College Hockey Upate:  Last week featured a big top fifteen match-up as St. Cloud State held at #1 after they hosted and swept Minnesota-Duluth in a couple of close games; Minnesota-Duluth edged down to #4 on the results of the weekend.  Elsewhere, Mankato State moved up two spots to #2 after they hosted and swept Alabama-Huntsville in WCHA first round play; and Massachusetts edged down to #3 after they lost at Connecticut.  Providence edged up to #7 after hosting and beating Boston College; and Denver dropped down two pegs after ending their regular season by getting swept by Colorado College in a home-and-home series.  Northeastern held at #9 after hosting and beating New Hampshire; Western Michigan held at #12 after sweeping their weekend at Miami of Ohio; and Bowling Green held at #15 after they hosted and swept Michigan Tech in WCHA first round play.  An idle Quinnipiac held at #5; idle Ohio State edged up to #6; idle Cornell held at #10; idle Clarkson held at #11; idle Arizona State held at #13; and idle Harvard held at #14.

College Hockey Update Featured Player

Last weekend Mankato State had huge help from freshman goalie Dryden McKay, of Downer’s Grove, IL., who stopped thirty shots on the weekend in his team’s 3-1 win at home Friday night, and in his team’s 4-1 win at home Saturday night, as they swept visiting Alabama-Huntsville in opening round action of the WCHA Tournament.  McKay has started twenty-eight games this season, and appeared in thirty.  He has a 1.72 GAA, and a .928 saves %.  Friday night it was all Mankato in many ways.  Not only did Mankato get on the board first, when Walker Duehr scored only seven minutes into the first period, and extend the lead to 2-0 when Marc Michaelis scored on a power play five minutes into the second, but the Mankato State defense stifled Hunstville, limiting them to five first period shots, and six in the second.  Huntsville’s Connor Merkley found a way into the Mankato net to tighten the score to 2-1 with four minutes left in the second.  But in the third Mankato really put the clampers on and Huntsville was limited to two shots in the period; Marc Michaelis found the net and sealed the deal for Mankato five minutes into the third on a power play, and Mankato took the game 3-1.  Saturday night Alabama-Huntsville was able to generate a bit more offensive momentum, taking nineteen shots on goal, but it was really all Mankato, with two goals by Reggie Lutz, another by Marc Michaelis, and one by Parker Tuomie, to build a 4-0 lead with four minutes left in the second period.  Adam Wilcox scored for Alabama-Huntsville midway through the third and Mankato took the 4-1 win.

Before coming to Mankato State, Dryden McKay played for two seasons on the Madison Capitols of the USHL.  He played in 49 games in 2017-18 and had a 3.38 GAA and a .907 saves %; in the 2016-17 season he had played in 29 games and had a 2.70 GAA and a .917 saves %.  In 2015-16 he played for the Corpus Christi Ice Rays of the NAHL and had a 2.47 GAA and .921 saves % in 34 appearances.  His father, Ross, played three years professionally in the IHL, AHL, ECHL, and ended with a brief stint with the NHL Hartford Whalers.  We’ve seen Dryden’s baflling 1.72/.928 numbers for this year, and know what?  His backup, Mathias Israelsson, of Ytterby, Sweden, has started and played in ten games, and has a 1.65 GAA and a .915 saves %!  McKay’s hometown of Downer’s Grove sits at an elevation of 700 feet, and is home to its 50,000 residents among its fifteen square miles; it is reported to be a very uplifting place.  Downer’s Grove is the birthplace of Toni and Cammi Granato, and actress Denise Richards.

Here’s an important view of Mankato State.  Its top two leaders in goals scored are junior forward March Michaelis, of Mannheim, Germany, and junior forward Parker Tuomie, of Bremerhaven, Germany, with ninteen and fourteen goals scored, respectively.  The two Germans account for 24% of all goals scored by the team this season.  One might wonder where this team would be without this pair from Germany leading the way for them.  Mankato State, 29-7-2, and ranked #2, advanced to second round of the WCHA Tournament and will host #20 Lake Superior State in a best of three series this weekend, starting Friday night.

College Hockey Update Fun Corner Video Of The Week

This one follows up, and continues on the thought from last week — that as great as this game is, it’s still just a game, and there are more important things in life and in the world.  It can’t hurt to remember this from time to time in hockey, or any sport at all, particularly at the high school level and below.  This really brings that reality home for two friends who play on two different teams:

https://www.wdio.com/news/virginia-eveleth-hockey-quarterfinal-prayer/5252714/

Thanks again to our fellow reader, and contributing field reporter, John McLean for sending this in.

This Weekend’s Top Twenty Match-Ups

Well, we’re here.  The regular season is over and all six conference tournaments are underway.  There are a total of forty teams still playing games at this point.  This weekend features three top twenty matchups, when, as mentioned above, #2 Mankato State will host #20 Lake Superior State in a WCHA best of three series starting Friday night.  Also, #6 Ohio State hosts #18 Pennsylvania State Sunday afternoon in a Big Ten semifinal match that is a single-game elimination; and #8 Denver hosts #19 North Dakota in an NCHC best of three series starting Friday night.

This provides the match-ups for all conference tournaments.  All match-ups are a best of three series, and are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, unless otherwise noted.

Atlantic Hockey

• Rochester Institute of Technology at Sacred Heart Univ.  (Wednesday and Thursday)
• United States Military Academy (Army) at American International University
• Robert Morris University at Bentley University
• Niagara University at United States Air Force Academy

Big Ten  (Semi-final games)

• University of Minnesota at #16 Notre Dame (Saturday, single game elimination)
• #17 Pennsylvania State Univ. at #6 Ohio State Univ. (Sunday, single game elimination)

ECAC

• Yale University at #11 Clarkson University
• Union College at #10 Cornell University
• Dartmouth College at #14 Harvard University
• Brown University at #5 Quinnipiac University

Hockey East

• University of Maine at #9 Northeastern University
• Boston College at #7 Providence College
• University of New Hampshire at #3 University of Massachusetts
• Boston University at #18 University of Massachusetts at Lowell

NCHC

• Colorado College at #12 Western Michigan University
• Miami University of Ohio at #1 St. Cloud State University
• University of Nebraska at Omaha at #4 University of Minnesota at Duluth
• #19 University of North Dakota at #8 University of Denver

WCHA (Semi-final games)

• #20 Lake Superior State University at #2 Mankato State University
• #15 Bowling Green State University at Northern Michigan University

This provides the top fifteen teams, rankings, records, and last week’s results:

[table id=194 /]

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers!

— Tom