Game picks by USCHO writers
Midwest Regional Final – No. 2 Miami v No. 4 St. Cloud State Matthew: Although six WCHA teams qualified for this year’s NCAA tournament, St. Cloud State finds itself Sunday as the only team from the league still standing and carrying the WCHA flag in this competition. I was very impressed with what the Huskies … Read more
West Regional final – Grand Rapids, Mich. No. 2 North Dakota vs. No. 4 Yale Matthew: North Dakota was the only WCHA team of the four playing in Friday’s opening day of the NCAA tournament to progress to a regional final, and UND was made to work for its success in a 2-1 triumph over … Read more
Well, my picks last weekend were legendarily bad. Fitting. Last week: 1-2 (.333) Season to date: 130-96-29 (.545) I’m happy to have finished the final CCHA season above .500. This week Having only two CCHA teams in the NCAA tournament in the conference’s final season is disappointing. I have Notre Dame winning the whole thing … Read more
West Regional – Grand Rapids, Mich. No. 4 Yale vs. No. 1 Minnesota Matthew: Yale is perfect so far this season against WCHA opposition – the Bulldogs won at both Denver and Colorado College back around Thanksgiving – and perhaps that ought to ring some alarm bells for Minnesota. The Golden Gophers will be looking … Read more
Last Week: 1-2 On the Season: 143-83-29 (.610) This Week’s Picks: NCAA East Regional March 30-31 No. 4 Canisius vs. No. 1 Quinnipiac A Canisius upset is a trendy pick. The Golden Griffins have been the hottest team in Division I over the last four weeks, while the Bobcats lost in the semifinals of … Read more
Three ECAC teams are set to play in the NCAA Tournament this weekend. There’s Yale, who was shutout twice last weekend in Atlantic City; Quinnipiac, who lost out at a chance at the program’s first Whitelaw Cup with a 4-0 loss to Brown in the semifinals; and Union, who enters the tournament off their second … Read more
So yes, Dave wins this season. Finally. The old man wasn’t even close the last two years and the way he gloated last week you would think he’d won the Lamoriello Cup. I guess once you get old you look for the little things for satisfaction. Jim last week: 2-1-0 Dave last week: 2-1-0 Jim … Read more
Colorado College v Wisconsin Wisconsin vs. Colorado College Matthew: This is going to be a surreal Final Five championship on several levels: The Xcel Energy Center won’t be completely packed considering North Dakota and Minnesota were eliminated previously, and few people had picked UW or CC – and even fewer picked both – to make … Read more
St. Cloud State v Wisconsin: Matthew: Wisconsin struggled mightily through most of this season to score and to sort out its special teams units, and yet the Badgers are as little as 60 minutes of game time away from playing for the Broadmoor Trophy and the WCHA playoff championship. UW has scored 14 goals in … Read more
If Jim weren’t such a great friend, I’d gloat just a little over how thoroughly I trounced him in the picks race this year. But since Jim is such a great friend… I’m going to gloat a lot! Hey, that’s what buddies do. I might even get a sign to put over my bed in … Read more
Last Week: 2-6 On the Season: 142-81-29 (.621) This Week’s Picks: Atlantic Hockey Semifinals and Finals March 22-23 Read more about each team in my weekly AHA column. Semifinals: No. 7 Canisius vs. No. 1 Niagara All that stuff about throwing out the records when these teams play each other is true. Never have the stakes … Read more
My last-ever, CCHA-only picks. But first, here’s how I’ve done so far. Last week: 7-4-0 (.636) Season to date: 129-94-29 (.569) Who knew I could improve, even a little, toward the end? CCHA playoff championship The semifinal games are televised by FOX Sports Detroit PLUS. The championship game is carried by FOX Sports Detroit. There … Read more
Nate: Last week: 2-2 Overall (playoffs): 6-2 Three of the of the top four teams in the regular season standings meet in Atlantic City this weekend to decide this year’s ECAC champion. No. 7 Brown is the only team out of the top four to make it to the finals weekend, although I wouldn’t call … Read more
Minnesota State v Wisconsin: Matthew: Mike Hastings was richly deserving of his WCHA Coach of the Year honors this season as MSU has been marvelous in their first year under his tutelage. The problem, though, is that the Mavericks are winless all-time in the Final Five and were taken to the three-game limit last week … Read more
Last week: 4-0 It’s the last weekend of hockey at campus sites across the league, as the ECAC is set to head to Atlantic City next weekend for the semifinals and championship. I picked all four opening round series correctly, although I did pick Cornell and Princeton to go to three games. Here’s a look … Read more
Last Week: 5-3 On the Season: 140-75-29 (.623) This Week’s Picks: Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals (Best of Three Series) March 15-17 Updated from last week: There have been 29 best-of-three series in Atlantic Hockey history, played either in the first or quarterfinal rounds. The home team won 28 of them. Read more about each series in … Read more
No. 12 seed at Alaska-Anchorage at No. 1 St. Cloud State: Matthew: Alaska-Anchorage took a pair of poundings last Friday and Sunday at Denver, losing the teams’ two games by a combined 13-2, and this weekend doesn’t look any brighter for the Seawolves. UAA head coach Dave Shyiak is in the final season of his … Read more
I knew the series in Fairbanks and Sault Ste. Marie would go to three games. I was wrong, however, about who would advance from those series. Last week: 4-4-0 (.500) Season to date: 122-90-29 (.566) Typical. This week This is the second round of the CCHA playoffs. The winners from these four series advance to … Read more
There are a maximum of 15 games remaining to be played in Hockey East. I enter this weekend eight games behind Dave. I should be waving the white flag. But my never-give-up mentality is keeping me alive. Then again, Dave can just match all of my picks this weekend and I’m done. So let’s just … Read more
Last Week: 6-4-2 On the Season: 135-72-29 (.623) For comparison purposes, here’s my success rate at picking the results at this point in the season over the past few years: 2007: .634 2008: .651 2009: .653 2010: .636 2011: .598 2012: .678 This Week’s Picks: Atlantic Hockey First Round (Best of Three Series) March … Read more