St. Thomas will be Minnesota State's opponent in 'Hockey Day Minnesota' in Mankato in 2022

The Tommies men will make their Division I debut in 2021-22, while the Mavericks are coming off their first Frozen Four appearance.

May 10, 2021 at 6:59PM
New St. Thomas men's hockey coach Rico Blasi was introduced on the St. Paul campus Tuesday afternoon.
Rico Blasi was introduced as St. Thomas men’s hockey coach on April 6. (Brian Peterson, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

There will be a whole lot of purple for "Hockey Day Minnesota'' in Mankato in 2022, and it won't be just from the Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks.

Division I newcomer St. Thomas will meet Minnesota State in the event's marquee men's game in the winter of 2022 at Blakeslee Stadium, the Wild and Bally Sports North announced Monday. Details regarding the date of the game between the Mavericks and Tommies, along with other matchups, will be announced this summer.

Minnesota State is coming off a season in which it went 22-5-1 and won the NCAA West Regional before falling 5-4 to St. Cloud State in the Frozen Four semifinals. St. Thomas is making the move from NCAA Division III to Division I and last month hired former Miami (Ohio) coach Rico Blasi as its head coach. Both teams will be members of the new CCHA, which begins play this fall.

Mankato was scheduled to be host to "Hockey Day Minnesota'' this year, but the event was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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about the writer

Randy Johnson

College football reporter

Randy Johnson covers University of Minnesota football and college football for the Star Tribune, along with Gophers hockey and the Wild.

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