The Minnesota State University men’s hockey team has been selected by the head coaches of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) to win the MacNaughton Cup, which is awarded to the regular season champion. The defending champions and Frozen Four finalists also won the 2022 Mason Cup as the league’s tournament winners.
The Mavericks collected six first-place votes and totaled 69 of a possible 70 points overall. Northern Michigan University earned 61 points, including two first-place votes, while Bowling Green University was picked to finish third with 58 points. Bemidji State University (51), Michigan Technological University (47), Lake Superior State University (45), Ferris State University (32) and St. Thomas University (30) rounded out the coaches’ poll respectively.
Minnesota State captured the NCAA Division I East Regional Championship last season, en-route to making its second consecutive appearance in the Frozen Four and first ever final. The Mavericks, who have won five straight conference titles, return 20 players, including the league’s fourth-leading scorer from a year ago, Brendan Furry (14 goals, 35 assists), who notched 45 points in 45 games. Cade Borchardt (15 goals, 27 assists) was not far behind with 42 points. The duo will captain the Mavericks this season.
Posting its third 20-win season in the last five years in 2021-22, Northern Michigan is coming off a fifth-place finish in the CCHA regular season. The Wildcats return 17 student-athletes from last year’s squad. Back is the conference's eight-leading scorer, AJ Vanderbeck (24 goals, 19 assists), who recorded 43 points, with a league-highs in power play goals (8) and shots per game (4.47). Andre Ghantous (10 goals, 26 assists) added 36 points, while transfer Simon Kjellberg (8 goals, 19 assists) registered 27 points from the blue line.
Bowling Green, which also welcomes 20 returners, collected 11 conference victories in 2021-22. The Falcons will have three of their top four scorers from last year, including CCHA All-Rookie Team selection Austen Swankler (8 goals, 18 assists) with 26 points, Alex Barber (10 goals, 15 assists) with 25 points and Nathan Burke (16 goals, 7 assists) with 23.
The eight CCHA head coaches ranked the members in projected order of finish for the regular season. Points were awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4 basis. League coaches ranked the CCHA teams, excluding their own school.
Three more awards will be announced throughout the day today as the Preseason All-CCHA Team will be revealed at 11am CT / 12pm ET, with the CCHA Preseason Rookie of the Year to follow at 1pm CT / 2pm ET. Rounding out the day will be the CCHA Preseason Player of the Year at 2pm CT / 3pm ET.
The CCHA Media Day will take place on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, beginning at 10am CT / 11am ET. Along with CCHA Commissioner Don Lucia and CCHA Director of Officiating Kevin Langseth, all eight CCHA Head Coaches will preview the upcoming season and be available to answer questions from local, regional and national media outlets virtually via Zoom.
2022-23 CCHA Preseason Coaches’ Poll:
Minnesota State – 69 (6)
Northern Michigan – 61 (2)
Bowling Green – 58
Bemidji State – 51
Michigan Tech – 47
Lake Superior State – 45
Ferris State – 32
St. Thomas – 30
The CCHA officially drops the puck on year two of the reconfigured league on Saturday, Oct. 1. Six CCHA teams will be in action with one league contest, three non-conference games and one exhibition scheduled. The first full weekend of conference action will be Nov. 4-5.
Fans can stream all CCHA games live and on-demand, on their home televisions, computers, tablets, and mobile devices via the FloSports app. The FloSports App can be accessed on all screens and streaming devices by downloading the FloSports app on Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, the App Store and Google Play Store. Additionally, FloSports can be accessed on any smart device browser by visiting FloHockey.tv.
For more information, contact:
Perry Laskaris
Director of Strategic Communications & Brand Advancement
Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA)
Laskaris@ccha.com
(651) 308-1065