Off the Hop: After claiming its sixth straight outright Central Collegiate Hockey Association regular season title, #12/13 Minnesota State (21-12-1 overall, 16-9-1 CCHA) claimed the #1 seed in the CCHA Mason Cup playoffs. The Mavericks will host #8 seed Lake Superior State University (9-23-2, 8-17-1 CCHA) March 3-5 in a best-of-three series at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center. Puck drop Friday is 7:07 p.m., while game start Saturday is 6:07 p.m. If necessary, Sunday’s contest is scheduled for 5:07 p.m.
Conference Tournament Time: The Mavericks are the reigning Mason Cup Champions after defeating Bemidji State 2-1 in overtime in 2021-22. With the win, MSU claimed its fourth conference tournament title in the program’s Division I history (2013-14, 2014-15, 2018-19, 2021-22). Minnesota State has advanced out of the first round in 10 straight seasons.
Mavericks vs. Lakers: In the all-time series, the Mavericks are 28-4-1 against Lake Superior State. MSU has won nine of the last 10 contests against the Lakers, which includes 3-2 (OT) and 3-1 victories at home this season. In the last 10 games, the Mavericks have outscored LSSU 29-8 with four shutouts. At home, Minnesota State is 15-2-1 against LSSU with the last home loss coming in 2019.
Statistically speaking, Minnesota State leads the nation in face off percentage at 59.4 % (1118 won, 764 lost), while LSSU is 48th at 47.6%. MSU closed the regular season with the fourth best power play percentage (26.7%), while the Lakers have one of the worst penalty kill percentages in the nation at 73.6%. MSU has a 1.09 scoring margin to rank eight nationally. LSSU has a -1.21 scoring margin.
Home Ice Advantage: Through 17 home dates, Minnesota State is averaging 4,618 fans which is 95.6% capacity of the 4,832 seat Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center. The Mavericks have reached 90% or higher capacity 11 times this season, with six games reaching “standing room only capacity” and three of those being sell outs. The Mavericks rank 13th nationally in average attendance and lead the CCHA in attendance per game. In terms of capacity percentage, the Mavericks sit sixth nationally and are one of nine teams with more than 10 home games to have an average capacity of 90% or higher.
20-Plus Dubs: With MSU’s 4-1 win at Bemidji State (Feb. 17), the Mavericks secured their 23rd 20-win season, and the 12th in the Division I era. Head coach Mike Hastings is tied with Don Brose with 11 20-win seasons, while Troy Jutting had one. Hastings and the Mavericks have hit the 20-win plateau in every season he has been with the program.
What2Watch4: Senior Andy Carroll is in third all-time in career games played with 164 ... Jack McNeely is second all-time with 174 games from 2017-22 ... Junior defenseman Jake Livingstone has 73 career points, which ranks ninth on the school’s all-time scoring chart by a defenseman … He is four points from a tie with Daniel Brickley (2015-18) for eighth … Junior defenseman Akito Hirose moved into a tie for 10th all-time in career scoring by a defenseman with Ben Youds (2007-11) with 66 points ... Senior defenseman Andy Carroll is tied with Casey Nelson (2013-16) for 13th all-time in career scoring by a defensemen with 60 points ... Carroll is one point shy of tying Connor Mackey (2017-20) for 12th all-time with 61 career points … Senior forward Cade Borchardt is tied with Ben Christopherson (1998-01) for 32nd all-time (Division I Era) with 83 points ... With his next point, Borchardt will tie Geoff Irwin (2006-10) for 31st all-time (Division I Era) ... Senior Brendan Furry is tied with Steven Johns (2001-05) and Joel Hanson (2004-08) for 37th all-time (Division I Era) in career scoring with 80 points ... Akito Hirose is the team’s active leader in assists with 60 … Junior Jake Livingstone is two points shy of 75 for his career, a tally which would join him with senior Brendan Furry (80) and senior Cade Borchardt (83) as the only Mavericks with 75 or more career points … Jake Livingstone (121) and Andy Carroll (111) are the only two active Mavericks with over 100 career blocked shots … The Mavericks have scored the game’s first goal 15 times this year with junior David Silye scoring a team-high four of those goals ... Brendan Furry and Jake Livingstone have each appeared in 106 career games joining Andy Carroll (164), senior Ryan Sandelin (123), Cade Borchardt (116) and Sam Morton (107) as active Mavericks with 100+ games played ... Senior forward Ryan Sandelin is the only Maverick with 300 career shots (319)… Seniors Cade Borchardt (256), Andy Carroll (222), Sam Morton (200) and Brendan Furry (204) are over 200, while junior defenseman Jake Livingstone is 10 shots away from 200 for his career … For the season, Ryan Sandelin has a team-high 124 shots, which is 44 more than freshman Christian Fitzgerald who is second on the team in shots with 80 ... Junior David Silye is five points shy of becoming the 13th player under head coach Mike Hastings to score 40 or more points in a season ... Silye’s teammates Brendan Furry (13-31--44 in 2021-22) and Cade Borchardt (15-26--41 in 2021-22) are the only active Mavericks in that group ... Minnesota State’s next shorthanded goal will be its first shorthanded goal of the season … Junior forward David Silye’s 11 power play goals ranks tied for first in the nation and is the most by a Maverick since JP Lafontaine tallied 14 on the man advantage in 2013-14
Last Time Out: The Mavericks entered the final regular season series Feb. 24-25 needing just one regulation victory against #11 Michigan Tech to claim the MacNaughton Cup outright, but a 2-0 setback Friday made Saturday’s contest that much more interesting.
