By Ryan Stieg
Valentine’s Day has come and gone, which means there are three weeks left in the regular season and soon, some teams will be broken-hearted.
I entered last night’s somewhat of a holiday with some mixed feelings. My birthday was yesterday, and I felt loved and appreciated. However, I didn’t receive the early present that I wanted, which was a perfect week of predictions. In fact, I didn’t even come close.
The only CCHA series I picked correctly was Minnesota State-Michigan Tech, which ended up being a split in Houghton. However, I whiffed on Bemidji State-Northern Michigan, Lake Superior State-Bowling Green, and most embarrassingly, the St. Thomas-Augustana series. I guess my present was a dose of bitter humble pie.
I’ve got to move on quickly though as Week 19 comes earlier than normal. There are only two series for me to predict this week (I’ll be covering the St. Thomas-Bowling Green series live), so maybe I’ll finally get that second perfect week of the season. So, let’s get started with the series that starts tonight in northern Minnesota.
Ferris State at Bemidji State (Tonight., Fri.)
This week is a great opportunity for the Beavers to climb the CCHA standings. Bemidji is in third place, three points behind first place Minnesota State and just two behind St. Thomas, so if they sweep this week, they could be sitting at the top. It won’t be easy though as you can never overlook Ferris. The Bulldogs are in the cellar and will most likely stay there this year. However, they’re notorious for surprising teams and until last week’s sweep at the hands of BG, Ferris had won four games in a row. It’s going to be a tight series and as a result, I’m going with a split. The Beavers win tonight 4-2 and the Bulldogs win Friday 3-1.
Augustana at Lake Superior State
Everybody has to play the Vikings at some point this year, and unfortunately for the Lakers, it’s their turn. This means that LSSU won’t pick up any league points this week, and that’s a shame considering it is fighting for home ice right now. Meanwhile, the Vikings are coming off a nice sweep of UST, which were also their first victories at their new barn, Midco Arena. Augie is not a pushover and the Vikings have kept up with almost every opponent they’ve played this year. Based on its track record, I think Augie forces a split in its last CCHA series of the season. The Vikings win Friday 3-2, but the Lakers win Saturday 4-1.