Ryan Carter (No. 22) and fellow former Maverick David Backes await the ceremonial puck drop from current Minnesota State coach Mike Hastings prior to the Hockey Day Minnesota 2022 MSU alumni game. (David Faulkner / SPX Sports)

For the last three years, the longtime NHLer has been knee-deep in Hockey Day Minnesota festivities. With the event in Mankato in 2022, the former Minnesota State Maverick was one of the stars of the weekend, serving as a pseudo-ambassador, playing in the alumni game, broadcasting for Bally Sports North and generally running around like a chicken with his head cut off.

Things didn’t get much easier for him in 2023, with Hockey Day shifting north to his hometown, where the former White Bear Lake Bear is once again one of the starring attractions. 

Because the COVID-19 pandemic delayed Mankato’s day in the spotlight by 12 months, Carter has been essentially living and breathing Hockey Day for the last three years. 

Good thing he doesn’t have any connections in Warroad for 2024 … right?

“Time to take a Hockey Day breath,” Carter said with a chuckle.

The two Hockey Day experiences have been very different but equally satisfying for the affable Carter, who hasn’t turned down a single photo or interview request. 

Former Bears Ryan Carter (L) and Jon Anderson help Bally Sports North’s Marney Gellner reveal White Bear Lake as the 2023 Hockey Day Minnesota site on the ice in Mankato at the conclusion of HDM 2022.

“Last year, that was college alumni, people who supported the program, and lots of people close to the guys you played with,” Carter said. “So I knew a fair amount of people involved with running it [in Mankato].

“Here with this one though … top to bottom, I think I might know every face that comes through this place. It’s good this has finally come to White Bear. We’ve taken a lot of pride in this and I think we can all see why now with how it has turned out.”

Amazingly, Hockey Day Minnesota, celebrating its 17th annual event in 2023, had never ventured to White Bear Lake, which boasts one of the finest traditions in the State of Hockey. 

That’s certainly been the view of many in the community, including former alumni of the White Bear Lake Area High School program, which had so many former players take part in the alumni game, it had to create four teams just to get everybody involved.

“If you were to ask most people, they’d probably say, ‘White Bear hasn’t had it yet,'” Carter said. “It has created a lot of pride in our community, and as much as the other sports have had success, I might be biased, but this is a hockey town. To have the big marquee hockey event here in town is great.”

The last couple of years have provided Carter with a much different look at Hockey Day, who played on the unofficial hockey holiday as a member of the Wild at the tail end of his pro career.

But those Hockey Day experiences were very different, even as a native Minnesotan who was well aware of what this day means to so many.

“You’re kind of in your own world, concentrating on your own game, right?” Carter said. “Then you come out onside and you realize just how big of a deal this is, how big of a production it is and just how many people work so hard to make sure this event goes smoothly. It’s a big deal for these communities.”

Ryan Carter and fellow Bally Sports North personality Audra Martin talk Hockey Day Minnesota from the HDM 2023 Town Square at Polar Lakes Park in White Bear Township.

While Carter’s seemingly non-stop duties the last couple of Hockey Days have resulted in some long days and nights, he said he’ll do everything he can to try and soak in every last minute he can with his friends and family in White Bear Lake.

“I’d like to get things to slow down,” Carter said, “and just get a chance to talk to people and live a little bit more in the moment.

“Last year was such a scramble, trying to be everywhere, every minute. This year, I’ve tried to build in some time to just take it all in, chill and just hang out. It’s been great to catch up with so many people.”

The post Mr. Hockey Day 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

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

Although it wasn’t included in Bally Sports North’s slate of televised games, Minnesota State took to the outdoor ice with a team loaded with experience on Hockey Day Minnesota’s biggest stage. In fact, of the seven Mavericks who have participated in the event previously, six of them skated their second games on Hockey Day ice in Mankato.

“Both experiences were great on their own … but I think this one was extra special because it’s been a week long event and just to be able to close it out, it’s been pretty great,” said senior Taylor Wemple, who skated for St. Cloud State in the Huskies’ shootout win over over Minnesota Duluth in 2018 on the shores of St. Cloud’s Lake George. 

The list includes senior defenseman, and team captain, Anna Wilgren, who sat out the outdoor game, as she will her team’s remaining games this season, to preserve eligibility after missing much of her senior year on the U.S. women’s hockey residency roster. Wilgren, who played in MSU’s bitterly-cold 2-1 win over Bemidji State in 2019′ event, was one of Team USA’s final three cuts prior to the 2022 Olympic roster reveal at the NHL’s Winter Classic. 

