As the rest of the CCHA scrambled for meager Pairwise points this past weekend, the “rebuilding” Minnesota State Mavericks were essentially clinching an NCAA bid with their third straight win over a top-5 nationally ranked squad. Sweeping perennial heavyweight Minnesota Duluth was the equivalent of hauling in a table full of poker chips with pocket aces.

“That’s one that will continue to give throughout the year,” said Hastings, who has been using early-season wins over power programs to his school’s advantage throughout his tenure in Mankato. 

“They’re going to win a lot of hockey games, so it’s good to get the sweep.” 

And there’s the rub: every future win by Duluth, the Golden Gophers and next week’s opponent St. Cloud (No. 8 with a bullet at this writing) is going to help bolster Minnesota State into a top-2 NCAA regional seeding, something they have accomplished every year since 2018.

No one plays tougher early-season contests than Hastings’ Mavericks, their results in recent years are staggering: sweeping reigning national champion UMass last fall; a win and a tie against powerhouse North Dakota; shutting out No. 1 St. Cloud, wiping out Boston University, ruining the weekend for Duluth. They are a wrecking crew every October, and it’s all part of the plan. Hastings refers to it as their “book of work.” It does not matter if it’s a so-called rebuilding year—Hastings bends his charges, young and old, to his will. 

Fun Weekend! pic.twitter.com/CF5mnCkLEb

— Minnesota State Hockey (@MinnStMHockey) October 17, 2022

And about that roster. The happiest man of the 5,000-plus jammed into the Mayo Clinic Events Center on Saturday was the Mavs king recruiter Todd Knott. The player-personnel impresario of Hastings’ juggernaut couldn’t hide his glee, back-slapping every man in gold and purple in their triumphant exit off the ice. 

The Mavericks graduated one of the best goalies in NCAA history last spring, and Knott has managed to fill that void with two goalies sufficient for the task of being a top-3 team nationally. Alex Tracy got his first two career NCAA starts this weekend, and allowed but one goal in 120 minutes of play. He now joins Keenan Rancier in the rotation of trusted puck-kickers for MNSU going forward.

Hastings revealed his formula for this season during CCHA media day in September: let his veteran defensemen carry the load until goaltending stabilizes. That strategy has worked to perfection through two weekends, and an undefeated record at home (3-0) against the best teams in the nation. “Two and Twenty-three” has become Hastings’ post-game mantra, pointing out the supreme play of blue-liners Akita Hirose (No. 2) and Jake Livingstone (No. 23). Not only did they combine for seven points this weekend, but they seamlessly broke the puck out of the Mavs zone, giving MNSU a vital territorial advantage. 

The Game Within The Game

On his second shift of the third period, Mavs junior centerman Ondrej Pavel extended his shift past the 50-second mark, and had lost his jump. Rather than coming to the bench when the puck went deep into the Duluth end, his hometown Mavericks holding a hard-earned 2-0 lead, he labored into the deep end to commence his forecheck.  

He got tangled up with Duluth defenseman Darian Gotz, a player Pavel outweighs by 20 pounds. Pavel was nearly called for holding because he used his free arm to restrain Gotz. Gotz still won the battle, chipped the puck up ice, and then he and Pavel got their sticks tangled. It was then that Pavel chose to close his hand on the stick of Gotz, and the ref finally had his man. 

Fourteen seconds later, Pavel took his skate-of-shame out of the penalty box, and Duluth was back in the game, scoring a power play goal to make it a 2-1 nail-biter.

“We took an undisciplined penalty, and it cost us,” said Hastings in the post-game.

With 15:39 remaining in the game, Hastings had a decision to make. Should he bench Pavel and get a message out to the team? A lot of his coaching peers would have no tolerance for selfishly long shifts, no excuses for a needless penalty in the attacking zone. Go grab some bench. Teach a lesson that all could learn from.

Hastings applied none of the above.

The only shift Pavel missed in the third period, was his mini-break in the penalty box. Hastings handed his six-foot-two “Manster” as much ice time as he could handle, and it was plenty. Hastings needed his horse, the guy who scored those memorable goals in the NCAA tourney, the faceoff specialist (five wins, two losses Saturday), the irresistible force who keeps opponents tucked into their own end, chipping at pucks protected by his XL boots, 200 feet away from the MNSU goal. This is a man Hastings can’t win without. Pavel did exactly what was needed to preserve their critical Pairwise victory, one made significantly more difficult by Pavel’s own misdeed.

(Un-) Draft Kings

Pavel is undrafted, like all his MNSU teammates. To most elite Division-I players, college hockey is a stepping stone to the pros. Top teams like Minnesota and Duluth both have rosters bulging with NHL draft picks: an astounding 14 for the Gophers, 10 for Duluth. Minnesota State has none. 

Yet the Mavericks ended the Gophers season the past two years in the NCAA tournament, and have beaten Duluth like a drum in recent years. Hirose and Livingstone dominated this weekend’s series, the latter with flamboyant rushes and a power play snipe, the former with his uncanny ability to reverse pucks against forechecking pressure, along with his buttery passes from the point. 

Forgive the sacrilege Michigan readers, but if you study every puck-touch by Hirose this weekend, he is playing the game with Lidstrom-like ease.

The Net-Net

Hastings’ live bench management, his full-throttle practice intensity, and Knott’s knack for landing the best late-bloomers in North America has created a juggernaut in Mankato. The result is a Minnesota State team that has reached the pinnacle of college hockey, best in Minnesota, best by far in the CCHA. They are in a league of their own.

Notes:  

• Michigan Tech junior Ryland Mosley’s first goal of the season carried five letters behind it: SH, GWG. In total for the weekend, Tech’s PK outscored Alaska’s PP 2-1 in the Huskies sweep. 
• MTU senior goaltender Blake Pietila posted his 11th career shutout Thursday, breaking the school record held previously by volunteer assistant Jamie Philips.
• Ferris State junior Stepan Pokorny bounced back from an upper body injury, returning to the lineup to score goals in both ends of Ferris’ split with Canisius.
• In the silver linings category, Northern Michigan may have found their No. 1 goalie. Beni Halasz from Budapest, Hungary kept the Wildcats in both games at Notre Dame before losing a pair. Despite the losses, the freshman has a robust .931 save percentage. Halasz and NMU teammate Kristoff Papp are the only Hungarian-born players in the NCAA this season.