Gambling is a strange beast.
Two weeks ago, we had a perfect 5-0 among our staff selections along with three who went 4-1.
Last week, no one was better than 3-2 and, for the first time this season, a staffer was perfectly imperfect going 0-5.
This week, the return of a significant number of non-league games, including some that take on a special meaning dot the schedule. Boston University and Cornell will renew its biennial Red Hot Hockey at Madison Square Garden while Providence will travel to Brown to play for the annual Mayor’s Cup.
Anyway, back to last week. Notre Dame’s sweep of then No. 1 Michigan was a bettor’s dream if you chose the Irish back-to-back nights. Same goes for Western Michigan’s sweep of St. Cloud State. A five-team parlay on the five featured games last weekend paid $4,874.36 per $100 bet.
But that takes a lot of believe in the significant underdogs. Notre Dame was +235 and Western Michigan was +165.
This week, there are even more significant underdogs, so choose wisely and maybe you’ll have some decent spending money heading into the holidays.
You can make your selections on the five games listed below as well as five others in USCHO Pick ‘Em. Go to social.uscho.com to join the fun!
As usual, a disclaimer:
Understand, this is for entertainment purposes only. USCHO.com is not a licensed gambling platform and no money may be wagered through this site or any subsidiary of USCHO.
All games are the first games when they occur in a two-game series, unless noted. Saturday game as marked appropriately.
Enjoy and, if you bet, may you be successful.
* Games marked with asterisks indicates odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook
No. 11 Minnesota (-120) at No. 6 North Dakota (Even) *
In the days of the old WCHA, I’m not sure there was any better rivalry than Minnesota and North Dakota. Lest we forget when North Dakota fans bought hundreds of Holy Cross sweaters after the Crusaders upset Minnesota in the NCAA Tournament back in 2006, and wore said sweaters the season following when the two teams faced off.
This season, you have two pretty evenly matched teams and a similar situation to last week’s Michigan Tech-Bemidji State game where neither team was technically considered a favorite. You’d have to bet $100 to make $100 on North Dakota and $120 to make $100 on Minnesota.
Honestly, the line surprises me a bit with North Dakota at home, ranked higher and significantly higher in the PairWise. But maybe this is where we notice a sportsbook like DraftKings possibly not as in tune with college hockey as some other sports. Another reason North Dakota should be favored is the simple trend: the Fighting Hawks have won the last four games played against the Gophers.
No. 20 Bemidji State (-155) at Arizona State (+130) *
Our staff is most undecided on this game, which is actually game two of a Wednesday-Friday series where Bemidji won the opener, 4-3.
The Beavers had the better of play in game one, jumping to a 4-1 lead before Arizona State scored twice in the game’s final 12 minutes to make things interesting.
The Sun Devils have been a bit of a streaky team this season and currently that streak isn’t a good one – three straight losses.
UMass Lowell (-330) at Maine (+290) Sat. at Portland, Maine
UMass Lowell had its nine-game unbeaten streak snapped last weekend with a 2-1 loss at Connecticut. But even in defeat the River Hawks defense continues to prove its best asset. Lowell has allowed just 18 goals in 11 games this season, only seven coming at even strength.
Maine will play this “home” game outside of Orono, in its second home of Portland, Maine. The Black Bears continue to improve this season. After beginning the year 0-8-1, Maine has earned an OT win over Merrimack and a shootout victory versus Boston College.
Boston University (+190) vs. Cornell (-220) Sat. at Madison Square Garden
I really should have Boston University graded as a large underdog in this game given its 4-8-2 record vs. Cornell’s 7-1-0 mark. But the Terriers have been getting healthier in recent weeks and Red Hot Hockey, the every-other-year event on the major stage of Madison Square Garden, always seems to bring out the best in the underdog.
Boston University, in fact, has won three of the previous meetings at MSG compared to Cornell’s two. Twice the game has ended in a tie. Cornell captured the last two games winning 4-3 in 2017 and 2-0 in 2019.
No. 14 Providence (-350) vs. Brown (+290) Sat., Mayor’s Cup
Of all the rivalry trophies, the Mayor’s Cup might not be the best known in college hockey but it is a game Brown coach Brendan Whittet says still matters significantly to the alumni.
Playing the game at home on Thanksgiving weekend, Whittet hopes will be a larger draw for the alum base, but unfortunately, they’ll be watching a Bears team that has been somewhat decimated by injury. Brown is without four forwards and a defenseman for the weekend, which begin Friday at Holy Cross.
Providence, on the other hand, enters the 35th edition of the Mayor’s Cup playing its best hockey of the year. The Friars have won four straight after a short, three-game losing skid. Similar to Brown, the Mayor’s Cup is the second game of the weekend after battling Dartmouth at home on Friday.
Pick records to date (last week):
Jim Connelly – 25-10 (2-3)
Dan Rubin – 23-12 (2-3)
Chris Lerch – 21-14 (1-4)
Ed Trefzger – 21-14 (3-2)
Paula Weston – 21-14 (3-2)
Drew Claussen – 20-15 (2-3)
Matthew Semisch – 19-16 (2-3)
Jack Hittinger – 18-17 (2-3)
John Doyle – 18-17 (2-3)
Nate Owen – 16-19 (0-5)