Senior assistant captains Jessia Kondas, Brittyn Fleming and Claire Butorac are also Bemidji veterans along with fellow senior Brooke Bryant. Meanwhile, another transfer, junior Sydney Shearen, skated for the Gophers in their 2-1 win over Ohio State in 2020 at Parade Stadium in Minneapolis.

Butorac, a former Andover High School star, had the added benefit of hosting her alma mater which shut out Edina 4-0 to open Hockey Day’s televised action on Saturday morning. She spent time with the team showing them around the rink at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.

“It was fun just to see all the little girls I used to coach that are in high school now and see my high school coaches and just wish them luck before they got to come out here and experience Mankato,” Butorac.

Teammates who had yet to play in the Hockey Day environment asked those who had for advice going into the weekend but it mostly came down to preparations for the cold. The majority of the conversations, the players said, concentrated on sharing memories they’ll hold onto forever.

“The key of these games is to just have fun,” said Shearen, a Hugo, Minn. native who played her high school hockey for White Bear Lake. “You only get this opportunity once in a lifetime; I was lucky enough to get twice.”

Butorac says this experience easily ranks in her top five as a Maverick.

“It’s awesome, this is a great stadium to play in,” Butorac said. “This town supports our school so much, so I’m very grateful to be a Maverick, especially today.”

The post Twice in a Lifetime Experience appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The purple duo reunited to put a trio of pucks behind current MSU women’s assistant coach, and the program’s most decorated player, Shari (Vogt) Dickerman, in yellow. Dickerman was gracious in defeat, however. 

“Fisher and Bunker seemed to migrate to the same line just like the old days so it was fun to see them kind of shine a little bit,” Dickerman said. “Hopefully the crowd got fired up for those guys back in town.”

Despite a four-year gap in her tenure as a player and/or coach at Minnesota State, Dickerman has either played with or coached nearly all of the alumni game participants and even those she didn’t, like Fisher and Bunker, she knows well.

“This was awesome that this many people were able to make it,” said Dickerman, a four-time All-American and team MVP (2000-04) and Patty Kazmaier Award finalist as a senior.

Fisher said a few of the former players came down Friday and attended the MSU men’s alumni game together followed by a gathering with the whole group on Saturday. Fisher added, “the turnout was massive this year, so it was nice to have 20 girls on each team.”

The former South St. Paul High School star who racked up 173 goals and 345 points in 155 games as a Packer says she doesn’t play much hockey anymore so it was kind of nice to play with different people, Bunker notwithstanding.

“Our objective for the purple team was if you had four in the zone, then you couldn’t go in there,” Fisher quipped. “So we’d always want to keep someone out high cherry picking.”

Like Fisher, Dickerman says she rarely straps on the pads anymore but had a lot of fun in this environment.

“It kind of comes back like riding a bike, only I’m tired after about three minutes,” joked Dickerman who was hoping to only play half the game but went the full 40 minutes when her team’s other goalie unexpectedly could not make it. 

Fisher confirmed there was plenty of trash talk out there but Dickerman was oblivious to all of it. 

“I’m sure the bench was chirping me quite a bit but I couldn’t hear them over in my own area, so I didn’t get to hear any,” Dickerman said with a smile. 

Told of what Fisher said of the purple team’s game plan, Dickerman complimented Fisher’s skating, saying she “still can fly,” before getting in a playful shot of her own.

“Far blue, I think that’s kind of her spot, so that’s why she scored a lot of points.”

The post Welcome Back appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

They were warmed by David Silye’s hat trick to lead No. 2 Minnesota State past St. Thomas 7-1 in Saturday’s Hockey Day Minnesota main event on the football field at Blakeslee Stadium in snowy Mankato to complete a weekend sweep of the Tommies.

“It was a challenge (to stickhandle and pass),” Silye said. “But most of us grew up playing on the outdoor ponds. It was such a cool moment to go back into our childhood and we kind of had to simplify the game.”

Thousands of fans crowded the home-side concrete football stands behind the player benches and the temporary aluminum bleachers that lined the far-side of the rink. Students from each university, plus MSU’s “Maverick Machine” pep band piled into the bleachers behind one goal, within shouting distance of each other which allowed the sides to hurl insults back-and-forth.

A climb to the top of the football bleachers to peer over the edge would reveal a thousand more fans below wandering around a makeshift village lined with food, beer and clothing vendors surrounding fans huddled around fire pits as kids slid across the mini hockey rinks.

