Chris Miller, my supervisor, is making a rare back-to-back as a guest predictor this season. My peers on the WCHA beat love his stories from the past. He used to cover UMD for the Duluth News-Tribune. So hereeee's Chris: So as Roman heads off to Madison, with a strict curfew, I recall my worst trip to Madtown came back in the Halloween blizzard of 1991. The driver was golden voice radio guy Steve Jezierski who had to get there because during a blizzard MORE people listen to the radio. Who knew? So he picks me up early on a Friday morning, the day after a 36-inch snowfall, and naturally being a swinging radio guy he's got a hot shot car that looks pretty good on the road … in the summer. On this day, we need some sort of four-wheel drive monster truck. To make a short story long, I get all my stuff in Jez's car and push him up this long incline, while his rear wheels are spitting dirty wet snow all over me … I holler at him to "just keep going" and he guns it to the main drag, leaving me standing there soaking. Naturally there a million snowmobilers out, so I flagged one down and had him (or her, never really got a name) drive me out to Duluth's Central Entrance where Stevie is waiting for me. Took about seven hours to get to Madison, and I'm soaking wet the whole time, and naturally I spent the whole weekend with rashes and a whooping cough. Dang paper didn't even publish for two days, so it was a colossal waste of everyone's time, which actually could be said for a lot of college hockey series. Not that I would ever say that. Anyway, on to this week's picks: North Dakota at St. Cloud State Chris: The greatest hotel of bygone era was the Fabulous Westward Ho in Grand Forks. Not sure what it's like now, but back then it was a motel set-up with an outdoor pool in the shape of a boot and the old wooden sidewalks outside the rooms. The maids would wheel their carts down the planks in the morning and clatter-clatter it sounded like Wyatt Earp and the boys were gunning for you. I guess we stayed there for the cheap rates. We were having breakfast one bitter cold January morning and who should walk into the restaurant but Charley Pride! Naturally, I broke right out with "Is Anybody Goin' to San Antoine?" and Stevie J chimed in with "KAW-LIIGAAAAA." Old Charley. He pretended he was enjoying his stay in the Red River Valley, but you know dang well he was on the next phone screaming at his agent for booking him anywhere north of St. Louis. Roman has established the Sioux (are they still the "Fighting Sioux?") as the team to beat down the stretch, and who am I to argue? The Huskies will steal one this weekend, though, for a ... Split Roman: The Sioux have clinched home ice, now they want to win the MacNaughton Cup which goes to the regular-season champion. They have a one point lead, a three-game win streak and a hot, hot player. Jason Gregoire, since returning from an injury, has eight goals and four assists in eight games. No wonder Dave Hakstol said he did backflips when he heard Gregoire was healthy again. The Huskies are coming off an impressive three-point weekend at UMD, but finish with a brutal sked: NoDak, Wisconsin and Denver. The Sioux swept SCSU 3-1, 6-2 at the Ralph earlier. ... UND sweep Colorado College at Bemidji State Chris: I was pretty shocked to learn that Bemidji is four hours from the Twin Cities. I'm usually pretty sharp geographically, but I thought if you drove four hours north you'd hit the Yukon Territories. I plan to go to Bemidji in a couple of weeks, and was checking last night and found there are no hotel rooms available anywhere in the area. Man, going D-I has really made that town busy! Can't say I ever covered a series in the shadow of Paul Bunyan and Babe, but ate lunch plenty of times on my way to Grand Forks. One thing I noticed, whenever you eat in the middle of winter at a place that has a bar, the drinkin area is always full of snowmobilers. Now I know newspapers always get in trouble when they insinuate snowmobilers drink like fish, as my good friend Sid Hartman would say, but I gotta say in my old age I have noticed a lot of mixing of the liquor industry and big winter sleds. Just an observation. On to hockey. On home ice ... Bemidji State sweeps

Roman: CC needs help. The Tigers have split three consecutive series, not the way to hang on to sixth place. Its power play is 2 for 33 recently. But help is coming, probably next week. Phenomenal frosh Jaden Schwartz, out since the holidays with a broken ankle, resumed skating this week. He had 15 goals in 17 games. Yikes. Anyone would miss him. The Beavers are coming off a 2-2 tie and a1-0 win at Michigan Tech. Jordan George scored an unassisted goal with 93 seconds left for BSU in the second game. Without Jaden ... Split

Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota State Chris: The Duluth beat writer Kevin Pates I consider a close friend, despite the fact that he's always walking up behind you giving you the rabbit ears, and I'm guessing he plans his travel better than I did. I ran out of gas once in the UP headed for Tech, which really irked the two guys with me in News Tribune SUV #6. This was in the old days before dashboards beeped and lit up when you were running low on fuel. Also before cellphones were invented. I mean, we were right out in the middle of nowhere, so I have to get out and hitch a ride a few miles back to the last gas station. I got picked up by these four guys in a car, and for some reason I end up sitting in the back seat between two dudes. Normally I'm quite a chatterbox, but I don't say a word, and neither does anyone else in the car. And the radio ain't playing. Very Deliverance-like. We finally get to the Fast Gas and I bum a five-gallon can and fill it up, and these guys volunteer to take me back to the truck. Criminy, I actually thought about stuffing my driver's license in my sock so I could be identified when my body popped to the surface come spring. I did get back safe and sound, yah, but every time I hear banjo music I start to flop-sweat. I've run out of gas since, too. I never learn. Patesy, well, I bet his gas tank is always half full on the road. He's crazy that way. This series has split written all over it. ... Split Roman: UMD has won six game in a row over Minnesota State. The Dogs have three of the WCHA's top five scorers who combine for 42.4 percent of their points. And UMD plays better on the road; they are 9-2-3 in away games, 9-4-2 at home. The red Mavs average 33.7 shots per game -- 12th in the nation, but only score 2.97 -- 26th. ... Bulldogs sweep (why do I always underestimate the Mavs?) Michigan Tech at Denver Chris: Denver is probably the top road trip in the WCHA for the scribes. Had a bad experience there once, though, not even sure if I can write this in a family newspaper, but here goes. My flight was late and I rushed in to my hotel room to take a quick shower before heading out. I popped out my contacts, leaving me literally blind, and I'm naked as a newborn baby when I notice the toilet is all clogged up, again I'll spare you the details, but it was an ugly sight and now I'm panic stricken. I struggle to find my glasses and call the front desk (yah, I put on some clothes too) and start yelling about it and, no kidding, like four seconds later there are three people there with plungers and mops and they take care of it in a big hurry. Everyone's all apologetic, I'm still kinda shaken, so the manager gives me a bar credit! I know that would mean nothing to a superstar like, say, Michael Russo, but anytime I get a bar credit, well, I don't care if they released a bunch of incontinent poodles in my room. I'm a happy boy. Denver moves into first place ... Pioneers sweep

Roman: Good thing the Huskies got their tie last Friday, it prevented them from setting a new WCHA record for consecutive losses. They now merely share it with a CC team from the '60s at 18. But their winless streak is at 25 games (0-23-2) and should be 27 when they come to Mariucci next weekend. One bright spot is Milos Gordic who has 13 goals. The freshman class, led by Milos, leads the team in goals with 33 and assists with 42. DU has beaten Tech eight times in a row. DU also has young offensive stars like Jason Zucker and Drew Shore, and more of them than Tech. ... DU sweeps

Nebraska-Omaha at Anchorage Chris: Does any beat writer travel to Anchorage? I don't think so. Roman you've never gone, have you? (Nope.) That would be a pretty good scam to run on your boss. The coaches say that trip "Takes a lot out of you." One of my five favorite WCHA cliché quotes, along with "They beat us to all the loose pucks," "We didn't move our feet," "They won all the little battles" and, when your goalie is terrible, "Well, he didn't have a lot of help out there." Like always when I have no clue, I say ... Split

Roman: Life is good in Omaha. Coach Dean Blais won his 300th game last weekend when the red Mavericks swept Wisconsin 4-1, 4-3. UNO got a big donation to help build an on-campus rink. UNO drew its largest crowd ever last Friday, 15,137. UAA has won four in a row at home, sweeping CC and MTech. This will be the second and third meetings ever between these two. Their first at the Nye Frontier Classic in 2006 ended in a 2-2 tie. UNO is hot, but Anchorage usually cools teams down. ... Split

Gophers at Wisconsin Chris: I never really worry about Roman on the road because I can guarantee you he doesn't text while driving. Frankly, I don't think he texts while he's not driving either. I hope he avoids all the rioting in Madison, though. I know Roman seems like a real rabble-rouser, but truth be told he's a pretty mellow guy. If he gets caught up in those protests, he'd get run over by the irate schoolteachers. He really would. He's got that kind of luck. The old crystal ball says this series is going to turn mean and nasty this weekend. The Gophers tie the opener in a goaltending battle, and lose Saturday on a fluke overtime goal ... Tie, Badgers win Roman: The Don has told his Gophers the playoffs have begun. The maroon and goald are in the thick of the chase for the last home-ice spot. With a sweep of Bucky Badger, they could vault from seventh to sixth or fifth. If the Gophers score first, they play better. And if they get a couple of goals, they can bury a team. We saw that last Saturday. But senior captain Jay Barriball is out for a second weekend (knee) and Jake Hansen will miss Friday's game because he received a game DQ for fighting in his last game. Both are top six forwards. So Kent Patterson has to be sharp and there can't be a march to the penalty box. The Badgers have the WCHA's best power play and two of the best offensive defensemen around, Justin Schultz and Jake Gardiner -- Max's older brother. So this will be a ... Split