Week three of play is upon us already. It's still too early to predict too much, but some of the early results have been interesting thus far. Take, for instance, Michigan Tech. Through five games they're 3-0-2 and are off to their best start since the '70's. Who ever would have thought that would have happened. I know I wouldn't have. I guess that trip to Europe, in August, has helped them out.
Instead of sweeping, or even winning a game, the Gophers decided that it would be better to lose their first two WCHA games to UNO while they were welcoming them to the league. UND, on the other hand, decided to welcome Bemidji into the league by sweeping them at the brand new Bemidji Regional Events Center. Denver lost two games at home to the #1 ranked BC Eagles, and SCSU managed to squeak a tie out of their series with Miami last weekend. On a positive note, Duluth and Wisconsin both swept their opponents last weekend.
I went 9-8 in last weekends picks and am 20-19 so far on the season. At least I'm over .500. Here are this week's picks.
WCHA Games
Anchorage @ Duluth, Friday/Saturday 7:07
Duluth has put up some goals in the first two weekends of the season and they're at home. I don't see Anchorage having too much of a chance here. I'm going to go with the Duluth sweep.
Duluth 5-2, 6-3
Colorado College @ Mankato, Friday 7:37, Saturday 7:07
The Mavericks are a pretty feisty team and have scored more goals than CC has so far this year. However, they've also given up twice as many. I'm going to go with a split on this one.
Mankato wins Friday 4-3, CC wins Saturday 3-1
Wisconsin @ Denver, Friday 8:37, Saturday 8:07
This is really going to be the first tough weekend for the Badgers. You saw what happened against BU in their first game, and the subsequent three games have been against sub-par competition, to put it lightly. The Pios are coming off of being swept at home by the Eagles. I honestly don't know on this one, so I'll go the easy route and pick a split.
UW wins Friday 4-2, Denver wins Saturday 4-2
St. Cloud @ Minnesota, Friday 7:07, Sunday 2:07
Instead of your typical Friday/Saturday series, game two in this one had to be pushed back to Sunday due to a visit from Obama. This is the second time I can recall that the Huskies have played the Gophers in back-to-back games at Mariucci in the regular season, so it ought to be interesting. This one could yield some interesting results. The Gophers are fresh off of being downright embarassed on their home ice last weekend by UNO, and the Huskies should be hungry for another win. The Huskies played a much improved game on Saturday nigh, as compared to Friday, and they looked like they were starting to finally get their feet under them. It sounds like the Gophers, really, have yet to do that. This is always a fun series as it's one of the closest geographically in the league. It's tough to pick a sweep in this one, so split it is.
Huskies win Friday 5-2, Gophers win Sunday 6-3
Non-Conference
North Dakota @ Maine, Friday 6:30, Saturday 6:00
These non-conference games are always tough to pick because we just don't see the teams enough to really know them. Just looking at the record of Maine, and knowing the level the Sioux compete and play at, I have to pick a Sioux sweep here.
North Dakota 3-1, 4-3
Omaha @ Michigan, Friday/Saturday 6:35
UNO has been hot so far this season, and they haven't, necessarily, beat only slouches either. However, this is being played at Michigan, and the Mavericks haven't done too hot against these guys in the past. I will give them the benefit of a new season here and go with the split.
UNO wins Friday 4-2, Michigan wins Saturday 5-3
Well, there you have it. Please feel free to leave any comments you may have.
