Minnesota State is back home after two weeks away and will take on Bemidji State in a series between the top two teams in the WCHA.
The Mavericks will again be without Marc Michaelis, who is dealing with a lower-body injury, and possibly Jake Jaremko, who is doubtful with an upper-body injury.
Without the top centers around, coach Mike Hastings has been impressed with the play and leadership shown by co-captain Nick Rivera and fellow senior Josh French. The two have been playing together for six seasons now, going back to their junior hockey days.
There are several story lines to this series, besides the injuries and the play of Rivera and French. Bemidji State's Kyle Looft, a Mankato West grad, will be returning to his hometown to play for the first time. And another BSU freshman defenseman, Will Zmolek, will be facing his big brother, MSU junior Riese Zmolek, again.
Read more about the series from the Bemidji Pioneer here.
Going around the WCHA ...
Alaska Anchorage at Lake Superior State: The Seawolves moved into playoff position last week and now sit one point behind the seventh-place Lakers. A sweep by either team this weekend could keep it off the playoff bubble.
Ferris State at Michigan Tech: The Bulldogs, losers of eight straight, are on the outside looking in, four points behind UAA and face a sixth-place Huskies team that's hoping to get back into contention for a top-four finish. Tech has scored just one point in each of its last two league series.
Northern Michigan at Alaska: Minnesota State and Bemidji State are 1-2 in the conference, and here's a matchup of 3-4. The host Nanooks have a one-point lead over the Wildcats, although Northern has two games in hand. The Wildcats were in up-state New York last to play No. 1 Cornell and now will be in Fairbanks, Alaska. Quite the week of travel!
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