Weekly Preview Two Surprise Teams Battle in the Great Lakes

This weeks top game happens to have two of the biggest surprises in college hockey this season as head coach Jeff Jackson and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish travel to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan where they will face the Lake Superior Lakers.

Coming off a recent split against Robert Morris, Notre Dame finds itself fourth in this weeks pairwise rankings. On the other side, Lake Superior finds itself 15th and in the hunt for the NCAA tournament in March.

The Irish are coming in as one of the most balanced teams in the country. Their offense does deserve credit with four players over 20 points, but their goaltending and their defense have been the backbone of the team. In fact the Irish have only allowed 499 shots on goal in 22 games an average of 22.7 shots on goal per game that the opposition have taken against the Irish. Do not be surprised however if Notre Dame allows more shots on goal this weekend against the Lakers.

On the other side of the ice, the Lake Superior Lakers have done it all on defense. The Lakers are giving up an average of 2.1 goals per game. Reiging CCHA player of the month Jeff Jakaitis had a great December allowing just seven goals in five games. For Lake Superior to win they need to get the offense going. Only one player has 10 goals and that is Freshman forward Nathan Perkovich. The offense has to get going against another solid defense in Notre Dame.

Overall I expect one of the games to be defensive, maybe both. For the Lakers the question is, who will break out this series and become a go to guy? And for Notre Dame their question is can David Brown get tested this weekend?

Another big game this weekend is in Orono where the Maine Black Bears host Boston University for two huge games at Alfond Arena.

These two games are important for a spot in the top three of Hockey East. BU's offense has struggled all year (2.3 goals per game) while Maine's strength is its potent offensive attack (4.2 goals per game). Maine is 7-2-1 in their last 10 while BU is 6-2-2. BU netminder John Curry will have his hands full this weekend. Will Ben Bishop on the other end have a breezy weekend?

In other action this weekend:

Minnesota travels to Wisconsin for two at the Kohl Center. Will Minnesota continue to roll through the WCHA? Or will the Badgers protect home ice? Always intresting when these two teams play each other and look for a lot of emotion in this rivalry.

Another rivalry game features two in state opponents as New Hampshire faces Dartmouth at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester.

And two of the top teams in the ECACHL will go at it as Clarkson faces Cornell.

Big weekend in college hockey and Hockeynuts is your place for all your college hockey needs. Be sure to check out the weekly wrap up on Monday with all the results from this weeks big games.