By Ryan Stieg
It’s now Week 7 in the CCHA and so far, the season has gone better than expected for me. Even last weekend went okay for me as I went .500 with my picks, but not good enough to earn a Harvey Wallbanger to celebrate Saturday night. Maybe next year, I’ll try one for the first time.
Seeing as I didn’t get to partake in a Wallbanger since I didn’t pick better than .500, I searched for a potential prize this week and Sunday is National Fast Food Day. So I guess that’ll be my reward, which isn’t anything special, but it’s something.
Speaking of something, this week is a weird one as St. Thomas returns to action with a game Tuesday night and then it travels to South Dakota to play another one Saturday night. I don’t know if I’ve seen a team do that outside of the east coast, but I guess it’s a good way to make sure that you get in two games and stay somewhat on schedule.
Normally, I would choose the first series to talk about based on the most interesting storyline. However, this week, the Tommies earned it by simply being the earliest game of the week. The first game is tonight, so let’s not waste time. Here’s my picks for Week 7.
St. Cloud State at St. Thomas (Tonight)
This should be a fun one. Earlier this year, the Tommies blew a 3-goal lead in the third period against the Huskies before eventually coming out on top on a late power play goal by Nathan Pilling. However, that was more than a month ago and the two teams have gone on different paths. SCSU is 6-5, but it is coming off a sweep at the hands of a hot Minnesota Duluth team. UST, on the other hand, is 3-5-1 and has been plagued with shaky third periods. However, it topped rival Minnesota State in overtime during its last contest to salvage a split. It’s a toss-up game, and the Tommies are still searching for their first win at Anderson Arena. I think they finally get it this evening. UST wins 4-3.
St. Thomas at Augustana (Saturday)
Yeah, since the Tommies have such a big gap between games, they get two separate predictions. So, let’s talk some more about UST. Last week, the Tommies were on a bye, and it’ll probably benefit them. They’ve looked great at times, especially during the Providence series, but then they’ve fallen apart at other times, such as during the Providence series. So, UST is a bit of an enigma right now, but that was also the case at this time last season, and the Tommies still ended up making it to the CCHA Championship game. As far as the Vikings go, they’ve been a little up and down lately. They got swept by Bemidji, then swept NMU and just split with Ferris last week. It’s hard to predict one game, but I’ll flip a coin and call tails. Tommies have tails, so UST wins 3-1.
No. 16 Minnesota State at Lake Superior State
The Mavericks continue to stay consistent as they move into mid-November. After splitting with the Tommies two weeks ago, they earned another split against BG, winning in a shootout Friday, but falling in a shootout Saturday. Now, Mankato makes the long trip to Sault Ste. Marie to face a Lakers squad that is struggling right now. LSSU was just swept by Bemidji and has only one win in its last six games. The Lakers need to get some points here, but I don’t see it happening. The Mavericks sweep the series, 4-2 Friday and 5-2 Saturday.
Bemidji State at Michigan Tech
This matchup is a good one as both squads are trending upward. The Beavers haven’t lost since Oct. 18 against Minnesota Duluth and are coming of a sweep of the Lakers, so they’ve clearly figured it out after a rough mid-October stretch against St. Cloud and UMD. Meanwhile, the Huskies are looking like the team to beat in the league. Tech has lost once in its last six games, and that was only due to a collapse during the second period against Clarkson. With both teams performing well, this is a tough series to pick. As a result, I’m playing it safely, and picking a split. The Beavers win Friday 3-2, but the Huskies win Saturday 4-3.
Ferris State at Bowling Green
This series is intriguing. The Bulldogs are cooling off and had lost six straight games until Saturday when they shut out Augie to end their skid. The Falcons, on the other hand, seem to be getting warmer. BG has earned points in all its conference games, and is coming off a hard-fought split with Mankato. Ferris looked decent against the Vikings, but I think the Falcons get the job done at home and earn two wins. BG sweeps the series, 4-3 Friday and 5-2 Saturday.