Friday morning skate

Pat Christman/The Free Press

This is it. The final home weekend of the season for the Minnesota State men's hockey team. The Mavericks will take on fourth-ranked Minnesota Duluth. The Bulldogs were once the hottest team in the country, having rattled off 17 games in a row without a loss. However, they are 4-4-1 in their last nine games. MSU, meanwhile, is 6-3-0 in its last nine games (and have won four of its last five). Should make for an interesting series.

These will be the final games in Mankato for seven MSU seniors: Michael Dorr, Joe Schiller, Justin Jokinen, Mike Louwerse, Adam Mueller, Cameron Cooper and Austin Lee. Cooper, the lone senior defenseman, has missed the last five games due to an upper-body injury but is expected to return to the lineup tonight.

Lee (pictured) is slated to start in goal on Saturday, which will be senior night (Phil Cook gets the nod tonight). Lee has been with the Mavericks for five years and certainly will be back in the future, as his parents moved to town last year (his dad is a surgeon for Mayo Clinic Health System).

Read more about the series in The Free Press gameday preview. Also, on Saturday, be on the lookout for a silent auction to benefit an MSU leadership program. The event is being organized by Dorr and Louwerse.

As for the Bulldogs, Tim Smith is featured in the Duluth News-Tribune. He is the first defenseman from Superior, Wis. (Duluth's twin port), to play for UMD. That newspaper's gameday previews are here and here. Beat writer Kevin Pates' blog is also a great place to go for more links and info. Duluth radio man Bruce Ciskie also has thoughts on the series here.

All 12 WCHA teams are in action against each other this weekend. Here's a look at those series:

Bemidji State at Minnesota: Currently three points out of the upper half of the league, the Beavers are on a roll and have their sights set on home ice in just their second year in the WCHA. The first-place Gophers, meanwhile, are enjoying having their first 20-goal scorer in three years in outstanding sophomore Nick Bjugstad.

Denver at Wisconsin: For the Pioneers, a lot of eyes are on outstanding forward Jason Zucker to see if he returns from the hit that knocked him out of last weekend's series against Minnesota. He's listed as probable for this weekend. The Badgers, meanwhile, are struggling, but superstar defenseman Justin Schultz says he has no regrets about his decision to stay in school.

If you're going to read one story out of Madison, though, read Andy Baggot's column about former Wisconsin goaltender Kirk Daubenspeck, who was nearly killed in a car accident a year ago. He will participate in the ceremonial puck drop before tonight's game.

Alaska Anchorage at St. Cloud State: The Seawolves hit the road after being swept by Minnesota State, although they felt they deserved better in those games. For the Huskies, who are coming off their first sweep of the season, they are hoping that David Eddy is heating up for the stretch run.

Michigan Tech at North Dakota: The Huskies are coming off a disappointing one-point Winter Carnival series against Omaha and will now go to North Dakota, the team that sits one point ahead of them and in the final home-ice spot in the WCHA standings. As for the Team Formerly Known as and Now Might Again Be Known as the Fighting Sioux, home ice and a solid spot in the Pairwise might have seemed unlikely considering the adversity it has faced. Lots more links on Brad Schlossman's blog.

Nebraska Omaha at Colorado College: Like so many other teams, the red Mavericks are trying to jockey for playoff position with three weeks left in the regular season. They're tied for fourth with the Tigers but with a slim lead/margin for error. The Tigers are reeling a bit after getting swept at Bemidji State last week. They're also dealing with injury, but former MSU athletic trainer Jason Bushie, is on the case.

More coverage of the league can be found at USCHO and INCH.

Check back later for tonight's lines and, of course, the live blog.