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November 30, 2011

Tyler Elbrecht OK to play

By Shane Frederick Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO — Tyler Elbrecht tested out his surgically repaired and now-healed broken left arm for the first time on Monday, and it passed, the Minnesota State men’s hockey defenseman said.

The next big test should be Friday night in a game against No. 5 Minnesota in Minneapolis.

“As I said to (teammate Eriah) Hayes, I just want to have fun out there and be back with the boys,” said Elbrecht, who has been out of the lineup since breaking his arm during MSU’s first game of the season on Oct. 7 at Rensselaer.

While he has skated during some of the Mavericks’ recent practices in order to keep his legs strong, Elbrecht finally was cleared for contact on Friday and went through what he described as a “battle day” on Monday. The practice featured 1-on-1 and 2-on-2 drills, and small-area games — the kinds of drills, Elbrecht said, that really tested his arm.

“Everything we did I had to use the arm,” he said. “It felt good. I hope it continues to feel good all week, and we’ll see what happens on Friday.”

Elbrecht’s return will be a welcome one for the Mavericks, whose defensemen continue to be plagued with injuries.

Freshman Brett Stern re-aggravated an upper-body injury on Saturday against Alaska Anchorage — his second game back after missing six games — and will be out until after Christmas. Sophomore Danny Heath has not played since the second game of the season on Oct. 8 and remains out indefinitely.

Minnesota State coach Troy Jutting said he’s glad to have Elbrecht, one of the Mavericks’ co-captains, back with the team.

“He’s definitely a leader,” Jutting said. “I feel bad throwing him in there with just one week (of practice), but he’s such a competitive kid and such a hard-working kid, it will be good to have him back on the rink with us.”

Mavericks abroad

Ten former Minnesota State players are playing professional hockey in Europe this season.

Aaron Fox is in Austria. Andy Hedlund, Mark Hinz, Steve Wagner and Shane Joseph are in Germany. Defenseman Nick Canzanello and Mike Zacharias are in France. Kurt Davis and Andy Sackrison are in Sweden. And Grant Stevenson is in Switzerland.

One-timers

Minnesota State put a season-high 46 shots on goal in Saturday’s game against Alaska Anchorage and also allowed a season-low 13 shots. Still, the Mavericks and Seawolves ended up in a 5-5 overtime tie. ... Despite not playing, the unbeaten Gustavus Adolphus women’s hockey team fell from sixth to seventh in the national rankings. ... This week’s WCHA players of the week are North Dakota’s Brock Nelson and Colorado College’s Rylan Schwartz (co-offensive), Wisconsin defenseman Justin Schultz (defensvie) and Denver goaltender Juho Olkinuora (rookie). ... Nebraska Omaha will play Alabama Huntsville in Nashville this weekend.

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