Exceptional Competition And Large Home Slate Highlight 2018-19 Ferris State Hockey Schedule

Click Here For 2018-19 Ferris State Hockey Schedule

Big Rapids, Mich. – The Ferris State University men's ice hockey team officially unveiled its upcoming 2018-19 schedule on Wednesday (May 9) in conjunction with the release of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) composite schedule by the league office and the schedule is filled with exceptional competition along with the most home dates the Bulldogs have slated in a regular season in a decade.

The Bulldogs will play 20 games this coming year inside the Ewigleben Ice Arena, which will be the most in a regular-season since the 2008-09 regular season. The slate includes two exhibition contests as FSU embarks on its 44th season in program history. Ferris State will be tasked to navigate another challenging schedule as they look to reach the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in eight seasons.

The 2018-19 schedule features five of the six in-state Division I opponents in Michigan, highlighted by non-conference home-and-home series' with longtime rival Western Michigan University in addition to Michigan State University.

Ewigleben Ice Arena will also play host to a long list of strong conference foes, including defending MacNaughton Cup Champion Minnesota State as well as defending Jeff Sauer Trophy Champion Michigan Tech in addition to in-conference rival Bowling Green.

The home games come early and often for the Bulldogs as they will draw 10 of their first 12 games in Big Rapids, and won't travel farther than East Lansing in that stretch, including their exhibition slate.

Ferris State opens the 2018-19 campaign with a pair of exhibition contests as the highly respected USA National Team Development Program (NTDP) Under-18 team will make its first ever visit to Big Rapids under the direction of Ferris State Hockey alum Seth Appert on Saturday, Oct. 6. The Bulldogs will wrap the weekend with another exhibition contest against the University of Lethbridge (Canada) the following day, on Oct. 7, at the Ewigleben Ice Arena.

For the second consecutive year, the Bulldogs open regular season-play in non-conference action against Western Michigan on Oct. 12 in Big Rapids before heading to Kalamazoo the following evening to finish the home-and-home showdown at Lawson Ice Arena.

The Bulldogs open up a four-game homestand with a non-conference series against Mercyhurst on Oct. 19-20 before opening WCHA play against Alaska Anchorage on Oct. 26-27.

The following weekend, the Bulldogs will head to East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans at Munn Ice Arena on Nov. 2 before returning home for three consecutive games, including the home-and-home series finale with MSU on Nov. 3. The Bulldogs wrap the home stretch with a date with the Michigan Tech Huskies on Nov. 9-10.

Ferris State then hits the road for back-to-back long trips, first to see the defending regular season champion Minnesota State on Nov. 16-17 before making the long trek to Fairbanks on Nov. 30-Dec. 1 to take on the Alaska Nanooks.

The Bulldogs return home to square off against rival Bowling Green State on Dec. 7-8 before hitting the road to take on the Northern Michigan Wildcats on Dec. 14-15 prior to the holiday break.

Out of the break, the Bulldogs head south to Alabama-Huntsville on Jan. 4-5 before returning home to host Minnesota State Jan. 11-12 in Big Rapids.

After a bye weekend and a Jan. 25-26 trip to Bowling Green, the Bulldogs return home to play a four-game homestand and six of their next eight games at home. They open the stretch with Lake Superior State on Feb. 1-2 and cap it with Bemidji State on Feb. 8-9 before a trip to Anchorage for a weekend tilt with the UAA Seawolves on Feb. 15-16.

Ferris State then wraps up its regular season home schedule with a senior-weekend slate against the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers on Feb. 22-23 and ties up the regular season at Lake Superior State on March 1-2.

The top four teams again following league regular-season action will host the opening round of the WCHA Playoffs March 8-10 with the winner of each best-of-three series advancing to the league semifinals. The semifinals will be a best-of-three series on campus sites March 15-17 with the two remaining teams squaring off for the WCHA's Jeff Sauer Trophy in a single game on Saturday, March 23, at the highest seed.

NCAA Regional action will be held again this coming year at four sites March 28-30 with the 2019 Frozen Four set for April 11 & 13 at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y.

Official starting times for all contests will be announced in the near future and the schedule is subject to change. Fans are encouraged to frequently view Ferris State Athletics' official website at FerrisStateBulldogs.com for the latest Bulldog Hockey schedule updates and changes.

Additional information on season ticket packages and single-game sales will also be announced in the months ahead. For more information on tickets, please call (231) 591-2888 or visit FerrisStateBulldogs.com.

Since 2012, the Bulldogs have made three NCAA Tournament appearances and advanced to the NCAA Final Eight all three times. FSU has also won two conference regular-season championships along with capturing the WCHA's Broadmoor Trophy once as the league's Final Five Champion. Along with a Frozen Four berth and national title game showing in 2012, FSU also has reached the regional final and the final eight of the NCAA Tournament in both 2014 and 2016.