By Ryan Stieg
Well, that was a tough weekend. I’m sure some of the CCHA squads had worse weekends than I did, but as far as my predictions go, they definitely didn’t go well.
Of the six series last week, I only picked one correctly outright and that was Michigan Tech splitting with Alaska Fairbanks. If that hadn’t happened, I would’ve had to dig into my technicality file to claim a victory, and I don’t like doing that unless necessary. Thankfully, the Nanooks won Saturday, and I didn’t have to. My thanks to the Flying Polar Bears.
This week is an interesting one as some CCHA programs are entering their conference season, while others are a week away from that and are dealing with a tough nonconference slate. So, let’s get started. Here’s my picks for Week 4 and I’ll start with a series in St. Paul.
No. 15 Providence at St. Thomas
This is the series that has the most hype going into it, primarily because of the location. The Tommies will open their brand-new barn, the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena, to what will most likely be a sell-out crowd Friday night. I took a tour of it back over the summer and it’s going to be a great place to watch a hockey game. The action on the ice should be fun as well this weekend. The Tommies are still trying to figure things out, as are most teams in late October. UST looked amazing Friday against Air Force, firing 11 goals into the net, while the Space Force uniformed Falcons shot as poorly as the Stormtroopers from Star Wars. Then things went in the opposite direction for the Tommies on Saturday as the Falcons zoomed like Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon through the ice planet Hoth and scored three unanswered goals in the second period on their way to a 6-2 win. Okay, I’ll stop with the Star Wars references.
Now the Friars come to town and they’re a tough opponent to face during an arena grand opening. Providence is coming off a NCAA Tournament appearance and there’s a good chance it’ll make it back this year. The Friars were swept by Michigan in their season-opening series, but they bounced back with an easy win over RPI last week (more on them later). I think UST will get a win at its new rink, but it won’t pull off the sweep. The Tommies win Friday 4-2, but the Friars win Saturday 4-3.
No. 1 Michigan State at Northern Michigan
Ugh, times are tough up in Marquette. I thought for sure that the Wildcats would get their elusive first win last weekend ago and they came so close Friday before falling to Colorado College in overtime. Instead, NMU ended up getting swept again, and now, it gets one of the best teams in the country coming to town. The Spartans are coming in hot too after sweeping then-No. 1 Boston University on the road, so it could be a rough weekend for the ‘Cats. NMU will get its first victory at some point, but I don’t see it coming here. The Spartans sweep the series, 5-2 and 4-1.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) at No. 20 Minnesota State
See, I told you I’d get to the Engineers. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot to hype up. RPI is 0-4 and hasn’t performed well in any of its games. To be fair though, two of those opponents are nationally ranked in Providence and Boston College. Meanwhile, the Mavericks are coming back home disappointed. Mankato fans hoped that the Mavs would enact some revenge on former head coach Mike Hastings and Wisconsin, but instead, they left Madison with two ties. That’s better than two losses, but still, it’s nothing to be pumped about. As disappointing as that might’ve been, the Mavs should get back on track this week. Mankato sweeps the weekend, 4-2 and 6-2.
Augustana at Bemidji State
Now, we enter the conference series and if there’s a team that could really use a win, it’s the Beavers. After wiping the floor with Alaska Anchorage during opening weekend, Bemidji has fallen flat in four straight games, getting swept by former WCHA rivals St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth. Now, the Beavers have to host a confident Vikings squad that just swept a ranked Arizona State team and knocked the Sun Devils out of the USCHO poll. Will the Beavers’ skid continue? I don’t think so. I think they’ll split with Augie. The Vikings win Friday 3-2, but Bemidji wins Saturday 4-3.
Ferris State at Michigan Tech
The Huskies were running well after splitting with Minnesota, but they slowed down a bit last weekend after a split in Fairbanks. Sweeping Alaska teams up north isn’t easy, so the split wasn’t surprising. Still, Tech probably wanted to enter the conference season on a winning note. Then there’s the Bulldogs, who picked up two exhibition wins last week over Simon Fraser and the USNTDP Under-18 team. Ferris looked good in both games, but it’s hard to truly judge a team after two glorified scrimmages. I’m picking a split here. The Huskies win Friday 3-2, but the Bulldogs win Saturday 5-3.
Bowling Green at Lake Superior State
These are the two toughest teams to assess right now because they haven’t played much. The Falcons have only played two actual games so far and that was a road sweep at the hands of Niagara. Meanwhile, the Lakers have played four, but they’ve had mixed results. They swept Stonehill, but then they got swept by Lindenwood before picking up two exhibition wins last week over the same teams Ferris swept. Since I’m not quite sure what to expect from either team right now, I’m playing it safe and picking a split. LSSU wins Friday 4-3, but BG wins Saturday 5-4.