The semifinals of this year’s CCHA Mason Cup Playoffs feature a stark contrast in games in terms of anticipated drama.

It’s time for some March madness in the CCHA, and prognostication of this league, this year in particular, often is an exercise in futility.

Bemidji State last won the MacNaughton Cup in 2017, in a defunct men’s league (WCHA) against a defunct team (Alabama-Huntsville) in a game played south of the Mason Dixon Line.

This historic MacNaughton Cup Marathon of 2024 boils down to one series – or possibly – a single game.

True, only one CCHA team has a record over .500 (Minnesota State), but a good pennant race is wildly entertaining, regardless of winning percentage.

Trophy season in the CCHA arrives this weekend, and the MacInnes Cup will be awarded in Houghton, Michigan, to the winner of the Michigan Tech-Minnesota State series.

Road teams ruled this weekend in the CCHA, picking up 13 of a possible 18 points in the intra-league clashes.

This week in the CCHA: a skater wearing a black hat will unsettle the Soo; the “Year of the Defensemen” is on display in Mankato; and a gleaming structure takes center stage in South Dakota.

There will be a blizzard of CCHA games throughout the Great Lakes this weekend, including red-hot St. Thomas up in Northern Michigan and Minnesota State down in Ohio.

This week in the CCHA will include a showdown series in St. Paul, Minnesota, a Yooper rivalry resuming in the Soo and Minnesota State finally returning to Mankato.

The No. 18-ranked RIT Tigers closed out the first semester atop the Atlantic Hockey standings and have used a quartet of nonconference games to resync following a 20-day winter break.

The sad song of CCHA nonconference frustration played on for St. Thomas, Lake State, Bemidji State and Ferris State over the holidays, but old reliable Michigan Tech stunned Michigan State to claim the historic Great Lakes Invitational.

Much of the college hockey world has slipped into holiday mode – taking care of exams and nursing bruised bodies for a couple of weeks – but a handful of schools are getting in a final weekend of action.

It’s the last great bash before exams – eight teams, four series – all with rich storylines and half the games with first-place implications.

An hour before the puck dropped Saturday night between Ferris State and St. Thomas, Ferris coach Bob Daniels sat in his windowless bunker at Ewigleben Arena, sharing his concerns about the forthcoming game.