OK NCHC fans, we’re ready for the kickoff of season two, and that means your USCHO columnists, myself and Matthew Semisch, will once again engage in our season-long picks race. On the line is a friendly wager for a six-pack of craft brew. I won last year, beating Matthew by five games. The rules: you … Read more
Well, Matthew and I went 0-2 in our first round picks. Let’s see if we can do better for the consolation and championship games. North Dakota vs. Western Michigan Candace: Western Michigan coach Andy Murray made a big deal about playing for a 20-win season and sending his seniors out with a big during the … Read more
Well, neither Matthew nor I had much luck picking the games last weekend, what with all the upsets and all. We went 4-5 (.444) on the weekend, and I only correctly picked one series (North Dakota), while Matthew picked Western Michigan to win its series, so he was correct on two, but neither of us … Read more
I finally got a bigger lead on Matthew in our picks race. Last weekend, I went 5-3 (.625), while Matthew went 3-5 (.375). On the year, I am 92-66-22 (.572), while Matthews is 87-71-22 (.544). The first round brings some brutal matchups, so let’s see how we can do. Thursday-Saturday, March 13-15 Denver at Nebraska-Omaha … Read more
Going into the final night of the NCHC’s inaugural regular season, none of the league’s eight teams knew for sure who they would be playing in the first round of the league playoffs, and that’s undoubtedly what the league’s front office in Colorado Springs wanted. Now that we know who’s playing who and where, though, … Read more
Last week, thanks to the Nebraska-Omaha sweep of Colorado College, Matthew and I both went 4-4 (.500), as we got the split dates wrong for Denver and Western Michigan. Overall on the year, I am 87-63-22, while Matthew is 84-66-22. Looks like I will win our picks contest, unless we decide to keep it going … Read more
Our scheduled guests on the Feb. 25 episode of USCHO Live! are Connecticut coach Mike Cavanaugh — whose Huskies are in the hunt for a first-round playoff bye in their final season in Atlantic Hockey — and Boston Globe sports writer Nancy Marrapese-Burrell.
Matthew and I went a dreadful 3-5 (.375) last weekend. On the year, I have a three-game lead, as I am 83-59-22 (.573), while Matthew is 80-62-22 (.554). Games in this conference seems to be a coin flip much of the time. The marquee matchup this weekend has St. Cloud hosting North Dakota, with sole … Read more
One of the things the NCHC has undoubtedly hoped for in its inaugural season is about to come to fruition. The Penrose Cup, the new mammoth chalice awarded to the league’s regular season champion, will be on display this next weekend at St. Cloud State’s Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. That much was decided ahead … Read more
Matthew and I both had a dreadful week last weekend, going 3-4-1 (.437). On the year, I am 80-54-22 (.583), while Matthew is 77-57-22 (.564). There are some big rivalry games on tap this weekend, as well as ones that could make a huge difference in the standings log jam. Unfortunately for Matthew’s chances of … Read more
Our scheduled guests on this Thursday episode of USCHO Live! are No. 11 North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol and USCHO.com Hobey Watch writer Elliot Olshansky, with a look at this year’s Hobey Baker hopeful.
Last week, I gained another game on Matthew in our picks race, as I went 4-2-2 (.625) while Matthew went 3-3-2 (.500). On the year, I am now 77-50-21 (.591), while Matthew is 74-53-21 (.570). Friday-Saturday, Feb. 14-15 Western Michigan at Colorado College Candace: CC has been playing better, and has gotten points in its … Read more
Nebraska-Omaha’s Saturday games have been becoming more and more, well, interesting. One could make the argument this pattern began with the Mavericks’ 5-1 win Jan. 18 at Miami, the first time UNO had routed anyone since beating the RedHawks 6-3 at home nearly two months before that on Nov. 22. Fast-forward to Feb. 1, then, … Read more
If you followed our picks last weekend, chances are you were disappointed. I went 2-2 (.500), while Matthew put up a bagel, going 0-4. On the year, I now have a two-game lead in our season-long picks contest; the winner gets a six pack from the loser. Now I just have to hold Matthew off. … Read more
Well, Matthew and I both went 4-1-1 (.750) last weekend, and we are now both at 71-46-19 (.584) on the year. However, this weekend we have some differing opinions, so let’s get to it shall we? Friday-Saturday, Jan. 31, Feb. 1 No. 5 St. Cloud State at Nebraska-Omaha Candace: See, I think the Huskies will … Read more
Candace and I both went 3-1 Friday, which looks pretty good when you consider we both went 2-3-5 last week. Now, though, we’ve got two more North Star College Cup games today to call. Yesterday at St. Paul, Minn.’s Xcel Energy Center, Minnesota-Duluth outlasting Minnesota State 5-4 in overtime Friday before top-ranked Minnesota bested No. … Read more
Matthew and I only picked two games differently last weekend, and both ended in ties, so we are still tied on the year. Last weekend, we both went a dismal 2-3-5 (.450) to move to 64-44-18 (.579) on the season. Maybe this weekend, we can do better. Unfortunately for the six-pack race, we see this week’s … Read more
It’s getting impossible to ignore it: Western Michigan is one of the hottest teams in the country. The Broncos have yet to lose in the second half, and have beaten two top-five teams during their current 5-0-1 run. In fact, if you count the shootout win, the Broncos have beaten the number three team in … Read more
Well, we are more than halfway through the season, and after last weekend, Matthew and I are back to where we were in October: dead even in our picks race. Last weekend, I went 4-4 ).500, to move to 62-41-13 (.590) on the year, while Matthew went 7-1 (.875) to also move to 62-41-13 (.590). … Read more
Although we’re starting to see more daylight open up between the NCHC’s sets of leaders and trailers, it appears to be time to start thinking about adding Minnesota-Duluth to the former category. Duluth spent the first half of the season putting up a decidedly mediocre record and splitting series almost as though that was the … Read more