NCAA Hockey 2008 Season Preview: Minnesota State

Nobody expected much from a Minnesota State team that was picked near the bottom of the standings last season. But the Mavericks surprised many people by finishing in the top half of the league before losing a heartbreaking playoff series to Minnesota and being kept out of the NCAA tournament by some dubious math. This year's Maverick team returns many of the key players from last year's team, though they will no longer by flying under the radar. Can Minnesota State deal with the expectations and break through with their second ever NCAA tournament appearance this year?

Who is Gone?: Speedy forward Jon Kalinski left over the summer to sign with the Philadelphia Flyers. The team also lost two key leaders in forward Joel Hanson and defenseman R.J. Linder.

Who is New?: The Mavericks got a huge coup this summer when they signed forward Justin Jokinen. Jokinen was drafted in the fourth round of the NHL draft, the Mavericks highest draft pick since David Backes was selected in the second round in 2003. Forwards Tyler Thompson and Joe Schiller will add some scoring and toughness after coming from the USHL, and defenseman Baylor Dieter should add some more muscle to the Mavericks speedy defense.

Forwards

Projected Forward Lines

Mick Berge-Trevor Bruess-Kael Mouillierat
Jason Wiley-Andrew Sackrison-Geoff Irwin
Justin Jokinen-Zach Harrison-Tyler Thompson
Mike Louwerse-Rylan Galiardi-James Gaulrapp

The Mavericks offense struggled for much of last season, but started to pick up in the second half of the season as their large group of sophomore forwards developed and started scoring more goals. Now, for the first time in two years, the Mavericks forward will primarily be upperclassmen, which should make this a pretty strong unit. Mick Berge is one of the most dangerous players on the powerplay in the league.

Defense

Projected Defensive Pairings

Brian Kilburg-Kurt Davis
Ben Youds-Blake Friesen
Channing Boe-Nick Canzanello

This was the area of greatest improvement for the Mavericks last season. Davis, Youds, and Boe all exceeded expectations as freshmen and turned the Mavericks blueline into one of the strong points of the team. Senior Brian Kilburg is quietly one of the more reliable defensive defenseman in the league, and one of the best open ice hitters.

Goalie

Mike Zacharias
Dan Tormey
Austin Lee

The Mavericks were expected to platoon Zacharias and Tormey last season, but Zacharias took the starting job and never gave coach Troy Jutting a reason to make a switch. Zacharias was one of the best goalies in the country and stole many games for MSU last season, and should continue that success to this season. Tormey may also cede some playing time to redshirt freshman Austin Lee, who will take over in goal next season when Zacharias and Tormey graduate.

Overall

Last season was an unexpected surprise for Maverick fans, but this was really the season that Minnesota State was building towards, with strong senior goaltending, and an experienced offense. They probably still lack the superstar offensive power to compete with the very best teams in the league, but they will be a difficult team to play and win a lot of close games. The Mavericks are known as a slow-starting team, but with a veteran lineup, that shouldn't be a problem this season. The Mavericks will likely finish somewhere in the middle of the conference and will once again be on the bubble for the NCAA tournament.