By Ryan Stieg
Well, that was a rough way to start the new year. After a spectacular ending to 2025 where I went 7 for 8 with my predictions, I only got 3 of 10 predictions right last weekend to open 2026. I had too much faith in the CCHA teams.
As soon as Minnesota State and Michigan Tech both lost in the first round of their respective holiday tournaments, I knew I was in for a bad weekend. The good thing was that St. Thomas swept Ferris to keep me from going winless, and then my technicality where ties always go in my favor helped me pick the Bowling Green-Ohio State series correctly. Finally, Lake State took five of six points from NMU, and I came out of the week just looking bad, but not horrific. However, I didn’t get to celebrate with last week’s prize, whipped cream for National Whipped Cream Day, so my Monday dessert was whipless.
This week’s prize is a combination of two things as Saturday is National Houseplant Appreciation Day and Sunday is National Milk Day. So if I’m successful, I’ll be sipping milk while appreciating how well the spider plants are thriving in my bedroom. It’s a weird way to celebrate, but hey, rules are rules.
As far as this week’s slate goes, it’s all conference matchups as the race for home ice officially begins. We also could have a new CCHA leader after Saturday night, so things could get wacky.
So, let’s get started. Here’s my picks for CCHA Week 14. I’ll start with a series in the Upper Peninsula where the visiting team has just jumped into the national polls.
No. 17 Augustana at Northern Michigan
Last week, I mentioned that the Vikings are looking great for a potential at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, and that’s still true after an impressive sweep of Colorado College. Augie has come a long way in a short period of time and now, it travels to CCHA cellar dweller NMU. The Wildcats, on the other hand, are having another bad year and will basically be fighting Ferris the rest of the way for the right to be the eighth seed in the CCHA playoffs. I picked Northern to split with LSSU last week, but I’m not feeling positive about their chances this weekend. I think the Vikings sweep the series, winning 4-1 Friday and 5-2 Saturday.
Michigan Tech at Bemidji State
Will the real Huskies team please stand up? Tech looked great at the GLI two weeks ago and then got blown out by Air Force in the first round at the Desert Hockey Classic. Just when I think MTU might be getting into a groove, it has that type of performance. Meanwhile, the Beavers had an exhibition game against Minnesota last week and ended up sliding out of second place and into third thanks to UST’s sweep of Ferris. Both teams could use a boost as their CCHA second halves begin, and I think it’ll be a split. The Huskies win Friday 4-3, but Bemidji wins Saturday 5-4.
Bowling Green at Ferris State
These two teams had vastly different outcomes last week. First, the Falcons got their first win over Ohio State since 2018 and looked great all weekend against the Buckeyes. Then there’s the Bulldogs, who had 2-0 leads both nights against the Tommies only to fall apart in the third period during Friday’s loss and then give up eight unanswered goals on Saturday. I’m tempted to pick a BG sweep here, but I think Ferris wants to redeem itself at home. So, I’m picking a split. The Bulldogs win Friday 4-2, but the Falcons win Saturday 3-2.
St. Thomas at No. 15 Minnesota State (Saturday only)
There’s a big showdown in Mankato Saturday. With the Mavericks playing out in California and a bunch of teams ahead of them in the standings either being on a bye, or playing nonconference games, the Tommies jumped all the way to second place after their sweep of Ferris. The Mavs sit only one point ahead of UST in the standings, so the Tommies could be alone in first place with a regulation win. It won’t be easy to get those points though. Just because Mankato stumbled against UMass Lowell and barely beat Yale out west doesn’t mean that it’s going to enter a skid. I’ve gone back and forth on this game. If this game was played in St. Paul, I’d pick the Mavs. However, it’s not, so I’m going with UST. The Tommies win 4-3.