Despite the cold and MSU’s widening lead, the stands remained mostly full into the third period.

And while it was the players who got the Mavericks fans on their feet to sing “Ole! Ole! Ole!” after each goal, the shovelers on the ice crew became the stars of the show as the game went on and the snow fell heavier.

The ice crew was led by Mat Hennen and Arena Warehouse of Alexandria. The crew arrived in Mankato on Jan. 16 to begin construction on the rink.

“We were prepared for the snow, but the volunteers are saving us tonight,” Hennen said of the shovelers.

The shoveling crew, much of which was manned by members of high school hockey teams, struggled to get the heavy snow to the Zamboni door and off the ice, where it was loaded into a skid loader bucket and hauled away as players on both benches gave enthusiastic stick taps the volunteers.

“The guys on the bench were talking about how it looked like the shovelers were starting to get gassed,” MSU coach Mike Hastings said. “They were tired and you could see it. The players were so appreciative of what they were doing.”

The Mavericks were well on their way to completing the lopsided victory but, for a moment, the snowy ice surface took its typical toll on a hockey game by slowing the puck and the overall pace.

The evidence was in the powder the puck would kick into the air and the trail it would leave in its wake as it scooted along, resulting in passes that sometimes failed to make its destination. That can often even the playing field and hurt the more-skilled team, in this case MSU, and it almost resulted in the Tommies sneaking their way back into the game.

The Mavericks took an early 2-0 lead on Silye’s first two goals, but St. Thomas came back with a goal by Tom Piechowski two minutes into the second period. Just a few minutes later, the Mavericks misplayed a puck at the blue line and Piechowski took it the distance on a breakaway, but his wrister for the potential tying goal rang off the post.

“The energy changed a little bit when they made it 2-1,” Hastings said. “Then they come down and ring one off the post. Momentum is a crazy thing. They don’t get one and then we find a way to get the two-goal lead again.”

The Mavericks capitalized off the Tommies’ missed opportunity and rattled off five unanswered goals, ending with Silye’s hat trick-clinching goal nine minutes into the third period.

“This kind of hockey, playing in the winter outside, was special and we tied it all in,” Silye said. “As challenging as [the snow] was, I don’t think we would’ve changed it for any other weather.

“Coach Hasty made sure we soaked it all in and appreciated what was going on. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

The post The Snow Must Go On appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

“Well, I was still playing last year,” Backes said. “So if it was last year, I would have missed out on it. Now with the delay, I’m retired and able to come to a cool event like this.”

Backes played for Minnesota State men’s hockey for three seasons from 2003-06, scoring 46 goals and 119 points in 115 games. From there, he played with St. Louis, Boston and Anaheim in the NHL and played in two Olympics before announcing his retirement this past September after 965 career NHL games.

He returned to the Minnesota State campus for the Hockey Day Minnesota weekend; he said he hadn’t seen a game in Mankato since he left and looked forward to watching the current Minnesota State Mavericks take on St. Thomas outdoors.

Backes also laced up his skates for the Minnesota State alumni game on a Friday night with falling snow and frigid temperatures creating quite the hockey atmosphere. The Spring Lake Park native was the captain for Team Blue, named for longtime former assistant coach Darren Blue. Brooklyn Park native Tim Jackman joined Backes on the team as well.

On the other bench, former Wild player Ryan Carter was the captain for Team Brose, named for former and legendary Minnesota State coach Don Brose, who was also on hand for the game. Brose started with the program as a coach in 1969 before his final season in 1999-2000, a team that finished 21-14-4.

“Oh, I had a lot of fun,” Brose said after the alumni game. “I hadn’t been on the bench for 21 years. To see the camaraderie and the talking, the trash-talking back and forth, it was fun. And I didn’t get a bench penalty.”

The score of the game (played in a pair of 25-minute, running-time halves) was secondary – 5-4 in favor of Team Blue – to the atmosphere and camaraderie on the ice. Although Team Brose came oh-so-close to tying it up in the closing seconds on a shot from Shane Joseph. That pipe at the end was a favorite moment for Brose, he said.

Pat Carroll, class of 1985, played on Team Blue with former NHLers Backes and Jackman. Carroll is an Edina native and currently assistant coach for the Gustavus Adolphus College women’s hockey team. His brother, Mike Carroll, is the head coach and brother Steve Carroll is another assistant.

