The Worst Seasons in the Past 25 Years Part 22: Ferris State

Welcome to the Worst Season in the Past 25 Years, a series in which r/CollegeHockey reviews the worst season for all 60 Division I teams over the summer to alleviate the crushing boredom known as the off-season and take a horrific tour down memory lane.

If you are interested in writing an entry for your team, please let me know via PM. I’ll be posting entries on weekdays at approximately at 6 pm Eastern time and will be going in alphabetical order. If an entry is not posted at that time, assume that “real life” has gotten in the way and that I am not able to post. If I am aware in advance that I will not post at 6 pm on a particular day, I will announce it in prior posts as a heads up.

And now.../r/CollegeHockey presents the Ferris State Bulldogs! Ferris State were originally a DII team when they were founded in 1975. They quickly upgraded their program to DI in 1979, joining the CCHA. They would be a middle of the road team who would occasionally 15 wins a season. In 1992, current coach Bob Daniels was hired.

Since Daniels’ tenure links up with the series timeframe, the worst season for the Bulldogs is…

1996-1997 Record: 9-3-23 (W-D-L); CCHA: 7-2-18 (W-D-L; 9th/10th)

Wins: Mankato State, @Bowling Green, @Noter Dame, Noter Dame (x2), Ohio State, Bowling Green, Miami, @Cornell

Ties: @Mankato State, Michigan State*, @Alaska Fairbanks

Losses: Mankato State, @Michigan State, @Miami, @Ohio State, @Mankato State, @Ohio State, Michigan State, Western Michigan, @Lake Superior St. (x2), Michigan, Ohio State^, Western Michigan^, @Michigan, Bowling Green, @Michigan, @Cornell, @Western Michigan, Western Michigan, Lake Superior St., Miami, @Alaska Fairbanks (x2)

*Game at Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, MI

^ Grand Rapids Tournament

Biggest Beatdown: Michigan 11 - Ferris State 1

Head Coach: Bob Daniels

This was Daniels’ fifth year in charge of Ferris Wheel State. Andy CockRoach, Geoff Bennetts, and Gordon Hunt shared the leading goalscorer honor, with 12 apiece. Roach had the most assists, with 34 (!!!). In goal, Michael Szkodzinski had a save percentage of .857 and a GAA of 4.22.

The Bulldogs’ season got underway with a home series with Mankato State, which was split. The following weekend was an exhibition series with Western Ontario, both wins for Ferris. Three road games, to Michigan State, Miami, and Ohio State, rounded off October and all were losses.

November began with an away series to Mankato St., only getting a tie this time around. An away win to Bowling Green preceded a loss away to Ohio State. Another away win for the Bulldogs followed, this time to Noter Dame. Four losses in a row happened: one each to Michigan State and Western Michigan and a series loss away to Lake Superior State. The month ended with a home series sweep of Noter Dame.

December started with a home win over OSU before losing to Michigan. A couple of weeks of rest preceded participation in the Grand Rapids tourney, both losses. A Tuesday game saw the worst losing margin of the season, ten goals to Michigan. The new year began with home series with Bowling Green, which was split. Another away loss to the Wolverines occurred before a home win to Miami. Another Tuesday game saw a tie with Michigan State. A trip to Ithaca, NY saw a split series with Cornell. February saw no wins, only a tie away to UAF. All other games (WMU x2, LSSU, Miami, UAF x2) were losses.

The Bulldogs would continue to be a middle-of-the-road team for the most part, winning regular season titles in 2003 and 2012 under the CCHA banner. In 2012, the Bulldogs managed to get a Frozen Four berth (/u/ABigRedWallaby’s eye starts to twitch). In 2013, Ferris State moved to the new WCHA and won the regular season title in the first year. In 2016, they won the WCHA tournament. So, the Bulldogs appear to have garnered success in the 21st century, which is nice to see.

For Week 5 of this series, we will look at the worst seasons in recent memory for the following school: Harvard and Holy Cross. Once again, if you are interested in doing the entry for your favorite school, shoot me a PM. Your school, name, and date will be added at the end of each post to serve as a reminder. So far, the following people have inquired about a spot:

School	Username	Tentative Date
LSSU	u/binkelman	7/10
UML	u/LantisEscudo	7/13
Northeastern	u/therevengeance	8/2
Penn State	u/saucysalesman	8/8
RPI	u/Nicholas1227	8/16
Union	u/azurearmor	8/22
Vermont	u/LocksTheFox	8/23

Finally, a shoutout to u/saucysalesman who inspired the idea of this series for doing one for football over at r/cfb. Additionally, thanks to r/CollegeBasketball for the idea of the sub-par MS Paint logos for each school.

Previous Entries in the Worst Seasons Series:

AHA	ECAC	Hockey East	NCHC	WCHA	Independent
USAFA	Brown	Boston College	Colorado College	UAH	ASU
AIC	Clarkson	Boston Univ.	Denver	UAA
USMA	Colgate	UConn		UAF
Bentley	Cornell			Bemidji State
Canisius	Dartmouth			Bowling Green