The 2023–24 Minnesota State Mavericks men's ice hockey season was the 55th season of play for the program, 28th at the Division I level, and 3rd in the CCHA. The Mavericks represented Minnesota State University, Mankato in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, played their home games at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center and were coached by Luke Strand in his 1st season.
Season Due in no small part to the departure of former head coach Mike Hastings to Wisconsin, Minnesota State saw a mass exodus of players in the offseason. The Mavericks ended up losing the top nine scorers from the previous season, leaving Luke Strand a herculean task ahead of him. To make matters worse, last year's starting goaltender, Keenan Rancier, had to have offseason surgery on his hip and would be unavailable for the star of the season. The team did receive a small bit of good news with Sam Morton having fully recovered from a season-ending knee injury.
Even with circumstances going against them, the Mavericks began the season well, sweeping preseason #10 St. Cloud State at home. Unfortunately, Alex Tracy played inconsistently for the rest of October and the team went winless to finish out the month. Things got a little better once the team settled down but one thing became abundant as the season progressed; while the offense appeared to be operating well, led by Morton, the defense was lacking. Minnesota State had been one of the best teams in recent years in terms of shots against per game. Last season the Mavericks had allowed less than 19 attempts on goal per match but now, with all of the changes that the Mavericks had undergone, MSU was surrendering almost 50% more opportunities per game. While the performances of the two netminders was about the same, the increased shot volume resulted in about half a goal against per game more. The first half of the year saw the team swing between good and bad stretches in even amounts to end up at exactly .500 by the winter break.
After the time off, Minnesota State returned looking like a new team. Tracy and Rancier played about as well as they had all season and helped the team run through January with a 5–1–2 record. By the beginning of February, Minnesota State looked primed to capture its 7th consecutive conference title but that's when the team ran out of gas. Over the final five weeks of the season, The goaltending returned to its early-season form and allowed at least three goals in six of eight games. The offense was unable to compensate and Minnesota State lost five games, all in regulation. On the final weekend of the regular season, MSU still had a chance to finish atop the standings but they were shutout in consecutive games by Bemidji State and fell to 4th.
Tracy was given the starting role in the postseason and fulfilled the assignment by stopping 58 of 60 shots from Northern Michigan. The stout goaltending was more than enough to lead the team to a sweep and a trip to the semifinals. Higher-seeded Michigan Tech awaited the Mavericks in the second round but it looked to be MSU that was the better team. Minnesota State held the lead after the first and second periods but both times Tech was able to tie the match. Adam Eisele gave the Mavs their third lead of the game at the 6-minute mark of the third period and brought upon a furious attack from the Huskies to tie the score. Tracy was unable to stop a penalty shot from tying the game with under 5 minutes to play but neither team was able to get the equalizer and the match seemed destined for overtime. In the waning seconds of the game, Minnesota State won a defensive faceoff but Steven Bellini was unable to clear the puck. A rushed shot from the blueline was stopped by Tracy's pad but deflected up and off the glass. The puck rebounded up and over the net and Jordan Power attempted to knock it out of harm's way with his glove. The Maverick defenseman missed the puck which instead hit him in the helmet and hopped back towards the goal. back towards the goal. Tracy saw the puck at the last moment and appeared to try and head the puck away but it bounced off of his mask and dropped into the goal with just 9 seconds left in the game. Minnesota State was unable to produce a miracle to tie the game and saw their season end on one of the more crazy endings imaginable.
Departures Cade Borchardt Forward Graduation (signed with Kansas City Mavericks) Andy Carroll Defenseman Graduation (signed with Abbotsford Canucks) Christian Fitzgerald Forward Transferred to Wisconsin Brendan Furry Forward Signed professional contract (Lehigh Valley Phantoms) Akito Hirose Defenseman Signed professional contract (Vancouver Canucks) Jake Livingstone Defenseman Signed professional contract (Nashville Predators) Ondřej Pavel Forward Signed professional contract (Colorado Avalanche) Ryan Sandelin Forward Graduation (signed with Colorado Eagles) David Silye Forward Transferred to Wisconsin Simon Tassy Forward Transferred to Wisconsin Bennett Zmolek Defenseman Transferred to North Dakota
Recruiting Kaden Bohlsen Forward 22 Willmar, MN; transfer from Omaha Brian Carrabes Forward 22 North Andover, MA; transfer from Boston University Tyler Haskins Forward 20 Rochester, MN; transfer from Denver Brandon Koch Defenseman 24 Hastings, MN; graduate transfer from Air Force Brett Moravec Forward 20 Airdrie, AB Evan Murr Defenseman 20 Stillwater, MN Kade Nielsen Forward 21 Burnsville, MN Jordan Power Defenseman 22 Ottawa, ON; transfer from Clarkson Jordan Steinmetz Forward 24 Chippewa Falls, WI; graduate transfer from St. Lawrence Jakob Stender Defenseman 22 Alexandria, MN
Roster As of September 18, 2023.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
!colspan=12 style=";" |
Scoring statistics LW 37 24 10 34 10 LW 33 13 15 28 16 D 37 6 20 26 14 F 37 8 15 23 16 F 36 10 12 22 6 C 37 11 10 21 52 F 34 7 13 20 15 F 36 7 12 19 14 D 34 1 13 14 18 D 31 3 8 11 20 F 32 2 9 11 10 F 27 4 4 8 10 C 27 1 6 7 2 D 31 1 6 7 26 F 18 4 2 6 2 F 36 2 3 5 12 D 37 1 4 5 18 D 23 3 1 4 10 F 28 2 2 4 8 D 36 1 3 4 8 D 13 0 4 4 4 D 27 0 4 4 4 G 28 0 1 1 0 C/LW 5 0 0 0 4 F 8 0 0 0 0 G 12 0 0 0 0 Total 111 175 286 307
Goaltending statistics 30 1584:17 13 10 4 66 671 2 .910 2.50 13 663:59 5 5 0 27 273 0 .910 2.44 Empty Net - 11:38 - - - 3 - - - - Total 37 2259:54 18 15 4 96 944 2 .908 2.55
Rankings
PollWeekPre1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526 (Final) USCHO.comNRNR19NRNR NR NR NR NR NR NR -NRNRNR NR NR NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NR USA HockeyNRNR20NRNRNR NR NR NR NR NR NR -NRNR NR NR NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25.Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.
Awards and honors Sam Morton CCHA Player of the Year Sam Morton CCHA Forward of the Year Sam Morton CCHA First Team Evan Murr CCHA Second Team Evan Murr CCHA Rookie Team
2024 NHL entry draft
6 165 † Columbus Blue Jackets † incoming freshman
References