Series against U is big for Mavericks -- and for Mankato

When he joined the boys' hockey coaching staff at Mankato West High School 11 years ago, Ken Essay noticed that most of the players wore University of Minnesota hockey caps and T-shirts. That troubled him.

After two seasons as an assistant, Essay became the Scarlets head coach and started working to convert his players to Minnesota State Mankato fans, gradually succeeding. He was a Mavericks player in the mid-1990s and remains a diehard fan.

So Essay knows, as many Mankatoans involved in hockey do, how huge this weekend's first-round WCHA playoff series against the Gophers is.

"Let's face it," Essay said, "this is the nemesis, this is the dragon that needs to be slayed. And [the Mavericks] are primed and ready to do it."

Minnesota State Mankato made the jump from NCAA Division II to Division I hockey in 1996-97, played the Gophers for the first time Jan. 2, 1998, losing 6-2, and joined the WCHA in 1999-2000.

The Mavericks' all-time record against the Gophers is 2-25-5. But this season Minnesota State tied for fourth in the conference to earn home ice, while Minnesota stumbled and bumbled to seventh. So their best-of-three series will open at 7:07 tonight at the Alltel Center.

"For young kids, as they go to these games, this would be the biggest possible playoffs victory," said Essay, who also has coached Mankato Mini-mites and Mites. "It could occur on home ice, with our kids in the arena, soaking up the environment."

And the good hockey vibes in Mankato would continue. Essay's Scarlets reached the Class 1A state tournament for the first time earlier this month. He rates that his biggest thrill this season, but second was a hometown player, forward Corey Leivermann, his player, committing to the Mavericks.

"It's another piece in the tradition," Essay said. "Kids will see Leivermann play and want to buy his jersey."

Tickets for this weekend series sold quickly. By late Monday, only standing room was available.

Don Brose, Mavericks coach for 30 seasons, went to the Alltel Center's box office at 9 a.m. Saturday, the morning after Minnesota State Mankato clinched home ice. He stood an hour waiting for a window to open, then bought eight tickets. Those in line with him, 35 to 40 people, bought tickets in bunches, too.

"It's a step up in our program to have Minnesota come into our arena to play," Brose said. "Probably the only people not cheering for Mankato are those that take care of the treasury for the WCHA."

The conference gets the revenue from all the first-round series; if the series was at Mariucci Arena, it would be played in a building with twice the capacity of Alltel.

Whichever team wins this series advances to the WCHA Final Five at Xcel Energy Center next week and probably receives a berth in the NCAA tournament. The losing team? Its season could be over.

The Mavericks and Gophers are Nos. 11 and 12, respectively, in the most recent PairWise Rankings, a computerized formula that looks at strength of schedule, head-to-head competition, etc. The NCAA uses a similar rankings system to fill its field. Six conference playoff champions qualify, including the Final Five winner, plus 10 at-large teams.

"The chances of us playing in two weeks [in the NCAA tournament] if we do not win this weekend are pretty slim," Gophers coach Don Lucia said. "[The Mavericks] got a better record than we do, so they probably have a little more wiggle room."

Mavericks coach Troy Jutting would rather not discuss the NCAA selection process. "I stopped trying to figure that out a long time ago," he said. "We're close [to an NCAA spot], but we are concentrating on this upcoming series."

This week is spring break for MSU Mankato students, but Eric Jones, the Alltel sales and marketing manager, expects many back by tonight. "It makes it all the sweeter to play the Gophers," Jones said. "Any time we play an in-state team, there is a little more electricity in the air."

The Gophers swept a home-and-home series with MSU Mankato on Nov. 9 and 10. The first game in Mankato drew a record 5,196, four fewer than the fire marshal's maximum. Alltel seats for 4,832; others stand.

The Mavericks are 0-4 against Minnesota in postseason play, losing twice at Mariucci Arena in a first-round series in 2005, twice at Xcel in Final Five games in 2000 and '03.

"We always seem to be playing them at the Xcel or Mariucci," Essay said, "and that's a huge advantage for Gopher Nation. This time it is in our house. If you are a hockey fan of any sort in Mankato, you are fired up."