For weeks, MSU head coach Ron Mason said he wanted the CCHA title race to come down to the last weekend of the season.
He got his wish.
The fifth-ranked Spartans (23-6-5 overall, 17-5-4 CCHA) enter this weekend’s season finale against Ferris State deadlocked atop the league standings with archrival Michigan.
MSU and U-M both play tonight and Saturday with championship implications weighing heavily on every shot, save and goal.
Both teams are favored to sweep their home-and-home series - U-M plays sixth-place Western Michigan - but if either team slips up even a little bit, it could pave the title road for a hated rival.
“We’re in a pretty good position going into the last series of the season - our destiny is in our own hands,” freshman left wing Brock Radunske said. “An outright title would be a lot better, but we can’t really control what their end is doing. We have to make sure we have two good games and come home with two wins.”
MSU plays Ferris (14-17-1, 11-14-1) tonight at Ewigleben Ice Arena in Big Rapids and Saturday at Munn Ice Arena. U-M (20-9-5, 17-5-4) hosts Western tonight and goes to Kalamazoo on Saturday.
The Spartans have beaten Ferris twice already this season - 2-0 at Munn on Oct. 20 and 3-2 at Ewigleben on Jan. 15 - and haven’t lost in Big Rapids since 1990. But MSU still can expect a spirited bunch of Bulldogs this weekend, Ferris head coach Bob Daniels said.
“We have a lot on the line, too,” Daniels said. “We need some forward momentum going into the playoffs. We don’t want to come in on Monday and say, ‘All right, now we have to start playing good hockey.’ By then, it’s too late.”
As if the Spartans need any more motivation than their title chase, there will be a couple of inspirational events at Saturday’s regular-season-concluding home game.
The team’s annual Senior Night celebration is scheduled for before the game and a ceremony honoring Mason will commence afterward. Mason, who has coached MSU for 23 years, is retiring after the season to become the university’s athletics director.
Saturday will be his last regular-season game at Munn, but his real last game in the building will be in the first round of the CCHA playoffs.
“I’m not thinking about it too much,” Mason said. “I know we have more games to play. When it’s all over and said and done, then I’ll have time to reflect on it, but not right now.”
Five seniors will have the time to reflect on their careers Saturday. Captain right wing Adam Hall, left wing Joe Goodenow, goaltender Nathan Shopbell and defensemen Andrew Hutchinson and Jon Insana will all be honored as departing seniors before Saturday’s faceoff.
“It would be nice to get another couple years of eligibility,” Hutchinson said. “It’s been a great four years on and off the ice and it would be nice to have the pressure off on Senior Night, where you could enjoy it a little more.
“But it’s fun coming down to the last couple games with the league on the line.”
If MSU and U-M end up with the same number of points and league wins after this weekend, they will be co-champions. The No. 1 seed for the CCHA Tournament will be determined by their record versus the third-place team, which is Alaska-Fairbanks right now. That would give the tiebreaker to U-M (3-1 record vs. 1-1).
But if Northern Michigan earns at least three points against Lake Superior State this weekend, the Wildcats will claim third and MSU would get the No. 1 seed (2-0 vs. 0-2).
After all the seeding is decided, MSU can focus on its first-round playoff opponent.
If the Spartans are the No. 1 seed, they will host last-place Lake Superior in the best-of-three first round. If the Spartans finish second, they will host either Bowling Green or Miami (Ohio) in the postseason opener. Bowling Green is one point behind the 10th-place RedHawks and has two games left to play, compared to Miami’s one.
The first-round series will be March 8 and 9 and, if necessary, March 10.
