UMD freshman goalie Hunter Miska got the benefit of a quick whistle to stop Michael Pastujov in the first period last Saturday, but Pastujov’s third-period goal gave the US Under-18 team a 2-1 victory. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Lara Stalder was UMD’s second shooter when she beat Bemidji goalie Britain Mowat in Saturday’s shootout. Photo credit: John Gilbert

With the Cleveland Indians facing the Chicago Cubs in the World Series, you could make the case that this is the biggest sports weekend – ever – in both of those cities.  That means that Duluth has something in commong with Chicago and Cleveland this weekend, because this is the biggest sports weekend in Duluth for the current hockey season, and for calendar year 2016, at least.
There will be great pitching, hitting, defensive plays, managerial tactics, and all the other things that go into making this a World Series to remember, No question. But in the much smaller – but no less intense – world of Division I college hockey, when was the last time you can remember when the No. 1 ranked team in the country went off to play the No. 2 team? And if you can remember such a time, when was the last time UMD was one of those teams involved?
North Dakota is the No. 1 team in college hockey, and it reinforced its stance this week by becoming the unanimous choice of those voting on the U.S. College Hockey Online poll. UMD is No. 2, an d the teams collide Friday and Saturday in AMSOIL Arena in an early-season battle for supremacy, not only in the nation, but in the highly competitive National Collegiate Hockey Association as well.
UMD got lucky last weekend. When the Bulldogs stumbled, they did it against USA Hockey’s Under-18 Development Team in an exhibition game that doesn’t count in records or statistics. The U.S. kids had lost all five games against D-I college teams, including a 9-0 blowout at Minnesota, but they played a quick, hustling game at AMSOIL Arena and beat UMD 2-1. It didn’t affect UMD’s ranking.  
Any lingering doubts that the NCHA is the best league in college hockey are eliminated by realizing that Denver is voted No. 3, giving the NCHA a 1-2-3 sweep of the top spots. And St. Cloud State, which swept home-and-home games from Minnesota, climbed to No. 10, giving the NCHA four of the top 10. MSU-Mankato, the top team in the WCHA, is No. 9, while Michigan is the top Big Ten team at 11, and Minnesota is No. 12.
Incidentally, in women’s hockey, the WCHA is duplicating the men’s NCHA in prominence so far.  While UND, UMD and Denver are 1-2-3 in national ratings for men, the women rankings show Wisconsin No. 1, Minnesota No. 2, and UMD No. 3.
The UMD women, who play at Ohio State this weekend, beat Bemidji State 2-1 last Friday and were tied 3-3 by the Beavers Saturday, but got the lone shootout goal from Lara Stalder to escape with at least a moral victory. The dynamic duo of Stalder and Ashleigh Brykaliuk got some help, finally, as Katerina Mrazove scored both goals Friday, and got goals from Katherine McGovern, Mrazova and Brooklyn Schlugel Saturday before Stalder drilled her shootout goal past brilliant Bemidji goaltender Brittni Mowat.
So this weekend, watch as much of the World Series as you can, and visualize how much the games mean to both Chicago and Cleveland. But don’t overlook Duluth, where we don’t have a team in the World Series, but we love out hockey, and the best two teams in Division I college hockey give us as big a sports attraction we can handle.