My poor track record with my picks carried over into the New Year, as I went just 8-9-1 last week. Here’s what’s on the schedule for this weekend as conference play begins to pick up. All games are 7 p.m. unless noted.
Last week: 8-9-1
Overall: 56-62-21
Brown at Clarkson
For all their non-conference struggles, the Golden Knights are a respectable 3-3-2 in ECAC play, a point out of fourth place. Brown is one of two teams in the nation without a win in their conference, although to be fair, the Bears have only played seven league games to date. Clarkson wins
Rensselaer at Quinnipiac
RPI ended 2012 on a decent run and has hung in against some tough competition this year. It looks like freshman goalie Jason Kasdorf will likely be out again this weekend, per Ken Schott of the Schenectady Daily Gazette. I think the Engineers will hang in there, but like I’ve said every week, I’m not picking against the Bobcats until they give me a reason to. And they haven’t so far. Quinnipiac wins
Yale at St. Lawrence
The Bulldogs have been a tough team to figure out so far, as they have yet to string together any sort of hot streak outside of a three-game winning streak at the end of November. I’m thinking Yale splits the northern country weekend; the problem is I’m afraid I’ll pick the pick the wrong game for them to lose. Regardless, I’ll take the Saints here. St. Lawrence wins
Union at Princeton, 7:30 p.m. (NBC Sports Network)
No way around it: the Dutchmen are in a rut. Last week’s sweep at Lake Superior gives Union one win over the last month and a half. The return of defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere from world juniors will be a boost, but will it be enough? The Tigers have already knocked off Cornell, Colgate, and Dartmouth this season, and tied the Dutchmen the last time these teams met. I’m tempted to take Princeton, but I think Union pulls it off. Union wins
Saturday, January 12
Rensselaer at Princeton, 4 p.m.
It might be easy for the Tigers to have a letdown after facing Union on a national stage Friday night, but I don’t see that happening. Princeton wins
Brown at St. Lawrence
Injuries have forced the bears to plug a lot of holes on defense this season, but they should return goalie Marco DeFilippo and defenseman Joey de Concilys this weekend, according to Mark Divver of the Providence Journal. Brown will need all the help they can get on the backline against Kyle Flanagan and Greg Carey, one of the top duos in the league. St. Lawrence wins
Union at Quinnipiac
If there was a time for the Dutchmen to break out of their lengthy slump, Saturday is it. Handing Quinnipiac their first conference loss of the season would certainly be a good jumpstart for the second half, but not sure if that can happen. Quinnipiac wins
Yale at Clarkson
The Golden Knights have been holding their own at even strength, but have been brought down by their special teams as of late. Of course, taking the second-most penalty minutes in the nation doesn’t help matters either. The Bulldogs’ Andrew Miller, Kenny Agostino et al should be enough to head back to New Haven with a win. Yale wins
Harvard at Dartmouth
The Crimson all of a sudden have a bit of life after rallying for a 6-5 overtime win over Boston University Wednesday. Harvard ranks 45th in the nation in power-play efficient despite scoring two goals on the man advantage against the Terriers, while the Big Green have the second-best penalty killing unit in the country. Dartmouth wins
