{"id":129634,"date":"2021-10-14T14:00:40","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T19:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?p=129634"},"modified":"2021-10-13T22:28:05","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T03:28:05","slug":"this-week-in-ccha-hockey-minnesota-state-finding-way-through-tough-early-season-schedule-with-nationally-ranked-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2021\/10\/14\/this-week-in-ccha-hockey-minnesota-state-finding-way-through-tough-early-season-schedule-with-nationally-ranked-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in CCHA Hockey: Minnesota State finding way through tough early-season schedule with nationally-ranked teams"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Julian Napravnik has collected two goals and five points over Minnesota State’s first four games this season (photo: Matt Dewkett).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During this season\u2019s CCHA preseason conference call, Minnesota State coach Mike Hastings was asked about the fact that his team is set to play six consecutive games against top-ranked teams to start the new season.<\/p>\n

Hastings joked that he wanted to throw former assistant coach Darren Blue under the bus but couldn\u2019t because he also had a hand in creating the Mavericks\u2019 tough schedule.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t completely throw him under the bus because I was driving right with him\u2026. Four months ago this seemed like a really good idea,\u201d Hastings said at the time. \u201cAs it gets closer, you know what, you wonder a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it turns out, Blue and Hastings had the exact right idea.<\/p>\n

The Mavericks kicked off the season with a sweep of defending national champion (and No. 1 at the time) UMass on the road before returning home to face instate rivals St. Cloud State, a series they split. The Huskies were No. 2 at the time. Now, for the third consecutive weekend, the top-ranked Mavericks head on the road again to play two more games against top-ten competition.<\/p>\n

MSU takes on No. 10 Providence on Friday in the opening game of the IceBreaker Tournament in Duluth. The teams waiting for them on the other side of the bracket are either No. 3 Michigan or No. 5 Minnesota Duluth.<\/p>\n

During a phone interview Wednesday, Hastings talked about the opening three weeks of the season being a \u201ctest\u201d for his team.<\/p>\n

So far, they\u2019ve passed.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously you want to go out and be successful, but regardless of (the outcome of) these six games, we\u2019re going to be better going through them,\u201d Hastings said. \u201cThey force you to look in a mirror in a hurry. They expose weaknesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of MSU\u2019s nonconference series — such as against instate rivals St. Cloud, Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota — are scheduled on a fairly regular, rotating basis and are easier to coordinate because they\u2019re all bus rides. The Mavericks play St. Cloud and Duluth (a New Years\u2019 week home-and-home) this season but won\u2019t play the Gophers this year.<\/p>\n

Games against teams like UMass are a little more unique. Hastings said he tries to schedule a trip out east every three or four years. This is motivated, in part, by desiring an even stronger schedule but he also wants his players to have new experiences beyond the Midwestern bus rides of the CCHA.<\/p>\n

In the past few seasons, the Mavericks have travelled to play the likes of Boston University (2017), Princeton (2016), Providence (2013) and Brown (2012). Adding defending champions UMass to the schedule was an easy call when Hastings and Minutemen coach Greg Carvel discussed it in the offseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, it\u2019s important to have us try and get our east, just so our young men can experience different cultures, different areas, different rinks, different leagues,\u201d Hastings said. \u201cSo when (UMass head coach Greg Carvel) said, \u2018What do you think about this?\u2019 I thought it was a great opportunity for us to experience something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the Mavericks had to sit through a banner raising on opening night, they rallied to sweep the series away from the Minutemen and come home with two wins. UMass will look to get their revenge in the 2023-24 season, when they are scheduled to come back to Mankato.<\/p>\n

This weekend\u2019s IceBreaker Tournament — which itself was supposed to take place last season but was postponed due to the pandemic — is yet another opportunity for Minnesota State to add to its resume.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you start your nonconference, one, you want to get off to a good start, but two, you\u2019re already starting to build your book of business for the NCAA tournament, so these games take on an importance that our guys know about,\u201d Hastings said. \u201cI\u2019m hoping at the end of the day, our book of business is good enough to be in consideration for the tournament, and you\u2019re hoping that schedule has prepared you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During this season\u2019s CCHA preseason conference call, Minnesota State coach Mike Hastings was asked about the fact that his team is set to play six consecutive games against top-ranked teams to start the new season. Hastings joked that he wanted to throw former assistant coach Darren Blue under the bus but couldn\u2019t because he also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":129635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5,4,1],"tags":[812],"coauthors":[854],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThis Week in CCHA Hockey: Minnesota State finding way through tough early-season schedule with nationally-ranked teams - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"During this season\u2019s CCHA preseason conference call, Minnesota State coach Mike Hastings was asked about the fact that his team is set to play six\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129634\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This Week in CCHA Hockey: Minnesota State finding way through tough early-season schedule with nationally-ranked teams - 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