It was an interesting week last week. Tech showed their true colors, the Gophers had an offensive explosion, and St. Cloud continued its inability to show up for at least one game of the weekend.
A few teams will be without players this week for various reasons. The Gophers will be without Nick Bjugstad and Jake Parenteau due to mono, and they will also be missing Zach Budish after he injured his knee in a moped accident earlier in the week. Mankato's Ryan Galiardi will be out a couple more week's with a knee injury. Denver will be without Adam Murray (groin injury), Nick Shore (wrist), Dustin Jackson (mono), and Jesse Martin due to a vicious hit by UND's Brad Malone, who is suspended for Friday's game vs. UMD.
This week should be a fun week with five league series, and all of them are, or are close to, rivalries. Bemidji's at SCSU, Wisconsin travels to the Gophers, Duluth and UND square off at the Ralph, the Mavericks battle the Mavericks in Omaha, and CC and Denver play a home-and-home series. All games should be fun to watch, and all are fairly unpredictable.
Unpredictability isn't going to keep me from picking scores for the weekend. Last weekend I went 6-6 and am now 34-29 on the year. Not too bad considering how tough it is to pick scores in this league.
Wisconsin @ Minnesota, Friday/Saturday 7:07 pm
This could be one of the biggest rivalries in the game. Bucky traveling to Goldy is always fun to watch. I honestly don't know who to pick in this and on what night. I am fairly certain that this will not be a sweep for either team. The Badgers have shown some offensive prowess and defensive ability. The Gophers have shown that they can score some goals, after their offensive outburst against CC last weekend. It ought to be an interesting weekend. I'm picking a split.
Wisconsin wins Friday 5-2, Minnesota wins Saturday 3-1
Duluth @ North Dakota, Friday 7:37, Saturday 7:07
Duluth comes into this series as the nation's #2 ranked team and the only team in the WCHA that is still unbeaten in this early season. They are flying offensively and defensively, and it's going to take quite a team to take them down. I think UND is just the team to do that. With the exception of the series at Maine, the Sioux have been a pretty tough team to beat this year, too. I see a tie and win for the Sioux here.
Tie Friday 3-3, UND wins Saturday 3-2
Mankato @ Omaha, Friday 7:37, Saturday 7:07
This could be an interesting series this early. Omaha is coming off a bye week after suffering their first loss of the season at the University of Michigan the previous week. They have scored a ton of goals so far this season, where Mankato has not. Both teams are giving up about 3 goals per game so far in this early season. I think Omaha's offense is going to be the difference maker here, though.
UNO sweeps 5-2, 6-1
CC @ Denver, Friday 8:37, Denver @ CC, Saturday 8:07
One of the bigger rivalries in the league, this has the potential to be a low scoring affair. Both teams have given up about the same amount of goals and have also scored the same. There is a half goal difference in the goals against category in favor of Denver. Traditionally, Denver is the better defensive team, but if it weren't for the performance last weekend against the Gophers CC would be tied, or leading, Denver in that category this year. Neither team is proving to be offensive power-houses, and I don't see that changing too much this weekend. I'm going to go with the home team both nights.
Denver wins Friday 2-1, CC wins Saturday 3-2
Bemidji @ St. Cloud, Friday/Saturday 7:07
This is the first meeting between these two teams since October 2008, where the teams split a pair of games in Bemidji. This is also the first conference matchup between these two teams since the 1986-87 season when both teams were playing at the D-III level. Bemidji has played only four game this season, all at home, and are 0-3-1 so far. Their PP is clipping along at 16.7% and their PK is at 68.2. In addition, Bemidji isn't the greatest on Olympic sheets, posting a 5-28-3 all-time record. Although, they were 2-1-1 last season. The Huskies PP isn't much better at 17%, but their PK is 83.3%; much better than BSU's. I think the big sheet and special teams play will spell a Husky sweep, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Bemidji squeak out a win when St. Cloud decides they don't need to show up for one of the games.
St. Cloud sweeps 4-2, 5-1
