2022–23 Minnesota State Mavericks men's ice hockey season

2022–23 Minnesota State Mavericks men's ice hockey season
CCHA, Champion CCHA Tournament, Champion NCAA Tournament, Regional Semifinal
Conference	1st CCHA
Home ice	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center
Rankings
USCHO	#12
USA Today	#11
Record
Overall	25–13–1
Conference	16–9–1
Home	14–6–1
Road	11–6–0
Neutral	0–1–0
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Mike Hastings
Assistant coaches	Todd Knott Paul Kirtland Cory Lonke
Captain(s)	Cade Borchardt Brendan Furry
Alternate captain(s)	Jake Livingstone Sam Morton
Minnesota State Mavericks men's ice hockey seasons « 2021–22 2023–24 »

The 2022–23 Minnesota State Mavericks men's ice hockey season was the 54th season of play for the program, 27th at the Division I level, and 2nd in the CCHA. The Mavericks represented Minnesota State University, Mankato in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, were coached by Mike Hastings, in his 11th season, and played their home games at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.

Season

After coming within 1 period of winning a national championship, Minnesota State lost many of the key players that brought it near the pinnacle of college hockey. Aside from losing half of its defensive corps, including the team captain, MSU also lost its top two scorers and Hobey Baker Award-winning starting goaltender. Despite those departures, the cupboard was not bare for the Mavericks and the team was still expected to compete for another tournament berth, as their preseason ranking indicated.

The Mavs started the season well, earning a split with preseason #2 Minnesota and then sweeping another highly ranked team in Minnesota Duluth the following week. The team stumbled a bit in the third week by dropping both games to St. Cloud State but a pair of 1-goal losses weren't expected to harm the team's tournament hopes too much.

During the first half of the season, the team alternated between Keenan Rancier and Alexander Tracy as the starting goaltender to determine which, if either, would become the Mavericks primary netminder. While both were insulated by a defense that gave up less than 22 shots against per game, Rancier was much better at stopping the puck and eventually won the job as the No. 1 goalie. The offense was less able to cope with the loss of its high-end scorers and ended up scoring 52 fewer goals over the course of the season, albeit in 5 fewer games. David Silye saw a vast improvement in his output as he became the team's top producer and he was aided by addition of Christian Fitzgerald.

When MSU began their conference schedule that didn't seem to have any trouble scoring, however, as the Mavs won each of their first 4 games. Unfortunately, as the club rolled into November, the goals became a bit more scarce and Minnesota State's record suffered as a result. Over a month-long stretch, Minnesota State went 3–5–1 and were swept twice at home. The winter break could not have come at a better time as the team was mired in mediocrity and were about to fall out of the polls for the first time in five years.

Desperately needing a winning streak to save their season, the Mavericks offence found some consistency and scored at least 3 goals in each of their games during the month of January. With Rancier settling down in the goal, Minnesota State won 8 consecutive games and pulled themselves back about the cutline for the tournament. Additionally, they placed themselves near the top of the CCHA standings and were in line to repeat as league champions. The Mavs stumbled a bit at the end, earning splits in each of their final three weekends and were in the middle of the bubble for the tournament when they began their postseason push.

With their position in the PairWise rankings, Minnesota State needed a good performance in the conference tournament to ensure themselves a spot in the NCAA tournament. A quarterfinal exit would have essentially eliminated the Mavericks while an appearance in the championship game could have allowed them to earn an at-large bid. In any event, the only sure way for the team to make the tournament was to win the championship and they started in the best possible position. Because MSU had (barely) finished as the No. 1 team in the conference, they were rewarded with a quarterfinal matchup against Lake Superior State. The Lakers put up a valiant effort but MSU outshot their opponents 72–36 in the two games and rose a strong power play into the semifinal. The Mavs were equally as impressive against Ferris State with a 7–2 victory and set up a showdown with an upstart Northern Michigan team in the final.

