{"id":131396,"date":"2022-01-12T06:00:44","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T12:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?p=131396"},"modified":"2022-01-11T13:39:50","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T19:39:50","slug":"this-week-in-ccha-hockey-with-minnesota-state-coach-hastings-off-to-olympics-is-mavericks-top-scorer-smith-far-behind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2022\/01\/12\/this-week-in-ccha-hockey-with-minnesota-state-coach-hastings-off-to-olympics-is-mavericks-top-scorer-smith-far-behind\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in CCHA Hockey: With Minnesota State coach Hastings off to Olympics, is Mavericks’ top scorer Smith far behind?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nathan Smith has been an offensive catalyst this season for Minnesota State (photo: Minnesota State Athletics).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the midst of one of their most dominant seasons in recent memory, the Minnesota State Mavericks last week found out they were going to be without their head coach for a fortnight in February.<\/p>\n

Under the circumstances, though, the Mavericks are just fine with this. MSU\u2019s Mike Hastings was recently named an assistant coach for the U.S. men\u2019s national Olympic hockey team under David Quinn. He\u2019ll leave Jan. 31 to be with the team in Beijing and is set to return Feb. 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have nothing but respect for coach Hastings and what he\u2019s done for this program and the hockey world. I think it\u2019s a great opportunity for him and his family. He\u2019s earned that moment, every bit of it,\u201d Mavericks senior defenseman and captain Wyatt Aamodt said Friday night, following MSU\u2019s 7-1 win over Ferris State. \u201cObviously you see the respect for him around the game of college hockey, and what he\u2019s done for our program and all of us individually. We\u2019re very happy for him and we look forward to hearing about his experiences there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hastings, in his ninth year behind the Mavericks\u2019 bench, is no stranger to international competitions. He\u2019s been the head coach of the U.S. World Juniors team before, in 2019, helping Team USA take home a silver medal. Coaching in the Olympics, on a slightly bigger stage, will be a similar honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m incredibly honored,\u201d Hastings said last week. \u201cAny time I’ve been able to have an opportunity to be part of a staff to represent our country, it\u2019s been something that I’ve been excited about, and I look forward to it. Now we\u2019re just trying to get through selecting a team and getting prepared so we can best represent our country at the Olympics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hastings is joining a Team USA staff that, perhaps by design, has a very heavy college hockey flavor. Quinn, a former Boston University player, was the head coach for the Terriers from 2013 to 2018 before departing to coach the New York Rangers. He has also been an assistant at Northeastern and Omaha.<\/p>\n

In addition to Quinn, the Americans will be staffed by Brett Larson, Scott Young, David Lassonde and Alex Dawes. All have significant college hockey experience: Larson is currently the head coach at St. Cloud State. Young, the Pittsburgh Penguins\u2019 director of player development, played and coached at BU, Dawes played at Utica and is the director of operations at Penn State while Lassonde has 30-plus years of experience as a goaltending coach at Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Denver, Miami and Dartmouth.<\/p>\n

Hastings said he has known Quinn since they were both in Omaha \u2013 Hastings as the head coach of the USHL\u2019s Omaha Lancers and Quinn at UNO \u2013 so when Quinn called and asked him to join the staff, it was a no-brainer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a tremendous amount of respect for David, and obviously he\u2019s been incredibly successful at every level he\u2019s been at, and when he called and asked, it\u2019s an honor to be able to represent your country at the Olympics,\u201d Hastings said. \u201cBut I\u2019m also really excited about the people I get to go and work with\u2026. The group that we have, it\u2019s an incredible honor.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Hastings might not be the only Maverick headed to China. Junior forward Nathan Smith, the CCHA\u2019s current points leader, has also been extended an invitation to join Team USA. Of the 15 players who have reportedly been given invitations so far, eight are currently playing college hockey. The rest \u2013 all playing professionally in Europe \u2013 played college hockey in the past.<\/p>\n

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NEWS: Reporting with @chrismpeters<\/a>, team and league sources tell @DailyFaceoff<\/a> these 15 players have been invited to play for Team USA \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 at #Beijing2022<\/a> Olympics.<\/p>\n

List is still fluid, not all have confirmed participation, and @USAHockey<\/a> is actively adding others. \u2b07\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/jAdBFDawZO<\/a><\/p>\n

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) January 6, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n