Shane Frederick
MSU hockey has become a hot ticket in Mankato
When Jason Wiley scored a power-play goal with 11 seconds remaining in overtime on Saturday night, giving the Minnesota State men’s hockey team a 4-3 victory over Lethbridge, the crowd of 3,500-plus at the Verizon Wireless Center went crazy.
Right one cue, the “Ole!” song was played, and a nearly full student section bounced up and down and sung along with what has become an unlikely signature song for Minnesota State hockey.
The reaction was more akin to a game against a Western Collegiate Hockey Association rival than that of an exhibition game against a Canadian college.
The last time the Mavericks opened the season with an exhibition game was 2006, and a crowd of about 2,700 was announced. Two years earlier, a mere 1,600 showed up to see an early October preseason game.
In recent years, Minnesota State began doling out its 1,500 free student tickets on campus midweek rather than downtown before games and has seen long lines in the Taylor Center because of the high demand. Word was, more than 400 tickets were passed out prior to the Lethbridge game.
Last season, MSU’s home hockey games drew an average of 4,552 fans, an all-time high for the program. That number was 300 more than the previous season and nearly 1,000 more than the Mavericks averaged during the 2005-06 season.
It’s taken some time, perhaps a few years longer than expected, but the atmosphere for hockey games in downtown Mankato is now on par with some of the best buildings in the WCHA.
While it may be difficult to rival the big rinks like Wisconsin’s Kohl Center, Minnesota’s Mariucci Arena or North Dakota’s Ralph Engelstad Arena, the Verizon can be louder than the DECC in Duluth and the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud and more intimidating than Magness Arena in Denver and the World Arena in Colorado Springs.
Mankato’s building has some changes this year, notably a new center-ice scoreboard and upgraded — read: working — scoreboards on the ends. According to city officials, there’s still an arena wish list that includes big video replay boards, purple seats, a Blue Line Club suite and improved locker rooms. Of course, there is the little matter of getting funding for those items.
Meanwhile, Duluth is getting a new arena next year, as is Bemidji State, which will join the WCHA in 2010. Michigan Tech got new suites in its old barn year and St. Cloud is getting major improvements to its arena.
But one thing that cannot be bought is fan interest, and that’s what has made Minnesota State’s rink a special place on Friday and Saturday nights.
There are no laser-light shows, no Big Ten pep bands, no fancy ticket lobbies.
Just a bunch of rowdy fans, jumping up and down, pretending to be European soccer hooligans after every goal the home team scores.
When it comes to college hockey, it really doesn’t get much better than that.
Shane Frederick is a Free Press staff writer. Click here to access his college hockey blog or e-mail him at sfrederick@mankatofreepress.com.
- Shane Frederick
-
-
Once again, MSU comes up just short
The Mavericks came up just short of the WCHA Final Five with Sunday's 3-2 overtime loss to St. Cloud, a loss that pretty much sums up a season full of one-goal defeats.
-
Mavs hope it’s their turn to win on the road
The Mavericks closed out the regular season with a home win and a road tie against St. Cloud State over the weekend, and that set up a return to St. Cloud for the first round of the WCHA tournament later this week.
-
Give Gusties the gold for winning marathon game
There were a lot of people who watched Sunday’s Olympic gold-medal hockey game and proclaimed it to be one of the greatest games of all time. There are many people in St. Peter who would beg to differ.
-
Mavericks hope to keep the clutch plays coming
Clutch goals have been rare for Minnesota State this year, as they’ve lost nine of their 17 one-goal games and have not won any of their five overtime games.
-
Mavericks look to avoid another trip to Madison
Looking at the WCHA standings, there appears to be a pretty good chance that the MSU men will be heading back to Madison in about four weeks for the first round of the conference playoffs. While that might be a popular pre-spring break destination for Mavericks fans and other observers, the team probably doesn’t want to make another trip to Wisconsin before next season.
-
Outdoor hockey catching on at college level
Outdoor hockey has given hockey a nice publicity boost of late, whether it’s from the NHL Winter Classic played the last three New Years Days or the college games.
-
Mavs hope win sparks late-season playoff run
The Minnesota State men’s hockey team’s loss on Friday night at Michigan Tech was such a low spot for this season that the Mavericks had no choice but to hit their virtual reset button.
-
Favre’s pick brings Vikings, Packers fans together
Minnesota fans got a little taste of what it was like to be Green Bay Packers' fan while watch Brett Favre in the NFC Championship game Sunday.
-
Hockey games shouldn't be meant to be marathons
Saturday's hockey game between the University of Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State ended up taking longer than a college hockey game should take.
-
Lack of goal scoring a disturbing trend for MSU
The Minnesota State men's hockey team struggled to produce goals against North Dakota.
- More Shane Frederick Headlines
-