Due to how the other conferences had played, both teams were fighting for their postseason lives as a loss would leave MSU out in the cold while NMU's only chance from the start was a conference title. While Minnesota State outshout their opponents as usual, Northern Michigan was not far behind with a margin of 33–25. The biggest problem for the Mavs was that the Wildcat goalie, Béni Halász, had gotten hot at the end of the season and was continuing his strong play by shutting down the MSU offense. The lack of scoring enabled Northern Michigan to build a 2-goal lead and take it deep into the third period. MSU was forced to pull Rancier for an extra attacker with several minutes to play. Fortunately, the desperate ploy worked and Minnesota State scored twice in the final two and a half minutes to tie the game. The sudden reversal in fortune sapped all the energy from the Wildcats and it took just 68 seconds of overtime for Zach Krajnik to send the Mavs into the NCAA tournament.

In their opening game of the tournament, MSU was given the chance for revenge against St. Cloud State and the Mavs got off to s fast start. Minnesota State carried the pace of play for the entire game, outshooting the Huskies 34–21 and getting several scoring chances. However, nothing they did resulted in a goal. Jaxon Castor played a masterful game for St. Cloud and prevented the Mavericks from getting a single goal to their credit. A furious attempt to tie the game in the third only enabled the Huskies to double their goal total to 4 over the final 30 minutes and end the Mavericks' season.

Departures

Player	Position	Nationality	Cause
Wyatt Aamodt	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (signed with Colorado Avalanche)
Evan Foss	Goaltender	United States	Left program (retired)
Reggie Lutz	Forward	United States	Graduation (retired)
Benton Maass	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (signed with Hershey Bears)
Dryden McKay	Goaltender	United States	Graduation (signed with Toronto Marlies)
Jack McNeely	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (retired)
Julian Napravnik	Forward	Germany	Graduation (signed with Hershey Bears)
Nathan Smith	Forward	United States	Signed professional contract (Arizona Coyotes)

Recruiting

Player	Position	Nationality	Age	Notes
Campbell Cichosz	Defenseman	United States	21	Albert Lea, MN
Adam Eisele	Forward	United States	21	Lake Elmo, MN
Christian Fitzgerald	Forward	Canada	20	Coquitlam, BC
Simon Tassy	Forward	Canada	21	Montreal, QC
Alexander Tracy	Goaltender	United States	21	Chicago, IL
Mason Wheeler	Defenseman	United States	21	Inver Grove Heights, MN
Luc Wilson	Forward	United States	20	Duncan, BC

Roster

As of August 6, 2022.

