October is the manic month of the sports calendar, our collective heads spinning with college football and NFL in full swing, the NHL and NBA playing games that count, and the Major League baseball season culminating in the Fall Classic. What is often lost in the swirl of box scores and late nights sweating out balls and strikes are the inter-conference college hockey games. Last week in this space we asserted that these seemingly meaningless games — like Merrimack versus Lake Superior State — often determine at-large invites to the NCAA tourney.

On Tuesday night, a superb goaltending performance by Bowling Green junior Ryan Bednard led the Falcons to a vital 6-2 road victory over No. 18-ranked Western Michigan of the NCHC, the nation’s premier conference. Combined with the Lakers’ sweep over Merrimack of Hockey East, this win gave the WCHA a host of major notches in this month of opportunity. Assistant commissioner Matt Hodson puts these non-conference clashes atop his sports calendar.

“You simply cannot understate the importance of non-conference play to the WCHA,” Hodson said. “In many ways our NCAA fate will be sealed by November 1 as we have 41 non-conference games in October. We absolutely have to make hay this month.” 

Tuesday’s win by Bowling Green gave the WCHA an even split over their first 10 non-conference games, including Alaska Anchorage’s stunning upset over highly touted Colorado College, also of the NCHC. “A huge win,” says Hodson, who is spending his autumn days crunching numbers, trying to project wins of those 41 critical October clashes.

“Ideally, we’re 21-20 coming out of the month,” said Hodson, who thinks his league can survive even if a shade under the break-even mark. “No worse than 20-21 or 19-22, if the wins are big enough.”

Like Bowling Green’s textbook road win over Western at Lawson Ice Arena on Tuesday. Although outshot 30-11 through two periods, the Falcons miraculously led 3-2 behind enemy lines. For answers, look no further than the Bednard’s play between the pipes. 

“He was our best player,” said Bowling Green coach Chris Bergeron of the Florida Panther prospect. “That’s the best version of Ryan Bednard right there. He was big-time tonight.”

Bergereon knows how tough it is to win at Lawson, even when he was an assistant at former powerhouse Miami of Ohio. 

“In my 20 years of coaching I haven’t won in this building very often,” Bergeron said post-game. “This is a tough place to play, we’ll take the win for sure.”

Knocking off a nationally-ranked squad from the NCHC is exactly what the WCHA needs if they are going to qualify multiple teams into the NCAA tournament. The crucial pairwise rankings require a lot of high-level math to calculate all the permutations of winning percentages of opponents’ opponents, something Hodson leaves to others. He quotes the late Al Davis of the NFL Raiders to describe his formula as to how to get WCHA teams into the Big Dance: “Just win, baby!”

Tim Rappleye is the author of "Jack Parker's Wiseguys" and the forthcoming book: "Hobey Baker, Upon Further Review," set for release in November. He can be reached @TeeRaps.