Well, last week was somewhat of an interesting week. Bemidji took three of four points from Omaha, in Omaha, the Gophers split with the Sioux in Grand Forks, Mankato split with Denver in Mankato, Wisconsin went into Duluth and took two points home, and Anchorage swept CC in Anchorage.
The biggest surprise for me last week was the Anchorage sweep of Colorado College. First, CC had been playing fairly well going into the weekend, winning seven of their previous ten games. Second, Anchorage was, well, Anchorage. They weren't doing anything flashy, but they were winning some here and there. The other thing that surprised me is that Anchorage has a history of collapsing in the second half of the season, and it's not a slow collapse. It happens right away. Yes, I did pick a split based on the games played in the first half, but I expected CC would sweep if anyone did.
Next on my list was the Gophers stealing a game from the Sioux in Grand Forks. The Sioux were pretty much on fire going into Friday's game, on a ten game unbeaten streak. The Gophers were very up and down, like their season. I was surprised to see the Gophers play as hard as they did. They just plain outworked the Sioux the first half of the game and they were rewarded for it. It's not every day you see the Sioux take any part of a game off, but they did and the Gophers capitalized.
What's the deal with Bemidji and Omaha? I just don't get it. BSU obviously has the Mavericks number this season. Good for them. Seven of their twelve points have come from the Mavericks, including a sweep of them in Bemidji and a win and tie last weekend. In my opinion, they play a tight defensive game and Dan Bakala is ridiculously on fire and single-handedly winning games for this hockey team. I have seen it reported that Bemidji is very much a clutch-and-grad team still and are getting away with it when the rules are clearly set up to eliminate that kind of play. I didn't notice too much of it in St. Cloud, but that's before things heated up for the Beavers. I guess I'll find out this weekend.
I am surprised to see how competitive Mankato is this year. They went toe-to-toe with Denver last weekend, won their tourney the prior week, and played two extremely close games with the Sioux before that. They are the definition of a good, hard working team and it's paying off for them. I was very impressed with the effort they gave in that series.
Not much to say on the UW/UMD series last weekend. I didn't see any of it, and it was exactly what I expected it to be.
I went 5-7 last week, which is my first losing week in a while. I am now at 99-77 on the season, which is a pretty good record for this league. We have five league series this weekend and one non-conference series. The one NC series and one of the league series should be pretty easy to pick, but the remaining are pretty much crapshoots. I'll give it my be though.
Non-conference
Alabama-Hunstville vs. CC, Friday 8:37, Saturday 7:37
CC has now lost four of their last five, but I don't expect that to make a difference while playing the three win Chargers in Colorado Springs. Huntsville has yet to win a game on the road, and they shouldn't this weekend.
CC sweeps 4-1, 3-1
Conference
UMD at MTU, Friday/Saturday 6:07
Do I even need to say anything. Duluth is one of the best overall teams in the country. Tech 0-16-2 since their last win on October 15th. Tech does have one of their key players back, but it wasn't enough against St. Lawrence last weekend. It should be a fairly easy weekend for the Dogs.
UMD sweeps 6-1, 5-2
MSUM at UW, Friday/Saturday 7:07
This one could be a very interesting series. UW doesn't seem to be too affected by all of the losses it suffered last season, and Mankato is playing well right now. The upper hand has to go to UW because it's on their home ice, but I wouldn't count the Mavericks of Mankato out this weekend. They're a tough, hard-working team and I fully expect them to give the Badgers a run for their money this weekend.
Split. UW wins Friday 3-2, Mankato wins Saturday 4-2
UNO at UND, Friday 7:37, Saturday 7:07
This should be an excellent series. You have the former Sioux coach coming home to coach against his protege. Both teams play the same style. They're very physical, hard-working teams that take it to the max every game. I expect to see a lot of big hits and a lot of end to end play this weekend. The Sioux have been on fire as of late and the Mavericks have cooled off, but I expect Blais to have his boys jacked for this series. It could easily be a Sioux sweep, but I'm going to have to go the safe route.
Split. Sioux win Friday 4-3, Mavs win Saturday 4-3
SCSU vs. Bemidji, Friday 7:37, Saturday 7:07
SCSU is the most disappointing, underachieving team in the league so far this year. They received a first place vote in the coaches poll and were picked to finish no lower than third. It was a very rough first half of the season, then came the FL College Hockey Classic. The Huskies managed their first weekend sweep of the season, then turned around the following weekend and swept Tech at home. Of course, there was plenty of drama in between. That's all over now, though, and it's time for the Huskies to play like the team people thought they were. Mike Lee has been officially named the number one goalie, so the rotation is officially over now. The Huskies are playing well, and they'll need a strong team performance and a big performance between the pipes if they want to beat the Beavers this weekend in Bemidji. I could see an SCSU sweep, but I'm going the safe route again.
Split. BSU wins Friday 4-3, SCSU wins Saturday 4-1
UAA at Denver, Friday 8:37, Saturday 8:07
This is another one of those series where I have no clue what to expect. On paper, Denver should sweep, but Anchorage is a surprising team this year. They haven't been great on the road, but a sweep last weekend should be a confidence booster for this team. If Anchorage can play a physical game for 120 minutes this weekend, they should be able to take home two points. Denver could quite easily take all four from the Seawolves, however, as they are at home. We all know how tough it is to win on the road in this league...
Split. Denver wins Friday 4-1, Anchorage wins Saturday 3-2
