By Ryan Stieg
It’s the last week of January and some teams are starting to emerge from the pack in the CCHA standings. However, there’s still five weeks to go in the regular season and when it comes to this conference, things can change quickly.
It changed fast for me last week when it came to my picks. On Friday night, things looked pretty good for me, but on Saturday, things got tight. I eventually barely earned my prize. It was actually two prizes that I had to eat separately, but I enjoyed my Reese’s Sticks and my Irish coffee. If you haven’t tried either, you should. They’re satisfying.
This week’s prizes aren’t as unique and aren’t as fun, but that’s what I have to strive for. It’s National Dark Chocolate Day and National Texas Day, so I’ll guess I’ll eat some Hershey’s Special Dark and reminisce about how I spent some of my childhood in the Dallas area. Woo!
As much as I’d like to talk in-depth about the two years I spent in America’s most overrated state, I’ll instead go straight into this week’s picks. Here’s my Week 17 predictions and I’ll start with a big series in St. Paul.
No. 19 Michigan Tech at No. 15 St. Thomas
Yeah, I know St. Thomas was the featured series last week when it played Lake State, but there’s a big reason why the Tommies are in a repeat feature. UST is currently in first place in the CCHA standings and right on its heels are the Huskies in second place. A lot is on the line as a sweep of Tech could boost the Tommies’ lead, but if the Huskies were to pull off a sweep of their own, they’d leap into the top spot. Both outcomes are going to be tough to accomplish. The Tommies are arguably the hottest team in the country as they’ve won 10 in a row and four straight sweeps. At the same time, the Huskies are having a good second half. They’d won six straight games until that stumble against NMU on Saturday. This is the hardest series for me to pick by far, and I’m going with a split. I think Tech wins Friday 3-2, but the Tommies win Saturday 4-1.
Bowling Green vs. Notre Dame (Friday at South Bend, Saturday at Bowling Green)
The Falcons are in a tough spot this week because they can’t climb the standings since they have a nonconference series and since the teams below BG have CCHA series, it could be tumbling Saturday night through no fault of their own. At the same time, it’s uncommon for CCHA teams to get to host Big Ten schools, so it’ll still be a fun weekend. It’s crazy how bad the Fighting Irish have become. Just four years ago, this was an NCAA Tournament team. This year, it took ND until last weekend to win its first Big Ten game. I want to pick a BG sweep, but I think the Irish will fight hard not to lose to a CCHA squad. So, I’m picking a split. The Irish win Friday 4-2, but the Falcons win Saturday 4-3.
Lake Superior State at No. 16 Augustana
Well, this one should be interesting. The Lakers were starting to get a little momentum going, but then they coughed up a lead Friday against UST and ended up eventually getting swept by the Tommies. Now, they head to Augie, which had a chance to gain some ground in the standings, but ended up dropping to fourth place after its loss to Mankato, and is now seven points behind UST. Both teams need points as LSSU battles for seeding, and the Vikings try to keep their MacNaughton Cup hopes alive. I’m gonna roll the dice a little bit and not pick a split. The Vikings sweep the series, winning 3-2 Friday and 5-2 Saturday.
No. 18 Minnesota State at Ferris State
The Mavericks got back in the win column last week after a three-game losing streak and now, they travel to Big Rapids to face a team desperate to stay out of last place. The Bulldogs were off last week and now, they sit only one point ahead of NMU for the last CCHA playoff spot. On paper, this looks like a potentially easy sweep for Mankato, but Ferris’ last win was over the Mavs back in December. I think they pull a surprise again and force a split. The Mavs win Friday 4-1, but the Bulldogs win Saturday 3-2.
Bemidji State at Northern Michigan
Just a few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have hesitated about this series and picked a Beavers sweep. However, things have changed dramatically since then. Bemidji has now lost six in a row, and it hasn’t won a game since it swept NMU back in November. Meanwhile, the Wildcats pulled a surprise last weekend and forced a split with Tech, and now, they’re on the cusp of climbing out of the CCHA cellar. BSU desperately needs points to stay in contention for home ice and I think it gets them with a sweep. The Beavers sweep the series, winning 3-1 Friday and 4-2 Saturday.