The CCHA announced Thursday that Minnesota State goaltender Dryden McKay has been named the CCHA’s player of the year.
In addition, the Mavericks’ Mike Hastings is the conference’s coach of the year.
McKay led all CCHA players on the ballot, receiving four of a possible seven points, as voted on by the CCHA head coaches.
He played a key role in leading Minnesota State to a 23-3-0 overall record to finish as the top team in CCHA conference play for the 2021-22 campaign. Between the pipes, McKay was the league leader in the CCHA in both goals-against average (1.05) and save percentage (.942).
The senior started in 25 of 26 conference games, boasting an impressive record of 23-2-0, recording six shutouts on the campaign. He made 423 saves in 1,482:17 of playing time.
McKay earned CCHA goaltender of the week honors a record seven times and CCHA goaltender of the month three times. He was also named the Hockey Commissioners Association national goaltender of the month for both December and February.
Including nonconference play, McKay has now posted a 34-4-0 overall record with a .931 save percentage and a 1.28 goals-against average on the season. Currently, his 109 career wins ranks third on the NCAA’s all-time list and is also tied for third in single-season wins (34) in all of NCAA Division I hockey. Earlier this year, McKay established a NCAA record for career shutouts (33).
Hastings led Minnesota State to a 23-3-0 overall record to finish as the No. 1 team in CCHA conference play for the 2021-22 campaign. The Mavericks recorded an impressive 67 league points, 13 more than the next team in the conference standings, to capture the MacNaughton Cup as the CCHA’s best team in the regular season.
Hastings has been the bench boss for the Mavericks team that was leaders in goals scored per game (4.42) and goals allowed per game (1.04). They posted impressive numbers in the special teams’ category, finishing second in power-play percentage (.284) and first in penalty-kill percentage (.892). Minnesota State was also the second-least penalized team in CCHA conference play.
The Mavericks have been nationally ranked No. 1 11 times this year and have been ranked in the top five in all 21 polls this season. Hastings helped guide the Mavericks to 11 consecutive victories to end the regular season.
Outside of conference play, Minnesota State finished 31-5-0 in the regular season, recording an impressive 165 goals and only allowing 50 against to head into the postseason as the No. 1 team in NCAA Division I Hockey. Hastings also served as an assistant coach for Team USA at 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
In his 10th season as the head coach at Minnesota State, where he has transformed the program into a national powerhouse, Hastings has led the Mavericks to more wins than any other team in the nation with a 267-94-24 mark after the conclusion of the 2021-22 regular season. His teams have advanced to the NCAA tournament on six occasions, including a trip to the Frozen Four in 2021.
