The WCHA playoff championship game takes place today between Minnesota State and Bowling Green. These are two teams that have really relied on their depth this season, getting good scoring and defense up and down their lineups.
"I think our biggest strength is that we don't have to rely on one one particular line a night," said Parker Tuomie, the team's second-leading scorer and the ringleader behind the players' bleached hair.
For more about the matchup, check out the Free Press' College Hockey Gameday feature.
An update on that: After last night's semifinals in other conferences, Minnesota State is now No. 2 in the Pairwise Rankings, and Bowling Green is No. 12. While the Mavericks are pretty much locked in as a No. 1 seed for next week's NCAA tournament no matter what happens tonight, the Falcons still aren't completely safe. It appears they either need to win the Jeff Sauer Trophy and get the auto-bid, or they need Northeastern to knock off upset-minded Boston College in the Hockey East final. Either way, the Falcons want to leave nothing to chance and hope to bring their A game tonight against the Mavericks.
Here are the other conference championship games being played today:
Hockey East: Boston College vs. Northeastern, 6 p.m.
ECAC: Clarkson vs. Cornell, 6:30 p.m.
Atlantic Hockey: Niagara vs. American International, 6:35 p.m.
Big Ten: Penn State at Notre Dame, 7 p.m.
NCHC: Minnesota Duluth vs. St. Cloud State, 7:38 p.m.
The NCHC also has a third-place game this afternoon between Colorado College and Denver.
It's going to be busy in downtown Mankato today with an expected sell-out crowd at the hockey game as well as a concert going on next door at the Grand Hall. So officials are expecting people to get there early to find parking and get into the arena. Doors will open at 5:45 p.m., and there will be concession specials in the lobby before the concourses open.
Just a reminder in event you didn't see this earlier. @VerizonCenterMN opens at 5:45 p.m. for #2/3 Minnesota State vs #13 @BGathletics for @WCHA_MHockey championship Saturday Also...@NCAAIceHockey Selection Show Sunday at @Pub500 #HornsUp #PlayingfortheJeff #LetsssGooo pic.twitter.com/yfcJGW6Uhm— Minn. St. Athletics (@msumavericks) March 23, 2019
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