Do you really need a flowery, drawn-out introductory paragraph spelling out what is up for grabs in the biggest showdowns in college hockey this weekend? This is crunch time. No more hand holding.

North Dakota at Denver (Fri.-Sat.)

Dillon Simpson and North Dakota are in Denver this weekend to renew their bitter rivalry with the Pioneers.

Sure, there’s a lot at stake here what with both teams jockeying for position in the WCHA standings and trying to enhance their chances for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid (if necessary), but the bottom line is these teams don’t like each other. At all. That said, DU and NoDak are eerily similar; both have dealt with an inordinate amount of injuries leading to struggles at times, but have persevered and played their best hockey over the last six weeks. The phrase “playoff-like atmosphere” can be misleading—we’ve seen a lot of league and national tournament games in half-empty rinks—but this series will be intense.

UMass Lowell at Merrimack (Fri.)
Merrimack at UMass Lowell (Sat.)

These teams meet at a crossroads, and it’s not I-93/I-495 interchange. The River Hawks are virtually assured of an NCAA Tournament bid; the Warriors, meanwhile, are 4-6-3 since Jan. 1, reside on the NCAA Tourney bubble and, more importantly, are staring at the possibility of opening the first round of the Hockey East playoffs at Maine. UMass Lowell blanked Merrimack, 3-0, the first time these two teams met two weeks ago at Tsongas Arena. Both Merrimack’s Joe Cannata and UML’s Doug Carr, Hockey East’s two best goalies, were sensational in goal that night. Expect more of the same this weekend.

Union at Cornell (Fri.)

It’s essentially a regular-season championship game when these two teams meet at Lynah Rink on Friday night. The Big Red are two points back of defending champion Union, and a Cornell victory would pull them even on points and give them a tiebreaker advantage headed into Saturday’s games. When the teams met three weeks ago in Schenectady, the game featured three ties and three lead changes and ended in a 4-4 deadlock. Not much has separated these teams all year long and they’ll have a chance to settle things on the ice this weekend.

Ferris State at Western Michigan (Fri.)
Western Michigan at Ferris State (Sat.)

Ferris State needs just one point to lock up the CCHA regular-season championship. Thanks to the league’s if-it’s-good-enough-for-the-NHL-it’s-good-enough-for-us philosophy, the Bulldogs could win the conference crown with a shootout loss, leading to undoubtedly the worst title-clinching celebration in the history of organized sports. There’s more here besides shootout schadenfreude, however. Western, vying for a first-round playoff bye and a boost to its NCAA Tournament profile, took both ends of a home-and-home series with Ferris in December. Certainly the Broncos remember; it’s one of the two times since Nov. 1 they’ve posted back-to-back wins.

Also: Here’s your updated Atlantic Hockey playoff situation: Someone will be the league champion Saturday night. The most unsettled conference in the country has a number of intriguing battles, led by first-place Air Force at seventh-place Robert Morris; second-place RIT in a home-and-home series with Niagara, one of three teams tied for third; and another third-place club, Bentley, in a home-and-home with sixth-place Holy Cross. … Colorado College makes its third visit to Minnesota in 36 days as the Tigers travel to Minnesota Duluth for a weekend series. CC and Denver are the only WCHA teams yet to play at Amsoil Arena. … All eyes in ECAC Hockey will be on Friday’s Union-Cornell tilt, but Saturday’s Union-Colgate match will be a good one, too. … Outside of Ferris-Western, the two biggest series on the final weekend of the CCHA regular season are Michigan State at Notre Dame and Ohio State and Miami in a home-and-home set. … One of college hockey’s biggest rivalries is renewed this weekend as Alaska and Alaska Anchorage play for the Governor’s Cup. The series starts Friday in Anchorage and shifts to Fairbanks Saturday. The Nanooks have won last two Governor’s Cup series and seven of the last ten.