Mavericks hoping for happy new year
By Shane Frederick
Free Press
Looking back on the Minnesota State men's hockey team's best moment of the Division I era - its NCAA tournament run of two years ago - it's easy to forget that the first half of the 2002-03 season was anything but stellar.
At the midway point that year, MSU was 6-7-5 and had just tied unknown American International 3-3 at the Midwest Wireless Civic Center.
Although they put 60 shots on goal that night, the Mavericks were utterly embarrassed by the stalemate.
Maverick players held a closed-door meeting after that game to discuss the direction they were headed. They quickly found the right path, embarking on a national-best 17-game unbeaten streak and finishing in a tie for second place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
This season, the Mavericks are 7-10-3 through 20 games. After losing 5-1 to Ohio State last Wednesday, goaltender Chris Clark said the players held a closed-door meeting to talk about breaking out of a four-game losing streak.
They did just that with a shootout victory over Miami Thursday. Although the game will go down as a 3-3 tie in the record books, the Mavericks were happy to stop the bleeding.
Just what that result sparks will be seen this weekend in Grand Forks, N.D., where the MSU will play No. 8 North Dakota.
Here are three reasons why the Mavericks are poised to make a run ...
1. Dynamic Duo: David Backes and Travis Morin might not be quite as explosive as Grant Stevenson and Shane Joseph were two years ago, but the sophomores have become two of the top forwards in the WCHA. Every opposing coach - from Minnesota's Don Lucia to Colorado College's Scott Owens to Ohio State's John Markell - have expressed concern about defending Backes, the Mavericks' top scorer with 20 points.
2. Offensive attack: MSU has not been short on offensive opportunities, outshooting their opponents in 12 of their first 16 games and putting 30 shots on goal 17 times. They can count on their top line of Morin, Backes and Brock Becker, and Ryan Carter has 10 points as a freshman. But a real run will start when talented players like Jeff Marler, Rob Rankin and Kurtis Kisio join in the chorus.
3. Goaltending: Jon Volp and Chris Clark have stopped more than 90 percent of opponents' shots this season. Volp has shown he can get hot, winning five of six starts, including an overtime victory over then-No. 2 Wisconsin, between Nov. 5 and Dec. 10. Clark is 2-1-2 and is coming off a 43-save performance against Miami.
And here are three reasons why they aren't' ...
1. Schedule: The Mavericks' second-half schedule is tough. Of their remaining 16 games, eight are on the road where MSU has just one win this season. Of the eight home games, six will be played against top-10 teams: No. 1 Minnesota, No. 2 Colorado College and No. 5 Denver. And one of the Minnesota games will be played in front of a pro-Gopher crowd at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
2. Special teams: One of the keys in the 2003 run was the power play, which, at better than 25 percent, was the fourth best in the country. While this year's unit moves the puck much better than last year's, it's only been successful 15.1 percent of the time. Backes, Carter and Morin can score from the perimeter, but they have yet to find someone who can clean up rebounds inside. On the flip side, the Mavericks are the most penalized team in the WCHA and are next to last in penalty killing. That's a bad combination.
3. Goaltending: With the exception of Volp's performance in the first game of the WCHA playoffs last season at Minnesota-Duluth, the Mavericks haven't had a goaltender go out and steal a win for them in a season and a half. Meanwhile, MSU has lost at least three games this year because of an opposing goalie's outstanding performance.
It's a new year now. As MSU proved after New Year's Day two years ago, anything can happen.
Shane Frederick is a Free Press staff writer. Call him at 344-6373 or e-mail sfrederick@mankatofreepress.com