The alumni game was a fun opportunity for Pat Carroll.

“Everybody seemed to check their ego at the door,” Carroll said. “It was a lot of fun, no matter if you played in the ‘70s, ‘80s or two years ago. It was a lot of fun.”

Carter got close to a goal a couple of times but didn’t quite convert on a goal in the game. He stood out on the ice, in the first half wearing a camera on his helmet to take in the action as he skated. He also wore his Wild-green gloves and breezers with his MSU yellow jersey.

“I tell you what, I was scrambling for some gear,” Carter said. “I didn’t want to wear my Wild gear, but I don’t skate a lot, I don’t play a lot. It’s the only gear I really have.”

Backes actually had a productive night on the ice, scoring a goal and two assists.

“That’s a blind squirrel finding a nut,” Backes said. “You know what? It was fun to be out there, and guys were having a blast, and that’s kind of what it’s all about. We’ve got a couple generations of Mavericks here.”

Not only did both Carter and Backes have success in the NHL, they also played together at Minnesota State. Carter played at MSU for two seasons (2004-06). The Mavericks were 13-19-6 in 2004-05 and 17-18-4 in 2005-06 under Troy Jutting. The Mavericks had four straight losing seasons before Hastings took over behind the bench in 2012-13. Since then, the winning percentages have all been above the .500 mark.

The Mavericks are a notable team in the conference and on a national level. They’ve played in six NCAA tournaments and have won multiple MacNaughton Cups, the trophy for the team that wins the WCHA each season. The Mavericks were a program that had reached 20 wins in a season only twice in its first 16 seasons in Division I hockey, but Hastings’s squads have won no fewer than 21 games during his tenure.

It’s seen plenty of growth since Jutting arrived on campus, first as a player.

“When I got here in 1983, it was all cornfields out past here and we played in a small rink,” Jutting said. “To see where this hockey program’s grown to is just phenomenal.”

Hastings has done a great job as a coach who motivates people, Carter said.

“Hasty does a great job,” Carter said. “He cares about the guys, and in return they put it all out there on the ice for him. The end result is usually a positive one.”

Backes, too, said he takes pride in the growth of the Mavericks program, while acknowledging that he was part of that growth. Carter is proud, too, and doesn’t mind the bragging rights in conversations either, as a Maverick alum.

“You think about the old WCHA, and it was Minnesota, North Dakota, Duluth, St. Cloud and is was kind of like, ‘Oh, you go to Mankato? Oh. Good for you,’” Carter said. “And it’s taken time, but now it’s like, ‘Oh man, you’re lucky. You go to Mankato.’”

Carter gives credit to all the players who’ve come up under Hastings to help produce on the ice and for bragging rights.

Seeing the Mavericks turn into a perennial contender and ranked nationally over the past decade under coach Hastings is a source of pride for guys like Carter and Backes, who said he has his “pom-poms out supporting them” whenever the Mavericks reach the national tournament.

The post Family Reunion appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Don Brose, the architect of the Minnesota State hockey program, its father who raised it from its outdoor infancy to the pinnacle of Division II and guided it into its current Division I era, proudly witnessed his baby exorcise its postseason demons from a bar in Mankato.

“That game against the Gophers was textbook, the way they took away chances,” Brose said of the Mavericks who advanced in the Division I NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven tries. “I don’t think many people gave us a chance.”

While the balance of college hockey power within Minnesota’s borders has shifted considerably across the decades, the Gophers have long been, and continue to be, the dragon everyone wants to slay, even taking Minnesota Duluth’s massive success in recent years into consideration.

Did that make this win that much sweeter for Brose?

“Very much so because, let’s face it, people tend to look down on our league,” Brose said of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. “I think that gives a lot of credence to our league so I’m very happy for our league besides being very happy for coach Hastings and our players.”

MSU’s foray into the Frozen Four marks a first for the program but the last for the WCHA as a conference after all members, with the exception of the Alaska schools and Alabama-Huntsville, opted to leave the league for the re-born Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) under the leadership of former Minnesota coach Don Lucia as its commissioner.

While he would love to see the Mavericks send the league out in a blaze of glory, Brose has mixed feelings on the matter.

“It really makes me ill for what happened to the WCHA, how it broke up,” Brose said. “Because the [John] Mayasiches and the Red Berensons, you know, their historic pride in the league, what they did to build up the league and make it so strong, and now they have nowhere to hang their hat.”

