Rico Blasi, head coach of the men’s hockey team at the University of St. Thomas, recently spoke with the Star Tribune about the growth of the team since making the leap to Division I.
From the story:
The first view of St. Thomas as a Division I men’s hockey program for many occurred on Jan. 22, 2022, with the Tommies visiting Minnesota State Mankato as part of the Hockey Day in Minnesota television schedule. ...
It was a Saturday in late January, and it started snowing in Mankato, and the act of breathing from the spectators added a cloud to the proceedings.
It looked very uncomfortable on TV.
“Our guys loved it,” Tommies coach Rico Blasi said. “We had a roster of Division III recruits against a Mankato team that was going to play for the national championship, and we played our hearts out.” ...
At the end of that first D-I season, St. Thomas was 3-32-1 and MSU Mankato was 38-6, beating the Gophers in the national semis before losing to Denver 5-1 in the title game.
Three years later, the Mavericks are still solid if not mighty, but three years of Blasi and his staff recruiting for D-I has closed the chasm between programs to this point.
