemidji State is another team joining Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech in trying to unseat MSU Mankato as CCHA champion, and the Beavers got an early taste of the competition by co-hosting the Ice Breaker Tournament with North Dakota to open the season. That came after losing 5-2 at Minnesota in an exhibition opener. Back home, Bemidji State dropped a 4-3 overtime game to Wisconsin and the reappearance of old rival Hastings on the visiting bench.

The next night, Army came to Bemidji’s sparkling Sanford Center and the Beavers made a determined rally to tie the Cadets 2-2 on Eric Pohlkamp’s goal at 7:30 of the third period. Lleyton Roed scored the game-winner at 0:59 of overtime for a 3-2 triumph. Roed also had a goal against Wisconsin, when the Badgers outshot Bemidji 61-19 and only the 57 saves by goaltender Mattias Scholl kept the Beavers in the game.

Toms roll in game one
The state’s newest DI team, the St. Thomas Tommies, served notice of their intentions not only against in-state rivals like Minnesota and St. Cloud State, but challenging the CCHA as a legitimate contender. Blasi established his skills in building Miami of Ohio into a solid team in the NCHC. After he was let go by Miami he was a natural choice to lead the Tommies into DI. So, his team’s early successes this year shouldn’t be a surprise.

Benefitting by the transfer portal, Blasi has assembled speed and talent that went on display in the season-opener at St. Cloud State. Goals by Jake Braccini, Cameron Recchi, Luke Manning and Matthew Gleason got the Tommies into overtime, where former Duluth East star Ryder Donovan scored at 1:11 to win it 5-4. It won’t be easy for St. Thomas to keep knocking off powerful rivals, but Blasi has made a name for himself by sending tough, tenacious teams over the boards.

Now that St. Thomas is planning a new arena for its future, about all they need is to find an ice cream shop — or maybe a St. Paul pizza joint — and come up with a promotion whenever they score five goals.

The post DI College Hockey Preview appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Yet in reality, successfully mastering the move is the result of months and years of work behind the scenes.

For Minnesota State fifth-year senior forward Reggie Lutz, scoring a go-ahead wraparound goal in the Frozen Four against Minnesota is a move that he has been practicing on since the age of five when the Elk River native received a special incentive.

“Every time I would score a wraparound goal, my Dad would take me to McDonald’s, and I’d get a Happy Meal. I’ve been working on one for a while and it was pretty cool to see it work on the big stage,” he said after the Mavericks defeated Minnesota 5-1 in the Frozen Four semifinals. “It was able to pay off tonight, so it was pretty cool.”

Working for years behind the scenes is Minnesota State’s M.O. 41 NHL Draft picks descended to Boston from the Frozen Four teams. Only one, Nathan Smith, came from the Mavericks.

It did not matter to the only program to make a repeat Frozen Four appearance, as thousands of fans came from Mankato, Minnesota, and points elsewhere to cheer, to high-five, and enjoy a program-high against three of the sport’s traditional bluebloods. Thousands lined the TD Garden red carpet for both the April 7 semifinal and the April 9 championship game.

“We’re still building,” said Mike Hastings, who found his wife in the crowd before Thursday’s game. “Pretty special to be a part of it and to have the people travel that distance, spend the time away from work.

“We had some students hop on flights. I’m not sure where the pay came from, but they hopped on some flights out here to support us.”

Photo courtesy of Mansoor Ahmad

Lutz’s path to the Mavericks from Elk River included stops in Fairbanks and Chicago. The 25-year-old’s road to college is the norm for Minnesota State, who had one player debut before their 20th birthday. Burnsville’s Cade Borchardt won a USHL Clark Cup after high school, the culmination of three different teams in three years. Smith played high school hockey in Florida. 

Dryden McKay, the 2022 Hobey Baker Award-winning senior goaltender and men’s hockey all-time shutout leader, spent three straight seasons as a Mike Richter Award finalist without winning the award.

Even Hastings, celebrating his 10th anniversary being hired as Minnesota State’s head coach, has come a long way from an early season series against Denver where the Pioneers swept his Mavericks in Mankato. 

“You learn from the hard things. That was a hard weekend. I remember it vividly,” he said. “I thought we played well that weekend, and we didn’t get a point.”

