After wrapping up their regular season, Bulldog hockey will play St. Thomas in a best-of-three-game series for the first round of the CCHA playoffs.
Ferris State (13-18-3, 12-13-1 in CCHA) collected four of a potential six points in last weekend’s series against the Northern Michigan Wildcats, propelling them to sixth place in the CCHA conference.
The sixth-seed bid is an improvement for the Bulldogs, as they finished in eighth place last season with a record of 10-22-2. Part of Ferris’ success draws from a late-season push where the Bulldogs went 6-3-1 in their last 10 games.
Senior forward Zach Faremouth has been a key contributor to the Bulldogs’ winning ways, posting eight points in his last eight games (5-3–8), but he deflected the praise to the team around him.
“I credit my linemates,” Faremouth said. “I think they’re finding me in the right areas, and I’m putting myself in a position to be able to accept the pass and get a shot off.”
Ferris is led in scoring by redshirt sophomore forward Cole Burtch (7-18–25). Behind Burtch is junior forward and Hobey Baker nominee Caiden Gault (14-9–23) and senior forward Kaleb Ergang (6-14–20). Gault has played in 34 games, while Burtch and Ergang have appeared in 33 for the Bulldogs.
Gault reiterated that his successful play stems from hard work on the off days.
“Just preparation,” Gault said. “My mindset, just kind of being myself out there and playing the way that got me here. My linemates have been helping me out a lot and just working hard in practice and just working hard every day as much as they can.”
Meanwhile, Michigan transfer Noah West continues to tend the goal for Ferris, starting in 32 games. West has a 3.14 goals-against average as well as a .904 save percentage.
While Ferris has been successful in its final stretch of the regular season, the Tommies enter the playoffs on a five-game win streak.
St. Thomas (16-13-5, 13-9-4 in CCHA) has four players with 20 or more points on the season. Senior forward Liam Malmquist (13-23–36) leads the team in scoring, with junior forward Lucas Wahlin (16-19–35) behind him.
Junior goaltender Aaron Trotter has started 19 of the 21 games he’s played in. Trotter comes into the game with a 2.63 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage.
Despite hitting the road for the playoffs, head coach Bob Daniels isn’t concerned with the matchup.
“We would love to be at home for the playoffs,” Daniels said. “However, our records have been pretty good on the road, probably equal to our home record. We’ve played them there before too, at St. Thomas. So, to go back there, it’s not going to be foreign to us.”
Even this late into the season, Daniels continues to make changes to the Bulldogs’ lineup.
Daniels mentioned a change he made in Saturday’s game against Northern Michigan, moving Burtch to right wing from his primary center position, pairing him up with junior Tyler Schleppe and junior forward Gavin Best on the first line.
“I think that line clicked pretty quickly,” Daniels said. “We’ve been experimenting with it because I want to see those guys together. That line has been pretty potent with them.”
Despite dropping down to three lines, Daniels said he “probably will” carry over the lines into the playoff series, further expressing his excitement about the second line too, consisting of Faremouth, Ergang and Gault.
The CCHA Mason Cup best-of-three Quarterfinals will start on Friday, March 7, and play through the weekend, ending on Sunday, March 9. The puck drop will be announced at a later date.