FERRIS STATE HOCKEY UNVEILS 2005-06 SEASON SCHEDULE

Bulldogs To Skate In Two Regular-Season Tournaments; Slate Features 16 Home Contests

Click Here To View Complete 2005-06 Ferris State Hockey Schedule

Two regular-season tournament appearances, potential matchups against six of last season’s top 15 nationally-ranked teams and 16 home appearances are some of the highlights pertaining to the Ferris State University men’s ice hockey team’s 2005-06 season schedule as announced by Ferris Athletics Director Tom Kirinovic.

Sophomore captain Adam Welch and the Bulldogs open the 2005-06 regular season Oct. 14-15 at the Mutual of Omaha Stampede in Omaha, Neb.

The challenging 36-game schedule features contests versus eight possible opponents who were either ranked or received votes in the final 2004-05 USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll.

“As always the league (Central Collegiate Hockey Association) portion of our schedule will be extremely challenging,” said Ferris State head coach Bob Daniels. “We’re excited about participating in a pair of highly-competitive tournaments (Mutual of Omaha Stampede and Wells Fargo Denver Cup) this season. These tournaments coupled with our other non-league contests should provide us with excellent challenges that will prepare us well for CCHA action.

“I’m also looking forward to the new league playoff format which should provide us with an exciting system in determining our CCHA champion by allowing for three weeks of playoff competition,” Daniels added.

Ferris will drop the puck on its 28th year of varsity play Friday, Oct. 7, with the annual Crimson and Gold game which is set for a 7:05 p.m. (EDT) start time at FSU’s Ewigleben Ice Arena in Big Rapids. Following a home exhibition game versus Western Ontario Oct. 8, the Bulldogs open the regular season Oct. 14-15 at the sixth annual Mutual of Omaha Stampede in Omaha, Neb. Ferris will square off against New Hampshire in Friday’s (Oct. 14) opening round while host Nebraska-Omaha entertains Army. Both the consolation and championship games will be held Saturday (Oct. 15) at the Qwest Center Omaha.

The Bulldogs will remain on the road for their next three contests with a two-game CCHA series at Lake Superior State (Oct. 21-22) and then venture to Bowling Green State (Oct. 27) in the first game of a weekend league home-and-home series. Ferris State makes its initial regular-season home appearance (Oct. 29) as the Falcons come to Big Rapids. Nine of the Bulldogs’ next 13 outings will be against league opponents which includes four straight home encounters versus CCHA schools beginning with Alaska Fairbanks (Nov. 4-5). A home series with Bemidji State (Nov. 18-19) proceeded by a two-game road set at Mercyhurst (Nov. 25-26) complete this campaign’s non-league schedule with the exception of the Wells Fargo Denver Cup (Dec. 30-31). The Bulldogs will battle Boston College in the first round (Dec. 30) with two-time defending NCAA champion Denver hosting Princeton in the second game. The tournament action concludes on New Year’s Eve with the third-place and championship contests.

Ferris opens the 2006 portion of its schedule at Northern Michigan (Jan. 13-14) before returning home to face Lake Superior State the following weekend (Jan. 20-21). The Bulldogs will continue to skate twice in a home-and-home series against interstate CCHA opponents Michigan State (Nov. 8 and Jan. 24) and Michigan (Feb. 24-25) with the latter date representing the regular-season finale. The CCHA will continue to use the cluster scheduling format with three groups of four teams. The schools that comprise each cluster will play against one another four times (twice at home and twice on the road) and face the leagues’ remaining eight teams twice. Ferris, which will have Lake Superior State and Northern Michigan in its cluster this season, will continue to play a four-game series against its “rivalry” foe Western Michigan as part of the format implemented in the 2002-03 campaign. The teams will meet Nov. 11-12 in a home-and-home with the Bulldogs hosting the series’ opener (Nov. 11) at the Ewigleben Ice Arena. FSU won’t see Western again until Feb. 3-4 when the Broncos welcome the Bulldogs (Feb. 3) before Ferris returns the favor the following night (Feb. 4) in Big Rapids.

The CCHA Tournament will feature a new format for the 2005-06 campaign with the addition of another round although all 12 teams will still qualify. In the opening round, the top four teams form the regular season will receive a bye while teams seeded fifth through eighth play host to seeds nine thru 12 in a best-of-three series (12 at 5, 11 at 6, 10 at 7, 9 at 8). The four series winners will advance to take on the top four seeds in a best-of-three series. The winners of the second-round series will move on to the CCHA Finals (March 17-18) at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Mich. The winner of the CCHA Tourney’s Mason Cup will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which commences at four regional sites. Two regionals will take place March 24-25, with the Northeast Regional at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass., and the West Regional at Englestad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. The Midwest Regional to be held at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis., along with the East Regional at Pepsi Arena in Albany, N.Y., will be conducted from March 25-26. The 59th annual NCAA Frozen Four, which is being hosted by the University of Wisconsin, is set for April 6 and 8 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wis.

Ferris, which posted a 13-22-4 overall record with a 7-17-4 CCHA mark in the 2004-05 season, returns 18 letterwinners from last year's squad.

Season ticket renewal forms will be mailed out in early August. For information regarding single-game tickets, please contact the FSU Athletics Ticket Office at (231) 591-2888 beginning in mid-September. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.starticketsplus.com.

Click Here For 2005-06 Ferris State Hockey Schedule PDF Version