Minnesota State is closing out its 10th season in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Who have been the Mavericks’ best players over the last decade? Click here to go to Shane Frederick’s hockey blog to vote for your favorites.
The Mavericks (13-15-4, 9-13-2 in WCHA), who are holding out hope for home ice, will try to break a three-game winless streak when they host the 16th-ranked Badgers (16-13-3, 13-9-2) tonight. Minnesota State is 12-15-3 in its all-time series against Wisconsin, including a 3-0-1 record in the teams’ last four meetings at the Alltel Center.
The 5-hole
Five things to know about the matchup:
1. A real gamer: Mavericks goalie Mike Zacharias (.902, 2.98) has played in 96 games over his four-year career, ranking fourth on the program’s all-time list. He recently passed 2002 graduate Eric Pateman, who finished with 94 career appearances. Zacharias, who is 12-12-4 this season, has 43 career wins, which also ranks fourth all-time. Pateman was third with 49 victories. Senior Dan Tormey, meanwhile, has appeared in 55 games.
2. Return to the rink: Junior forward Trevor Bruess (11-4—15) will be back in the lineup tonight after being suspended for one game for a series of dangerous penalties. As part of his suspension, Bruess met with WCHA Supervisor of Officials Greg Shepherd, who plans to attend tonight’s game. Bruess leads MSU and is second in the WCHA with 98 penalty minutes, and the Mavericks are second in the nation in that category.
3. Power hungry: With two power-play goals in Tuesday’s 2-2 nonconference tie at Nebraska-Omaha, MSU moved up to 10th in the country in power-play efficiency (36 for 182, 19.8 percent). Freshman Mike Louwerse (12-12—24) leads the Mavericks with eight power-play goals. Junior Kael Mouillierat (12-11—23), who missed Tuesday’s game with a minor injury, has six. Thirteen different players have scored on the man advantage this season.
4. Hobey hopeful: Wisconsin is touting junior defenseman Jamie McBain (7-27—34) as a favorite for the Hobey Baker award. The Faribault native and Carolina Hurricanes draft pick leads the Badgers in scoring. Wisconsin is strong on the blue line, a group that includes sophomores Brendan Smith (7-11—18), Ryan McDonagh (4-9—13) and Cody Goloubef (4-8—12) and freshman Jake Gardiner (2-15—17), all of whom are NHL draft choices.
5. Scouting the Badgers: Wisconsin is coming off a disappointing weekend, getting swept at home by Denver. Prior to that, the Badgers won six of eight games, including a sweep at Minnesota on Feb. 6-7. Junior forward John Mitchell (13-8—21) is the top goal scorer and also leads the WCHA with 112 penalty minutes. Senior Shane Connelly (.908, 2.63) has carried the bulk of the load in goal this season and last.
Around the rinks
Minnesota State women: The fifth-seeded Mavericks (10-17-5, 7-16-5 in WCHA) will take on fourth-seeded St. Cloud State in the best-of-three-games first round of the WCHA tournament starting at 7 p.m. tonight at the National Hockey Center. The winner will go to the Final Face-Off March 7-8 in Minneapolis. The Mavericks are unbeaten in five of their last six games, including a tie and win at St. Cloud on Feb. 6-7.
Gustavus Adolphus: The women’s and men’s teams will host MIAC tournament semifinal games on Saturday. The No. 1-ranked women (20-1-4, 16-0-2 in MIAC), who are going for their sixth straight conference playoff title, will take on the winner of Thursday’s game between St. Olaf and Concordia at 2 p.m.. The men (15-10-0, 10-6-0), who will host St. Thomas at 7 p.m., are looking for their first postseason victory since 2003.
— Shane Frederick
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