Predictions: Time for U to get on roll -- or not

Here we go ... the stretch run. The Gophers have 12 WCHA games left -- six at home, six away -- to try to climb up in the standings. Currently, they are tied for sixth place with Colorado College but have the tie-breaker over CC, so the U would have home ice for the first round of the WCHA playoffs.

So what will happen this weekend? Two college hockey minds -- Dan Myers of College Hockey News and, uh, the Eye -- try to dissect the WCHA matchups this weekend:

ALASKA ANCHORAGE AT MINNESOTA

Dan: The Gophers are back in action after a weekend off and a split in Grand Forks. Some considered it a "great" weekend. As Roman tweeted early Thursday, since when is a split considered a "great" weekend? There was a time when that (sweeping) was the expectation around Mariucci. The Gophers looked like a team that had mailed it in Saturday night and were hammered 4-1 by the Sioux. Normally, coming off a bye week with Anchorage coming to town would be a major advantage for Minnesota. But UAA has been in town since Sunday and the Seawolves have been solid against middle of the pack teams this season. While Anchorage got swept at Denver last weekend, the fact they played will help them, especially Friday. ... Split

Eye (my twitter name is eyeonupuk): The U pucksters should be well-rested. Since Jan. 1, they have played two games in North Dakota and one exhibition romp over the under-18 U.S. national team (9-0). Time to get serious if the Gophers want to get in consideration for an NCAA at-large tournament bid. Nothing less than two wins over UAA will do. Patty [Kent Patterson] has been good in goal, his defense is blocking more shots. Now the boys up front need to start scoring. The Seawolves are big and strong, but there is a lot of room at Mariucci to skate around them. If the Gophers can grab a lead in both games, then ... Gophers sweep

MINNESOTA STATE AT ST. CLOUD STATE

Dan: To me, this is the most exciting series of the weekend. The Huskies have quietly won six in a row and are just one point back of home ice in the WCHA race. SCSU has done a fine job feasting on bad teams, showing the offense many thought they would when the season started, while finally handing the goaltending job over to Mike Lee full time. He has responded by allowing just three goals over the last four games. Looking at the standings, one would say Minnesota State is another bad team. But the Mavericks have played much better than their record says they have. Over the last two weeks, they've gone 0-3-1 but all four games were one-goal games. And while MSU is in 11th place in the conference, the Mavs are just one game under .500 and are 8-5-1 over their last 14 games. ... Split

WISCONSIN AT MICHIGAN TECH

Dan: Not much needs to be said here. Injuries have again ravaged the Huskies and they haven't won a game -- ANY GAME -- since Oct. 15. ... Badgers sweep

Eye: The Badgers swept MTech 5-2, 4-1 at the Kohl Center on Oct. 29-30. The Huskies came into that series 3-0-2 but have not had a win or tie since. Oh my. Wisconsin is 10-1 in its last 11 games and has the best power play (22 percent) and penalty kill (85.4) in the WCHA. Tech's freshmen have more points that any other class: 29 goals, 40 assists for 69 points. Like underdogs but ... Badgers sweep

NORTH DAKOTA AT COLORADO COLLEGE

Dan: The Tigers started the season down, got red-hot around the holidays, but have cooled since New Year's. They are coming off a sweep of Alabame-Huntsville, which doesn't do much to prepare you for a team like North Dakota. Prior to that, CC was swept at Anchorage. For North Dakota, it might be a good time to get back on the road. Every game counts for UND now as it's locked in a tight race for the MacNaughton Cup with both Denver and Minnesota Duluth. With both of those teams idle this weekend, the Fighting Sioux need these games bad. ... UND sweeps

But Sioux swept CC 3-2 in OT, and 3-2 in Colorado Springs last season and are 7-1 on road in WCHA this season. Evan Trupp has had points in 10 of last 11 games and is 6-6-12 in that stretch. But teammate Matt Frattin, who had a goal in eight consecutive games to reach 20, has not lit the red light the past two weekends. With this series, CC plays seven of its next 10 games at home. Tigers forward Tyler Johnson has 11 power play goals and CC held Ala.-Huntsville 0-for-11 on the power play. So weighing all that, this series will be a ... Split

ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE AT NEBRASKA-OMAHA

Dan: Huntsville, the only independent in Division I hockey, have been like nomads this season. Because they are without a conference, the Chargers will play only four more games the rest of the season -- two of them at Qwest Center this weekend. At 3-23-2, UAH is one of the worst teams in all of college hockey. While Nebraska-Omaha has come back to Earth a bit since its hot start, but the Mavericks are coming off a split at North Dakota that was a bit more impressive than Minnesota's. They destroyed UND last Friday before taking a 0-0 game into the third period Saturday. UNO opens a six game homestead this weekend, and it should be pretty easy. ... UNO sweep

Eye: The Mavs are 6-0-2 against A-H all-time and Dean Blais, their coach, just needs five more victories to reach 500. He should be at 497 when this series is over. A mismatch. ... UNO sweep

P.S. If all of the Eye's predictions come true -- the Gophers and St. Cloud State sweep, CC splits, etc. -- then by Sunday the top four teams in the WCHA will be separated by four points and the next four by four:

North Dakota 28, Denver 27, UMD 26, Wisconsin 24