Well, for my first home men’s hockey game at the Mayo Clinic Health Systems Event Center, I was impressed.
I grew up watching the old school CCHA pulling for Western Michigan (sorry in advance). It warms my heart that, 20 years later, the CCHA continues to produce thrilling hockey action.
Friday also served as my first in-person look at the No. 20 Minnesota State Mavericks. I was left with a few observations.
Here are my three takeaways from Friday’s series opener against RPI.
Power play is lethal
Entering the weekend MSU’s power play ranked fifth in the nation as far as percentage at 31.8%. Only No. 3 Michigan (45.8%), No. 9 Boston College (42.9%), St. Cloud State (39.1%) and No. 15 Providence (37.5%) were statistically more efficient. In all honesty, that’s pretty good company to be with.
And for their first game on home ice the Mavericks showed their home fans exactly how lethal their power play is. Entering Saturday’s finale against the Engineers, the Mavericks are 9 of 26 on the man advantage.
Head coach Luke Strand told me at the beginning of the season that sophomore Alex Zetterberg had the chance to be strong with his stick. He was able to maneuver defenders like a robber weaving his way through rush hour traffic to flee the police. It was the perfect setup for senior Jack Smith to go to the net and bury a rebound for a 2-0 lead.
Zetterberg and Smith were causing chaos again as another power play opportunity late in the second arose. This time it was junior defenseman Jacob Conrad burying a rebound for a 3-1 lead.
Both Zetterberg and Smith tallied two points on the power play.
The Mavericks are letting their skill players be skill players, and they’re not afraid to crash the net. Whether this rate continues throughout the season or not, it’s making MSU fun to watch, and it’s hard to believe that it replaced nearly its entire pool of forwards in the off-season.
Second line is about to impress
Speaking of forwards, it appears that Strand is starting to get an early idea as to how the lines are going to operate as of now, because let’s face facts, a lot can change between now and March.
The first line appears to be productive with Luigi Benincasa at center, Sawyer Scholl, a Wisconsin transfer, on the left wing and Tristan Lemyre, a transfer from WMU, on the right wing. In fact I think it’s safe to say that this line is rolling.
But what really caught my eye Friday was MSU’s second line. It features Zetterberg, a transfer from powerhouse Boston University, on the right wing, Smith, a transfer from Duluth, at center, and Charlie Lurie, a transfer from Omaha on the left.
When these three were on the ice a lot of good things happened, especially in the first period. The trio accounted for seven of MSU’s 19 shots in the opening 20 minutes. They created a plethora of scoring chances and cut off a majority of the chances RPI had to escape its own zone.
Is this trio perfect yet? No.
But man, you give them a few more weeks and they will become a problem. There’s no way three forwards who transferred in from three different schools should be clicking like this.
Yet, this trio is on the verge of becoming a nightmare. The x-factor any team dreams of having.
Tracy, fans have a special connection.
There’s no doubt to me or anyone in the greater Mankato area that Alex Tracy is one of, if not the, best goaltender in college hockey. But no matter where someone stands on where Tracy ranks among college hockey’s elite between the pipes, you can not argue how adored he is by the MSU faithful.
I took a pre-game walk around the concourse, my first real look inside the arena. Fans rocked MSU jerseys, but the one I saw the most was Tracy’s No. 33.
When the roster was introduced on the Jumbotron every player got a reaction. Then Tracy popped up on the Jumbotron. The crowd went bananas.
And after posting a goals against average of 1.42, a save percentage of .946 and being nominated for nearly every major award last season while being CCHA Player of the Year, it’s easy to see on paper why Mankato adores him. But off paper, the relationship between Tracy and the Maverick faithful is something incredibly special.
Mitch Vosburg is a multi-time award-winning sports writer and photographer who proudly serves as sport editor for the Mankato Free Press. He can be reached at mvosburg@mankatofreepress.com. Follow him on Instagram (@themantheycallmitch) and on X/Twitter (@realmitchvburg).