Men's Ice Hockey 10/7/2021 10:22:43 PM

Preview: First CCHA series takes place in Marquette

3-of-7 CCHA weekend series are against top-5 ranked opponents

Nearly one year and eight months after announcing the beginning of the new era of the reconstituted Central Collegiate Hockey Association, the CCHA will play its first in-conference games this weekend when St. Thomas visits Northern Michigan in Marquette.

In just the second week of the season, the CCHA finds itself atop the USCHO NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey National Rankings after Minnesota State swept the defending National Champions, Massachusetts, last weekend. All 8 CCHA members have also heavily invested in their programs this past offseason, upgrading their television and streaming productions, official video review systems, goal nets, referee microphone capabilities, medical and emergency protocols, visiting locker room amenities, officiating standards, digital media platforms and many more improvements across the league leading up to the first puck drop of the new CCHA.

The CCHA posted a successful first showing on the ice last weekend. Along with Minnesota State's road sweep over then number-one ranked Massachusetts, Lake Superior State knocked off #17 Omaha in Nebraska and Ferris State earned an overtime victory over the Miami RedHawks.

Notable Links:

Below is a preview of this weekend's games:

St. Thomas at Northern Michigan

Video Stream: FloSports
Radio: 1500 AM | 100.3 FM
Live Stats: Here

The Wildcats and Tommies will meet for the first time in program history this weekend, officially beginning conference-play in the new CCHA. NMU boasts 83.25 percent of their overall scoring returning, including all four of their top goal-scorers in AJ Vanderbeck, Joseph Nardi, Andre Ghantous and Vincent de Mey.

The Tommies, who made the historic jump from NCAA Division III to NCAA Division I this past summer were bested at St. Cloud on Saturday and were unable to get on the board Sunday in a neutral site game at the Xcel Energy Center, home of the NHL's Minnesota Wild.

Both games will be streamed live on FloSports here.

#2 St. Cloud State at #1 Minnesota State

Video Stream: FloSports
TV: Charter/Spectrum 191 & 826 (Minn.)
Radio: 1420 AM KTOE
Live Stats: Here

Week two of the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey season will see a battle of the top-two nationally ranked teams face-off in Mankato, Minn. The Mavericks will host last season's National Finalists and second-ranked St. Cloud State for a pair of games at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center this weekend.

St. Cloud State is one of Minnesota State's oldest, most-played opponents. The Mavericks first met the Huskies in the first year of the program (1969-70) and own an all-time record of 63-57-13 vs. SCSU. The last time the two teams met was last year in a NCAA national tournament semi-final contest in which the Huskies claimed a 5-4 win.

The Mavericks had two players earn CCHA Weekly Awards this week as Nathan Smith was voted as the CCHA Player of the Week after tallying five points last weekend and Dryden McKay was voted as the CCHA Goaltender of the Week after recording a shutout on Saturday, pulling him within one of the NCAA record of 26 by Michigan State's Ryan Miller (1999-02).

Both games will be streamed live on FloSports here.

Lake Superior State at #3 Michigan

Video Stream: B1G+
Radio: 99.5 FM
Live Stats: Here

The Lake Superior State Lakers earned a road victory over #17 Omaha in Nebraska Saturday but could not close out the weekend sweep Sunday. Lake Superior State is on the road again this weekend for a pair of games at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

The Lakers return nine forwards, six defenseman and two goaltenders from last season's roster.

The Wolverines hold the advantage over the Lakers with a 68-49-8 record. The most recent meeting between the two teams was on Oct. 19, 2019 with Michigan posting a 4-3 win at Yost Ice Arena.

Michigan boasts a roster with an impressive seven first-round draft picks, including the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Owen Power. In addition, Matty Beniers was selected second overall, Luke Hughes was picked fourth overall, and Kent Johnson was chosen fifth overall in the 2021 draft.

LSSU's Whitten on Laker Hockey Show 10/5/21:

CCHA · LSSU: ESPN 1400's Laker Hockey Show 10/5/21

#15 Bemidji State vs. #5 Minnesota Duluth

Video Stream: FloSports | NCHC.tv
TV: KBJR My 9 (Saturday)
Radio: 92.1 FM
Live Stats: F riday | Saturday

In exhibition play last weekend, Bemidji State fell by a small 2-1 margin at #8 North Dakota with Alex Ierullo scoring the lone goal. This week, Bemidji State will play a home-and-home series against #5 Minnesota Duluth, hosting the Bulldogs on Friday before traveling to Duluth on Saturday.

The Beavers are coming off of a 2020-21 campaign during which they posted a 16-10-3 overall record. Bemidji State earned their second at-large bit into the NCAA Tournament in program history and netted a 6-3 win over No. 4 University of Wisconsin in the semifinal before its bid for the Frozen Four fell one game short with a loss to eventual national champion UMass in the regional final.

Michigan Tech at #13 Wisconsin

Video Stream: B1G+
TV: Bally Sports Wisconsin
Radio: 93.5 FM
Live Stats: Here

Michigan Tech was the CCHA Preseason number-three team as voted on by CCHA Head Coaches and earned two first-place nominations. Last weekend in exhibition play, the Huskies tied their in-state rival Northern Michigan Wildcats 4-4.

This is the 169th all-time meeting between Michigan Tech and Wisconsin, dating back to 1928.

Against Wisconsin, Michigan Tech is 4-4-2 over the last 10 meetings. The Huskies and Badgers last met on October 2 7, 2018 at the Kohl Center with MTU winning the first game 6-2.

Bowling Green at RPI

Video Stream: E SPN+ | YouTube
Radio: 91.5 FM
Live Stats: Here

Bowling Green will open their 2021-22 campaign with a series against the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Engineers, with games on Friday, Oct. 8, and Saturday, Oct. 9.

This will be the first matchup between the Falcons and Engineers since Nov. 27, 2010 and the first game played in the State of New York for Bowling Green since 2015. The last time Bowling Green defeated RPI was Jan. 20, 2001, a 4-3 victory for the Orange and Brown. Historically, the Engineers lead the all-time series, 9-8-1.

Ferris State vs. Western Michigan

Video Stream: NCHC.tv | FloSports
Radio: 97.3 FM
Live Stats: F riday | Saturday

Last weekend, Ferris State knocked off the Miami Redhawks on home-ice in Big Rapids. This weekend, the Bulldogs will face their long-time in-state rival and their closest geographical opponent, only separated by one hour and 40 minutes. Ferris State will travel to Kalamazoo on Friday before hosting the Broncos on Saturday.

The Bulldogs are off to a balanced start, scoring four goals in each game to open the campaign, receiving points from 12 different skaters.

The Broncos shut down the Ohio State Buckeyes on the road in non-league action 3-1 last weekend as their tune-up. They return all 10 of their top-10 scorers from a year ago including defenseman Ronnie Attard (Philadelphia Flyers).