MANKATO — A film session prior to Saturday’s game against Michigan Tech provided an insightful moment for No. 14 Minnesota State hockey.
A clip of junior defenseman Evan Murr, arguably the best defenseman in the CCHA and one of the top-scoring defenseman in the country, motors the puck up the ice with no one in his general vicinity. To MSU fans it’s a normal sight to see out of Murr.
But what appears in the background is what caught not only the attention of Murr but also that of the entire team.
As Murr moved up the ice there was his defensive counterpart Ralfs Bergmanis. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound defenseman out of Liepaja, Latvia, managed a way to occupy two Michigan Tech players.
Bergmanis was pinning down two players by the boards — one trapped under the Latvian defender’s right arm and the other trapped under his left arm.
“That’s summing him up in a nutshell,” Murr said of Bergmanis with a joyful, enthusiastic smile. “He’s unbelievable at making my job so much easier.”
It’s also what Murr credits to the success of his junior season, one that is shaping out to be his best so far.
He produced six goals and 20 assists in 37 games as a freshman. Last year he had seven goals and 20 helpers across 39 games while earning CCHA Defenseman of the Year honors.
Through 14 games this season he’s already at six goals and seven assists. He’s also been named CCHA Defenseman of the Week twice and has a +12 rating to go with two game-winning goals.
It’s also the second season he’s been paired with Bergmanis, who now has 92 games under his belt after transferring from the University of Vermont after the 2023-24 season.
Murr and Bergmanis serve at the Mavericks top defensive pairing on weekends. But the tandem behind them is no slouch.
There’s senior captain Mason Wheeler. The 6-foot-2, 201-pounder from Rosemount has appeared in 127 games. Next to him is senior Campbell Cichosz, a 6-foot-1, 190-pounder from Albert Lea who’s played in 121 games for MSU.
These four have played a pivotal role in helping No. 14 MSU win four straight games while improving to 8-2-4 overall while sitting third in the CCHA standings. Especially for a team that lost 81% of their goals scored from a season ago.
MSU head coach Luke Strand said that the team tries to have the spine of its roster come from the goaltenders, defensemen and centers.
The Mavericks returned centers Luigi Benincasa and Fin Willams.
But having their top four defensemen and one of the top goalies in the nation in Alex Tracy has helped keep the team steady as new faces emerge on the front end of the spine. In fact, the four defenseman have relieved some of the pressure from the new batch of forwards.
“(Bergmanis) is undercover the best defenseman in college hockey,” Strand said. “We can make mistakes in front of (the defensemen). They’re pretty good at cleaning some things up. And if they do make a foolish mistake, they’ve got (Tracy) behind them. That seems to be a pretty good problem solver right there.”