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December 15, 2010

Frederick: MSU hockey — midway through and true to form

The Free Press

It’s the halfway point of the college hockey season, and what can you say about the Minnesota State men’s hockey team?

Not great. Not horrible. About what was expected, perhaps.

The Mavericks are 6-8-4, 4-8-2 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. They’ve had a four-game losing streak and a four-game winning streak. They’ve played games in six different states, and they’ve endured an eight-game road swing.

Now, Minnesota State is on a two-week break before going to a seventh state, Illinois, over New Year’s weekend. Fortunately for the Mavericks, 10 of their final 16 regular-season games will be played at Mankato.

Without further ado, here are some awards, picks and pans from the first half:

Most valuable player: Ben Youds and Kurt Davis. Sure, it’s a cop-out to pull a WCHA move and go with co-winners, but the two senior defensemen have been outstanding so far. They sit atop the Mavericks’ scoring list with 12 and 14 points, respectively, and at least one of them is on the ice during virtually every key moment. Each had a highlight-reel goal in the sweep over Minnesota. They’re playing like senior leaders and deserve to make one of the all-WCHA teams at this point.

Most improved player: This is tough, as forwards Justin Jokinen, Eli Zuck, Adam Mueller and Joe Schiller all deserve consideration. But the edge is going to go to junior defenseman Cameron Cooper. Cooper has been solid and steady in a defensive defenseman’s role, playing in all 18 games (he played in 21 last year). Cooper has a goal and an assist and is even on the plus-minus chart. He’s also gotten a chance on the power play since Thanksgiving.

Newcomer of the year: Chase Grant. The freshman forward has four goals and 11 points and leads the Mavericks with a plus-5 rating. His assist on Davis’ power-play goal Friday against North Dakota exemplifies his game. Knowing he was going to get crushed against the boards, Grant made a perfect pass to Youds and absorbed the hit as the puck went across to Davis for his blast from the point.

Best first impression: Corey Leivermann had all the pressure in the world on him when the season started, thanks to being the first Mankato native to play for Minnesota State. But the rookie simply went out and scored the team’s first goal of the season, batting the puck out of the air and putting it in behind St. Lawrence goalie Robby Moss on Oct. 8. Leivermann has two goals and three assists in 13 games.

Best weekend: Dec. 3-4 vs. Minnesota. The Mavericks scored their first sweep of the season by taking two games against Minnesota. Phil Cook’s 49 saves was the highlight of the second game, but some newly found — and much-needed — heart and gritty play all weekend were what the Mavericks really needed to defeat the Gophers.

Worst weekend: Oct. 15-16 at Michigan Tech. MSU might point at the 6-1 loss at Denver on Nov. 12-13 as the low point so far, but that second weekend of the season at Houghton, Mich., was when points were left on the table. The Mavericks lost 5-2 and tied 5-5. Tech seemed red-hot at the time, opening the season 3-0-2. But the Huskies’ true colors emerged after that, and they’ve lost all 10 games since.



Shane Frederick is a Free Press staff writer. Read his blog at mankatofreepresshockey.blogspot.com.

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