Minnesota State Hockey: 2008-09 Season Preview

  • The Mavericks are entering their tenth season as members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Not including 25 games of league post-season action in which MSU owns an 8-18-0 mark, the Mavericks sport a 102-117-33 (.470) mark against league opposition since entering the league in 1999-00.
  • The MSU men's hockey program got its start in 1969 and in the past 39 years has forged a 679-494-117 (.572) record in 1,290 games.
  • MSU went 11-7-2 in games played at Alltel Center (formerly known as Midwest Wireless Civic Center) in 2007-08. MSU's record in 14 seasons in the facility stands at 126-80-34 (.596).
  • After beginning the season 3-6-1, the Mavericks went 16-10-3 in the remaining 29 games to complete the 2007-08 season with a won-loss record of 19-16-4. The 19 wins was the most by a MSU team since 2002-03 when the Mavericks went 20-11-10. The Mavericks finished in fourth place in the 2007-08 WCHA regular-season standings with a record of 12-12-4. The fourth-place finish marked the third time in its nine seasons in the ten-team league that MSU had achieved a top-five finish.
  • In 2007-08 the Mavericks established all-time highs for single-game attendance (5,196 vs. Minnesota Nov. 10, 2007), total home attendance (85,388) and average home attendance (4,233). MSU ranked 17th amongst all NCAA Division I men's hockey teams in the country in attendance in 2007-08.
  • A finalist for the 2007-08 Spencer Penrose Award as the top coach in the nation, head coach Troy Jutting enters his ninth season at the MSU men's hockey helm with a career record of 127-145-38 (.471). Including his time as a player (four years) and as an assistant coach (ten years), the Richfield, Minn., native is in his 23rd season in Mankato. Jutting is a two-time WCHA Coach of the Year (2002-03 and 2007-08). Assistant coaches Eric Means and Darren Blue are entering their 14th and ninth seasons as members of the MSU men's hockey coaching staff, respectively.
  • Senior forward Mick Berge will be in his first year as team captain for the Mavericks in 2008-09. Senior defenseman Blake Friesen and junior forward Trevor Bruess are this year's assistants.
  • Mick Berge is MSU's top returning career scorer with 25-19--54 in 99 career games. He will become the 96th player in the history of MSU hockey to have played in at least 100 career games. Berge topped MSU in goals (20), power play goals (6), game-winning goals (4) and shots (110) in 2007-08.
  • MSU players garnering WCHA All-Academic recognition in 2007-08 were Nick Canzanello (So., Defenseman, Rochester, Minn.); Joel Hanson (Sr., Forward, Elk River, Minn.), three-time); R.J. Linder (Sr., Defenseman, St. Cloud, Minn., three-time); Dan Tormey (Jr., Goaltender, Syracuse, N.Y., two-time); Matt Tyree (Sr., Forward, Spooner, Wis., two-time) and Jason Wiley (So., Forward, Bloomington, Minn.). In eight seasons with the Mavericks, head coach Troy Jutting has had 79 players receive WCHA All-Academic honors.
  • MSU has two WCHA Student-Athletes of the Year in the last four seasons in defenseman Steven Johns (2004-05) and forward Joel Hanson (2007-08).
  • Award winners at MSU's 2007-08 postseason awards banquet included: Mike Zacharias (MVP), Jason Wiley (Most Improved, R.J. Linder (Unsung Hero Award and Don Brose Leadership Award), Trevor Bruess (Hardest Worker) and Mick Berge (Buffalo Wild Wings Three-Star Award).
  • Two members of this year's MSU roster have been selected in the National Hockey League amateur draft. Sophomore forward Andy Sackrison was taken by St. Louis in the fifth round, 124th overall, in 2006. Freshman forward Justin Jokinen was taken by Buffalo in the fourth round, 101st overall, in 2008. Since the inception of the program in 1969-70, 11 current or former MSU players have been selected by NHL teams.
  • MSU has only been shut out six times in the last 172 games.
  • MSU had five players who saw action in all 39 games - Jon Kalinski, Mick Berge, Zach Harrison, Joel Hanson and Kael Mouillierat.
  • Of the 16 skaters on the 2007-08 roster who were also on the 2006-07 Minnesota State roster, nine increased their point totals from the 2006-07 season. Sophomore forward Trevor Bruess, who had 16 more points then he had during his freshman campaign (14 points in 2006-07, 30 points in 2007-08), exhibited the biggest jump in production. Sophomore forward Jason Wiley went from four points as a freshman to 18 points in 2007-08 for a 14-point increase.
  • Mick Berge ranked 25th in the nation in 2007-08 with .51 goals per game (20 in 39 games)...Trevor Bruess tied for 74th in assists per game (21 assists in 38 games for a .55 apg mark) and had three shorthanded goals to tie for tenth in the country in shorties per game...Goaltender Mike Zacharias was ninth in goals against average (.2.08), 12th in save percentage (.924) and 21st in winning percentage (.571).
  • Graduated R.J. Linder is the lone departee from last year's defensive corps. Returnees include seniors Brian Kilburg (3-8---11, +7) and Blake Friesen (1-3--4, +5), junior Nick Canzanello (1-10--11, +5) and sophomores Ben Youds (1-11--12, +8), Kurt Davis (1-14--15, +3) and Channing Boe (0-3--3, +1). Newcomers along the blue line are a pair of freshmen from the United States Hockey League in Cameron Cooper (Tri-City) and Baylor Dieter (Green Bay).
  • After a stellar season in which he saw action in 36 games and backstopped the Mavericks to a fourth-place WCHA regular-season finish, senior Mike Zacharias (18-13-4, .924, 2.08) enters 2008-09 as one of the top goaltenders in the country. Named MSU's 2007-08 MVP and a two-time WCHA Player of the Week last year, Zacharias concluded the year with 29 consecutive starts. He established a school single-season record with five shut-outs and his .924 save percentage tied the school record.
  • MSU's roster breakdown this year includes 21 Minnesotans, two Albertans and one player each from British Columbia, Michigan, New York and Oklahoma.
  • MSU's youngest player is freshman forward Justin Jokinen (born Nov. 25, 1989). The oldest Maverick is senior defenseman Brian Kilburg (born May 10, 1984).
  • Senior defenseman Brian Kilburg is +22 for his three-year MSU career and ranks tenth on MSU's career penalty minutes list with 203 PIMs. Kilburg established career-highs for games played (37), goals (3) and points (11) in 2007-08.
  • Junior forward Trevor Bruess led the Mavericks in scoring last year with 9-21--30. He also led MSU in assists (21), plus-minus (+22) and shorthanded goals (3).
  • Sophomore defenseman Kurt Davis totalled 1-15--16 on the year to rank tenth on MSU's scoring charts last season. MSU's top-scoring defenseman in 2007-08, Davis ranked second on the team with 15 assists and was seventh on the team with 71 shots on goal.
  • MSU's top-scoring newcomer in 2007-08 was freshman forward Andrew Sackrison (6-14--20).
  • Including four players who saw action in the National Hockey League last year, some 21 former members of the Minnesota State hockey program played professionally in 2007-08. Former Mavericks plying their trade in NHL were forwards David Backes (St. Louis), Ryan Carter (Anaheim) and Tim Jackman (New York Islanders) and defenseman Steve Wagner (St. Louis).