Today we are talking cawlidge hockey, the NCHC explicitly. The National Collegiate Hockey Conference is heating up this weekend with all eight teams playing one another. Conference points and bragging rights are on the line for this Midwest-dominated conference. Do not sleep on the bottom half of the conference stealing a game from the top teams in the conference. St. Cloud State, Denver, and North Dakota round out the NCHC’s top three teams, but more impressively, you can find this trio in the top ten of the NCAA Division I. The NCHC is the real deal! Some people might read my predictions and think I’m clueless, but come Monday after the kayos, come find me.

#1 Denver (9-3-2, NCHC 5-3) vs. Colorado College (7-7, NCHC 3-5)

The battle of Colorado heads to Magness Arena, home of the Pios, for an in state dual. The blood will be flowing in this series with emotions running very high. Expect a very chippy and physical series between these two foes. Denver sits at the number one team in the country, and rightfully so being the defending the National Champion. Last weekend was a rematch of the National Championship game versus the maroon and gold of University of Duluth where the Pios swept the Bulldogs in a low scoring affair. The CC Tigers have had their struggles and are a below .500 team in conference play. If CC has any chance of making this series a battle, they will need to shut down Denver’s Troy Terry and Henrik Borgstrom, both sitting at the #1 and #2 spots in NCHC scoring.

Prediction: Denver Pioneers sweep the Tigers on the weekend, taking both the Fri/Sat games.

#17 Univ. of Minnesota-Duluth (7-8-2, NCHC 2-6) v. Nebraska Omaha (6-7-1, NCHC 1-5)

The UMD Bulldogs head down to Baxter Arena for a date with the University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. Combined, the teams only have three wins in the NCHC, and with it being early December, this is concerning for both programs. UMD is coming off a disappointing sweep at home with Denver handing them two consecutive losses, so look for them to have a bounce-back weekend. New bench boss Mike Gabinet is yet to live up to his hype as he has guided the UNO team to only one win in NCHC, so look for him to light a fire under his players or he could be sent to the door soon. These teams make up the bottom two spots in the NCHC, so this will, in fact, be a battle to not get the title of last place.

Prediction: Split series. UMD will silence the crowd Friday night, UNO will wake up Saturday night and send the Bulldogs home with a series draw.

Miami-Ohio (7-7-2, NCHC 2-3-1) v. Western Michigan (9-7-1, NCHC 5-3)

The Miami RedHawks fly into Kalamazoo hoping to play spoiler against the Western Michigan Broncos. With both teams unranked nationally, this series is up for grabs. The Broncos are on a three-game skid and will definitely need some points to keep up in this high caliber conference. A weekend ago, the RedHawks went one and one with a strong top 10 nationally ranked Cornell team. Look for Gordie Green and his Miami counterparts to dominate this sliding Western Michigan squad.

Prediction: Miami-Ohio will take both games. Not only will they win I believe they will control the pace of the game and keep the Bronco crowd under control.

#5 North Dakota (10-4-4, NCHC 5-2-1) v. #2 St. Cloud State (11-2, NCHC 6-2)

Last, but certainly not least, is the big-time weekend matchup. The “Fighting Hawks” (because I guess it is incorrect to call them their previous nickname) from North Dakota look to take down the hot and rolling Huskies out of St. Cloud, Minnesota. As a college hockey fan, you live for these kinds of series, two of the most prestigious college hockey programs getting together and fighting it out two nights in a row. These one and two seeded NCHC teams will battle it out at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center with the #2 team in the country St. Cloud being host. Both teams are absolutely loaded with fire power on the front end and a just as impressive defensive core for both teams. This series is going to come down to which goalie can keep the puck out of their net. UND will hand the reigns to senior net minder Cam Johnson who was on their National Championship squad two years ago. St. Cloud will look for a strong performance from junior goaltender Jeff Smith. It is simple…score more goals than the other team and you win the game.

Prediction: Split Series. The St. Cloud boys will give their fans what they want and beat up on UND in game one, but the UND team will play villain and return the favor in game two.