Men's Ice Hockey

Thursday Preview: St. Thomas hosts #2 Minnesota State

#2 Minnesota State vs. St. Thomas 
TV: Bally Sports North (Sat.)
Video Stream: FloHockey
Radio: MSU 1420 AM | UST 1500 AM 
Live Stats: Click Here
Game Notes: MSU | UST
 
Minnesota State is nationally ranked number-two by USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine. The Mavericks who are 21-5-0 overall and 15-3-0 in the CCHA, face St. Thomas (2-22-0, 2-16-0 CCHA) in a home-and-home league series this week.

The Mavericks and the Tommies play at St. Thomas Ice Arena (1,000) Thursday in Mendota Heights, Minn., before squaring-off in Hockey Day Minnesota action Saturday in Mankato.  Minnesota State's historic Blakeslee Stadium (7,000) will be the outdoor venue for the game, which is slated for a 4:30 p.m., face-off.

In a series that dates back to the 1971-72 season, Minnesota State stands 18-9-2 in the all-time vs. St. Thomas. The Mavericks claimed 9-0 and 5-0 wins over the Tommies earlier this season (Nov. 18 and 20) in the most-recent meetings between the two schools. The last time the Mavericks and Tommies met prior to this year was during the 1996-97 season, when Minnesota State was playing as a NCAA Division I independent program (St. Thomas won that game 5-4).  

St. Thomas is in its first year of DI, Minnesota State is in its 26th year of DI-men's hockey and both teams are first-year members of the CCHA.