NFL
By Jason Gulden
Well, NCHC fans, we made it through the first weekend. A couple of teams played exhibition games, while others played out-of-conference games. Let’s look back at this past weekend’s games and the new USCHO Rankings released on Monday.
Friday Night
Opening night got underway in Marquette, Michigan, where Miami (OH) took on Northern Michigan. Miami (OH) was looking to build on its success from last season. Unfortunately for the Red Hawks, they were shut out 3-0.
With everything going on with Arizona State, they looked to get off to a great start, and they did with their trip to Maryland Heights, Missouri, when they took on Lindenwood. They cruised to a 5-0 victory as 5 different Sun Devils found the back of the net.
The first game that was broadcast on NCHC.tv this season was Long Island visiting Minnesota Duluth. The Bulldogs won 7-4, with multiple players recording multiple points.
The first series this season with a ranked team visiting an NCHC team took place in downtown Colorado Springs. #10 UMass would come to the campus of Colorado College. Colorado College, behind a 32-save night by Jackson Unger, who would earn his first career shutout, helped the Tigers win 2-0.
Omaha was also in Colorado Springs on Friday night; however, they were 20 minutes north on Interstate 25, where they took on the Air Force Academy in an exhibition game. The Mavericks beat Air Force 4-1.
The last game on Friday night took place in Alaska, where the Reigning and Defending National Champs, the Denver Pioneers, took on Alaska Anchorage. Denver would cruise to a 6-2 victory. Jake Fisher scored 3 goals for Denver, and Johny Hicks continued his dominant start to his career, earning his 1st win of the season and improving his record to 16-0-1 as the Pioneer goalie.
It was a very good night for NCHC teams as they start the season 5-1, including the exhibition game that doesn’t count, by Omaha.
Saturday Night
After a great opening night in the NCHC, it was time for night 2 of the opening weekend.
Arizona State looked to sweep Lindenwood after their 5-0 opening-night win. However, it was far from pretty for the Sun Devils, as they fell 9-6. One bright spot for the Sun Devils was Nathan Behm, who scored 2 of the goals.
Western Michigan got its season underway in Kalamazoo with an exhibition game against Western Ontario. They won 5-1. Zaccharya Wisdom scored 2 of those goals. Quentin Miller made his Broncos debut after transferring from Denver in the offseason and stopped all 6 shots he faced in the first period.
After being shut out on opening night, Miami (OH) got its first victory of the season with a 4-1 win over Northern Michigan. 4 different Red Hawks would get their first goals of the season in the contest.
NCHC teams swept their series 3 times this weekend, starting with Minnesota Duluth. After a 7-4 win Friday, they didn’t miss a step Saturday, beating Long Island 4-0. Four different Bulldogs scored, and Barrett Hall scored his second goal of the weekend.
The second sweep of the weekend took place in Colorado Springs, with the Colorado College Tigers taking down #10-ranked UMass. In front of a sold-out crowd, including me, the Tigers scored 6 times to win 6-1. On the weekend, the UNRANKED Tigers outscored UMass 8-1.
The last sweep came in Anchorage. Denver would earn a 4-1 victory. Denver’s Sam Harris scored his second goal of the weekend. Three other Pioneers would record their first goals of the season.
St. Cloud State would get its season underway with a trip to Bemidji, Minnesota, to take on the Beavers from Bemidji State. St. Cloud had to battle back from a 2-0 deficit to force overtime before falling 3-2 when the Beavers scored 3:14 into the extra period.
North Dakota also made its season debut against Augustana in an exhibition game. The Fighting Hawks would cruise to a 4-1 victory. Four different players scored for North Dakota, and Jan Spunar stopped 16 shots.
Saturday night saw NCHC go 6-2 with 2 victories in an exhibition.
Sunday Night
This season, the NCHC will have a game on Sunday three times. The first took place last weekend. In another exhibition game, North Dakota took on Manitoba up in Grand Forks. North Dakota won 5-1, with Anthony Menghini scoring 2.
Rankings
This season, we’ll have the ranking in the first article of the week, unlike last season. The new USCHO rankings came out on Monday, and we have a NEW NCHC team in the rankings this week.
After Saturday night’s game, I predicted that Colorado College, behind their weekend sweep of then #10 UMass, would be ranked in the top 20. Well, fans, my prediction was true: the Colorado College Tigers are now ranked #15. Below is the proof that I made the prediction.
The other 4 ranked NCHC teams stayed in the same spot as last week. Denver is #1, North Dakota is #4, Duluth is #5, and Western Michigan is #8.
Other teams that received votes this week but not enough to crack the top 20 include St. Thomas with 25 points, Miami (OH) with 11 points, and Omaha with 1 point.
The 20th-ranked team has 136 points.
Will any of those 3 teams that aren’t ranked this week join Colorado College by receiving points this weekend and being in the top 20 next week? Find out next week when we recap this weekend’s games.
Closing
Well, NCHC fans, we have made it through opening weekend. Three of our teams started the season 2-0-0 (Denver, Duluth, and Colorado College). Two of our teams went 1-1-0 (Miami (OH) and Arizona State). St. Cloud would start 0-1-0. Omaha, in 1 game; North Dakota, in 2 games; and Western Michigan, in 1 game, would win all the exhibition games this weekend. Next weekend, we get to see Newcomer St. Thomas take the ice for the first time as an NCHC team.
NCHC fans, have a great week. I will talk to you all later this week when we break down the upcoming weekend games and announce the first weekend players of the week for the NCHC.
