Game picks by USCHO writers
Last Week: 6-3-3 On the Season: 155-63-30 (.685) This Week’s Picks: Atlantic Hockey Playoffs: First Round Best of Three Series Friday, March 2 – Sunday, March 4 No. 9 Canisius at No. 8 Connecticut – The Huskies swept the Golden Griffins in Buffalo earlier in the season. Neither team has been playing well with just … Read more
No. 9 Denver (19-11-4, 14-8-4 WCHA) at Nebraska-Omaha (14-14-6, 11-10-5 WCHA) Tyler: Denver’s stars are getting hot at the right time as Jason Zucker, Luke Salazar and Nick Shore are all on five-game point streaks and Zucker has goals in all five of those games. Nebraska-Omaha’s defense has been questionable and wildly inconsistent with UNO utilizing multiple goalies all season. Ryan Massa seemed to … Read more
Winter has returned to Flint, Mich., and the snow is a definite improvement over the everlasting gray of these past several weeks. There are three CCHA games televised in my area Friday night: Ohio State at Miami and Michigan State at Notre Dame (CBS), and Ferris State at Western Michigan (Fox). Comcast is covering Saturday’s … Read more
The final weekend of the ECAC regular season is here and there’ still a lot to be decided. Brian did a good job breaking it down in this week’s column, and Ken Sweeten, Quinnipiac’s SID, had the chart below in this weekend’s game notes to help narrow the possibilities. Last week: 4-8 Overall: 60-59 TEAM POSSIBLE SEEDING … Read more
Jim and I are now in a dead heat, not much different than Hockey East. Dave last week: 5-3-2 Jim last week: 4-4-2 Dave’s record-to-date: 102-67-16 Jim’s record-to-date: 102-67-16 Here are this week’s picks: Friday, February 24 Boston College at Providence Dave’s pick: I may not pick against BC the rest of the year. Eight straight and … Read more
No. 6 Minnesota (21-11-1, 17-7-0 WCHA) at Nebraska-Omaha (14-12-6, 11-8-5 WCHA) Tyler: Minnesota’s speed and skill is capable of overmatching Nebraska-Omaha in a time when the Gophers power play is clicking. The PP has scored six goals on 19 chances over the past five games and has scored once in each of the last five games. … Read more
Last Week: 8-2-2 On the Season: 149-60-27 (.689) This Week’s Picks: Friday, Feb. 24 and Saturday, Feb. 25 Air Force at Robert Morris – The Falcons are the only team that has locked up a first round bye going into the final weekend, but the Falcons still need three points to guarantee the top seed. … Read more
Nate last week: 8-3 Nate overall:56-51 Brian: ? (I stopped keeping track a while ago. It was too depressing.) Friday, February 17 Colgate at St. Lawrence Nate: Raiders head coach Don Vaughan said earlier this week he couldn’t remember the last time Colgate won at Appleton (it was 2007). Both teams have been playing well … Read more
We are coming down to it. Theoretically, eight CCHA teams are in the hunt for the regular-season title. Theoretically. That’s everybody above 10th place except for the Buckeyes, who have two fewer regular-season games remaining than everyone else above 10th place. All the Bulldogs or Broncos have to do is win out to win it … Read more
Nebraska-Omaha (13-11-6, 10-7-5 WCHA) at No. 15 Colorado College (15-11-2, 12-9-1 WCHA) Tyler: UNO is probably the most inconsistent and unpredictable team in the WCHA, not only wins and losses, scoring and goaltending as well. If Josh Thorimbert returns this weekend, which CC coach Scott Owens is optimistic about, CC is going to shut the Mavericks down. … Read more
Call me the comeback kid, the UMass-Lowell of picks, whatever. There are three weeks left in the regular season and, for the first time all year, I’m back in first place! Dave last week: 3-6-1 Jim last week: 7-2-1 Dave’s record-to-date: 97-64-14 Jim’s record-to-date: 98-63-14 Friday, February 16 Merrimack at Boston College Jim’s pick: So many difficult games … Read more
Last Week: 9-2-1 On the Season: 141-58-25 (.685) This Week’s Picks: Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18 Mercyhurst at Air Force – All series are big this time of the season, but this one is probably the most critical, with the first-place Falcons holding a two point edge over the Lakers. Mercyhurst won … Read more
The weekend starts early in Atlantic Hockey with local rivals Canisius and Niagara squaring off Tuesday and Thursday. The “Battle of the Bridge” contests open tonight at Canisius, where Niagara has won the last two meetings, and the over the Grand Island Bridge(s) to Niagara on Thursday. The teams tied 1-1 earlier in the season, … Read more
Coming down to the last few weeks, there is so much uncertainty in the CCHA — and the standings are so very close — that it’s overwhelming to consider all the permutations. Here are a few interesting tidbits, though: Ferris State and Western Michigan are the only two teams near the top of the standings … Read more
Jim and I finally put together an excellent week. Let’s see if we can make it two in a row. Dave last week: 10-1-0 Jim last week: 10-1-0 Dave’s record-to-date: 94-58-13 Jim’s record-to-date: 91-61-13 Here are this week’s picks: Friday, February 10 Maine at Providence Dave’s pick: Two teams going in different directions. The Black Bears … Read more
Nebraska-Omaha (12-11-5, 9-7-4 WCHA) at Michigan Tech (13-13-2, 10-8-2 WCHA) Tyler: The hotels will be full in Houghton this weekend with the annual Winter Carnival, but the Mavericks won’t be lodging in them. UNO will stay 45 minutes away in Baraga, Mich., according to the Omaha World Herald. The Huskies haven’t exactly derived any kind of an … Read more
Come Monday morning there will be just two weekends left in the regular season of ECAC play. Seems hard to believe, doesn’t it? Here’s a look at what’s on tap for this weekend. Last week: 4-7 Overall: 48-48 Friday, Feb. 10 Brown at Cornell With Union playing just one game, Cornell has a chance to … Read more
Last Week: 5-5-1 On the Season: 132-56-24 (.679) This Week’s Picks: Thursday, Feb. 9 and Saturday, Feb. 11 Rochester Institute of Technology vs. Canisius – The Golden Griffins defeated the Tigers earlier this season, snapping an eight-game winless streak against the Tigers. I think RIT, coming off a pair of stinging losses at Air Force, … Read more
It’s the beginning of the end — of this season, anyway. Here’s how I’m doing: Last week: 6-3-1 Season to date: 95-63-23 (.588) Remember that adage about a broken clock and the frequency of its accuracy? Yeah. Like that. This week Everyone plays this weekend. All series are Friday-Saturday, single site. The games in Ann … Read more
Last Week: 4-7-2 On the Season: 127-51-23 (.689) This Week’s Picks: Friday, Feb. 3 and Saturday, Feb. 4 Rochester Institute of Technology at Air Force – The Tigers won the only meeting so far between the two teams back in November, which evened the all-time series between the teams at 14-14-3. I’m expecting two close … Read more