{"id":98592,"date":"2014-10-12T19:43:09","date_gmt":"2014-10-13T00:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/nchc-blog\/?p=224"},"modified":"2014-10-12T19:43:09","modified_gmt":"2014-10-13T00:43:09","slug":"nchc-experiences-topsy-turvy-opening-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2014\/10\/12\/nchc-experiences-topsy-turvy-opening-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"NCHC experiences topsy-turvy opening weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone expected NCHC teams to come flying off the blocks this last weekend and tear into its nonconference opposition will have come away at least a little disappointed.<\/p>\n

Unless he or she only paid attention on Saturday and Sunday. Better times were had then.<\/p>\n

Seven of the league’s eight affiliate teams opened their 2014-15 regular season slates on Friday, and five of them fell. Colorado College and Nebraska-Omaha won their first counters of the season against Alabama-Huntsville and Minnesota State, respectively, but a quintet of NCHC schools weren’t as fortunate.<\/p>\n

North Dakota and St. Cloud State lost at home on Friday to Bemidji State and Colgate, respectively. Miami lost 3-2 on the road against intrastate rival Bowling Green, Western Michigan lost 4-2 at Canisius, and Minnesota-Duluth was edged out by Minnesota 4-3 at the IceBreaker Tournament in South Bend, Ind.<\/p>\n

The NCHC’s teams that played last weekend – Denver was the only one that didn’t – fared much better Saturday and Sunday. It started on Saturday night, where the league went 4-1 against several of its counterparts, and only UNO fell in its rematch with Division I college hockey’s other set of Mavericks.<\/p>\n

Sunday went even better, with Miami besting BGSU 3-2 in the second leg of a home-and-home series while UMD blanked Notre Dame 3-0 in the third-place game of the IceBreaker.<\/p>\n

No NCHC team stood out<\/strong><\/p>\n

I predicted<\/a> on Friday that we would have a fair few splits to talk about once the weekend finished, but I also expected the teams who were projected to be the cream of the conference this season would look like it right away.<\/p>\n

The first bit happened. The second one, not so much.<\/p>\n

With respect to BGSU and Bemidji, I thought that UND and Miami had enough in their respective arsenals to pick up sweeps in their home-and-homes against a pair of WCHA teams that aren’t expected to make huge waves this season. In the end, though, I was proved somewhat wrong.<\/p>\n

In UND’s series with nearby rival Bemidji, the home team never won. UND looked thoroughly out of sorts against the Beavers during a 5-1 loss at home on Friday, but BSU couldn’t repeat the trick the following night as it lost 2-1 in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Where Miami is concerned, I was looking for the RedHawks to carry some of their momentum from the second half of last season over into the start of this one. An in-state rivalry series against a fellow former CCHA member, I thought, would only get Miami up further.<\/p>\n

Instead, the Falcons came away winners at home on opening night, albeit by only a 3-2 margin. Miami turned the tables on Sunday, though, in defeating BGSU by that same scoreline in the friendlier confines of Oxford, Ohio.<\/p>\n

In-league action starts next week<\/strong><\/p>\n

Next weekend sees the start of intra-league action among NCHC teams, with North Dakota visiting Colorado College while Nebraska-Omaha makes the trek up to Western Michigan.<\/p>\n

Both two-game sets are intriguing in their own ways. UND will try to make its perceived class show against a CC club that has started reasonably well under first-year head coach Mike Haviland, and UNO and Western will battle in a clash between two teams that will likely be fighting for a home-ice spot come the first round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Miami and UMD will take part in home-and-homes against in-state competition in the forms of Ohio State and Minnesota State, respectively, while Denver welcomes to the Colorado capital an RPI team that just finished second in the IceBreaker tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anyone expected NCHC teams to come flying off the blocks this last weekend and tear into its nonconference opposition will have come away at least a little disappointed. Unless he or she only paid attention on Saturday and Sunday. Better times were had then. 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