Killing some time before they kick me out of the Mariucci Arena press box tonight, here are some random thoughts on this weekend from around the WCHA.

• Nick Bjugstad is good. Really good. And with his size and skillset, he’s virtually unstoppable. Paired with Kyle Rau, Minnesota has the best line in the WCHA right now, bar none. Yes, Connolly-Oleksuk-Brown is rock solid. But these two guys in Minneapolis can flat out play and they complement each other perfectly. I will have a feature story on Bjugstad on the website either Sunday or Monday.

• Speaking of Minnesota Duluth, they keep rolling along with an easy sweep over Minnesota State. How about the Mavericks tonight? Already playing two forwards on defense because of injuries, those two forwards get booted from the game for various game misconducts. Wouldn’t want to be that team come Monday afternoon. I’ve only got two words on that one: Bag skate.

• CC makes pretty easy work of Wisconsin. The Badgers will struggle on the road all season. Because of it, they’re going to struggle to remain in the home ice race.

• Denver gets back on track with a three point weekend over UNO. I expect these two teams to be near each other in the standings all season long.

• Despite his struggles tonight — and he did struggle — Ryan Faragher will give the Huskies a shot most nights. Whether they can score enough to win games is yet to be seen.

• Alaska-Anchorage is on the board with their win last night. No matter what happens later on, they travel to Mankato next weekend where 11th place will be decided! Rock on.

• All it took was losing (perhaps) it’s best forward for the next two months to spur North Dakota to a five goal outburst against a stingy defensive team in Bemidji. Who knew that’s all it would take? The effort Saturday was just the third time all season the Sioux reached at least four goals in a game.

Another exciting weekend in the books. Happy Thanksgiving to all of our loyal readers out there — and even the not so loyal ones. Keep checking back all weekend for the best college hockey coverage around!

Sunday, November 20th, 2011 - 1:05 am | Blogs, Commentary, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings, WCHA