By Ryan Stieg
It finally happened. After striving for more than two months this season, I achieved the perfect week and I’m feeling good right now,
Perfect weeks are rare as I think I’ve only racked up four of them over the four seasons I’ve been running this website and honestly, I didn’t think that would be the week where I’d pull it off. Due to some posting issues, my picks didn’t get released until a few hours before the games, which wasn’t a good sign. However, things worked out great and I feel even more confident with my picks going into this weekend.
With St. Thomas playing on the road, that means I need to predict five series correctly to achieve two perfect weeks in a row. That’s quite a challenge, but I’m embracing it. So, let’s get started with the only series involving a ranked CCHA team.
Bowling Green at No. 15 Minnesota State
The Falcons are coming into this weekend on a semi-low note after only picking up two points at home against Michigan Tech, while the Mavericks are coming off a bye week. BG is a tough team to figure out right now as it’s shown signs of progress, but then the Falcons will regress back to their old selves. With Mankato entering the weekend fresh and relatively healthy, I think it sweeps the series. The Mavericks win Friday 4-2 and Saturday 3-1.
St. Thomas at Michigan Tech
BG may be tough to understand this year, but it’s easy to figure out the Tommies. UST is basically beating itself right now. The Tommies could easily be sitting at the top of the league, but they’ve let leads slip away due to poor puck management and they’ve been burned by bad penalties. The Huskies, on the other hand, are probably the second-best team in the CCHA right now after Mankato and it’s hard to win in Houghton. I’m tempted to pick a Tech sweep here, but I think UST guts out a win to force a split. The Huskies win Friday 3-2, but the Tommies win Saturday 4-2.
Bemidji State at Lake Superior State
The Beavers have to be feeling pretty good right now after a solid weekend against North Dakota. I said last week that UND wasn’t as good as advertised and the Beavers showed it by coming out of the weekend with a win and a tie. Now, Bemidji travels to the Soo and a hot Lakers team that just swept St. Thomas on the road. I saw LSSU on Saturday night and it’s better than I thought, so it should be a good series. I’m picking a split here. The Lakers win Friday 4-3, but the Beavers win Saturday 3-2.
Ferris State at Northern Michigan
This may be the least enticing series of the weekend considering they’re the worst two teams talent-wise, but it should be better than you might think. They frequently have tight battles and I don’t think this weekend will be any different. Ferris was off last week, while NMU was thumped pretty good by Augustana. This might be one of the few remaining chances for the Wildcats to get another victory this year, so I’m picking a split here. The Bulldogs win Friday 5-3, but Northern wins Saturday 4-3.
Augustana at Alaska Fairbanks
This is the only nonconference series this weekend and it should be a wild one. As I said earlier, the Vikings rolled to an easy sweep of NMU, so they’re probably pretty confident right now. However, it’s a long trip to Alaska and the Nanooks are coming off an impressive weekend at Minnesota where they picked up a tie against the No. 4 Golden Gophers. I’m sure I’m going to sound like a broken record, but I’m going with another split. Augie wins Friday 4-2, but the Nanooks win Saturday 5-2.