The unique nature of this season’s CCHA Mason Cup playoffs are not lost on Luke Strand.
The Minnesota State boss finds himself in a somewhat strange position for a college hockey head coach: Being out of an at-large position in the Pairwise rankings but still knowing with 100% certainty that his team is still going to make the tournament.
Normally a team who is No. 15 in the rankings like the Mavericks would be a bubble team until they won their conference tournament. But here we are, two days before the top-seeded Mavericks take on third-seeded St. Thomas in the Mason Cup final in Mankato, and they can relax.
Just a bit.
That’s because St. Thomas is ineligible for the NCAA tournament this season, a consequence of their moving up from Division III to Division I at the start of the 2021-22 season. Teams normally must wait five years to become tournament-eligible after moving divisions. The Tommies have petitioned for the NCAA to grant them an exception, and it does look like they will be eligible early.
But that won’t be until next season.
So for now, the Tommies and the Mavericks will skate for the Mason Cup on Friday night with just one thing on the line instead of two. But that one thing on the line is a big one–the Mason Cup. The Mavericks have won two of them but missed out on taking home the trophy last season. They lost in the semifinals to eventual champions Michigan Tech.
This season, the Mavericks (26-8-3 CCHA) have been the class of the CCHA. They lifted the MacNaughton Cup as regular season champions and were able to clinch the conference title a week early. Strand likens the situation this weekend to that one a few weeks ago–his team will still be prepared even though it’s not a win-or-go-home situation like it might normally be.
“It’s kind of been our guys’ MO to be mature and present and really focus on the moment where they’re at,” Strand said during his weekly news conference when asked how his team prepares for this unique situation. “You turn back the page a few weeks back the MacNaughton time and we still had to close out with Bemidji at the end of the season at home. I really liked our guys’ response to that. Even though nothing was necessarily on the line, their ability to go out and play and be passionate about what we do, and playing for the logo, playing for the community and playing for the opportunity to be a champion. These guys come here every day to win so I have faith that our guys will be in that mode.”
The Mavericks will have to get through the Tommies (19-13-5) to hoist the cup. St. Thomas comes into the game as one of the hottest teams in college hockey. They’re 15-3-1 since January and managed to earn the No. 2 seed in the conference. Their wins against Ferris State in the Mason Cup quarterfinals and against Bowling Green in the semifinals last week were their first ever playoff wins at a Division I level. A Mason Cup win would be their first conference title at this level, too. The Tommies won 34 regular-season titles and 12 tournament titles in the MIAC.
“Anytime you can be in a championship game, you know you’ve done something right throughout the year, so we’re excited about that,” St. Thomas head coach Rico Blasi said in his weekly presser. “We know how good Mankato and the year that they’ve had. It’ll be a big-time challenge, and we know we’ll have to bring our best.”
Blasi, who won the 2011 Mason Cup as head coach at Miami, took over at St. Thomas when they made the jump to Division I. The fact that the Tommies are having the chance to play in their first-ever conference title game at this level is a big deal for him.
“Everybody thinks this happens because you get something going late in the season, but this is a work in progress. This has been a process for our program when we started, gosh, almost four years ago when Dr. Esten (St. Thomas University president Phil Esten) made the call to bring me in as the head coach,” Blasi said. “All the work and the sacrifices and the guys that have come through… there were a lot of long nights that first year and the second year.
“So this is a process that we’ve been going through. Our culture has been growing and maturing as we have evolved here. I’m proud of the guys that started with us four years ago and proud of this team and love this team that we have currently in the locker room. So for us, nothing changes whether it’s our leadership group or the way we prepare during the week, we stay focused and keep reminding the guys of who we are and our identity, and here we are: we’re playing in a championship game.”
They’ll do it against the Mavericks, a team with whom they’ve developed a budding instate rivalry that has started to get more competitive as the Tommies have increased their scholarships and Blasi has had enough time to see his entire recruiting classes come through the university. In the past two years the games have been very even, with MSU holding a slight 4-3-1 edge. The Tommies will have a few more chances to get the better of the Mavericks–on Friday night and at least four times next season–while still members of the CCHA before they depart for the NCHC in 2026-27.
Strand called the Tommies a “dangerous” team, especially up front with the top line of Cooper Gay, Lucas Wahlin and Liam Malmquist. Combined, they have scored 55 goals and are the CCHA’s top goal scorers. Malmquist and Wahlin had 44 and 40 points, respectively, finishing 1-2 in total league points. MSU’s Rhett Pitlick was third with 38.
“If you don’t keep them in check, the score is going to get inflated, because they can score. That top group of Gay and Wahlin and Malmquist have been great, those are a lot of five-on-five goals they’ve scored along the way, so you better be mindful of their ‘D’ jumping the play, too,” Strand said. “Rico does a really good job with their team. They’re going to be plenty prepared. My guess it’s a tight game. That’s how it’s been for two years here against one another. But if there’s a crack in the door, they can score so we want to make sure we’re on guard.”
As for the Mavericks, their situation is odd but it’s not unlike a team that’s already qualified for the tournament as an at-large team. Strand said the coaching staff has had an extra week to look at some potential NCAA opponents, but they still really want to win this trophy. Which is to say: Don’t expect many of the MSU regulars to be resting.
“I think if I asked our guys not to play, they wouldn’t be welcome to the idea,” Strand said. “And you know what, we’re still showing signs where we need to grow in some areas, and I think pressure moments are good for guys to go through. And the trophy’s on the line. That’s a coveted prize. The Mason Cup has got a rich history. It’s hard to handle and hard to get and we want to make sure we’re still moving forward with things.”