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
2		Akito Hirose	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	1999-04-09	Calgary, Alberta	Salmon Arm (BCHL)	—
3		Christian Fitzgerald	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-05-31	Coquitlam, British Columbia	Tri-City (USHL)	—
4		Andy Carroll	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1997-02-17	Northfield, Minnesota	Green Bay (USHL)	—
5		Mason Wheeler	Freshman	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2001-09-29	Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota	Tri-City (USHL)	—
6		Sam Morton (A)	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	1999-07-28	Lafayette, Colorado	Wenatchee (BCHL)	—
7		Luc Wilson	Freshman	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-11-22	Duncan, British Columbia	Penticton (BCHL)	—
8		Campbell Cichosz	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2001-08-23	Albert Lea, Minnesota	Anchorage (NAHL)	—
9		Tanner Edwards	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	2000-03-11	Anchorage, Alaska	Muskegon (USHL)	—
10		David Silye	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	1999-03-02	Arnprior, Ontario	Clarkson (ECAC)	—
11		Simon Tassy	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2001-03-21	Montreal, Quebec	Salmon Arm (BCHL)	—
12		Josh Groll	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	2001-08-09	San Diego, California	Michigan (Big Ten)	—
13		Brendan Furry (C)	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	1998-07-08	Toledo, Ohio	Tri-City (USHL)	—
14		Ryan Sandelin	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	186 lb (84 kg)	1999-01-03	Hermantown, Minnesota	Penticton (BCHL)	—
15		Adam Eisele	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2001-07-11	Lake Elmo, Minnesota	Penticton (BCHL)	—
17		Bennett Zmolek	Sophomore	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	191 lb (87 kg)	2002-04-17	Rochester, Minnesota	Youngstown (USHL)	—
18		Ondřej Pavel	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	204 lb (93 kg)	2000-08-29	Prague, Czech Republic	Fargo (USHL)	—
19		Will Hillman	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	2000-11-22	Blaine, Minnesota	Youngstown (USHL)	—
20		Connor Gregga	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	2000-07-24	Markham, Ontario	Coquitlam (BCHL)	—
21		Lucas Sowder	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	164 lb (74 kg)	1998-11-15	Trinity, Florida	Wenatchee (BCHL)	—
22		Steven Bellini	Sophomore	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	171 lb (78 kg)	2000-05-23	Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario	Tri-City (USHL)	—
23		Jake Livingstone (A)	Junior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	1999-04-16	Creston, British Columbia	Langley (BCHL)	—
24		Zach Krajnik	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	1999-05-13	Eagle River, Alaska	Kenai River (NAHL)	—
25		Brenden Olson	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2000-10-18	Eau Claire, Wisconsin	Sioux City (USHL)	—
27		Tony Malinowski	Junior	D	6' 5" (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1999-10-15	Clarkston, Michigan	Des Moines (USHL)	—
28		Cade Borchardt (C)	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	1998-07-06	Burnsville, Minnesota	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
32		Andrew Miller	Sophomore	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	2000-02-10	Boulder, Colorado	Fargo (USHL)	—
33		Alex Tracy	Freshman	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2001-05-04	Chicago, Illinois	Sioux City (USHL)	—
35		Keenan Rancier	Sophomore	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	2000-06-21	Victoria, British Columbia	Minot (NAHL)	—

