The Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks, who had an excellent month in November in which they went 6-2 while sweeping Denver and Miami and splitting with Denver and North Dakota, haven’t won since that month. The Mavericks closed the first half by losing and tying/winning a shootout at Colorado College. They opened the second half this weekend by … Read more
Matthew and I went 1-1 in picking the GLI, so on the season, I am 55-37-12 (.586) and Matthew is 54-38-12 (.576). It’s still a light weekend for NCHC squads, but let’s see how we do. Friday, Jan. 3 Brown at No. 16 Denver Candace: Can Denver pick up where it left off? With Sam … Read more
Well, Matthew and I both missed picking Western’s upset of Michigan. Let’s see if we are more accurate for Saturday. Western Michigan v Michigan Tech (Great Lakes Invitational championship) Candace: Western has been inconsistent so far this year, but so has Tech. I’ll go with the conference pick and figure the Broncos have more momentum … Read more
In the last week before the break, Matthew and I both went 7-2-2 (.727). On the year, I still hold a one-game lead, as I am 54-36-12 (.588) and Matthew is 53-37-12 (.578). We’ll pick the Saturday game after Friday’s result. Friday, Dec. 27 Western Michigan vs. No. 3 Michigan (Great Lakes Invitational) Candace: Western … Read more
Tuesday, Dec. 17 No. 17 Denver at Massachusetts Candace: Denver continues to look good since getting swept by Nebraska-Omaha at the beginning of the November. NCHC co-goaltender of the week Sam Brittain, the top goalie in the nation, is a virtual fortress in net. This could be a trap game for a Denver team playing … Read more
Because of sweeps last weekend, as well as Denver winning the first night, neither Matthew nor I did particularly well last week, both going 3-5 (.375). On the year, I am now 47-34-10 (.571), while Matthew is 46-35-10 (.560). Hopefully, we can close on a strong note. Friday-Saturday, Dec. 13-14 Western Michigan at Minnesota-Duluth Candace: … Read more
This season’s St. Cloud State team appears to be one that gets the job done on the road, no matter how hairy any given scenario might be for the Huskies. Last Friday’s game at intrastate rival Minnesota-Duluth proved a perfect example. Playing its first home game since Oct. 26, UMD bossed large parts of its … Read more
Since Matthew and I picked every game the same last week, we both went 5-2-1 (.687). On the year, I am 44-29-10 (.590), maintaining a one-game lead on Matthew, who is 43-30-10 (.578). Friday-Saturday, Dec. 6-7 No. 16 Nebraska-Omaha at Colorado College Candace: I figure that sooner or later, CC will starting scoring more and … Read more
Matthew and I add a pick for today. Western Michigan vs. Alabama-Huntsville (Shillelagh Tournament) Candace: I think Holy Cross over Boston College is all the upset goddess can stand this weekend. Western Michigan 3-1 Matthew: As confident as I am that Alabama-Huntsville will finally pick up its first win of the season, I’m equally sure … Read more
Thanks to Minnesota-Duluth’s win on Sunday over Minnesota, I stayed a game ahead of Matthew in our picks race, as we both went 5-2-3 (.650) last week. Overall on the year, I am 39-27-9 (.580) while Matthew is 38-28-9 (.566). Here we go with this week’s games. Friday-Saturday, Nov. 29-30 No. 13 Miami at Bemidji … Read more
You may remember I suggested in my NCHC column last Wednesday that, with Nebraska-Omaha goaltender Ryan Massa playing so well on Friday nights so far this month, maybe the time had come to make him the Mavericks’ solid No. 1 starter. It appears UNO coach Dean Blais could be leaning that way. One wouldn’t expect … Read more
Well, thanks to picking the right dates for North Dakota and Minnesota-Duluth to win, I am back ahead in the picks race. Last week, I went 7-4 (.636) to move to 34-25-6 (.569), while Matthew went 5-6 (.454) to move to 33-26-6 (.553). Let’s see how long I can keep the lead in the six-pack … Read more
We forgot to pick this game last week, so here you go. Nov. 19 Air Force at Colorado College Candace: CC is at home, and after a pretty tough stretch, should be both rested and fired up. Expect the Tigers to come out firing and win by a couple. Colorado College 4-2 Matthew: Although Air … Read more
Well, Matthew and I both were dismal last week, going 2-5-1 (.312). It seems that teams are having trouble establishing consistency, and so are we. On the year, I am now 27-21-6 (.555), while Matthew is 28-20-6 (.574). I’ll try and at least catch him this week. Friday-Saturday, Nov. 15-16 Western Michigan at Denver Candace: … Read more
To find out what a performance from a hockey team’s captain should look like, one needn’t look much further than the game film from last weekend’s series between No. 11 North Dakota and Nebraska-Omaha. Dillon Simpson, a UND defenseman wearing a ‘C’ over his heart in his senior season in Grand Forks, only picked up … Read more
Was it only two weeks ago that I had a three-game lead on Matthew? After last weekend, Matthew is now up a game on me. Luckily, it’s a long season. Last week, I went 6-4 (.600) to move to 25-16-5 (.597) on the year, while Matthew went 8-2 (.800) to move to 26-15-5 (.619) on … Read more
Sweeps The NCHC had three conference series this past weekend, with four teams playing their first conference games, and for a league that is supposed to be all about parity, the results were surprising, as all three series were sweeps, and two of those sweeps were by the road team. Western Michigan was the lone … Read more
Well, because I picked a Miami sweep and a Notre Dame sweep, Matthew gained two games back on me. Last week, I went 6-5-1 (.541) to move to 19-12-5 (.597) on the year, while Matthew went 8-3-1 (.708) to move to 18-13-5 (.569) on the year. As always, we pick all the NCHC games each … Read more
Thanks to correctly picking the split days in the UNO-Northern Michigan series, as well as calling for a Miami sweep so that I got at least one of the dates for the win correct, I have opened up a three-game lead on Matthew in our series picks race. Last week, I went 5-4-1 (.550), hardly … Read more
Well, after one week, Matthew and I are tied in our picks race, as we both went 8-3-3 (.678). (Each tie counts for a half a point.) The big series happens down in Ohio, as No. 1 Miami hosts No. 6 North Dakota. Other questions abound, including whether Denver can stay hot, how Colorado College … Read more