Frozen Four notes: Minnesota State Mankato's Mike Hastings is the repeat National Coach of the Year

BOSTON – The Spencer Penrose Award goes to college hockey's National Coach of the Year, but to Minnesota State Mankato's Mike Hastings, who won the award for the second consecutive year, the players deserve all the credit.

"First of all, I'm very appreciative based on one thing: It's your peer group that votes on that,'' Hastings said Wednesday during Frozen Four media day at TD Garden. "But at the end of the day, coaches go nowhere without their players.''

Hastings led the Mavericks to a 37-5 record and CCHA regular-season and tournament titles. He is only the fourth coach to win the award three times, joining Len Ceglarski (Boston College and Clarkson), Charlie Holt (New Hampshire) and Jack Parker (Boston University).

Among the other finalists for the award were the other three Frozen Four coaches: the Gophers' Bob Motzko, Michigan's Mel Pearson and Denver's David Carle.

Minnesota State Mankato won its first NCAA tournament game as a Division I program in overtime over Quinnipiac last year in Loveland, Colo., and followed that up by beating the Gophers for a spot in the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh, where they fell 5-4 to St. Cloud State in the semifinals. The Mavericks want to finish the job this year.

"It was a tough out last year, and the boys are pretty excited to be back and make another run for it,'' Mavericks forward Nathan Smith said.

The Mavericks have won three in a row and six of the past seven meetings against the Gophers, and captain Wyatt Aamodt relishes playing Minnesota.

"Growing up as a Minnesota kid and watching all the Division I programs in our state was pretty cool to see,'' said Aamodt, a Hermantown native. "To get to play the big dog of Minnesota college teams, as some people would say, on the national stage will be pretty cool.''

Denver averages 4.3 goals per game, most in the nation. Michigan, the Pioneers' semifinal opponent on Thursday afternoon, ranks third at 4.0. When asked if the Pioneers planned to get in a track meet with the Wolverines or slow the pace, Carle joked, "We're going to go for 9-8.''

Pioneers forward Bobby Brink, the nation's scoring leader with 56 points, sees Denver needing a solid defensive effort like it had in a 2-1 win over Minnesota Duluth in the Loveland Regional final.

"They're a skilled team that likes to produce offense,'' Brink said of the Wolverines. "To combat that, we have to be hard defensively and play within our structure. If we do that, I think we'll be successful.''

If something seems missing in Boston, it might be Minnesota Duluth. The Bulldogs didn't make the Frozen Four for the first time since 2016. Coach Scott Sandelin made the trip, though, to watch his son Ryan, a junior forward for Hastings' Mavericks.

Motzko ran across Sandelin in the arena and said, "I thanked Sandy today for letting someone else come to this darn thing.''