Feb. 27, 2007

The CCHA playoffs start on Friday night with the first round consisting of a best-of -three format. Notre Dame, Michigan, Miami and Michigan State all earned a bye for the opening round and will resume play in the second round during the weekend of March 9-11. There are no games scheduled on television for the first round but FSN will pick up coverage for the second round.

Bowling Green at Nebraska-Omaha (Friday, 7:05 p.m., Saturday, 7:05 p.m. and Sunday, 7:05 p.m. if necessary)

·        The Falcons head to Nebraska-Omaha for playoff action for a second straight year. Last season, UNO swept their first-round series with a pair of 4-2 wins. The Falcons have dropped six straight to the Mavericks, including four straight this season by a combined score of 20-3. Bowling Green swept the Mavs on Nov. 4-5, 2005 for one of their two regular-season sweeps last season.

·        Bowling Green is 5-11-1 all-time in Omaha, Nebraska. Junior forward Jonathon Matsumoto, 7-4-11 in 10 games, senior forward James Unger, 3-7-10 in 11 games, and Brandon Svendsen, 1-2-3 in 8 games, are the top point-getters versus UNO.

·        The upcoming first-round series marks the third time that the Mavericks and Falcons have met in the postseason. UNO swept BGSU last year with a pair of 4-2 wins at the Qwest Center. The Mavs topped the Falcons, 3-1 on March 14, 2000 at the Civic Auditorium in the play-in game to advance to Joe Louis Arena in their first season in the CCHA.

·        Nebraska-Omaha senior forward Scott Parse finished with 6-4-10 and a +9 rating in UNO's four-game, regular season sweep of BGSU. He had 3-2-5 and was +5 on Dec. 2 while being pressed into service as a defenseman in a 7-1 victory.

Alaska at Western Michigan (Friday, 7:35 p.m., Saturday, 7:35 p.m. and Sunday, 7:35 p.m. if necessary)

·        The Nanooks are on the road for the first round of the CCHA playoffs for the third time in as many years. They have compiled a 7-3 road playoff record over the last two seasons and posted two-game sweeps in the first round of the playoffs in three of the last four years.

·        Alaska will make its second trip to Kalamazoo in four weeks. The Nanooks have never faced the Broncos in the postseason and will look to exact some revenge after being swept by WMU during the regular season.

·        Western Michigan finished in sixth place with a 14-13-1 record. Their 29 points are the most since they last hosted a playoff series in 2002 when they also placed sixth with 29 points and a 13-12-3 mark.

·        Alaska and Western Michigan have never met in the CCHA Tournament. The Broncos hold a 19-12-4 all-time lead, including an 11-5-0 record at home. WMU is 8-6-2 against Alaska under head coach Jim Culhane.

Northern Michigan at Ohio State (Friday, 7:05 p.m., Saturday, 7:05 p.m. and Sunday, 7:05 p.m. if necessary)

·        The Wildcats will travel to Columbus for just the second time in three weeks for the first round of the playoffs. They have not won in Columbus since a 3-2 decision on Nov. 7, 1981 and have scored just five goals in their past six games at Value City Arena. The Buckeyes and Wildcats met four times as clustermates this season with OSU holding a 3-1-0 edge.

·        The two teams have met just once in the playoffs since 1983. NMU defeated OSU, 4-1 in the third-place game at the 2003 Super Six.

·        The Buckeyes will host Northern Michigan in the first round of the playoffs at the OSU Ice Rink. The squad is unable to play in Value City Arena, its home rink, because high school wrestling is in the VCA. The contract was signed before the CCHA playoff format was changed last season, moving the start of the playoffs one week earlier. The rink is the team's former home. The squad last played there in an exhibition game vs. Wilfrid Laurier Sept. 26, 2003 (W, 4-1). The team last played an official game there on Dec. 5,1998, downing Notre Dame, 4-1.

Ferris State at Lake Superior (Friday, 7:35 p.m., Saturday, 7:05 p.m. and Sunday, 7:05 p.m. if necessary)

·        Ferris State is 16-45-3 all-time in CCHA Playoff action, which includes a 6-41-0 road ledger. The Bulldogs have advanced on the road just once, in 1980, when they took a two-game, total-goals series from Ohio State. They are 14-37-3 in first-round action, including a sweep of the Buckeyes last year.

·        This marks the third time that Ferris State and Lake Superior State have met in the playoffs and both previous encounters have resulted in series sweeps. The Lakers blanked the Bulldogs twice, 5-0 and 3-0, in a 1989 series in the Soo. Ferris earned a pair of 6-1 wins at Big Rapids in their regular-season championship season of 2002-03.

·        Lake Superior State has a 58-38-12 lead over Ferris State in the all-time series. Ferris is 17-29-6 on the road versus the Lakers. LSSU went 1-0-1 against the Bulldogs in a Dec. 8-9 series this season at Big Rapids, skating to a 1-1 overtime tie before registering a 4-1 triumph.

·        Lake Superior hopes to avid last season's playoff fate. After beating Western Michigan four times and outscoring the Broncos 23-2 during the regular season, WMU swept LSSU 3-2 in overtime and 1-0 to win last year's first-round series in Sault Ste. Marie. LSSU last won a CCHA first-round series in 1995-96 when the Lakers swept Ohio State in the first round and eventually lost 4-3 to Michigan in the finals.