Standings

2022–23 Central Collegiate Hockey Association Standings
	Conference record											Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	OTW	OTL	SW	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#12 Minnesota State †*	26	16	9	1	2	4	1	52	83	56		39	25	13	1	126	81
#13 Michigan Tech	26	15	7	4	0	1	0	50	68	54		39	24	11	4	103	88
Bowling Green	26	12	12	2	0	2	1	41	89	76		36	15	19	2	114	114
Northern Michigan	26	14	12	0	3	0	0	39	82	77		38	21	17	0	123	103
Bemidji State	26	12	11	3	3	1	2	39	73	63		36	14	17	5	94	97
Ferris State	26	9	14	3	1	2	3	34	62	91		37	14	19	4	92	131
St. Thomas	26	10	14	2	1	1	0	32	69	81		36	11	23	2	86	117
Lake Superior State	26	8	17	1	2	1	1	25	52	80		36	9	25	2	71	118
Championship: March 18, 2023 † indicates conference regular season champion (MacNaughton Cup) * indicates conference tournament champion (Mason Cup) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Decision	Result	Attendance	Record
Exhibition
October 1	6:07 PM	at Omaha*	#3	Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska (Exhibition)		Tracy	L 2–7	4,597
Regular Season
October 7	7:05 PM	at #2 Minnesota*	#5	3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota	BSN	Rancier	L 1–4	8,472	0–1–0
October 8	6:07 PM	#2 Minnesota*	#5	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota	FOX 9+	Rancier	W 3–2	4,911	1–1–0
October 14	7:07 PM	#4 Minnesota Duluth*	#5	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota	KEYC	Tracy	W 6–0	4,612	2–1–0
October 15	6:07 PM	#4 Minnesota Duluth*	#5	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota	KEYC	Tracy	W 2–1	5,039	3–1–0
October 21	7:30 PM	at #8 St. Cloud State*	#2	Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota	FOX 9+	Rancier	L 2–3	4,016	3–2–0
October 22	6:00 PM	at #8 St. Cloud State*	#2	Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota	FOX 9+	Tracy	L 3–4	5,212	3–3–0
October 28	7:07 PM	Bowling Green	#8	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota	KEYC	Tracy	W 3–2 OT	4,172	4–3–0 (1–0–0)
October 29	6:07 PM	Bowling Green	#8	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota	KEYC	Rancier	W 4–2	4,007	5–3–0 (2–0–0)
November 4	7:07 PM	at St. Thomas	#6	St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota	FloHockey	Tracy	W 7–2	961	6–3–0 (3–0–0)
November 5	6:07 PM	St. Thomas	#6	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota	KEYC	Rancier	W 4–3	5,094	7–3–0 (4–0–0)
November 18	7:07 PM	Northern Michigan	#8	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota	KEYC	Rancier	L 2–3	4,344	7–4–0 (4–1–0)
November 19	6:07 PM	Northern Michigan	#8	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota	KEYC	Rancier	W 4–1	4,562	8–4–0 (5–1–0)
November 25	6:07 PM	at Michigan Tech	#10	MacInnes Student Ice Arena • Houghton, Michigan	FloHockey	Rancier	L 2–3	2,492	8–5–0 (5–2–0)
November 26	5:07 PM	at Michigan Tech	#10	MacInnes Student Ice Arena • Houghton, Michigan	FloHockey	Rancier	T 2–2 SOW	2,418	8–5–1 (5–2–1)
December 2	7:07 PM	Ferris State	#11	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota	KEYC	Rancier	L 1–2	4,199	8–6–1 (5–3–1)
December 3	6:07 PM	Ferris State	#11	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota	KEYC	Rancier	L 2–3	4,318	8–7–1 (5–4–1)
December 9	6:07 PM	at Bowling Green	#16	Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio	FloHockey	Tracy	W 2–1	2,312	9–7–1 (6–4–1)
December 10	6:07 PM	at Bowling Green	#16	Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio	FloHockey	Tracy	W 6–2	2,024	10–7–1 (7–4–1)
December 16	7:07 PM	Bemidji State	#16	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota	KEYC	Tracy	L 3–4 OT	4,531	10–8–1 (7–5–1)
December 17	7:07 PM	Bemidji State	#16	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota	KEYC	Tracy	L 1–4	4,524	10–9–1 (7–6–1)
January 6	6:07 PM	at Northern Michigan	#19	Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan	FloHockey	Rancier	W 5–2	2,229	11–9–1 (8–6–1)
January 7	5:07 PM	at Northern Michigan	#19	Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan	FloHockey	Rancier	W 5–3	2,766	12–9–1 (9–6–1)
January 13	8:00 PM	at Arizona State*	#17	Mullett Arena • Tempe, Arizona		Rancier	W 3–1	4,973	13–9–1
January 14	8:00 PM	at Arizona State*	#17	Mullett Arena • Tempe, Arizona	Pac-12 Insider	Rancier	W 5–0	5,179	14–9–1
January 20	7:07 PM	Lake Superior State	#17	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota	KEYC	Rancier	W 3–2 OT	4,638	15–9–1 (10–6–1)
January 21	6:07 PM	Lake Superior State	#17	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota	KEYC	Rancier	W 3–1	4,913	16–9–1 (11–6–1)
January 27	6:07 PM	at Ferris State	#14	Ewigleben Arena • Big Rapids, Michigan	FloHockey	Rancier	W 4–1	1,571	17–9–1 (12–6–1)
January 28	5:07 PM	at Ferris State	#14	Ewigleben Arena • Big Rapids, Michigan	FloHockey	Rancier	W 5–1	1,897	18–9–1 (13–6–1)
February 3	7:07 PM	St. Thomas	#13	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota	KEYC	Rancier	L 2–3 OT	4,814	18–10–1 (13–7–1)
February 4	6:07 PM	at St. Thomas	#13	St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota	FloHockey	Rancier	W 5–2	1,080	19–10–1 (14–7–1)
February 17	7:07 PM	at Bemidji State	#13	Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota	FloHockey	Rancier	W 4–1	1,892	20–10–1 (15–7–1)
February 18	6:07 PM	at Bemidji State	#13	Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota	FloHockey	Rancier	L 1–2	2,103	20–11–1 (15–8–1)
February 24	7:07 PM	#11 Michigan Tech	#12	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota	KEYC	Rancier	L 0–2	4,716	20–12–1 (15–9–1)
February 25	6:07 PM	#11 Michigan Tech	#12	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota	KEYC	Rancier	W 3–2	5,120	21–12–1 (16–9–1)
CCHA Tournament
March 3	7:07 PM	Lake Superior State*	#13	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota (Quarterfinal Game 1)	FloHockey	Rancier	W 6–1	3,604	22–12–1
March 4	6:07 PM	Lake Superior State*	#13	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota (Quarterfinal Game 2)	FloHockey	Rancier	W 2–1	3,798	23–12–1
March 11	6:07 PM	Ferris State*	#13	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota (Semifinal)	FloHockey	Rancier	W 7–2	4,468	24–12–1
March 18	6:07 PM	Northern Michigan*	#12	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota (Championship)	FloHockey	Rancier	W 3–2 OT	4,805	25–12–1
NCAA Tournament
March 23	4:00 PM	vs. #6 St. Cloud State*	#10	Scheels Arena • Fargo, North Dakota (West Regional Semifinal)	ESPNU	Rancier	L 0–4	5,061	25–13–1
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Central Time. Source:

