By Ryan Stieg
This weekend, some of us will still be gathering around tables eating Thanksgiving leftovers and watching sports. I’ll be doing the same with my immediate family and one of the things I was thankful for Thursday was that my fortunes seemed to have turned around when it comes to my CCHA predictions.
Last week, I went 3 for 4 with my picks and I’m satisfied with that. Augustana split with Ferris State as I expected and my special rule came into play during both the St. Thomas-Bemidji State series and the Lake Superior State-Alaska Anchorage series to help me pick up two more wins. So yeah, I’m pretty thankful.
This weekend, I only have three series to predict as St. Thomas is at home to take on LSSU, which makes things a little more difficult. I like a challenge though and I’ll get things started with a series involving a team I watched live last weekend. Enjoy your remaining Thanksgiving weekend!
Bemidji State vs. No. 14 North Dakota (Tonight at Bemidji, Saturday at Grand Forks)
Last weekend, I was in Grand Forks to watch the Fighting Hawks take on Robert Morris and I’m going to say something that might enrage the UND faithful, but the F-Hawks aren’t a Top 10 caliber team. UND blew two leads Friday night to the Colonials and needed a power play goal in overtime to avoid embarrassing itself. Then the following night, the F-Hawks only put up one goal on the board in a 1-0 win that ranks right near the top in the most boring games I’ve ever watched. If the F-Hawks had played a legitimately good team, they probably would’ve been swept. Meanwhile, the Beavers fought the Tommies to a tie Friday and then scored twice in the third period to get a win Saturday, so they’re coming into the weekend confident. I’m tempted to pick a Bemidji sweep, but I think it’ll be a split. The Beavers win tonight 3-2, but UND wins Saturday 4-2.
Michigan Tech at Bowling Green
I thought the Huskies would split with Mankato last week as they were coming into the series with a little momentum. The series started off okay for Tech on Friday as it held a slim lead, but then the Mavs did what they did against St. Thomas a few weeks ago and that’s have a big third period rally to get a win. Mankato then completed the sweep the following night. BG, on the other hand, was off last week, and it didn’t exactly look its best against the Tommies the week before that. This series is a toss-up, so I’m playing it safe and picking a split. The Falcons win tonight 3-1, but the Huskies win Saturday 4-3.
Northern Michigan at Augustana
The Vikings have looked very good at times this year and then they’ll make you scratch your head during other games. They did that again last week during their split out in Big Rapids with Ferris, so it makes me wonder if Augie will do it again against NMU. However, I don’t see that happening. The Wildcats are not having a good year and it’s not going to get better for them anytime soon. So, I think Augie gets a sweep in its last home series until mid-January. The Vikings win tonight 4-1 and Saturday 5-2.