After a two-year wait, Mavericks coach Don Brose is at the helm of a WCHA team. Minnesota State was granted league membership and in its inaugral season is expected to finish in a seventh-place tie with Minnesota-Duluth.
On the ice, however, the WCHA is old school. The Mavericks have earned WCHA playoff berths the past two season. Minnesota State threw North Dakota off balance in the opening game of last year’s playoffs, winning 3-2, before the Sioux took the best-of-three series.
In his 29th season, Brose has 19 returning letterwinners, including eight of the team’s top 10 scorers, to contend with. Sniper Aaron Fox is the headliner.
The senior center led the Mavericks with 47 points on 22 goals and 25 assists. A preseason All-American this year, Fox had four hat tricks in 1998-99, three of which were against WCHA opponents.