Forgive me, Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds for having doubted you.<\/p>\n
I mistakenly attributed your back-to-back wins over No. 7 Adrian and No. 9 SUNY Geneseo to tryptophan-laced turkey and inertia-inducing giblets on your opponents’ Thanksgiving dinner plates.<\/p>\n
I picked Wisconsin-Stout to prevail. But you showed me, didn’t you? By sweeping Stout last weekend, you cast further doubt on the Irish Seer’s Cleo-like clairvoyance.<\/p>\n
My misgivings left last week’s record at 3-3 while causing my overall 9-14 puck prognostication mark to plummet dangerously close to Krusty the Klown territory.<\/p>\n
For those who don’t partake in watching TV animated shows, let me explain: In a classic episode, “The Simpsons” star clown was revealed to have a serious gambling problem, underscored by his penchant for laying serious coin on the Harlem Globetrotters’ favorite foil, the Washington Generals.<\/p>\n
Confronted by his financial advisor with this stinging reality, the seltzer-spewing punter looked to the heavens and cried, “But they were due. …”<\/p>\n
Me thinks I’m due for some fortuitous forecasting this week .<\/p>\n
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Dec. 10-11<\/strong><\/p>\n \n Friday and Saturday<\/strong><\/p>\n \n St. Thomas at Milwaukee School of Engineering:<\/strong> The undefeated No. 8 Raiders (8-0, 6-0 MCHA) arguably face one of their toughest tests in this nonconference match-up with the MIAC Tommies (7-4, 4-2). St. Thomas is fresh off a 2-1 overtime victory against No. 6 Gustavus Adolphus Dec. 4, which was indicative of the young team’s remarkable buoyancy this season. The Tommies nabbed the victory after losing Friday’s game to the Gusties, 5-3. MSOE’s firepower with leading scorer Jordan Keizer (13 goals and 4 assists) and home-ice advantage should extend the Raiders’ winning streak to 10.<\/p>\n MSOE, 5-2 and 3-1<\/strong><\/p>\n \n Wisconsin-Stevens Point at Wisconsin-Eau Claire:<\/strong> These teams are on opposite trajectories with the No. 14 Blugolds (7-4, 3-3) enjoying an impressive four-game winning run — all against Top-15 squads — while the Pointers (4-7, 2-6) are mired in a six-game losing funk. While UW-Eau Claire has momentum and home-ice advantage, UW-Eau Claire has enough talent — namely Nick Graves (2.37 GAA and .910 save-pct.) in goal — and moxie to sneak out with a split.<\/p>\n UW-Eau Claire, 4-1; UW-Stevens Point, 2-1<\/strong><\/p>\n \n St. Scholastica at Wisconsin-Superior:<\/strong> Despite having few individual scoring phenoms, the No. 15 Yellowjackets (7-3-1, 5-1) sprung into the NCHA’s upper tier by grinding out wins with a balanced attack as 22 players have at least a point. Meanwhile, the Saints’ wildly inconsistent campaign was highlighted by last weekend’s upset victory over No. 2 St. Norbert at home. Any carryover isn’t likely to mask the Saints’ serious special team deficiencies. St. Scholastica (5-6, 1-5) ranks last among NCHA teams on the penalty kill (16-of-22 for 72 percent) and second to last on the power play (3-of-16 for 11 percent).<\/p>\n UW Superior, 5-2 and 4-1<\/strong><\/p>\n \n \n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Forgive me, Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds for having doubted you. I mistakenly attributed your back-to-back wins over No. 7 Adrian and No. 9 SUNY Geneseo to tryptophan-laced turkey and inertia-inducing giblets on your opponents’ Thanksgiving dinner plates. I picked Wisconsin-Stout to prevail. But you showed me, didn’t you? By sweeping Stout last weekend, you cast further […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1425],"tags":[1469,1470],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n