By Ryan Stieg
Well, we’ve reached December, and things are heating up in the CCHA. The most recent NPI rankings (the replacement for Pairwise) came out Sunday and four CCHA teams are in the top 20, which means the league has a good chance to get more than one team into the NCAA Tournament this year. That is, if those teams continue to play well.
As for myself, I had a good Thanksgiving, and I hope yours was good as well. I also did okay with my picks, going 3 for 5. My only misses came with the North Dakota-Bemidji State series, which was a Fighting Hawks sweep, and the St. Thomas-Michigan Tech series, which was a Tommies sweep. As a result, I got to have some mousse in a Mason Jar since those were the national days on Sunday. The mousse was better than I thought it’d be, and the Mason Jar added a little zazz to the meal.
Regarding my prizes this week, it’s National Cotton Candy Day and National Illinois Day on Sunday. So, I guess I’ll be eating cotton candy, while fondly remembering the three years where I lived in Illinois. Pretty wild, huh?
Speaking of wild, there’s only three weeks left until the winter holiday break. As a result, things are probably going to heat up a little bit in the league, especially since there’s no nonconference games for the next two weeks. So let’s get started. Here’s my picks for CCHA Week 10 and I’ll start with a series in St. Paul.
Lake Superior State at St. Thomas
I’ll be covering this one live and it’s an intriguing series. After some ups and downs this season, the Tommies might have figured things out. After blowing out BG to force a split two weeks ago, UST rallied to force overtime Friday against Tech before winning in a shootout, and then winning in regulation Saturday to complete the sweep. UST freshman Lucas Van Vliet put on a show in Houghton, winning Rookie of the Week honors for the second straight week and Nick Williams won Defenseman of the Week after a 2-point, 15-block weekend. As far as the Lakers go, they just split with Augie, and they split with Ferris the week before. Will LSSU force another split? It’s possible, but I think UST turned the corner last week, and I think it gets two wins. The Tommies sweep the series, winning 4-2 Friday and 3-1 Saturday.
Ferris State at No. 13 Minnesota State
The Mavericks continue to stay hot and they’re coming off an easy sweep up in Marquette over NMU. Thanks to that sweep and Bemidji playing a non-conference series last week, Mankato jumped into first place in the CCHA standings. Two Mavericks picked up weekly honors this week in goalie Alex Tracy and forward Tristan Lemyre, and the Mavs haven’t lost since Nov. 1, so they’re coming in with a lot of momentum. Ferris, on the other hand, was off last week after splitting with LSSU, so they might be a little rusty. If somebody’s going to slow down the Mavs, it’s probably going to be a team that’s playing just as well, and right now, that isn’t the Bulldogs. Mankato sweeps the series, winning 4-2 Friday and 5-2 Saturday.
Bemidji State at Augustana
The Beavers are no longer the CCHA leader, but they’re only one point behind the Mavericks in the standings and four ahead of third place BG. Like I said earlier, Bemidji played a home and home with UND and it didn’t go its way. Now, BSU gets a Vikings team that is eager to get its first sweep since Halloween weekend and to climb the standings. I think it’s a good matchup and it’s a tough call, so I’m going with a split. The Beavers win Friday 3-2, but Augie wins Saturday 4-3.
Northern Michigan at Bowling Green
Sigh… it’s already been a long year for the winless Wildcats, and there’s still at least three months left this season. NMU fought hard last week, but it was swept by the Mavericks at home and now, it heads to Ohio to face a good Falcons team. BG is coming off a home sweep against Princeton, and even though the Falcons dropped a little in the standings due to playing an non-conference foe, I think they’ll gain some of that ground back this week. BG sweeps the series, winning 4-1 Friday and 5-3 Saturday.