Friday Morning Skate

Photo by Pat Christman

The Mavericks will finish off a three-game road swing to start the season tonight in Duluth before both they and the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs come back to Mankato for MSU's home opener on Saturday.

(Friday's game will be televised on Fox Sports North-Plus; Saturday will be on Charter 826 and Comcast 999.)

It's marathon weekend in Mankato, so the town should be packed Saturday night. There will be a Hockey Night in Mankato celebration 4:30-7 p.m. in City Center outside the Verizon Wireless Center. Also, MSU will celebrate its WCHA Final Five championship with a banner unveiling before the game.

One of the heroes of the Final Five was Brett Stern, who scored what would stand is the game-winner in the title game. It was his only goal of the season. Stern is in his second season as a captain and he leads by example, as he's the top shot blocker on the team.

Mavericks coach Mike Hastings expects the series to be a fast, up-and-down-the-rink series, not unlike the last two times the teams played, which was a 5-4 overtime win over UMD in the first game of the North Star College Cup last January at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Read more in The Free Press' Gameday Preview.

Meanwhile, the Duluth News-Tribune's Matt Wellens (you may remember him from his coverage of Northern Michigan last season in Marquette), takes a look at this weekend's goalie situation for both teams. Both played two last weekend. 

Hastings didn't name a starter before leaving Mankato for Duluth, but the smart money seems to be on Williams getting the nod after his solid relief appearance on Saturday in Omaha.

Going around the WCHA ...

• There is just one league series this weekend as Bowling Green visits Alabama Huntsville. The Falcons are eager to get started with the WCHA season after splitting with Miami last week.

• A week after winning the Kendall Hockey Classic in Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks will host the Alaska Goal Rush with the hopes of starting the season 4-0. Anchorage, Air Force and Penn State are the other teams in the event, and the latter is coached by old Nanooks coach Guy Gadowsky.

• Anchorage will be without senior captain Brett Cameron, who was suspended one game by the WCHA for his seemingly legal hit on Wisconsin's Tim Davison last Saturday. The Seawolves, however, do have Austin Azurdia playing after suffering a broken leg last April.

• Northern Michigan will play a nonconference series against Wisconsin, with the teams meeting about halfway in Green Bay, Wis. It will be the Wildcats' first game action of the season.

• In other action, Ferris State goes to St. Lawrence, playing its first game since beating Michigan on Oct. 4.

• Read Jack Hittinger's and my USCHO notebook here and check out our picks for the weekend here.