Scoring statistics

Name	Position	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	PIM
David Silye	C	39	23	16	39	25
Jake Livingstone	D	39	8	27	35	30
Christian Fitzgerald	F	38	16	13	29	16
Ryan Sandelin	C/RW	38	14	15	29	33
Brendan Furry	LW	39	9	19	28	15
Akito Hirose	D	38	4	23	27	18
Andy Carroll	D	39	5	20	25	6
Cade Borchardt	F	39	5	15	20	12
Ondřej Pavel	C	39	6	9	15	34
Lucas Sowder	LW	25	5	9	14	8
Josh Groll	F	30	5	6	11	8
Adam Eisele	F	33	4	6	10	6
Zach Krajnik	C	34	4	6	10	14
Steven Bellini	D	39	1	8	9	8
Sam Morton	F	10	6	2	8	2
Will Hillman	F	35	4	4	8	4
Luc Wilson	F	21	1	6	7	8
Tony Malinowski	D	37	1	5	6	4
Simon Tassy	F	15	1	4	5	0
Mason Wheeler	D	37	0	5	5	14
Connor Gregga	F	23	2	2	4	6
Tanner Edwards	C/LW	10	1	1	2	4
Campbell Cichosz	D	36	0	2	2	6
Brenden Olson	F	7	1	0	1	4
Alex Tracy	G	10	0	0	0	0
Keenan Rancier	G	30	0	0	0	0
Total			126	223	349	287

Goaltending statistics

Name	Games	Minutes	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Against	Saves	Shut Outs	SV %	GAA
Keenan Rancier	33	1777:39	19	10	1	55	587	1	.914	1.86
Alex Tracy	10	562:06	6	3	0	21	153	1	.879	2.24
Empty Net	-	27:13	-	-	-	5	-	-	-	-
Total	39	2366:58	25	13	1	81	740	2	.901	2.05

Rankings

Main article: 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings

Poll	Week
	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27 (Final)
USCHO.com	3 (3)	-	5	5	2 (14)	8	6	6	8	10	11	16	16	-	19	17т	17	14	13	14	13	12	13	13	12	10	-	12
USA Today	3 (2)	3 (2)	5	5	2 (8)	8	7	6	7	10	13	16	16	19	NR	19	17	14	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	9	12	11

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13 or 26.

Awards and honors

Player	Award	Ref
Jake Livingstone	AHCA West All-American Second Team
David Silye	CCHA Forward of the Year
Jake Livingstone	CCHA Defenseman of the Year
Jake Livingstone	CCHA First Team
David Silye
Akito Hirose	CCHA Second Team