Friday, February 21, 2014

Friday Morning Skate

Minnesota State is idle this weekend, but that doesn't mean there's no skate today ...

The Mavericks probably will be doing some scoreboard watching, both in and out of the league as they try to stay close in the MacNaughton Cup race as well as move up a couple of notches in the Pairwise Rankings.

Going around the WCHA ...

Alaska Anchorage at Ferris State: MSU will keep a close eye on this series as it sits just two points behind Ferris. The Bulldogs have been great at home, and Anchorage hasn't been so hot on the road. The Seawolves are hoping to do well enough over their final four games (all on the road), to stay in a home ice spot for the WCHA playoffs.

Northern Michigan at/vs. Michigan Tech: These two rivals play an important series starting tonight in Houghton. By the end of the weekend either of the teams could be in the top four or barely hanging on to a playoff spot. That's how close the standings are. Yeah, there's a lot more than just U.P. pride on the line.

Lake Superior at Alabama Huntsville: The bottom two teams (for now) will square off, and the Chargers are hoping to get a big crowd by offering free admission. Huntsville can't catch Lake Superior, but the Lakers are just a point out of playoff position at the moment.

Minnesota State, Bemidji State, Bowling Green and Alaska are idle this weekend, although Bowling Green does play an exhibition against the U.S. Under-18 team tonight.

In my and Matt Wellens' USCHO column/notebook, I take a closer look at Alabama Huntsville's travel adventures to Mankato last week. We also give our WCHA picks (Spoiler Alert: We both, for some reason, picked a Huntsville win).

No comments: