Minnesota State’s Marc Michaelis Injured

Minnesota State swept Bowling Green in Bowling Green last weekend to extend their lead in the WCHA conference standings to six points over second place Bemidji State, and also moved ahead of Cornell to the second spot in the Pairwise Rankings. But their long-term prospects may have taken a serious hit when senior forward Marc Michaelis left Friday’s game with an apparent leg injury.

Michaelis is on the short-list of potential Hobey Baker candidates this season. He had already scored a goal and two assists in Friday’s game, bringing his season total up to 33 points, ranking fourth nationally in individual scoring. But late in the second period of that game, Michaelis was involved in a collision in front of the Bowling Green net and had to be helped off the ice in serious pain.

BGSUHockey.com clipped a video of the play:

Michaelis did not return to the game, nor did he play in Saturday’s contest. The true severity of the injury likely won’t be known until later this week. Minnesota State head coach Mike Hastings told Shane Frederick of the Mankato Free Press after the game: “We won’t know until later this week. He had a good night and a good morning. We’ll go day by day.”

The Mavericks host Bemidji State next weekend in a series that could all but clinch the WCHA regular season title and are in strong shape to make the NCAA Tournament field. But a long-term injury to their star forward would be a huge hit to their post-season aspirations.