College Hockey: North Star College Cup Preview
The newest tradition in Minnesota college hockey, the North Star College Cup, begins tomorrow. Our fine state has some of the best Division 1 teams in the nation so it should be a fun couple of days. Let’s take a look.
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The action will start at 4 PM tomorrow as the UMD Bulldogs face-off against the Bemidji State Beavers. The Bulldogs were number two in the PairWise Rankings going into last weekend but dropped to number five after a shootout loss (which is considered a tie for NCAA purposes) and a loss at home to the Western Michigan Broncos. The series continued two troubling trends for the Bulldogs: Difficulty protecting home ice and difficulty beating Western Michigan. I still think the Bulldogs are one of the best teams in the nation, but it is very important for them to beat Bemidji State for their positions in the various polls and rankings.
For their part, Bemidji State got swept last weekend by the Lake Superior State Lakers. Friday night’s game was particularly heart breaking for the Beavers. There were no goals scored for 59 minutes and 59.4 seconds of the game. However, LSSU’s Charlie O’Connor popped in a goal on the power play with only six tenths of a second remaining in the game. The Lakers then won 4-2 on Saturday. Lake Superior State came into the weekend with only three wins in the WCHA to that point in the season, making the sweep particularly disappointing for the Beavers. UMD is an overwhelming favorite to win the game Friday, which makes me very nervous as a Bulldogs fan.
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Friday’s nightcap will pit the current USCHO number one team against the team that started this season in the number one spot. Minnesota State-Mankato, the aforementioned top team in the nation, is on a tear right now. The Mavericks have won eight contests in a row and have only lost once in their previous 15 games. Their hot streak continued with a sweep over the Ferris State Bulldogs in Michigan last weekend. A victorious North Star Cup would solidify their already very strong position.
As far as the Mavericks opponent goes, this is a very important weekend for them as well but for much different reasons. The Minnesota Gophers have tumbled from the top all the way down to the 19th spot in the PairWise Rankings. In a season full of unpleasant surprises for the Gophers, they were only able to earn a split against the Wisconsin Badgers last weekend. There is still time for a turnaround, but many more squandered opportunities will leave the Gophers on the outside looking in at NCAA Tournament time, a shocking possibility considering where the team found itself at the end of last season and the start of this one.
This should be a fun weekend of great hockey. If you are lucky enough to be attending, have a great time. If you are like me, Friday’s games are on Fox Sports North Plus with Saturday’s consolation game as well as the championship on Fox Sports North.