That Mavericks team eventually made the NCAA Tournament, as did another six under Hastings. When Minnesota State broke through to make it to the Frozen Four in 2021, Borchardt said that he took in the moment, remembering the ones that got him there, before his latest.

In its second Frozen Four appearance, Minnesota State, who began the season sweeping the defending national champions in Massachusetts, made the most of its recent experience in comparison to Minnesota, Michigan, and Denver.

Relaxed, screaming, and happy pregame, the Mavericks players embraced their “we before me” team mantra. The group became one, utilizing its suffocating defense against one of the nation’s top offenses and dispatching Minnesota despite trailing 1-0.

McKay gave up a goal on the first shot he saw of the weekend on a 2-on-0. He did not give up another until the third period of the national championship game. Before Lutz, Benton Maass scored a wraparound goal.

“I think it’s right when you step foot on campus. Ever since Coach has been here in Mankato, he’s built a great culture of family, team first,” Lutz said. “Anything that gets thrown our way, you’re going to put our team first. We don’t have one selfish guy on our team.”

The same team that collectively learned from the hard things and took the long path to college quickly became a perennial national title contender. Walking around Boston was a fanbase, dressed in purple suits, Revolutionary War outfits, and the more traditional Mavericks sweaters, ready for a championship. They had been on the road from Day 1.

Facing the same Denver program Hastings learned from a decade prior, Minnesota State spent 45 minutes keeping the nation’s top offense in neutral. The Pioneers had 4 shots on goal in the national championship game’s first half before finding the back of the net.

Once Denver did, the lessons resumed. A 1-0 third period lead quickly wrapped around into a 5-1 defeat for the Mavericks and the first loss in 19 games. The rainbow that was over TD Garden pregame disappeared. 

“You look at the whole season. We hadn’t lost a game since around Christmas until tonight,” Borchardt said after the championship game. “I mean, obviously nothing’s going to solve this or make us happy right now. So I am proud of everyone, proud of the seniors. It stings.”

Boston was a special place for Minnesota State, who continues to present a difficult puzzle for any team to solve. It is a program long past the point of Providence, Palmquist being pushed, NCAA first rounds, and being a surprise national title contender.  

In a decade, Hastings has evolved the program into one that can reload and keep its identity. The only goal left to change the course of the program is one that barely eluded this group, the ones that came so close to the years of work paying off and wrapping their hands around the trophy.

“I’m incredibly proud of them because they’ve gone to work every day. We all know, your dailies are what make your week, what makes your month, which makes your year. These guys came to work every day with a smile on their face and made their dailies fantastic. The ride they took our staff on and our program on was special,” said Hastings after the title-game loss. 

“There will be time for reminiscing and thinking about the rest of it. Like I said, it’s a little raw now. And we’re going to learn from it and we’re going to move on. We’re going to be better because of what happened tonight and because of the journey that these guys allowed us to have together from the beginning of the year until now.”

Photo courtesy of Mansoor Ahmad

The post That’s A Wrap appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The post The Sieve & The Scribe : Ep. 4 appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Series of disappointing first-round exits at the NCAA Tournament the only blemish on Hastings’ era in Mankato

The Minnesota State Mavericks have had their hearts broken just about every way imaginable over the years.

In 2015, MSU was the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and saw its season end in the first round on a goal that, by the letter of the law, shouldn’t have counted.

Three years later, the Mavericks jumped in front by a pair of goals early and watched their opponent slowly claw back, drawing even in the final period before winning in overtime.

That opponent would go on to win the NCAA title.

Last season, in a hostile environment, MSU took a three-goal lead — and very a nearly a four-goal lead — before watching that advantage wither away in a blink in an eventual 6-3 loss.

They’ve lost in empty buildings. They’ve lost in full ones. They’ve lost out east. They’ve lost in Sioux Falls, just a two-hour drive from their Mankato campus.

MSU G Dryden McKay (Photo courtesy of Minnesota State University Athletics)

It hasn’t mattered much the circumstance or the quality of opponent, Minnesota State has known only losing when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. And for a program that has won more games than any other in college hockey since Mike Hastings became head coach in 2012, winning games in the NCAAs is really the only measuring stick that matters anymore.

Since college hockey realignment in 2013, Minnesota State has proven its mettle in conference play. MSU has won three WCHA regular season championships and two more playoff titles.

They’ve also reached the NCAA Tournament four times during that span, more than any other team in the conference.