Don Brose is flanked by captain Steve Forliti (left) and Steve Loomis (right) as the trio poses with Minnesota State’s 1980 NCAA Division II men’s hockey trophy.
Photo courtesy of Minnesota State University Athletics

The Mavericks in the Frozen Four is something Brose admitted he never could have imagined as a 29-year-old first-year coach flooding the outdoor rink for his upstart program to play on. Minnesota State was a split campus in those days with most of the athletic facilities located on the upper campus. The Mavericks played on a rink built on the lower campus football field which was already equipped with lights.

Brose was also an assistant baseball coach for nine years at Minnesota State and says it was sometimes colder playing baseball than it was to make ice for hockey.

“You never knew what kind of ice you were going to have,” Brose said. “If All-Seasons Arena wasn’t built, we probably wouldn’t have a program.”

Which would have been a shame considering Brose amassed a 536-335-79 record in his 30 seasons behind the MSU bench, including a Division II national championship to conclude the 1979-80 season. Brose would later steer the Mavericks into Division I in 1996, leading them through three seasons as an independent before making Minnesota State’s first season as a member for the WCHA (1999-00) his last behind the MSU bench.

The Mavericks, obviously, never trailed the Gophers in Loveland but history would not allow Brose to take anything for granted until the game’s latter stages.

“Well, I tell you what, I hated to play with a two-goal lead again,” Brose said. “When they got ahead two to zero, in the back of my mind, I thought, ‘Are we going through this again?’”

Brose can be forgiven for the fact it was actually a three-goal cushion barely 11 minutes into the game that got away from the Mavericks in 2019 before allowing six unanswered goals to Providence in their most recent NCAA tournament appearance.

Only most recent, though, because Minnesota State, like every other program in the country, had its NCAA postseason dreams dashed when the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak forced the NCAA to cancel its tournaments. The 2020 Mavericks might have been the program’s strongest ever, going 31-5-2 (.842) through the first round of WCHA tournament play before having the plugged pulled on its season.

As thrilled has Brose is for this year’s team, he can’t help but wonder what could have been.

“It’s sort of bittersweet because last year’s team was just a magnificent team,” Brose said. “To not have them get a chance was very bitter but to see this team make up for it and carry through was very good.”

We’ll never know if the 2020 team, and its gaudy record would have gotten Minnesota State over the hump of its 0-6 record all-time in NCAA Tournament games but the 2021 version, now sitting 22-4-1 (.833), flattened it, despite nearly being one-and-done themselves.

“It didn’t look good for a seventh time either when you get behind,” Brose said.

The Mavericks opened the NCAA West Regional against Quinnipiac and trailed the Bobcats 3-1 deep into the third period. But MSU scored twice in the final six minutes to send the game to overtime where Ryan Sandelin completed the comeback win at the 1:25 mark. 

Don Brose greets former Mavericks star Aaron Fox on his way to the ice.
Photo courtesy of Minnesota State University Athletics

Awaiting the Mavericks in Pittsburgh is St. Cloud State, one of Minnesota State’s oldest rivals going all the way back to the inaugural 1969-70 season. It’s the first NCAA Tournament meeting between the two schools separated by a little more than 100 miles and the Mavericks own a 63-56-13 all-time advantage over the Huskies in Division I and II play.

The matchup could not be more appropriate for Minnesota State’s virgin venture to the Frozen Four.

“That was one team that would play us all the way throughout the years; they gave us a chance our first season,” Brose said. “I look back to all the games we played against (long-time SCSU coach) Charlie Basch. He and I are very close friends. We would get together and play golf in the summer and we’re both Concordia (Minn.) graduates so I look at that a really being neat.”

While Brose passed the Minnesota State coaching torch on long ago, first to his assistant Troy Jutting before Mike Hastings arrived in 2012, he remains close to the program he birthed and believes it could not be in better hands.

“I think he’s the best coach in the United States,” Brose said of Hastings. “I think he can coach anywhere and I’m glad he’s coaching at our place.

“He demands a lot of the kids but he gives a lot back and he’s been a winner everywhere he’s been.”

Brose said he has never watched a practice in his going on 21 years of retirement, but prior to COVID he enjoyed congratulating the coaches and players personally after a win at home and he and Hastings exchange texts after big road wins. He envisions big things ahead for his beloved Mavericks under Hastings.

“I might have been part of setting the blocks, building the foundation for the program, but he is certainly the person that’s putting the skyscrapers on top of that foundation.”

The post Founding Father appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

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.

The post Making a STATEment 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.