The Falcon hockey team will play against the Alabama Huntsville Chargers on Friday and Saturday nights.
Both teams are closing out their regular seasons, but facing different playoff situations.
“I’m looking for (Alabama Huntsville’s) typical fight,” Falcons head coach Chris Bergeron said. “They’re
competitive and they’re playing for something.”
The Falcons come into the series with a 15-7-4-3 record (52 points), holding a second seed playoff spot.
They have already clinched home ice advantage for the first round.
Alabama Huntsville comes into the weekend with a 7-17-2-2 record (25 points), good for the eighth and
final seed in the playoffs. A poor showing in the final regular season series could drop them out of
playoff contention with the Ferris State Bulldogs just four points behind the final playoff spot.
“A couple of points and a Ferris State loss, that combination gets them into the playoffs so that’s first
and foremost that they’re playing for something,” Bergeron said. “They want to be playing their best
hockey come playoffs, so I’m expecting them to be really competitive and they were on the road last week
against Ferris and had a pretty good weekend. This is a team we play four times every year, so I think
there’s a rivalry there.”
The Falcons are also looking to maintain their playoff position as well, as both the Northern Michigan
Wildcats and the Lake Superior State Lakers still have a mathematical chance of overtaking the Falcons
in the playoff seeding.
“It’s really not a whole lot different than a regular WCHA weekend, I think it’s going to be difficult,”
Bergeron said. “There’s going to be times where the neutral zone seems crowded and our opponent’s going
to be real competitive. We’re going to have to be ready to go.”
The Falcons also faced Alabama Huntsville earlier in the season on Dec. 1-2, which saw the Falcons win
the first game 6-2, before coming back the following afternoon to win 2-1 and claim the series sweep.

“There’s no surprises at this time of year,” Bergeron said. “I think we both know each other, but I don’t
think we learned a whole lot from the first series outside of ‘this is the 2018-19 Huntsville team,’ but
we felt like we knew that team anyway.”
The Falcons will also honor their seniors during the series. Forwards Stephen Baylis, Shane Bednard, Matt
Meier and John Schilling, along with defensemen Connor McDonald, Chris Pohlkamp and Adam Smith will all
be in their final regular season series.
“I feel like they’ve all made an impact in their own way, some of them more than others on the ice and
some of them more than others off of the ice,” Bergeron said.
“One of the mottos that we have and one of the pillars of recruiting is that we want people to leave this
place better than they found it. I think that needs to matter and these kids are definitely doing that…
They’ve been a part of a bunch of wins here, they came into a good-trying to become really good program
and I think that’s where we still are, but I do think there’s been consistency, they’ve been part of
four 20-win seasons and they’ve won playoff series, both home and away. I think it’s been a good career
for all of these guys and we’re proud of them.”
Following the series against Alabama Huntsville, the team will begin play in the first round of the WCHA
playoffs at home on Friday and Saturday night, including on Sunday night if necessary, with the opponent
yet to be determined, while Alabama Huntsville will play on the road against the Minnesota State
Mavericks in the first round should Alabama Huntsville maintain their current playoff spot.