No. 2-ranked Minnesota State will play a home series for just the second time this season when it hosts Ferris State in a WCHA set at 5 p.m. today and 3 p.m. Sunday. The Mavericks have won four straight and are undefeated in their last seven.
Much of their success stems from a defensive corps that doesn't seem to have lost a beat, despite losing three regular from last season. That's because freshmen Akito Hirose and Jake Livingstone have stepped right in and filled those voids, writes The Free Press' Kevin Dudley. Also, as Dudley opined in his Thursday column, Dryden McKay continues to put up gaudy numbers in goal.
This weekend's opponent, the Bulldogs, are 1-8-0, winless until defeating Division III Trine last week. As I worked recently on a story for the WCHA on the decade of the 2010s to be featured in the league's 70 Years of Excellence special feature, I looked back on that first series between MSU and FSU as WCHA opponents, which took place right around this time seven years ago. The rivalry those teams established that weekend really helped boost the new version of the conference and proved that, with good teams and good rivalries, everything was going to be OK. It's too bad that Ferris State has fallen on some hard times the last couple of years. After splitting two series with the Bulldogs in 2016-17, the Mavericks have won eight straight games against them.
In Ferris State news, this week it was announced that longtime Bulldogs assistant coach Mark Kaufman received the American Hockey Coaches Association Terry Flanagan Award, which honors an assistant coach's career body of work. Kaufman is in his 15th season as part of coach Bob Daniels' staff.
Going around the WCHA, Bemidji State has an impressive Thursday and Friday, sweeping No. 5 Bowling Green 2-1 and 3-1 at Bemidji. The teams split a series at Bowling Green just two weeks earlier. As for other series, Lake Superior State at Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan at Alabama Huntsville were both postponed due to COVID, so Tech and Northern decided to play each other in a nonconference series today and Monday. Keeping up on the schedule changes sure ain't easy.
Hopefully things will return to normal next season, and speaking of next season, the CCHA made some news this week by announcing the hiring of its new Director of Strategic Communications and Brand Advancement, Dominic Hennig. College Hockey News also looked ahead to the CCHA next year with an update on St. Thomas that includes some interesting speculation about the Tommies' first D-I coach.
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