Minnesota State’s first goal is complete.
The Mavericks clinched the CCHA’s regular-season title two weeks ago with a sweep of Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. They celebrated with the MacNaughton Cup in the visitors’ locker room at Taffy Abel Arena, then brought the cup back with them to Mankato, Minn., where they had another celebration, this time on the ice in front of their fans at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center this past Saturday, following a win against instate archrival Bemidji State.
The Mavericks (23-8-3, 18-5-3 CCHA) took four of a possible six points from the Beavers this weekend, despite knowing they had little to play for in the final two games of the regular season aside from pride, and a desire to finish strong before the CCHA’s Mason Cup playoffs begin next week. It didn’t hurt that the Mavericks had to watch the Beavers celebrate with the cup on their own home ice last season in Bemidji, Minn.
“It’s a long week, it’s been a long distracting week,” MSU coach Luke Strand said following Saturday’s 5-1 win. The teams skated to a 1-1 tie on Friday with the Beavers taking an extra point in the shootout. “We took care of it a week ago, and then to a credit to our guys, I thought we found a way to play hard all weekend.
“Even (Friday) night it was just tight, it was intense, it didn’t go the way we wanted at the end but the way we played, I can definitely live with. And then I thought they were able to make a statement a little bit tonight about coming back out and, with really nothing on the line in our regard in so many ways, but the logo. And they did a great job (playing for) the logo.”
Now, MSU’s second season begins, and so does their next step. As the top seed in the CCHA Mason Cup playoffs, they will host eighth-seeded Lake Superior State (12-20-2, 10-15-1 CCHA) in the first-round, best-of-three playoff series beginning Friday. Although the Mavericks still have an outside chance at an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament most projection models gave them a less than one percent chance to do so. So by winning the Mason Cup, that also gives Strand’s team their best shot of their ultimate goal at this point.
“We want to be in St. Louis,” Strand said, referring to the location of this season’s Frozen Four. “We don’t want to skip a day of what we’ve got to do on this journey, but we want to be in St. Louis, and we’ve had a big conversation about it. Are guys really willing to promise to each other they’ll empty the tank? are they really willing to sacrifice, to commit, to drop the ego at the door, be selfless, just love each other to our last moments together? I’ve got to tell you, this group has found ways that they keep showing up for each other every day.”
Last season — Strand’s first behind the bench in Mankato — saw the Mavericks miss the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2016. It was also the first time since 2017 that they’d failed to win a conference championship. Strand said to come back and do it this year following the coaching change and some of the adversity they’ve had this year is validating. And, although of course the Mavericks have had big contributions this year from Hobey Baker candidates in goaltender Alex Tracy and Minnesota transfer forward Rhett Pitlick to help them reach this goal, Strand said what he most appreciated about this team is that they play well as a unit. There are no egos in the group.
“I’m just proud of them because, I got to tell you that everyone that’s been through it, our league is hard, snot-nose, nose-to-nose all the time, competitive, so for the guys to get it done, it’s been a journey,” Strand said. “You’ve seen the roster, the influx of guys in and out of the lineup with health issues and whatnot, but guys stepped up over and over.
“And (we’ve had) some really nice individual performances along the way here. I believe Pit will be the leading scorer in the league, which is a very monumental piece for me. For him to come and join the program, we’re blessed that he joined us. And obviously to have Trace here… but it really hasn’t been about that. It’s just been about our group and the way we go about every day, so it’s good to get that done with and out of the way.”
League is always a pressure-cooker
The Mavericks are certainly the favorites going into the Mason Cup playoffs this time around, but the one thing about this league is that the margins always seem very thin. Aside from second-seeded Augustana (17-11-4, 9-5-2 CCHA), none of the other playoff spots were clinched until this weekend. The final two home ice slots–which ended up going to third-seeded St. Thomas (16-13-5, 13-9-4 CCHA) and fourth-seeded Bowling Green (16-13-4, 12-10-4 CCHA) were clinched until after Saturday’s games went final.
“Everybody’s starting at zero,” St. Thomas head coach Rico Blasi said during his weekly press conference on Monday. “It’s a new year and everybody’s got the same opportunity that we have, and so during the week here you got to be ready to go and focus on the game plan and play the games.”
Blasi’s team comes into the playoffs having won five games in a row–including the final two games of the regular season against Michigan Tech (16-15-3, 12-11-3 CCHA). The Tommies’ sweep of Tech allowed them to leapfrog the Huskies in the standings and earn home ice this weekend, where they will host sixth-seeded Ferris State (13-18-3, 12-13-1 CCHA).
“Their numbers are pretty good the last couple of months too,” Blasi said of Ferris. “We played a couple of really close games against them–although the one was high-scoring, it was really close.”
The Tommies and Bulldogs played a wild series back in January in which St. Thomas won both games by scores of 9-6 and 4-3. Since then, Ferris State has gone 7-4-1 in their last 12.
“They’re well coached, they’re really good offensively, their transition game is top 15 in the country in terms of how they generate their chances. I really love their D-corps, they’re lanky and they jump in the play,” Blasi said. “So it’s going to be another really difficult task to play a CCHA opponent in the playoffs. I respect everything that they’ve been able to do the last couple of months. They’re playing really well.”
The Bulldogs are also playing in what will be head coach Bob Daniels’ final season behind the bench.
Blasi, who played at Miami and then coached against Daniels in the old CCHA, said Daniels is one of the hockey coaches he respects most and is looking forward to seeing him on the bench one last time.
“I have so much respect. He’s been a big mentor for me when I started off as a head coach. I had the opportunity to play against him as a player when he first started, I lived with one of his former players when I was a young assistant, I hired two of his former players as assistants,” Blasi said. “We have a long history. I certainly admire everything that he’s accomplished. He’s an inspiration to all of us. What he’s done for college hockey is incredible. What he’s done for Ferris State is incredible. We’re going to miss him in terms of coaching, but he’s earned the right to relax and play some golf and do the things that he loves to do. He’s been a big part of my coaching career and he’s probably right up there in the top five respected coaches of all time.”
The other two CCHA playoff matchups are just as intriguing. Upstart Augustana will take on last year’s MacNaughton Cup champion Bemidji State in Sioux Falls, S.D., earning home ice for their first season as full conference members. The Vikings took four of six points from the seventh-seeded Beavers (13-16-5, 10-12-4 CCHA) when they met at Midco Arena in November.
And finally, Bowling Green earned the fourth and final home-ice slot with a thrilling split with Lake Superior. The Falcons lost 4-3 Friday then held on Saturday for a 5-3 victory that featured a three-goal LSSU third and near comeback. First-year BGSU head coach Dennis Williams called it a “pressure-cooker.”
“It’s not easy to get home ice,” he said in his postgame comments on Saturday. “You just saw what this last night meant throughout the whole league. I think outside of first and second, teams could have finished anywhere, you know? Three, four, five was up for grabs, and six, seven, eight was up for grabs. So it’s good to see our group get rewarded. It’s a yearlong commitment. It’s just not one weekend, and we put ourselves in a position tonight that if we won the game, it would give us home ice. So real kudos go to our group, and I’m very happy for them.”
