I would like to take this chance to take a little closer look into our 2016-17 Johnnie Hockey schedule. I have attached a link below that will bring you to our online schedule. Through this link you can also click on the “details” link at the right of each game to be able to find links to: Listen to (WBHR The Bear), Watch (web cast), Live Stats. We have partnered with Stretch Internet the past couple years to make all home games viewable on the internet. We have a long-standing relationship with AM660 WBHR “The Bear,” which broadcasts all of our games on the radio. If you haven’t listened before, Jeff Brown is our radio announcer and he does a great job!
The 2016-17 season starts with our MIAC Showcase in Blaine. This is a great opportunity to see all of the MIAC teams in action. The MIAC has really become a deep league and all of the games are very entertaining. Last year, five of the nine games were decided by one goal and three of those games went into overtime. This year, we play Gustavus on Friday at 7pm and St. Olaf on Sunday at 3:30pm. It is always tough to negotiate the day off on Saturday as with NCAA rules we are required to give them a day off during that week, and therefore, we are not able to skate with the players on that day. One of the biggest changes in the MIAC this year is the addition of Mike Eaves as the head coach at St. Olaf. Coach Eaves was the long-time head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers until he was recently let go and hired on as the head coach at St. Olaf. I am really looking forward to facing off against him and his team.
Following the showcase we hit the road for two straight weeks with two games at Concordia and a game each at UW-Eau Claire and UW-Stevens Point. Even though this is very early into our season, this may be our toughest stretch of games. Concordia always plays with a ton of passion and energy, especially with past SJU coach and player Chris Howe at the helm. Last year, Concordia came into our building and swept us, so going on the road against them with be even tougher. Then, you top that off the following weekend with two road games against nationally-ranked WIAC teams in Eau Claire and Stevens Point. These teams are usually stacked every year with great players. This stretch of four games will really show us where we are at early in the season and we will need to get back to our late season form of last year to have positive results against these opponents.
We finally play our first home game on Thursday, Nov. 17 against Hamline. This is the first half of a home-and-home series against Hamline. Hamline had a great season two years back when they played in the NCAA tournament. This year will be an interesting year for them as they will be playing without their top two scorers and All-MIAC forwards, Brandon Zurn and Charlie Adams. Those two players combined for 99 points last season. That is a lot to replace and it will be interesting to see who steps up and takes on their offensive role this year.
Over Thanksgiving weekend, we were able to bring two quality non-conference teams to town in Marian and Lawrence. Both of these teams come from the Green Bay area and will be playing us and St. Olaf on the weekend. We scheduled these two games on Saturday at 4pm and Sunday at 2pm to push them a little further away from Thanksgiving, but to also appeal to local families. We plan to schedule some special events on these games in order to draw in some young families to these games. These events will include a Youth Hockey Night on Saturday at 4pm and a Faith and Family night on Sunday at 2pm.
We close out the first half of the season with two games against Gustavus, Dec. 1 and 2, and a single game against St. Scholastica on Dec. 10. We have had some great games against Scholastica in the past having won two out of the last three years against them.
We then come back after Christmas break and three weeks off to start the second half of the season against UW-River Falls and UW-Superior. These two games are part of our WIAC interlock schedule and are always tough games. These will also be tough in that it will have been nearly a month since our last game.
Finally, we enter our MIAC hockey stretch that will really determine the success of our season. We finish the regular season with a 10-game stretch against MIAC opponents. Feature weekends include a weekend series against the rival Tommies on January 27/28 and a rematch against the 2015-16 MIAC champions, Augsburg, the final weekend of the regular season, February 17/18. These final 10 games of the season are my favorite of the season because the MIAC is always tight and every game is like a playoff game.
The MIAC playoffs start on Thursday, Feb. 23 with a play-in game between the #4 and #5 seeds in the MIAC. The winner of that game will play the #1 seed on Saturday, Feb. 25 along with the #2/#3 semifinal game. The winners of the two semifinal games will play in the MIAC championship on Saturday, March 4 at the home of the top remaining seed.
We have a very challenging schedule with some great non-conference opponents along with the great hockey that the MIAC provides. Every game will be a challenge, but as I have mentioned in earlier blogs, I can’t wait to attack this season with the guys we have here at SJU!
This Week – Games and Pre-Game
October 28th and 30th. Games are at the Blaine Schwan’s Super Rink
For those interested in joining hockey parents and alumni prior to the games this weekend in Blaine, they will be gathering at Clives Restaurant just down the road starting about 2 hours prior to each game. You can see all the pre-game gathering locations on the button on the top right of this page entitled “Pre-Game Gathering Locations”.