With 33 power play goals entering the game, Minnesota State ranked tied for fourth nationally. In the end, it would be the power play that lifted MSU to victory, as the home team produced three goals on the man advantage to claim a 3-2 victory and the regular season title.
The first goal of the game came in the second period, as senior forward Lucas Sowder scored with assists from senior defenseman Andy Carroll and senior forward Brendan Furry. The Mavericks made it 2-0 early in the third with an extra man goal from junior forward David Silye, his 11th power play goal of the season which is tied for the most in the nation. Junior defenseman Akito Hirose and senior forward Ryan Sandelin picked up assists.
The Huskies scored just two minutes later to make it a 2-1 contest. A Michigan Tech penalty with 1:18 remaining in regulation had things looking good for Minnesota State, but 14 seconds into the power play, MTU would net a shorthanded goal to tie the game 2-2. Still on the powerplay, senior forward Cade Borchardt played the hero, as he scored with 45 seconds remaining to lift MSU to the win. Carroll and Furry both picked up their second assists of the night on the game-winner.
Sophomore goaltender Keenan Rancier totaled 23 saves in the victory to backstop the Mavericks to the regular season title.
Polls: Minnesota State remained the #12 in the USA Today/USA Hockey national poll and dropped one spot to #13 in the USCHO rankings. The Mavericks have been ranked in all 22 of the USCHO polls this year.
The Last Time: Minnesota State is ranked #13 in this week’s USCHO Top-20 poll. The last time Minnesota State didn’t appear in the USCHO Top-20 was the second poll of the 2017-18 season (Oct. 9, 2017). Since then, the Mavericks have appeared in the USCHO poll 129 consecutive times.
CCHA Players of the Week: Minnesota State led the league with 17 player of the week awards this season. Ten different players were honored, as the Mavericks claimed five forward, seven defensive, two goaltender and three rookie of the week honors in 2022-23. Senior defenseman Andy Carroll was the last Maverick to earn a weekly award (Feb. 6).
Players of the Month: Four different Mavericks have been named player of the month by the CCHA, the last to do so being junior defenseman Akito Hirose who was named the Defenseman of the Month for the month of January. Minnesota State leads the league in players of the month with four.
Flanagan Award: Associate Head Coach Todd Knott was named the 2023 Terry Flanagan Award winner by the American Hockey Coaches Association. The Terry Flanagan Award honors an assistant coach’s career body of work.
The Six-Peat: With a 3-2 victory Feb. 25 against then-#11 Michigan Tech, the Mavericks claimed their sixth straight outright MacNaughton Cup. MSU is now the only team among any conference to ever win six straight conference titles. Last season’s championship was the first time a program claimed five straight outright (Boston University had a five-year run that included shared titles), now with six, the Mavericks are alone in the record books for most consecutive championships.
Faceoffs: Minnesota State has won 1,118 of the 1,882 faceoffs it has participated in this year for a nation-leading percentage of 59.4%. Junior David Silye has won 390 of the 624 faceoffs he has participated in. In MSU’s series against Michigan Tech (Feb. 24-25), Silye finished 33 of 39 in faceoffs, including 18-of-20 in the contest on Feb. 24.
The Extra Man: The Mavericks have scored a power play goal in 11 of their last 14 games and in that span have 15 power play goals. With 36 power play goals, MSU ranks fourth nationally. The team’s 26.7 power play percentage is also good for fourth in the nation. Minnesota State scored four power play goals in a win against Minnesota Duluth Oct. 14 and netted three power play goals twice, including Feb. 25 to clinch the regular season title.
Junior forward David Silye’s 11 power play goals ranks tied for first in the nation and is the most by a Maverick since JP Lafontaine tallied 14 on the man advantage in 2013-14. The 11 power play goals are the fourth most by a player in the school’s Division I-era.
In League Play: Junior David Silye finished the CCHA regular season as the goal champion with 19. His 29 points was second. He posted a league-leading 10 power play goals. Junior defenseman Jake Livingstone produced 17 assists to rank tied for third in the conference. Junior Ondrej Pavel owned the conference’s best face-off percentage at .623, while Silye was second with a .622 percentage. Minnesota State led the league with 33.3 shots on goal per game. The team’s 27.7 power play percentage was a conference best.
Maverick Hockey History: Now into the 54th year of its existence, Minnesota State owns an all-time record of 1031-681-159. The Mavericks are in their 27th year as members of NCAA Division I and are in their second season as members of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.
To the Quads: Junior defenseman Jake Livingston had a season-high seven-game scoring streak (1-8--9) from Oct. 28 through Nov. 25, which is the longest such streak on the team. Seniors Andy Carroll and Ryan Sandelin, and juniors Akito Hirose and David Silye each had a six-game scoring streak to tie for the second-longest scoring run this year.
Behind the Bench: Minnesota State has gone 295-110-26 under the tutelage of head coach Mike Hastings (St. Cloud State ‘93), who is in his 11th season behind the Mavericks’ bench. Including a pair of trips to the NCAA Frozen Four in 2020-21 and 2021-22, Hastings has led the Mavericks to eight NCAA tournament appearances and no program in the nation has won more games (295) during his time behind the MSU bench.
In addition to his role as the head coach of the Mavericks, Hastings also spent three weeks last February as a member of the Team USA coaching staff at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. He also was named to the Team USA coaching staff for the 2022 IIHF Men’s World Championship held in Finland in May.
