GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- With North Dakota sitting in a tie for first place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference slightly past the halfway mark of the season, media members and fans can have a field day projecting the final finish of the Fighting Hawks.

And with a key series in Grand Forks this weekend against title contender Denver, the tendency is for us to speculate how the results of this weekend's games will play out for the final placement of the Hawks and the Pioneers.

But while that creates a field day for our spare time in trying to figure out how the remaining 12 NCHC games for North Dakota will play out in creating the final standings, that's not the thought process you'll hear voiced by the coaches or players involved.

I've been around college hockey for over half a century, and there's one message that never changes.

While we can speculate on the results to come as fans or media members, it is not what is the focus of the coaches or the players.

The focus is keen this time of the year, for players and coaches alike. Win the next faceoff. Gain the edge in the next shift on the ice. Win the period. Play your best every time you're on the ice and trust your talents and your teammates to get the win.

No question last weekend and this weekend were and are key games for the Fighting Hawks. By coming out with a win and a tie last weekend at St. Cloud State, the results moved UND into a tie for first place in the NCHC with the Huskies. North Dakota remains the only team in the nation that hasn't lost a league game in regulation play yet this season.

And with Denver lurking just three points behind the co-leaders, this weekend carries just as much importance for all three of those teams.

It's a huge challenge ahead, for the Hawks for the Pioneers, and of course the Huskies. It's just that this series has more focus on it since it features two title contenders going head-to-head.

The trick for both teams is not to be overwhelmed with that challenge, to focus instead on each shift on the ice, each period, each faceoff. Little things that add up to something big at the end of the game.

After watching on TV the telecast of the two games between North Dakota and St. Cloud last weekend, I came away with one certainty.

Fans who can watch the Midco Sports TV coverage of North Dakota games, with Alex Heinert and Jake Brandt handling the coverage, are the big winners. Not only do they both know the game and report it well, the TV coverage through Midco Sports is light years ahead of the student-produced TV coverage from St. Cloud that Midco Sports picked up and made available to us last weekend.

So we know the games this weekend will be challenging, exciting. We know that fans who can't make it to the games can watch on TV with coverage from Midco Sports that ranks with the best available anywhere in college hockey, if not THE best.

So my message to the readers and fans for this weekend is this: like the players and coaches, focus on every faceoff, every shift, every play and let the results speak for themselves when the games end.

I do know we'll see two very good teams in action here, two teams with excellent coaching, tremendous players and with a strong chance to be high seeds in the NCAA tournament in late March.

Bring it on. I'm ready.

Virg Foss is in his 54th season of writing about UND hockey. He was the beat writer for UND hockey for the Grand Forks Herald for 35 years prior to his retirement in 2005. He is currently in his 19th season of writing about Fighting Hawks hockey for UND athletic communications.