Unfortunately for MSU, the Mavericks are 0-4 once there. And of all the heartbreaking losses once there, last season may have the most staying power.

Minnesota’s State’s 32 victories were a program record. Just a week prior, a miracle comeback in the final minute of the WCHA Championship game allowed MSU to raise yet another banner.

It was almost as though they were a team of destiny.

But placement in the Providence, Rhode Island regional — and a game against Providence College — would be a challenge. An early three-goal lead seemed to put those worries to bed. An apparent fourth goal was waved off for offsides, and from that point on, the game changed.

Providence scored the next six goals and would go on to reach the Frozen Four by winning the following afternoon.

The job of leading the Mavericks to new heights will fall largely on the shoulders of senior captain Marc Michaelis. A native of Mannheim, Germany, Michaelis is one of the top returning players in the country. The WCHA’s Preseason Player of the Year was also named to the All-College Hockey News first team nationally.

Michaelis has been a model of consistency over the years for the Mavericks, scoring between 36 and 42 points in each of his first three years on campus.

He led the team in both goals and points a year ago and could be a darkhorse candidate for the Hobey Baker Award.

Michaelis, who wore the ‘C’ for MSU last season as a junior, will do so again after being named co-captain, along with fellow senior Nick Rivera.

Perhaps no contender in the country had a better offseason than MSU. The Mavericks lost one regular contributor off last year’s team, where former captain Max Coatta will be missed more off the ice. His eight goals and 15 points should be easily replaceable.

Coatta ranked 14th on the Mavericks in scoring last season. The 13 players in front of him all return, as do the next eight behind him.

In this day and age of college hockey, it’s a remarkable statistic: the Mavericks return 20 of their top returning 21 scorers.

Also back is sophomore goaltender Dryden McKay, who was CHN’s Freshman of the Year nationally after posting a 24-7-2 record to go with a 1.76 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.

Joining McKay between the posts will be freshman Jaxson Stauber, son of former University of Minnesota Hobey Baker Award winner, Robb.

MSU D Connor Mackay (Photo courtesy of Minnesota State University Athletics)

Up front, the Mavericks bring in a player with another familiar surname to college hockey fans in Minnesota, Ryan Sandelin. The son of Minnesota Duluth head coach Scott Sandelin, Ryan stands 6-foot and 192 points and is coming off a 31-goal season with Penticton last year.

Also added to the mix is forward Nathan Smith, a third-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets in 2018 who hails from Hudson, Florida. Smith led Cedar Rapids of the USHL with 53 points in 59 games last season and had 47 points in 51 games the year prior.

On defense, the Mavericks are buoyed by the return of Connor Mackey, a junior who had plenty of NHL options following last season. Mackey led Maverick blueliners in goals (seven) and was tied with Ian Scheid in points (25). Scheid returns for his senior campaign as well.

Edwin Hookenson, Jack McNeely, Riese Zmolek and Wyatt Aamodt all return having played at least 36 games last season, with Hookenson and McNeely having played in all 42.

Skill? Check.

Experience? Check.

Motivation? Check.

All the pieces seem to be in place for the Mavericks this season, leaving just one box left to be checked. And while an NCAA Tournament win would be one giant monkey off the back of the program, there’s no reason why MSU shouldn’t aim significantly higher than that in 2020.

The post Mavericks hope 2020 is their time to shine appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Parker Mackay’s goal has UMD a win away from Frozen Four repeat

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — After seven minutes, it looked like Minnesota State was on its way to a history-making night, but by game’s end, Minnesota-Duluth made sure history repeated itself.

The Bulldogs are back in the region final for a second year in a row after a 3-2 overtime win in the West Regional Friday night at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls.

Parker Mackay scored on a wrist shot from the slot 2:28 into OT to make UMD 9-0 all-time in the first-round games while the Mavericks are still looking for their first NCAA Tournament win in program history.

“We were feeling pretty confident after the third period,” Mackay said. “We didn’t want to get too complacent.”

Third-seeded UMD improves to 22-16-3 and will face No. 4 Air Force at 8 p.m. Saturday for a berth in the Frozen Four. MSU finishes the season 29-10-1.

