When Minnesota State defenseman Ben Youds scored a goal a little more than six minutes into the Mavericks’ game with Minnesota last Friday, the coach and players heard something that they’d been missing for a long, long time.
“It was weird to hear cheering when we scored a goal,” Mavs coach Troy Jutting said. “We hadn’t played at home in six weeks.”
After a split with Colorado College in Mankato on Oct. 22-23, the Mavs embarked on an eight-game, five-weekend (there was a weekend off mixed in) odyssey. And unlike some WCHA road trips that might mean a bus ride to Madison or Duluth, this one involved planes, trains and automobiles with series in four states and spanned five time zones. The Mavs got a win and a tie at Alaska Anchorage, were swept at both Nebraska-Omaha and Denver, and swept a series at UMass-Lowell, for a 3-4-1 on the trip.
After coming back to Mankato and getting the program’s first-ever home sweep of Minnesota last weekend, one would think that the Mavs had earned a little time to relax. The folks who scheduled MSU’s finals week, and a visit from red-hot North Dakota, apparently had other ideas.
“That’s all we need, just one more thing on our plates,” Jutting joked, with a raspy chuckle.
The Fighting Sioux are 6-1-1 in their last eight, and have been scoring goals seemingly at will lately, which will present another sort of test for MSU goalie Phil Cook. The sophomore was named one of the WCHA’s many players of the week after stopping 82 of 85 Golden Gopher shots last weekend, including a career-high 49 in the 2-1 win on Saturday.
The coach said that kind of athletic play is what they’ve come to expect from Cook, who grew up in Illinois and played two seasons and many, many minutes in the NAHL before finding his way to Mankato. In contrast to North Dakota’s high-scoring ways, Jutting says the Mavs do not have the kind of kids that will put up 50 points in a season, and instead are relying on playing sound defense and getting contributions from several players.
Senior defenseman Kurt Davis is the Mavs leading scorer with 13 points, and he’s getting contributions offensively from teammates like Justin Jokinen and freshman Chase Grant, who may be the best Maverick to come out of Oklahoma since Mick Berge a few years ago.
Jutting has adjusted practice this week in deference to players taking finals, going with some shorter and more intense workouts to give the Mavs more time to rest and study. After this weekend they have a break, a holiday tournament in Cook’s home state of Illinois, and then two more home series.
So if all goes well, they can once again get used to the sound of cheers when the Mavs score a goal.
A TRUE PIONEER SAYS GOODBYE
The word came out of Denver on Thursday evening that Murray Armstrong, who coached the Pioneers to five national titles, passed away at the age of 94.
Armstrong played nine seasons in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Americans and Detroit Red Wing, and was behind the Denver bench for 21 seasons (1956-77). He came to DU after a stint coaching the Regina Pats, and promised that he’d win a national title in three seasons or he’d quit. He fulfilled that promise in just two seasons, guiding the Pioneers to the school’s first NCAA title in 1958.
His 1961 team is legendary, going 30-1-1 and winning the NCAA title. He also coached a memorable win and tie over Team USA in 1960, prior to the Americans winning the Olympic gold medal in Squaw Valley that year.
“Before I accepted the head hockey coaches position in 1994, I tried to learn as much as I could about the history of the Pioneer hockey program and what made it so nationally successful and widely respected during Murray’s years,” current head coach George Gwozdecky said, in a statement released by the school. “Honesty, hard work, class, respect and dignity are all characteristics that Murray believed in and he promoted these values every day of his coaching career. I have tried to utilize many of his thoughts and ideas in order to build on the great tradition that he established. Murray Armstrong’s legacy continues to be felt even today among the history, traditions, and even practice drills of the hockey program.”
A life-size bronze statue of Armstrong stands outside Magness Arena.
SCHWARTZ, OLSEN TO VIE FOR SPOTS WITH CANADA
If St. Cloud State is able to get a win or two this weekend when Colorado College visits the National Hockey Center, the Huskies might have to send a thank you card to the folks at Hockey Canada.
That’s because Tigers star rookie Jaden Schwartz will miss this series and potentially the next six games, when he returns to his home and native land to attend the tryout camp for Canada’s entry in the World Junior Championships.
Schwartz, who had a seven-point series last weekend at Michigan Tech, is leading the WCHA in scoring both in conference games and overall. Whether or not he makes the roster for Team Canada will determine which Rust Belt metropolis he’ll get to visit later this month. The Tigers will play in the Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit, while the World Juniors will be held in Buffalo.
Minnesota Duluth defenseman Dylan Olsen is also an invitee to Canada’s tryout camp. The Bulldogs play at Minnesota this weekend.
