Jack Hittinger

When Derek Mullahy arrived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for his first year of USHL junior hockey in 2019, he knew the Roughriders were going to be looking for a goaltender. Their previous netminder had just been a workhorse for them in the previous, playing in 47 games and leading them to a Clark Cup playoff … Read more

Up until two weeks ago, Kirklan Irey would have described his season as inconsistent. The Bemidji State junior winger had only scored one goal in nine games coming into BSU’s nonconference series against third-ranked Minnesota. In game one of that series, Irey found himself playing as the extra skater instead. That was something of a … Read more

The fraternity of college hockey coaches is small. And the sub-fraternity of men’s college hockey coaches with 500 career victories is even smaller (17, to be exact). Even smaller yet? The number of active coaches with at least 500 career wins. Coming into the season just four active coaches were in the 500 club — … Read more

Two weeks ago, Lake Superior State came back from their trip to Columbus, Ohio, in something of a daze. The Lakers were swept by Ohio State and took both games on the chin, losing 9-3 and 6-2. That caused a little soul searching for everyone involved with the program. “We talked about it that Ohio … Read more

Nobody can accuse Minnesota State of taking the easy way out to start the 2024-25 season. In their first five weeks of play, the Mavericks have skated every weekend without a bye, and their opponents have included: two top-10-ranked nonconference opponents (Michigan and North Dakota), one team that was ranked before the series (Omaha), one … Read more

For Northern Michigan, this season is about the process, not results. Maybe that sounds like a tired sports cliche, but considering this team had to refresh basically its entire coaching staff and roster in the span of five months, it’s a reasonable expectation. Last weekend’s series against Arizona State is a case in point: The … Read more

It’s hard to get too excited about exhibition results, but when Augustana knocked off North Dakota in one earlier this month it certainly got the college hockey world talking. “Wait, AUGUSTANA? The second-year team? Beat NORTH DAKOTA? In HOCKEY?” The Vikings’ 4-1 win over the Fighting Hawks ultimately doesn’t count for either team’s record or … Read more

During the CCHA’s annual preseason video conference, Minnesota State head coach Luke Strand had stressed how important it would be for the Mavericks to go and challenge themselves in their nonconference schedule this season. “Our out of conference play, it’s a tough schedule. It’s supposed to be that way. I made it that way for … Read more

Since the CCHA reformed in 2021, fans outside the greater Mankato metro area have not had much of a chance to see the Mason Cup in person. That’s because, up until now, the road to the league’s playoff trophy has gone through Minnesota State. The Mavericks won the trophy, and the associated NCAA at-large bid, … Read more

Much has been made about how close the CCHA was this year. If someone asked you to take a look around and assess the state of the league, you’d be well aware that the second-place team in the standings was separated by just five points from the seventh-place finisher. So when the CCHA’s Mason Cup … Read more

As those who have followed the conference currently known as the CCHA for the past decade know, things in this conference are rarely easy. Even though Minnesota State had previously won six consecutive MacNaughton Cups, the path to the MacNaughton is rarely easy. Championships are usually won by a few points here and a few … Read more