MANKATO, Minn. - Minnesota State lifted MacNaughton Cup and Mason Cup trophies in 2024-25. Now, the team begins the 2025-26 campaign ranked No. 20, hoping to build on their 10th NCAA Appearance and take the next step. The quest begins at Omaha's Baxter Arena on Friday, October 10 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, October 11 at 7 p.m. Fans can listen on AM 1420 KTOE.

• MSU returns a corps of defensemen that led the nation in scoring defense (1.49 goals to opponents per game) as well as goaltender Alex Tracy, a Mike Richter Award finalist and Hobey Baker Top-10 finalist.
• Tracy, a second team All-American begins his senior season aided by a strong freshman class and a multitude of transfer forwards, many of whom bring Championship experience to the locker room. 
• The Mavericks finished the 2024-25 season with a 27-9-3 overall record, including 18-5-3 in the CCHA and 17-4-3 at home.

TURN THE DIAL

• AM 1420 KTOE (Matt Dean)
• Stream/TV: NCHC.tv
• Live State: omavs.com

ALL-TIME SERIES

• Minnesota State is 20-16-5 all-time against Omaha in games dating back to 1998. Both teams came into Division I at the same time, with the same name.
• Today, the "Spirit of the Maverick" trophy is awarded to the winner of the series.
• MSU is currently in possession, having won both games last October 1-0 and 4-3 in Mankato.

END OF YEAR CCHA ACCOLADES

• Defenseman Evan Murr (Stillwater, Minn.), forward Rhett Pitlick (Plymouth, Minn.) and  goaltender Alex Tracy (Chicago, Ill.) were all named first team All-CCHA in 2024-25.
• Murr and Tracy return this season. Pitlick was also CCHA Forward of the Year while Tracy earned CCHA Goaltender of the Year and Murr was named CCHA Defenseman of the Year. 
• Tracy topped the country in goals against average and save percentage, leading to his selection as CCHA Player of the Year.

MAVERICK LEADERSHIP

• Senior defenseman Mason Wheeler was named team captain on Sept. 18, 2025. He takes the mantle from Josh Groll (2024-25) and Sam Morton (2023-24).
• Wheeler served the past two seasons as assistant captain. In his fourth season with the Mavericks, Wheeler was a 2024-25 CCHA Scholar Athlete.
• He skated in 39 games with six assists and six points. He also led the team with 69 blocked shots (fourth in CCHA), including a season-high seven blocks against North Dakota on Oct. 19.
• Wheeler enters the year with 113 games played in Purple and Gold.
• Assistant captains will be senior defenseman Campbell Cichosz, junior defenseman Evan Murr, junior forward Luigi Benincasa, and junior forward Fin Williams.
• (VIDEO) Maverick Men's Hockey | 2025-26 Leadership Group Announced

HEADED TO THE POLLS

• Minnesota State men's hockey was ranked No. 18 in two national preseason polls (USA Hockey/The Rink Live and USCHO.com).
• The Mavericks came in ahead of fellow CCHA rival St. Thomas (No. 19/20) in both polls.
• The Mavericks were ranked No. 14 in both polls ahead of the NCAA Fargo Region Semifinals loss to Western Michigan in March.
• After the first week of Division I college hockey, the Mavericks (idle) fell to No. 20 in both polls.

SCOUTING OMAHA

• The Mavericks finished 18-17-1 overall in 2024-25, including 14-9-1 in the NCHC. UNO started last season with three straight overtime games, including a 2-1 win over No. 5 Minnesota at the Ice Breaker Tournament.
• Later, the team went 1-1 at the Cactus Cup in Palm Springs, Calif. and fell to No. 5 North Dakota in the quarterfinal round of the NCHC Tournament.
• The Mavericks lost both games by a 3-2 final score at Baxter Arena. In the final game of the postseason, UNO outshot UND 34-31.
• The Mavericks lost 10 games in 2024-25 by one goal.
• UNO named senior goaltender Simon Latkoczy and senior defenseman Griffin Ludtke as captains on July 29. Senior forwards Tyler Rollwagen and Cam Mitchell will serve as assistant captains. Latkoczy enters the season fourth on UNO's all-time list for wins with 44. He won NCHC Goaltender of the Year in 2024-25. The Trencin, Slovakia native recorded a 2.71 goals against average and .922 save percentage.
• Ludtke enters his senior season with Omaha after playing in all 36 games and recording 13 points (2-11--13) last winter. The Elko, Minn. native posted 27 points (4-23--27) in 2023-24.
• The makeup of the incoming Mavericks' class by academic year includes seven freshmen, five sophomores, two juniors and one senior. By position, Omaha added 10 forwards, four defensemen and one goaltender for the campaign.
• This offseason, head coach Mike Gabinet announced the addition of veteran NHL scout Jamie Huffman to the staff as an assistant coach. He also served as senior advisor to the head coach and general manager for the USHL's Des Moines Buccaneers.
• Gabinet began as head coach in 2017. He served as associate head coach in 2016-17 and was head coach at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in 2015-16. Gabinet holds a program record, five-straight winning seasons and a record of 95-73-9 since 2020-21. He is also a three-time finalist for the NCHC's Herb Brooks Coach of the Year each of the past five seasons. Gabinet played 131 games for Omaha from 2000-04 and was a 2001 NHL Draft selection by the Los Angeles Kings.

