By Ryan Stieg
After achieving the elusive perfect week two weeks ago, I set out to accomplish something I’ve never done before and that was to earn back-to-back perfect weeks.
Well, I did pretty well, but I couldn’t complete the challenge. I got three of the five series right including picking St. Thomas to get its act together and force a split with Michigan Tech. The Tommies blitzed the Huskies for three goals in the first period and clamped down the rest of the way to get a much-needed win before their long holiday break.
This week, I’m going to try to get my second perfect week of the year with my last set of predictions until after Christmas. I may say this a lot, but it’s an interesting set of games. It includes a series in Alaska, which are always fun, and a couple teams are trying to keep pace with a hot Mankato team in the CCHA standings. So, let’s get started with that cool series in the Last Frontier. Have a great holiday season!
Augustana at Alaska Anchorage (Thursday, Friday)
For the second week in a row, the Vikings are spending time in Alaska. After splitting with the Nanooks in Fairbanks, they now get the scrappy Seawolves. Anchorage split with Merrimack last week and has hung tough with a lot of good teams this year including a Top 10 Colorado College squad. Augie may have more talent, but like last week, I think the time change will hurt it and UAA forces a split. The Vikings win Thursday 4-2, but the Seawolves win Friday 3-1.
Lake Superior State at No. 12 Minnesota State
Last week, I said that the Lakers were better than I originally thought and I think they proved that against Bemidji, the defending MacNaughton Cup champs. However, this week is more difficult as the Mavericks haven’t lost since Nov. 1 and right now, they’re the best team in the league. I’m tempted to pick a Mankato sweep since it’s been playing so well, but I think LSSU fights its way to a split. The Mavericks win Friday 5-2, but the Lakers win Saturday 3-2.
Michigan Tech at Bemidji State
The Huskies had a chance to sweep the Tommies last week, but kind of forgot to show up on Saturday and had to settle for a split. Meanwhile, the Beavers had a chance to do the same against LSSU, but also came up short Saturday. I think this will be the tightest of the CCHA series as both teams want to go into the break with momentum, and I think it’ll be a split. Tech wins Friday 3-2, but Bemidji wins Saturday 2-1.
Northern Michigan at Bowling Green
Now, we come to the last series before the break and it looks fairly one-sided. The Falcons aren’t having a great year at 5-7-2, but they’ve had their moments of success. However, BG isn’t doing nearly as bad as the Wildcats, who might go down as the worst team in program history (1-14-1). Last week was one of the few remaining chances for NMU to get a win this year and it couldn’t even beat a mediocre Ferris squad. It won’t be an easy weekend for it, but I think BG gets the sweep. The Falcons win 4-2 Friday and 5-2 Saturday.