Minnesota State’s Zeb Knutson watches his first-period shot elude Minnesota Duluth goaltender Hunter Shepherd to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead in Friday’s West Regional semifinal. (MHM photo / Jonny Watkins)

The Mavericks scored two quick goals before the seven-minute mark of the first period by Zeb Knutson and Ian Scheid and UMD was punchless out of the gate with just one shot on goal by the time MSU was up 2-0.

“We had a good start,” Knutson said. “Everyone was dialed in and excited for the game.”

Then the Mavericks offense went dormant. No registered shots on goal for roughly 35 minutes, including the entire second period and no goals the rest of the game.

“We’ve played them three times and neither team’s gotten out to tremendous leads,” MSU coach Mike Hastings said. “I thought we survived the second period.”

UMD began the long road back with an 8-0 shots on goal advantage in the second period, highlighted by Karson Kuhlman’s goal at the 6:38 mark.

“We got the jitters out in the first period and just stuck with it,” UMD’s Nick Swaney said.

MSU made an effort to regroup during the second intermission and get back on the offensive and rebuild its lead. Knutson and Connor Mackey each connected with posts, but that was it.

“We got back in the locker room and we all came together as a team and said ‘hey, we can do this,’” MSU forward and Hobey Baker Award semifinalist C.J. Suess said. “I felt like after coming out of the locker room our spirits were up and that we were ready to go in the third.”

Nick Swaney’s one-timer shot from the low left circle got past Connor LaCouvee with 4:08 left in the third period to send the game to overtime.

It didn’t take long for the back-and-forth overtime fireworks to blast.

Players watch as UMD’s Nick Swaney (23) scored what was thought to be the game winner 55 seconds into overtime before the goal was reversed after review due t goaltender interference. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins)

UMD’s players jumped over the boards and rushed across the ice to mob Swaney who had just put the puck in the net for the Bulldogs 55 seconds into OT.

“We just called upstairs and asked our guy to take a look at it and we thought there was contact prior to the puck going in,” Hastings said. “I had a pretty good idea it was going to be overturned.”

The video replay showed Dylan Samberg running LaCouvee over in the crease and preventing the MSU goalie from making the stop on Swaney’s rebound shot.

A good goal was the call on the ice, but called off after review.

“I thought the guys did a good job refocusing and going back out there,” UMD coach Scott Sandelin said. “I think all my excitement went out with the (disallowed) goal. I was still excited for second goal but not as excited as the first one.

UMD goaltender Hunter Shepard experienced a flurry in front of his own net after the ensuing faceoff. The puck slid toward the net on a Nick Rivera shot amid the scrum, but MSU’s Brad McClure was knocked into the goal and his breezers prevented the puck from crossing the goal line.

Shepard finished with 19 saves and LaCouvee had 19 for MSU.

Back on the other end, after a defensive-zone turnover, Justin Richards found Mackay gliding down the slot and hit him with a pass. Mackay took a second, head faked and put the puck over LaCouvee’s shoulder.

“They had been blocking shots all game so I was just trying to maybe fake it out and see if there was a shot lane,” Mackay said. “Sure enough, I just tried to get the puck on net and it went in.”

The post Bulldogs Nip Mavs In OT appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

It’s Wednesday evening and the action is starting to pick up for Erik Martinson and the interns helping him get the Denny Sanford Premier Center ready for the ball.

Martinson has been in Sioux Falls since Sunday, nailing down the fine details of a well-run NCAA Regional hockey tournament from hiding all advertisements and signage to converting football and basketball locker rooms to hockey before the teams get there.

No. 6 Minnesota State and Atlantic Hockey Association champ Air Force roll in first. Top-seed St. Cloud State and No. 12 Minnesota-Duluth are set to arrive a little later.

“I don’t know how we got three Minnesota teams in one region, but I think it’s awesome,” said Martinson, assistant athletics director for operations at the University of North Dakota.

“I’m glad it all worked out with the PairWise Rankings, because I think we’re going to have a great atmosphere.”

Denny Sanford Premier Center Twitter Image

The West Region has a definite Minnesota flavor, with the three Minnesota teams plus Colorado Springs-based Air Force, which has plenty of Minnesota ties with Coleraine-native Frank Serratore behind the bench and seven Minnesota-native players.

“Hopefully there’s more of a positive flavor for the Minnesota teams because of the proximity,” MSU coach Mike Hastings said. “It was nice that we had a 2 1/2 -hour bus ride instead of hopping on a charter and flying like we’ve had to in the past.”

