Minnesota State has won four of the past five WCHA men's regular-season championships, and there's no sign of the Mavericks taking step back in 2019-20, according to the league's coaches and media who cover the conference.
The Mavericks are the unanimous selection in both the Mankato Free Press preseason coaches poll and the poll of media members, the conference announced Wednesday. Minnesota State received all nine first-place votes from the coaches – a coach couldn't vote for his own team – and all 10 first-place votes from media members to outdistance Bowling Green.
"I don't think there's any question Mankato and B.G. are 1 and 2,'' Bemidji State coach Tom Serratore said during the WCHA preseason media conference call. "And they're 1 and 2 for a reason. On paper, they're a cut above the rest right now.'' Serratore's Beavers are picked to finish third by the coaches, fifth by the media.
Minnesota State, which won the league's tournament and was a No. 1 regional seed in the NCAA tourney last season, also boasts the top preseason individual honors. Senior forward Marc Michaelis was named player of the year by both the coaches and media, and freshman forward Nathan Smith garnered rookie of the year honors from both groups. In addition, Michaelis, Mavericks senior forward Parker Tuomie and sophomore goalie Dryden McKay were named to both All-WCHA teams.
"It's an opportunity we're looking forward to – trying to compete for a championship in our league and trying to get back to the NCAA tournament again,'' said Mavericks coach Mike Hastings, whose team returns seven seniors and eight juniors from a squad that lost to Providence in the first round of the East Regional.
Completing both all-conference teams were Bowling Green junior forward Brandon Kruse and senior defenseman Alec Rauhauser and Northern Michigan senior defenseman Philip Beaulieu.
The 2019-20 WCHA season comes after a tumultuous summer for the conference. On June 28 seven members of the conference – Bemidji State, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Lake Superior State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State and Northern Michigan – announced they are leaving to form their own league after the 2020-21 season. That will leave only Alabama Huntsville, Alaska and Alaska Anchorage in the conference after the next two seasons.
"We're waiting to see what's actually happening. For lack of a better term, the seven schools are looking to become free agents, so to speak,'' Alabama Huntsville coach Mike Corbett said. "There's a lot that can possibly happen amongst college hockey, not just the WCHA. … We've said from Day One: We want to continue to be part of the WCHA.''
