College Hockey:

This Week in the NCHA/MCHA

Save for two games, from now on both leagues exclusively are partaking in conference play from this point on. Its safe to say weve hit the homestretch.

The NCHA all but wrapped up its Interlock schedule last weekend and currently holds a 29-19-8 record against the MIAC. While not as impressive as last seasons dominating performance, it should be noted that if St. Thomas is removed from the equation, the NCHAs ledger grows to an even more impressive 27-13-7.

Meanwhile, the MCHA is at the midpoint of its conference schedule, and after an interesting week of games the race is figuring to be a somewhat unexpected one.

With all teams back in action a week ago, there was a bit more shuffling on the national scene.

St. Norbert still holds the top spot in the USCHO.com Division III poll, but dropped two first place votes on the heels of two home overtime wins. A weekend sweep of MIAC foes moves River Falls up to fifth, while a Stout loss to St. Johns drops them back to No. 9.

Adrian joins MSOE and becomes the second MCHA team ever to crack the top 15, sliding into the final position. UW-Superior is once again in the others receiving votes category and for the first time this season Marian cracks the poll, earning a single vote.

Theres some calm before the storm in the NCHA this week with only three games on the league docket, but the MCHA storm is a Category 5. As a result, lets get caught up on the MCHA and also take a look at one potential NCHA sleeper before delving into the bowels of the NCHA race next week.

MCHA

2253

That is how many days it had been since Northland last registered a two game sweep over any opponent. Up until last weeks 4-3, 8-0 back-to-back victories over Crookston, the Lumberjacks had not swept an opponent since November 9 and 10 of 2001. To put it in perspective, the following weekend they played Finlandia in two exhibitions games, as the Lions had yet to become a member of the MCHA.

Last weekend saw Northland sweep its first opponent in over six years.

Also of note that Saturdays 8-0 whitewashing was the first shutout for the Lumberjacks since, well, forever.

It really should not surprise anyone that the Lumberjacks were finally able to tack a few up in the win column. They have been on the losing side of five one goal games already this season — two coming in overtime.

Commenting on Fridays 4-3 win, Lumberjack head coach Steve Fabiilli said, It was nice to win one of those games. We lead most of the game and then fell behind, so it was really good to see us come back the way we did.

The win was the Lumberjacks second of the season and they would only have to wait a day to pick up their third when they hammered the Golden Eagles 8-0 on Saturday, despite being outshot 40-22. All told, seven Northland players picked up tallies in the win.

It just seemed like one of those days that every time we shot the puck it hit the back of the net, said Fabiili. We havent had a lot of games like that here, so it was a good weekend for sure. Im excited for our boys because they have been working hard all year and doing everything weve asked of them.

I do think our power play was definitely clicking, he added. We put in four power-play goals in that game so it was really nice to see it working as well as it was.

Not to be lost in the shuffle amidst the ocho they put on the scoreboard was the play of freshman goaltender Daniel McIntosh. He picked up both wins on the weekend and stopped all 40 Crookston shots to garner Saturdays historic shutout. For his performances, he was named MCHA Defensive Player of the Week.

He played really well, said Fabiili. Im real happy he was able to get the wins as hes been overdue with all of our close games. We did give up 40 shots but I think we did a good job giving up the shots we wanted to give up.

I dont think they had too many good scoring chances, but when they did Daniel was there to turn them away. Everyone just played extremely well; our rebound control was good and the guys did a great job of helping him out.

The wins only give Northland three on the season, but its three more than they amassed all of last season and currently enough for sole possession of sixth place in the MCHA. Further evidence of their improvement is seen in their conference scoring margin — they are on the south side of a 35-30 deficit — a marked improvement from years past.

Weve been competing in some even games in our conference, said Fabiili. Now we have to take the next step, continue to recruit, and rebuild and continue to improve that way.

I think if you look at it and compare last year to this year with our team … it’s a big difference.

Dust off the Crystal Ball

I think right now we are getting better each week, but we have 10 games to play and anything can happen. Were doing a lot of things well but we are going to have to take it week-to-week and game-by-game and take care of things in our own end. Hopefully we can get a few bounces to go our way and set ourselves up well for the postseason, said . . . every MCHA coach.

Surely I jest, but odds are that is about the mindset of everyone in the league at this point in the season. So as a substitute Im going to blow the dust off my crystal ball, gaze into the murky depths of the future and figure out how the league will shake out. Like with last seasons NCHA fortune-telling extravaganza and used puck fair (where I even correctly called the sixth place tie), I figure this is a lot easier than just playing the games themselves.

Who will win the league?

Right now it looks like a two team race. Adrian has been living up to all the hype and expectations and Marian has been playing some great hockey, which is why they are both 9-1 in the league, two games ahead of 7-3 Finlandia. The two square off in a notable series in a few weeks, but Marian still has to make a trip to Finlandia this week while Adrian has already swept the Lions. The Sabres were able to draw a home split with Adrian at home earlier in the season, but between the facts that the key series will be played at Adrian and that I think Adrian just has too much talent, the regular season MCHA champion will be:

Adrian.

Could anyone else make a run at the top?

It looks unlikely right now, but if anyone does it will be Finlandia. Playing in the MCHA North Division, the Lions have an easier schedule than MSOE, and I do not see Lawrence making up three games on them. Finlandia has already played Adrian while the Raiders must play them two more times. The Lions also get Lawrence at home the final weekend of the season. At 7-3, the Lions are two games back and a much easier said than done home sweep over Marian this weekend would go a long way, but they will still need help from other teams to chase down Marian or Adrian. I do not think the Lions will pull it off, but I do foresee them finishing no lower than third overall while winning the MCHA North, which would wrap up the second seed in the MCHA playoffs.

Who will finish in fourth and host the final home playoff series?

In large part to the unbalanced schedule the MCHA is using, I am going to go with Lawrence. The Vikings are currently one game back of MSOE for the fourth spot but have won three of their last four league games following some early season setbacks. Meanwhile, MSOE has lost four straight but it should be noted they were to Adrian and Marian. MSOEs real disadvantage here is that whil