Thursday, February 20, 2014

Weekend Match-Ups (by Donn)

The race for the Penrose Cup is on.  We are down to the last three weekends of NCHC regular season play.  The only thing we know for sure is Miami is out of contention for the title.  The other good bet is CC will also not win the title.


NCHC STANDINGS 2013-2014

Team………………………W-L-T-SW………Points
St. Cloud St……………….11-4-3-0…………...36
North Dakota……………..11-7-0-0…..…….….33
Nebraska-Omaha………..9-7-2-1…..…………30
Denver…………………….8-7-3-2…….…….…29
Minnesota-Duluth………..8-8-2-2….…….……28
Western Michigan……….8-8-2-1…….……….28
Colorado College……….. 4-9-5-1…….….…...18
Miami………………………4-13-1-1….…….….14


NCHC Games

Colorado College vs #22 Denver (home/home)
Last weekend the Tigers tied and beat the Broncos (4-4SOW, 3-0W) in Colorado Springs and the Pioneers split with the Mavericks (4-2L, 4-1W) in Omaha.

The fight for the Gold Pan continues this weekend.  The teams met back in November, with the Pioneers winning the first game in a shoot-out and taking the second game 2-1 in regulation.  The Tigers shot at the title are not realistic, but a shot at taking arch-rival Denver out of the race picture is realistic.  The Pioneers need to get points this weekend for two reasons, one to keep the last home ice spot, and keep a shot at the title within reach.  I think CC will get a win this weekend and so will DU.  SPLIT


#28 Nebraska-Omaha @ #22 Western Michigan
Last weekend the Mavericks split with the Pioneers (4-2W, 4-1L) in Omaha and the Broncos tied and lost to Tigers (4-4SOL, 3-0L) in Colorado Springs.

The Broncos have been hit and miss this season, one weekend their hot, the next their not.  It’s hard to guess what WMU team will show up at Kalamazoo this weekend.  The Broncos are 5-6-1 at home this season and the Mavericks are 5-5-2 on the road.  The numbers point to these old CCHA teams splitting this weekend’s games.  SPLIT


#3 SCSU @ Miami
Last weekend the Huskies swept the Bulldogs (5-3, 4-3) in St. Cloud and the RedHawks were swept by NoDak (3-2, 9-2) in Grand Forks.

Honestly what can I say about this series, the top team in the conference versus the bottom team.  A bottom team now, that started off the season the top team in the nation, in the pre-season polls.  The RedHawks have fallen on hard times, especially after their last game in Grand Forks.  MU might show some life this weekend, to prove that they are not dead, and recoup some pride.  The Huskies on the other hand look to be rolling right along, and could just flatten the RedHawks this weekend.  A SCSU sweep would just about secure them home ice advantage and dibs on the Penrose Cup.  I think the RedHawks might surprise the Huskies, but they still won’t win.  HUSKIES SWEEP


#11 North Dakota @ #16 Minnesota-Duluth
Last weekend NoDak swept the RedHawks (3-2, 9-2) in Grand Forks and the Bulldogs were swept by the Huskies (5-3, 4-3) in St. Cloud.

These teams met back in November in Grand Forks, with UND wining the opener 4-2, and UMD winning the next night 6-3.  The Bulldogs might have lost their shot at the conference last weekend at SCSU, now eight points behind the Huskies.  But NoDak is holding steady at second place with a shot next weekend at SCSU.  NoDak needs to keep on keeping on, and that means getting at least one win this weekend in Duluth.  If the can play like they did last Saturday, watch out, they can score goals.  UMD needs to play sound defense this weekend to keep the scoring low, if they want to win.  SPLIT 
Enhanced by Zemanta

No comments:

Post a Comment