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
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
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
North Dakota vs. St. Cloud State, Series Preview(thehockeywriters.com)
