Season on the Brenk

Senior nears end of collegiate career

By Shane Frederick
Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO — If Jake Brenk has his way, this could be redemption weekend for him.

"Playing Minnesota this weekend," said Brenk, a senior on Minnesota State men's hockey team, "if we can beat them, it's a way of getting back the last four years."

The numbers don't lie. Brenk's statistics over four seasons with the Mavericks aren't those of a highly touted high school recruit or a fifth-round NHL draft pick.

Four years ago, Brenk was both.

As the end of his college career nears, Brenk knows all too well that he wasn't supposed to be a fourth-line center in his last days at MSU.

"I would say I've been disappointed with how everything has gone," said Brenk, who has 15 goals and 30 assists in 118 college games.

A tall, silky-smooth skater with a quick shot, Brenk was supposed to have a couple of seasons with 45 points, not take an entire career to reach that number.

And he, more than anybody, knows it.

"I didn't play up to my potential," he said this week as the Mavericks prepared to play the sixth-ranked Gophers in the first round of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs. "I didn't do what the coaches wanted me to do. I didn't play the way they wanted me to play - or the way I wanted to play."

But Brenk has decided to look forward, not back.

He scored the game-winning goal in the Mavericks' regular-season finale against Nebraska-Omaha Saturday night and has five points in MSU's last six games.

He says he's playing the best hockey of his college career.

"The way I look at it is, I'm throwing everything I have into this weekend," Brenk said. "I don't have any other way to look at it because I don't have any games left."

Coach Troy Jutting said he and his staff have tried everything "to coax" a grittier, tougher player out of Brenk. But that side just didn't emerge.

"I've always loved Jake as a kid. He's a great kid," Jutting said.

"Jake has never been an excuse maker, and that's one thing I don't particularly care for. He's kept working at it. He does deserve to play well."

Brenk's goal Saturday was as pretty as any the Mavericks have scored this season.

After missing a shot wide, he recovered the puck behind the goal and carried it out front. Then he slipped circle to circle through traffic, turned and fired a laser over the goaltender's shoulder.

"It was an unbelievable goal," Jutting said. "He gave the fans in Mankato one last tease."

Brenk has played in all but five games this season. He was a healthy scratch Jan. 8 against North Dakota and Jan. 14 against Minnesota and appeared to have finally fallen out of favor with the coaches.

But he returned Jan. 15 after Brock Becker broke his foot and hasn't been out of the lineup since even though there are younger players with bright futures waiting for their chances.

"They could've done that any time they wanted to," Brenk said. "They could've done that a million times, and they stuck with me. ...

"They've given me a lot of chances down the stretch. They've really stayed positive with me."

Jutting said Brenk has been playing his best over the last eight games, starting in a series at Michigan Tech.

He has one point in five of the Mavericks' last six games and has career highs in goals (five) and assists (11) this season.

This weekend, he'll continue to skate with junior wings Ryan McKelvie and Christian Toll.

With the way Brenk has played of late, Jutting said "that's a line that could make a huge difference this weekend."