TEAM COMPARISON (2024-25 National Statistics)

MSU	Category	UNO
47.2 (54th)	Faceoff Percentage	49.2 (35th)
21.0 (28th)	Power Play Percentage	21.1 (27th)
1.47 (1st)	Opponent Goals	2.75 (26th)
+1.41 (4th)	Scoring Margin	+0.17 (27th)
73% (4th)	Winning Percentage	51% (31st)
2.90 (28th)	Scoring Offense	2.92 (27th)
84% (10th)	Penalty Kill	76% (53rd)

 

SPIRIT OF THE MAVERICK TROPHY

• The trophy will be awarded to the series winner at the conclusion of the game on Saturday night. The winner will be decided by one team winning both games; or one team winning one game with the other ending in a tie; or in the case of a series split, the winner will be determined by the total goals differential. Should the series end in a split, with both teams having the same number of goals, the trophy stays with the team that previously held the trophy.

COLLEGE HOCKEY INC NOTES

• Defenseman Mason Wheeler enters the season with a career +36 rating, 10th in NCAA Division I and No. 1 among active CCHA players and sixth among defensemen.
• Evan Murr enters the season with seven career power play goals, which ranks tied for fifth among active NCAA Division I defensemen. Murr's four game-winning goals are also tied for third among active Division I blueliners.
• Mason Wheeler enters 2025-26 with 113 games played, tied for fourth among active NCAA Divison I defensemen.
• Alex Tracy enters the season ranked seventh among NCAA Division I goaltenders in games played (76), fifth in goals against average (1.91), third in save percentage (.926), second in shutouts (8), and seventh in minutes played (4463:53). Tracy is among three returning Hobey Baker Top-10 finalists (Aiden Fink, Penn State, Mac Gadowsky, Penn State).
• The Mavericks have the second fewest returning goals on the roster in NCAA Division I (21) behind Miami (OH) with 13.
• MSU has qualified for the NCAA Tournament seven times over the past 10 seasons, tied for third in NCAA Division I.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

• Following Omaha, the Mavericks are at Wisconsin Oct. 16-17 at Kohl Center. It is the first meeting between the teams since former MSU head coach Mike Hastings took the reins for the Badgers.
• The Mavericks begin their home schedule when they host RPI Oct. 24-25.

NON-CONFERENCE

• The Mavericks have eight non-conference games scheduled for the season. The season begins at Omaha Oct. 10-11.
• MSU travels to Wisconsin Oct. 16-17.
• Minnesota State hosts RPI Oct. 24-25.
• The Mavericks play in the Coachella Cactus Cup Jan. 2-3. MSU will play University of Massachusetts-Lowell in the semifinals, with the finals the following day at Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, Calif.

INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS

• Minnesota State's roster features student athletes from four different countries.
• United States (16)
• Canada (8)
• Latvia (2)
• Sweden (1)

MAVERICK HOCKEY HISTORY

• In its 57th year of existence (27th in Division I), Minnesota State owns an all-time record of 1079-706-166 (.610).
• The Mavericks are in their fifth season as members of the CCHA and have had five head coaches since 1969.
• Don Brose (1969-83, 1984-00) is the all-time winningest head coach with 535 wins, including the 1980 NCAA Division II National Championship.

DEAN BACK FOR SEASON TWO

• Radio Mankato and Minnesota State Athletics announced the hiring of Matt Dean to be the next play-by-play radio voice of Maverick men's hockey in 2024-25. Dean brought extensive radio broadcasting experience to Minnesota State, having served as the play-by-play voice of the St. Paul Saints baseball team, Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins on KFAN-Plus in the Twin Cities since April, 2023.
• Dean took the reins at Minnesota State after Mike Sullivan, radio play-by-play voice for the last 24 years announced his retirement from Radio Mankato last June. He called 914 Minnesota State men's hockey games.