The Hawks Nest — Off Week.
Leaving the Fighting Hawks in Grand Forks with no weekend games is Bad News Bears for the folks at the University of North Dakota. Downtown starts to look like a gentleman’s club where the only women to talk to are employees and you’re better off clutching your beer and keeping your mouth shut.
The Hawks took advantage of their weekend break, picking up their beer cases rather than their sticks. Unfortunately for them, it wasn’t the case for the rest of their NCHC conference, giving teams like Duluth, Colorado College and Miami University a chance to earn much needed conference points but luck was in the Hawks’ favor. It was a pointless weekend for Colorado and Duluth as they got swept by their conference opponents, Denver and Western Michigan.
Miami University took to the road and headed to the home of the Huskies in St.Cloud, Minnesota. After a rough showing against the Hawks nobody expected them to pull out two points, pushing both games to overtime before losing in the shootout. Even though there wasn’t any Fighting Hawks hockey to watch over the weekend, there was plenty of in conference action to get your fix.
It was a weekend well spent for the Hawks, now it’s time for them to sharpen their talon’s once again as they travel to Denver for a bout against the number one seed in the NCHC. Denver has been a force to be reckoned with this year, leading the NCHC with just four conference losses, three coming from St.Cloud and one to Omaha. They have had the upper hand on the Hawks so far this year, defeating them twice in Grand Forks, 2-3 and 3-6.
Fortunately for the Hawks, it’s hard to beat any team four times, almost as hard as it is to tie your skates with frozen fingers. Hockey is a game of bounces and anything can happen–Hawks’ key players can step up and prove to themselves and their fans that they can compete with the best. DeRidder will have his work cut out for him after receiving the NCHC Goalie of the week; Denver averages 3.6 goals on 33 shots a game. Hawks’ defenseman will need to be on their “A” game keeping pucks and bodies away from the net. Tune in next week for a recap of the series and what comes next for your Fighting Hawks men’s hockey team.