The idea of an arena filled with green-clad North Dakota fans faded as conference championship weekend progressed, but when the NCAA tournament bracket revealed a nice consolation Sunday morning.

“The best outcome would’ve been if UND was here,” Martinson said. “The next-best outcome is what we have with the teams that we got here.”

The NCAA regional rounds have seen notably sparse crowds, especially since the sites were required to be off campus starting around 10 years ago. Hundreds of empty seats are usually visible on TV and thousands more unoccupied in the upper decks, often closed off.

Those in charge at the Denny Sanford Premier Center hope and are confident that won’t be the case this weekend.

“Obviously, North Dakota not making the tournament is going to have an impact,” said Ty Halpin, the on-site NCAA representative in Sioux Falls this weekend.

“But the fan bases are able to drive and I think the game times are conducive to fans coming. Talking to people here, they think a lot of the people who bought tickets thinking North Dakota would be here, will probably still come. Even if it’s not full, it’s still going to be an enthusiastic atmosphere.”

UND showed what an electric atmosphere at a regional can look like with a much smaller, 4,000-seat arena with much of its fan-base willing to pay anything for a ticket when the school hosted at Fargo’s Scheels Arena in 2015 and 2017.

The crowds at those games, around 90 percent Fighting Hawks fans, spilled into the standing-room areas.

“I was down on the ice handing out championship hats to UND players after the region final (at Scheels Arena in 2015),” Martinson said. “It was the loudest noise I’ve ever heard in my life because it’s all the noise is coming at you. Atmosphere drives everything.”

UND’s absence and a larger arena to fill have created challenges when it comes to attendance while trying to match the crazy atmosphere of the Fargo regionals.

The Denny Sanford Premier Center – with a capacity of 10,678 – is home to the United States Hockey League’s Sioux Falls Stampede, an indoor football team and live concerts. The arena is the only one out of 16 in the USHL that seats more than 10,000.

No. 1 in the PairWise Rankings, St. Cloud State was the easy pick for the top seed in the West Region since the selection committee tries to reward top seeds with shorter travel. To maximize attendance, the committee had to do some flip-flopping.

MSU, ranked sixth in the PWR, was slotted to play Midwest Regional host No. 11 Penn State in Allentown, Penn. and No. 12 Minnesota-Duluth would’ve played No. 5 Denver out east in a natural bracket.

Good news for those who value bigger crowds and better atmosphere more than bracket integrity.

“You never know what’s going to happen once the 16 teams are determined,” Hastings said. “I’ve never really tried to figure out who we’re going to play. The important thing is to focus on getting in and progressing from there.”

A large chunk of tickets were gobbled up more than 5,000 on presale by UND fans, who assumed their team would play in Sioux Falls this weekend, and it’s hard to blame them, given their program’s 15-year streak of tournament appearances.

(A host team is automatically placed in the region it’s hosting as long as it qualifies for the tournament.)

Each team that qualifies for the tournament is allotted 400 tickets, typically offered first to their season-ticket holders and Halpin estimated 1,000 tickets were sold via the NCAA’s official ticket exchange.

Fans that do make the trip to Sioux Falls will be impressed when they walk through the four-year-old Denny Sanford Premier Center’s doors, according to Halpin. He said he was impressed by the “four adequate locker rooms” and the sightlines provided by a steep upper deck that makes the fan feel closer to the ice.

“It’s phenomenal and it’s still pretty new,” Halpin said. “They’ve dressed it up pretty well from an NCAA perspective and it has all the bells and whistles you can ask for.”

The post Minnesota’s Ice appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Lucia, 59, had one season remaining on a contract that was scheduled to pay him $612,500 next season.

A native of Grand Rapids, Minn., who played hockey at Notre Dame University, Lucia has overseen a program with declining success both in wins-losses and gate receipts over  the past few years.

Home attendance was announced at 8,724 per game this season — more than 1,200 short of a sellout — and crowds frequently numbered fewer than that because of no-shows.

Lucia’s teams won NCAA championships in 2003 and 2004 and he posted a record of 457-248-73 at Minnesota, including 11 regular-season conference titles, four league playoff titles and five appearances in the NCAA Frozen Four.

The 457 wins rank first in Gophers’ history.

This season, however, his team went 19-17-2, lost its final four Big Ten games to Penn State and was knocked out of the NCAA field because of the success of other teams after that.

