I suppose I should wave the white flag at this point. I only got one game wrong last week, but Jim went 7-0-2. The one game I got wrong was in the Maine-BU series, which we both picked as a split. One game finished as a tie, Jim’s version of the split left him undefeated for the week.
But in the immortal words of John Belushi, “Did you say over? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?”
Dave last week: 6-1-2
Jim last week: 7-0-2
Dave’s record-to-date: 69-28-21
Jim’s record-to-date: 82-21-19
Here are this week’s picks:
Friday, February 4
Merrimack at Northeastern
Dave’s pick: This week, I’m picking first so do I try to go against what I think Jim will pick regardless of the choice? Might the weasel go into a Four Corners Offense and just duplicate my picks? I don’t think so. He’s too cocky for that right now (witness his snarky comments at the end of this week’s column). I’m going with an upset here, Northeastern parlaying its strong play of late into a big win going into the Beanpot.
NU 4 Merrimack 3 (OT)
Jim’s pick: I won’t go into the Four Corner offense, but in this game, at least, I’m with Dave. I think Northeastern is playing as well as any team in the league and, on home ice, I think they can handle Merrimack.
NU 3, Merrimack 2
Massachusetts at Boston College
Dave’s pick: Is BC looking ahead to its marquee matchup against BU in the Beanpot? Only a little and not enough.
BC 4 UMass 2
Jim’s pick: Rare is the day that BC has overlooked it’s pre-Beanpot game. Won’t happen this year either.
BC 5, UMass 1
Massachusetts-Lowell at Boston University
Dave’s pick: The River Hawks are playing better but in this case they still fall short.
BU 4 UML 2
Jim’s pick: Lowell hasn’t had much success of late versus the Terriers. That won’t change.
BU 5, UML 2
Providence at Vermont
Dave’s pick: As I wrote in this week’s blog, this series could very well dictate who finishes eighth and who’s out in the playoff cold. I picked the Catamounts in the blog and will follow through here.
UVM 2 PC 1
Jim’s pick: I feel a split here, which should mean picking Vermont in the opener, as they’ve played much better on Fridays than Saturdays. That said, I’ll go against common wisdom, if for no reason than to give Dave a chance.
PC 4, UVM 2
Maine at New Hampshire
Dave’s pick: UNH is nicely placed in the standings with its two games in hand over BC, but those could slip away fast as the Wildcats have six games remaining against nationally ranked opponents. This is the first. In the immortal words of Elmer Fudd, “White out the Whitt wields a Wildcat win. ”
UNH 4 Maine 3 (OT)
Jim’s pick: Touhgest game and series to pick of the weekend. I think Maine takes points, but think UNH comes out with all the momentum in the opener.
UNH 4, Maine 2
Saturday, February 5
Maine at New Hampshire
Dave’s pick: Jim’s probably going to pick a split here and it would be hard to argue against that if you knew whether the Maine version of Jekyll or Hyde were going to show up. But I’m going with UNH’s consistency.
UNH 5 Maine 4
Jim’s pick: Dave is right. Split it is for me.
Maine 4, UNH 3
Massachusetts at Merrimack
Dave’s pick: The Warriors get right back to form after Friday’s loss to Northeastern.
Merrimack 4 UMass 2
Jim’s pick: Tough weekend for the Minutemen. Merrimack wins at home.
Merrimack 5, UMass 2
Providence at Vermont
Dave’s pick: As I said before, I’m going with the Catamounts sweeping this series to stake a serious claim on eighth place.
UVM 3 PC 2
Jim’s pick: UVM rebounds for the rare Saturday win.
UVM 2, PC 1
Monday, Feb. 7
Harvard vs. Northeastern (Beanpot)
Dave’s pick: Unless the Huskies get spooked by a cavernous, empty Garden all the way into the second period, they’re going to win this one going away.
NU 4 HU 1
Jim’s pick: Don’t even think this one will be close.
NU 5, HU 1
Boston College vs. Boston University (Beanpot)
Dave’s pick: This should be the proverbial bahn-burnah. The Garden will be rocking and so will the checks. I’m picking the Eagles in a see-saw event that goes to overtime (making all the sportswriters on deadline groan insufferably).
BC 4 BU 3 (OT)
Jim’s pick: It’s hard to pick against BU in this tournament, but when BC wins the first three games of the season series, I can’t pick against the Eagles.
BC 4, BU 2
