Okay, show of hands: Who took Western Michigan (+400) last Friday over then No. 1 Michigan? If you did, good for you.
And if you hit a five-team parlay with last week’s five featured games, GREAT for you. A $100 bet on those games in a five-team parlay paid a whopping $7,075. That’s some real money, if you found someone to take that action.
But if you didn’t, I’ve got some good news for you. Thanks to an alert reader, we have found that in states in which DraftKings operates its sportsbook legally, you can place bets on certain college hockey games.
You won’t find a lot of them. This week, of the five games I am highlighting, only three of those are currently listed on DraftKings. And notably, I am handicapping the Friday night games when there are two-game Friday-Saturday series. This weekend, you’ll notice that the DraftKings odds I am providing for No. 19 Boston University vs. UMass Lowell are for Saturday’s game at UML.
As usual, a disclaimer:
Understand, this is for entertainment purposes only. USCHO.com is not a licensed gambling platform and no money may be wagered through this site or any subsidiary of USCHO.
Enjoy and, if you bet, may you be successful.
* Games marked with asterisks indicates odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook
No. 14 Notre Dame (+155) at No. 7 Minnesota (-190)*
At +155, Notre Dame is one of the best value plays around. Granted they are headed on the road to play a Minnesota team that has to be hungry after having lost three of its last four games. But simultaneously, Notre Dame has been excellent when jumping to the lead.
Look for the first goal to mean a lot in this game. Notre Dame isn’t unable to comeback, but chasing the game has never been the ideal game plan for Jeff Jackson’s squad.
Interesting thing to note, a season ago, the road team won all four games in the series between these two clubs.
Bowling Green (+170) at No. 17 Bemidji State (-220)
As the CCHA teams continue to slowly ease into their league schedules, we may begin to see which teams are the haves and which are the have nots.
Bemidji State’s win against North Dakota gives the Beavers a ton of betting credibility, and a considerably high preference among the USCHO writers with nine of the 10 picking the Beavers (remember last week, though, when all 10 selected Michigan… oops).
The host Beavers are 5-1-1 versus Bowling Green since February 23, 2019, and is 5-0-1 in its last six against the Falcons at home.
Bemidji will have to slow a Bowling Green offense that scored six goals last time out against NCHC foe Miami.
No. 15 Harvard (-175) at Dartmouth (+155)
For both Harvard and Dartmouth, Friday will be a milestone game. It will 600-plus days since each team has played an NCAA hockey game, both schools having laid dormant a year ago due to COVID-19.
Honestly, there are almost too many X-factors here to properly handicap the game. Both rosters look a little different, particularly Harvard which lost some players (Jack Drury, Jack Rathbone) to the NHL during the pandemic layoff. And Dartmouth will have a bench boss coaching his first year in Reid Cashman, who was hired during the pandemic and has waited almost 18 months to coach his first game.
The two clubs did square off against one another in an exhibition back on October 16, with the Crimson skating to a 4-0 win, which is the main reason to make the Crimson the somewhat-significant favorite.
UMass Lowell (+130) at No. 19 Boston University (-160)*
Note: DraftKings odds are for Saturday’s game at UML
While this is a rematch of last year’s Hockey East quarterfinal, won by the River Hawks at BU’s Walter Brown Arena, 2-1, that’s probably where the similarities end.
A lot of both teams’ lineups look a little bit different and both come into this weekend series in different places.
UMass Lowell is 2-1-1 in its four games, having 18 days off between its opening series against Arizona State and last weekend’s two games vs. Michigan State, while BU is 3-3-0 and has split all three weekend series thus far.
Fridays haven’t been friendly to BU of late having lost home games to Sacred Heart, 3-2, and Merrimack, 4-1. Home ice, though, has been an advantage for BU over the River Hawks at Agganis Arena. The Terriers are 5-1-1 in their last seven against Lowell in their proper home.
No. 13 Western Michigan (-175) at Colgate (+145)*
Western Michigan was the biggest mover in last week’s USCHO.com poll, jumping four spots after beating then-No. 1 Michigan on the road and dropping a home contest to the Wolverines in overtime.
But Colgate is a plucky team and could be considered an early dark horse in the ECAC. Some think that Colgate benefit in their league by playing a season ago, just one of four teams to do so in the ECAC. But will that translate out of the conference?
Thus far, the start has been strong for the Raiders, going 5-2-0, but you can argue that they haven’t played a team as strong as Western Michigan.
Though just four games into the season, the Broncos are averaging nearly four goals a game.