Lucia issued the following statement through the University of Minnesota: 

“I am proud of the 14 banners that have been added to the rafters of 3M Arena at Mariucci. I am forever grateful to all the coaches, staff and most importantly the players who have worked so hard to accomplish this over the years.

“Most importantly to me, we did it the right way. Our players all graduate and have always represented themselves to the high standards of Gopher hockey on and off the ice. It has been a tremendous honor and privilege to be the head hockey coach at the University of Minnesota.”

The big question is who will follow Lucia to try to resurrect a program that formerly was considered one of the best — if not the best — men’s hockey programs in the United States. Among the expected candidates will be Gophers assistants Mike Guentzel and Scott Bell and Northern Michigan coach Grant Potulny, all former players in the system.

The post Lucia steps down appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

St. Cloud State’s Judd Peterson tangles with Minnesota State’s Jake Jaremko in MSU’s 5-2 win over SCSU on Saturday night in St. Cloud’s Herb Brooks National Hockey Center (Photo by Maddie MacFarlane)

Minnesota State’s fast start leads to a win in St. Cloud on Hockey Day

It may have been Hockey Day but the No. 9 Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks spoiled the No. 3 St. Cloud Huskies host-city fun in a MSU 5-2 win.

A packed house of over 5,500 people filled the Herb Brooks National Hockey and Event Center to see the Huskies take on the Mavericks, but a slow start out of the gate doomed SCSU’s chances from the get-go.

Minnesota State quieted the St. Cloud faithful with two goals in the first period. Freshman defenseman Connor Mackey scored the game’s first goal 93-seconds in and Zeb Knutson netted a power play goal at 13:56, giving Mankato a 2-0 lead.

“They had zip the whole game,” St. Cloud junior Robby Jackson said. “They came in ready to storm our arena and we weren’t ready. It’s something we struggled with all year is slow starts and we don’t know whether it’s preparation or pregame warmup or what it is. It’s something that we’re definitely going to address ’cause we’re not going to win anything this year if we come out with a slow first twenty minutes.”

Knutson knew a fast start was necessary if they wanted to come out on top.

“We knew it was going to be a sold out barn and they really draw from their crowd,” Knutson said. “We knew it was important to try and get on it right away in the first five minutes and get the first one. And for Mackey to take that down the wall and sneak one in there, I think it was huge for our team. A little bit of a relief, but at the same time, it got us going. We were like, ‘hey, here we go now, let’s just stay on it here and keep playing our game.’ That next one, [Brickley] makes an unbelievable pass to me and I was lucky to bury it and give us the two-goal lead.”

After drawing a penalty in the early stages of the second period, St. Cloud couldn’t muster a goal on the man advantage. Shortly after killing the penalty, Jake Jaremko of Minnesota State snuck a puck past Jeff Smith and the Mavericks once again had a two-goal lead.

With Smith allowing three goals before the game’s halfway mark, head coach Bob Motzko made a change in net and freshman David Hrenak relieved Smith. The move provided a jolt for the team, because less than a minute after the change, Jackson cut the deficit back to one goal.

Hrenak continued to stop pucks, but at the 15:00 mark of the second period he was hung out to dry and Knutson took advantage for his second tally of the evening. The Mavericks skated into the second intermission up 4-2.

Neither team generated much offense in the first ten minutes of play during the final period. Finally at the 11:55 mark, SCSU drew a power play. Despite putting a few shots on goal, the Huskies weren’t able to crack LaCouvee.

“I thought he was solid,” Mavericks coach Mike Hastings said about his goaltender. “You need goaltending. Late in the season when you play a team like St. Cloud they’re going to make pushes and you’ve got to find a way to keep it out of your net. Us giving up the late one, I was wondering if here comes the proverbial snowball down the hill, but we went to the break and did a good job coming out of that period and getting to the next one.

St. Cloud made a last-ditch effort in the final five minutes. Jackson nearly was inches from netting his second goal of the game and Motzko even pulled Hrenak for an extra-attacker with under two-minutes remaining.

Despite the man advantage, St. Cloud wasn’t able to pull off the comeback, falling to 14-5-3 (8-3-1 in conference play) on the season.

Meanwhile, Minnesota State improved to 18-7-0 (15-5-0 in conference play) and appears to be a force to be reckoned with as the NCAA Tournament in March.

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