Two Winless Teams, Something Has To Give

Instate Rivals Both Bring 0-1 records to Home and Home Weekend

What promised to be the triumphant return to the rinks for the then #2 ranked UMD Bulldogs was a power outage. Not the type that we may talk about during the season regarding the power play, but a legitimate power outage. Soft ice, no pop, no popcorn, etc. leads to no game.

Someone must have forgotten to pay the bill for the team's energy also as a lackluster 2-3 loss to Bemidji at BSU ensued Saturday last weekend.

So let us loo to this weekend as the start of the season and hope that one loss doesn't hamper chances for the spring!

Of note:

• This will be the only meetings for UMD and UMTC unless they meet again in the NCAA Tournament like last season's UMD win.

StatPack.  Still too early for anywhere close to meaningful stats. Next week.

Picks by @afiskness. After watching the Bulldogs play the Beavers in Bemidji I came to the conclusion that I should not jump to conclusions.  By jumping to conclusions I would say it is going to be a long season for Bulldog fans, but I am not doing that.  There is a lot of improvement needed by the Bulldogs to live up to the high preseason rankings.  I know it is early, but we all know the conference schedule will be a monster, so these games will be the ones in all likelihood determine if they make the NCAA tournament or not.  If UMD continues to take penalties in the 20 minutes per game range, they will not be a top 10 team in the NCAAs.  

Picks

North Dakota vs. Bemidji States (home/home):  Last week North Dakota played good hockey and the Beavers played well enough to get a win.  I think this might be evenly matched series I will pick a split with the home teams winning.  

Michigan State @ Denver:  The home ice should help the Pioneers, but the Spartans are one team I like in the Big Ten this year.  I will pick a split. 

Minnesota State University Mankato @ Saint Cloud State:  The Mavericks were completely out matched last weekend and I don't think they will be able to bounce back against the Huskies.  I will go with a Huskies sweep.  

Colorado College @ Massachusetts Lowell:  The Tigers do not appear to be good meanwhile the Riverhawks are really good, Riverhawks sweep.

Minnesota Duluth vs Minnesota Twin Cities (home/home):  The chant at both rinks for this series should be "Overrated".  The Bulldogs in recent years have played well against the Gophers, but based on what I saw last week the Bulldogs have a lot of room for improvement.  I won't pick two ties so, I will go with a split with the road teams winning.  

Nebraska Omaha @ Vermont:  The Mavericks played like the #1 team in the country last weekend and the Catamounts faced a Gopher team that needs sometime to figure out who they are.  I will pick a Nebraska Omaha win and tie. 

#18 Miami vs Ohio State (home/home):  These Ohio rivals should be a good series.  I think the teams match up well this early in the season.  I like a split with the home teams winning this weekend.