Plenty of history, old and new, involved in Gophers-Mavericks matchup

Minnesota State Mankato hockey entered a new world on Friday night when it came to Minneapolis to officially open the season with someone other than Dryden McKay as its goalie.

McKay took over as the Mavericks goaltender during the 2018-19 season and played his way to the Hobey Baker Award as a senior last season.

McKay started 140 of 152 games in those four seasons, and Minnesota State won 123 games in that time.

The Mavericks had never won an NCAA tournament game, and that continued in the most-excruciating manner possible in McKay's freshman season.

As a No. 1 regional seed, they took a 3-0 lead vs. Providence in the opening 11:08, then lost 6-3. And then came worse news:

Minnesota State was 31-5-2 in 2019-20, with McKay and loaded with offensive talent, and then the season was called off in mid-March due to the pandemic.

Was Mike Hastings' outfit ever going to catch a break?

Turns out the Mavericks didn't need one. They beat the Gophers 4-0 in the NCAA quarterfinals in 2021 to reach the Frozen Four. Last April, they beat the Gophers 5-1 in the semifinals, before losing 5-1 to Denver in the final.

Presumably, that made Friday's contest a minor revenge contest for the Gophers, although coach Bob Motzko's tremendous recruiting produced a line chart Friday with a half-dozen NHL draftees that weren't on his team last spring.

The intrigue for Minnesota State might have been in getting a look at Keenan Rancier, a sophomore from British Columbia, in the net.

There's a strong chance this test would be coming against the most skilled skaters in college hockey — numerous freshmen, yes, but with speed and skill that started to take over the action in the closing minutes of the first period.

Before that, there were a handful of notable hits by the Gophers, which might have equaled their total in those two NCAA beatdowns.

Rancier seemed in control of things, until Logan Cooley exploded toward the net with three minutes left. Motzko's staff convinced Cooley to change his commitment from Notre Dame to the Gophers, and in July, he went third overall to Arizona in the NHL draft.

Third. And Motzko has him for a season, maybe two.

Rancier survived Cooley's charge, but it might have brought on some uncertainty. He couldn't find a puck in his skates and freshman Jimmy Snuggerud rapped it in for a 1-0 Gophers lead.

Snuggerud was also a first-rounder in July, drafted 23rd overall to St. Louis. Minnesota fans will be cheering against the legacy star from Chaska eventually, but not Friday, obviously.

He retrieved the puck from his first goal as a Gopher. And then he had another in the second, and a third in the middle of the third period, as the Mavericks were attempting a comeback.

Father Dave was an outstanding Gopher in the late 1980s before getting a handful of years in the NHL.

Pat Micheletti was in attendance. After only the first goal, Micheletti was asked: "Is this kid as good as his old man?"

To which Micheletti answered: "Yes. He's terrific."

Pause. "Although, Dave Snuggerud was the smartest hockey player I ever played with," he said.

Micheletti was a high-scoring senior and Snuggerud a freshman with the Gophers in 1985-86. And this anecdote might contribute to his opinion on dad Dave's brilliance.

"Tom Chorske and I were on a line together and it wasn't really working," Micheletti said. "I went to Wooger [coach Doug Woog] and said, 'Move Tom and put Snuggerud on a line with me.'

"He did that and then I said to Snuggy, 'You have one job, just one. Get me the puck.' And he did."

Thirty-six years ago, when Dave was gaining a lifetime admirer in Micheletti, no one could have imagined the Gophers gaining revenge against what was then plain-old Mankato State.

Yet that was the case Friday night, when son Jimmy had a hat trick to provide the fuel for the Gophers' 4-1 victory.

Mavs honoring Macias

Wrestling would get an athlete more attention than hockey at Mankato State in the '80s. That was thanks to Rummy Macias, who started the program in 1950 and turned Mankato into an NCAA College Division powerhouse.

Rummy coached wrestling there through 1988, with three national titles and 19 individual national champions. Scott Madigan was one in 1979, served briefly as a Macias assistant, and then ran a freestyle wrestling program in Mankato.

What was Macias' secret? "I'd say technique," Madigan said. "That's what he stressed. He talked position, angles, sometimes so deeply that a wrestler like me would have to be there for Rummy to show his audience what he was telling them."

Macias retired to Florida. He turns 100 this month and will be returning to Mankato for a tribute on Oct. 17, arranged by his former wrestlers.