Once you get to the semifinal round of college hockey’s conference tournament season, it’s a pretty decent guess that most of the teams left are playing their best hockey of the season.
After all, teams that win best-two-of-three series generally don’t luck into winning those playoff series. It takes hard work to beat a team twice in the playoffs.
But this season’s CCHA Mason Cup semifinal matchups feature some tantalizing matchups with, fittingly, the hottest teams in the CCHA right now.
In the first semifinal, third-seeded St. Thomas will host fourth-seeded Bowling Green while the second semifinal features the two most recent MacNaughton Cup champs–top seeded Minnesota State won the CCHA this year while seventh-seeded Bemidji State took home the honor last season. The longtime rivals will be going head-to-head in Mankato just two weeks removed from playing a rivalry series in the same place.
St. Thomas, who is 14-3-1 since the start of the new year, swept Ferris State 7-3 and 4-1 this weekend to win their first-ever playoff series at the Division 1 level.
“As I said Saturday night, the game is full of opportunities to make plays and the team that makes the most plays usually wins the game,” St. Thomas head coach Rico Blasi said in his media availability this week. “We got a few more bounces than they did, and we were able to capitalize, but from this point on they’re one-game shots so you’ve got to work for your opportunities and you’ve got to be really stingy about what you give up.”
Liam Malmquist and Lucas Wahlin–both of whom were named first-team all-CCHA this week and are up for the league’s forward or the year award–starred for the Tommies in the series against the Bulldogs. Malmquist scored five times on the weekend–including a hat trick on Saturday–while Wahlin scored shorthanded on Friday and added three helpers on the weekend. The two seniors lead all CCHA players in points with 42 and 39 respectively.
Blasi was asked about his players’ chances to win some CCHA silverware and said the two players have been instrumental to the team’s success.
“That’s for other people to decide, but our culture is all about team and our identity is all about a process that we go through from day to day, and those guys work their process really well and they play their role,” Blasi said. “That’s how you build a team, and the responsibility everybody has within their role is really important to let guys do what they do. And those two guys can’t do what they do if everybody else doesn’t take responsibility for their own.”
Now the Tommies (18-13-5 overall) host Bowling Green (18-13-4) in a one-game semifinal at St. Thomas Arena in Mendota Heights, Minnesota.
“I think I picked them to finish in the top two to be honest with you,” Blasi said of BG. “They’re a very deep team up front, their D corps is very mobile and has good size, and their goaltending is really good, so it’s usually a good combination for a pretty good season. They play hard, they’re well coached. This is semifinals now, everybody’s going to be at their best and you’ve got to be ready to go.”
The Falcons also swept their first-round series last week, earning two hard-fought wins against Michigan Tech. Quinn Emerson’s game-winner on Friday night was the difference in BG’s 2-1 overtime win, then the Falcons finished it off Saturday with a 4-0 win. Christian Stoever stopped 27 shots for his third shutout of the season.
St. Thomas and Bowling Green played four times during the regular season, with the Tommies winning the season series 2-1-1.
“Right now, they’re the team to beat. I think they were maybe preseason favorites in this league, and they’ve played well lately,” BGSU head coach Dennis Williams said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “Obviously, they’re very well coached, and Rico has a really good track record in college hockey from his time in Miami and what he’s done there in St. Thomas. So we’re excited to be on to the next round, where we’re going to put our best foot forward, and we’re going to try to definitely play to our identity and how we want to play.”
Bowling Green has also been one of college hockey’s best teams since January. They’ve got a record of 10-6-2 since then, and played their way into a first-round home ice playoff spot down the stretch.
“I think any time that we’re able to continue playing, it’s always an exciting time. I thought the series was a really hard-fought series against Michigan Tech,” Williams said. “And we know how difficult it is in a best-of-three to try to win them both and to be able to do it in two straight. Probably wasn’t something that I think everybody would predict. You know, the parity of the league and the series means that most of the outcomes of most series this year, if you look at them, have been splits. So I was really proud of our guys.”
The other semifinal features a pair of familiar instate rivals once again facing off in the CCHA playoffs. The last time the two teams met in the Mason Cup tournament in Mankato, it was the 2021 final. The Mavericks scored in overtime and celebrated with the Mason Cup on the ice before video replay made it clear that no goal was scored. After a lengthy delay, the teams came back out on the ice to continue the overtime before Minnesota State scored one that counted and put it away.
This year, the teams are once again evenly matched–as befits an old rivalry that dates back to the 1960s. The Mavericks beat the Beavers twice this season, once in Bemidji and once in Mankato. The other two games were a 1-0 Beaver win in Bemidji and a 1-1 game in which BSU rallied for the draw and then won the shootout. The only game that wasn’t within one goal was a 5-1 Maverick victory on the last game of the regular season.
“I think you can see a little bit of almost an evolution of the two teams,” MSU head coach Luke Strand said of the matchups so far this season. “We played there earlier in the year and I can’t say we were feeling each other out, but at the same time, it’s early in the season. Then you play at the end of the year, you know each other but there’s different circumstances on the line. And now, it’s a one-and-done, so I just think you’re up for a whale of a game in so many ways. We’re going to get their best and they’re going to get our best.”
The top-seeded Mavericks swept Lake Superior State in their quarterfinal matchup, while the seventh-seeded Beavers lost their opening game to second-seeded Augustana before taking the final two to earn the win. Adam Flammang scored the game-winner in each game, including in Sunday’s overtime thriller.
“I think Bemidji is good. I don’t think they’re a seven by any means,” Strand said. “They’ve beat some great teams, so the fact that they won isn’t really a surprise marker on my side of it. They’ve got great balance. (Mattias) Sholl’s been a great star in the net and at the same time their special teams have done their job, so they’re playing a good game right now.”
