Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Morin, Stars Win Calder Cup
Minnesota State alum leads group of seven former collegians to claim AHL championship with Texas Stars.
Former Minnesota State star Travis Morin reprised his regular-season AHL MVP award with playoff MVP honors as well, leading the Texas Stars to the Calder Cup championship in a five-game series against the St. John’s IceCaps.
Morin and six other former college players saw action for the Stars – the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars – during the Calder Cup playoffs (full list below). The former Maverick led all scorers with 22 points in the playoffs, including 7 points and 3 game-winning goals in the final series alone.
Morin scored game-winning overtime goals in games 3 and 4 of the series. Texas also won Game 5 in overtime, a back-and-forth 4-3 decision on the road in Newfoundland.
Former Neumann College star Mike Hedden scored two goals in Game 5. He shared the Stars team lead with 9 playoff goals and finished second to Morin with 19 points.
Miami – the only school with alums in both the Stanley Cup Final and Calder Cup Final – saw an alum win another trophy, as Curtis McKenzie finished tied for fourth on the team in scoring with 14 points. He ranked tied for second among all AHL rookies in playoff scoring.
Chris Mueller, who won an NCAA championship at Michigan State in 2007, added a Calder Cup to his resume.
Stars general manager Scott White, who is also the Dallas Stars director of hockey operations, played at Michigan Tech. The team’s assistant coach, Doug Lidster, was a star at Colorado College prior to his lengthy NHL career.
NCAA Alums on the Texas Stars
| Mike Hedden | Neumann |
| Curtis McKenzie | Miami |
| Travis Morin | Minnesota State |
| Chris Mueller | Michigan State |
| Jamie Oleksiak | Northeastern |
| Toby Petersen | Colorado College |
| William Wrenn | Denver |
| Scott White General Manager |
Michigan Tech |
| Doug Lidster Assistant Coach |
Colorado College |