Friday, December 18, 2020

Friday Morning Skate

It's Friday morning, and Minnesota State (at least at this point) is playing tonight. The No. 5 Mavericks are also at home for the first time (crazy, that it's Dec. 18), hosting in-state conference rival Bemidji State (1-2) in a nonconference series. The games were postponed from Thanksgiving weekend due to COVID-19. 

The two teams' schedules have been similar so far. They played each other on Nov. 22 in Bemidji with MSU winning 5-0. Then each split a series against Michigan Tech. 

Minnesota State has some new leadership this year after the departure of so many seniors, and senior defenseman Riese Zmolek is leading the way, taking on a bigger role, writes The Free Press' Kevin Dudley. Kevin also takes a closer look at this weekend's series in the story.

In Bemidji, Austin Monteith writes about the series and takes a look at the Beavers' Sillinger brothers. You can find that story on The Rink Live, along with Jason Feldman's feature on a couple of unfamiliar faces finding their way into MSU's lineup. Earlier, Feldy focused on how the Mavs have handled the season's crazy schedule

The schedule has indeed been in flux, with games not in the traditional Friday-Saturday set. Tonight in the WCHA, Northern Michigan plays at Michigan Tech (the series goes to Marquette tomorrow), and Bowling Green starts a nonconference series with Quinnipiac. On Wednesday night, Northern Michigan defeated visiting Ferris State 5-4.

Bowling Green has been able to play the most games so far, thanks to having some non-WCHA teams close by. The Falcons are 6-1-0. Lake Superior State is 4-0-2, playing mostly league teams, although both Lake State and BG have played Adrian, a Division III opponent.

Enjoy this weekend, if you're able to watch, as MSU will be off for Christmas and play next at Northern Michigan on Jan. 2-3.

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