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
With most Division I men’s college hockey teams participating in nonconference play during the new season’s first batch of games, member schools of the NCHC fared better than much of the rest of the country. Discounting Colorado College’s 8-4 exhibition win Saturday over the US Under-18 Team, the NCHC completed its first weekend of official … Read more
Welcome, to the inaugural season of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. I and Matthew Semisch will be co-columnists this year for the conference. In addition to a Monday morning wrap blog and our weekly column, Matthew and I will be picking the games every Friday. To add a little spice, much like I do with … Read more