The Falcon hockey team will have its final home series of the regular season against the Michigan Tech Huskies Friday and Saturday nights, and the team looks to finish the regular season strong.
The team has played against Michigan Tech earlier this year, winning 2-1 and losing 3-2 in a shootout Nov. 3 and 4, respectively, before facing them again Jan. 2 in the Great Lakes Invitational, which the Falcons took 4-1.
“I’m a huge fan of Michigan Tech’s team,” Falcons head coach Chris Bergeron said. “We’ve played them three times this year, and they are what I remember them to be in years past.”
Michigan Tech will come into this weekend after having been swept by the Ferris State Bulldogs last weekend, but the Falcons believe that this will add more motivation to the series for Michigan Tech.
“I think they’re going to be hungry because of what happened at Ferris last weekend,” Bergeron said. “I know they’re fighting for home ice, and I’m looking for them to bring a mindset here of a rivalry weekend. We’ve developed what I believe is a pretty good rivalry with Michigan Tech with the playoffs, regular season and the GLI championship, and I’m expecting a hard, fast weekend.”
Though this series is the final one at home for the regular season, the team is not putting any special emphasis on the series, but they believe it could still be a factor.
“I don’t think it’s more important, but in their mind, it may be,” Bergeron said. “We haven’t earned home ice in the playoffs, so we don’t know if this will be the last series or not. I think our guys like playing at home so much. When you think back to the weekend against Alaska Anchorage and the crowd and the atmosphere, they love playing at home, and they know, for the ‘17-’18 season, those numbers are dwindling in terms of the opportunities to play at home.”
After this weekend, the team will have a short break in the schedule before traveling to face the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves Feb. 15 and 16.
“It’s something that we want to empty the tank, because we have time to refill and get ready for our trip to Anchorage,” Bergeron said. “But, I don’t think that they think about it in those terms. I think they try as hard as they can all the time. It doesn’t always work out in our favor, but I do think at this age, the kids are trying really hard, especially in the home games, and I don’t think they’ll be thinking about the week off until after the game.”
