January 9, 2012

Nebraska Omaha hosts top-ranked Minnesota Duluth this weekend

MADISON, Wis. – A combined eighty-four conference games remain in the race for the 2011-12 regular season championship for the dozen member teams that make up the men's Western Collegiate Hockey Association, with the upcoming weekend of Jan. 13-14 featuring a full slate of six league series. The winner of the league's regular season title is awarded the MacNaughton Cup.

Heading into the new year, Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth share the top spot in the conference standings with 22 points each, four ahead of third place Colorado College and five up on fourth place Nebraska Omaha.

This weekend, both the Golden Gophers and Bulldogs take to the road for key WCHA match ups. Minnesota will go up against defending MacNaughton Cup champion North Dakota while streaking Minnesota Duluth plays at Nebraska Omaha. The No. 5-ranked Golden Gophers (15-7-1, 11-3-0 WCHA) and No. 17-ranked North Dakota (11-8-2, 7-7-0 WCHA) will face-off at Ralph Engelstad Arena (11,634) in Grand Forks at 7:37 pm CT on Friday night and 7:07 pm CT on Saturday evening. Minnesota is 2-0 against UND this season after a 2-0, 3-2 sweep at Mariucci Arena on Nov. 4-5. North Dakota currently sports a four-game unbeaten streak at 3-0-1 and is 7-1-1 over the last eight outings.

Defending NCAA champion and No. 1-ranked Minnesota Duluth (14-3-3, 10-2-2 WCHA) and Nebraska Omaha (10-8-4, 7-4-3 WCHA) will meet for two games at CenturyLink Center (15,959) in Omaha, with Friday's nationally-televised contest on NBC Sports Network getting underway at 6:37 pm CT and Saturday's at 7:07 pm CT. The Bulldogs, in the midst of a nation's best 16-game unbeaten streak at 13-0-3, and the Mavericks, standing 3-1-1 over the last five, play only this one two-game set during the regular season. On Friday, the Mavericks will host their annual "Sell Out" promotion when they'll attempt to sell out all 15,959 seats at the CenturyLink Center for the first time in school history. In each of the first two years of the promotion, UNO has set new school attendance records. Last year's crowd for "Sell Out Wisconsin" was 15,137.

The four other WCHA series set for Jan. 13-14 will feature Alaska Anchorage at Michigan Tech, Wisconsin at Minnesota State, Bemidji State at Denver and St. Cloud State at Colorado College.

The Seawolves (6-10-2, 3-10-1 WCHA) head to Houghton and John MacInnes Student Ice Arena (4,128) to take on the MTU Huskies (9-11-1, 6-7-1 WCHA) in what will be their first on-ice action since a Dec. 9-10 series at CC. Face-offs are 7:07 pm ET both Friday and Saturday. Alaska Anchorage and Michigan Tech split their first two-game series of the season up at Sullivan Arena, with the Seawolves skating to a 3-1 win in game one and the Huskies coming back with a 5-0 shutout in game two.

At Verizon Wireless Center (4,832) in Mankato, Minnesota State (6-15-1, 2-11-1 WCHA) will entertain Wisconsin (9-9-2, 4-8-2 WCHA) with puck drops at 7:37 pm CT on Friday and 7:07 pm CT on Saturday. These will be the only two regular season meetings between the two clubs. The Badgers are 4-1-1 over their last six contests overall.

Out west this weekend, both Denver and Colorado College will play host to league series. The No. 16-ranked Pioneers (11-8-3, 6-5-3 WCHA) welcome Bemidji State (11-9-2, 5-7-2 WCHA) to Magness Arena (6,025) for a 7:37 pm MT encounter on Friday evening and a 7:07 pm CT contest on Saturday night. Roughly one month ago, the two teams split up at Sanford Center in Bemidji, with the Pioneers skating to a 3-2 victory in game one before the Beavers fought back for a 2-1 decision in game two. Bemidji State enters the series with a five-game winning streak and a 7-1-1 mark over their last eight games.

The host and No. 8-ranked CC Tigers (12-7-1, 9-5-0 WCHA), meanwhile, will engage St. Cloud State (8-10-4, 5-6-3 WCHA) at Colorado Springs World Arena (7,380) at 7:37 pm MT on Jan. 13 and 7:07 pm MT on Jan. 14. This series will also mark the only two regular season match ups between the two foes.

With each of the league's 12 teams having 14 WCHA games remaining, a look at the league standings at the halfway point of the season show Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth out front and in a share of first place with 22 points each, Colorado College is third with 18 points, Nebraska Omaha is fourth with 17, and Denver is fifth with 15. Defending league champ North Dakota is currently sixth with 14 points, Michigan Tech and St. Cloud State share seventh with 13 points apiece, Bemidji State is ninth with 12, Wisconsin is 10th with 10 points, Alaska Anchorage is 11th with seven points and Minnesota State is 12th with five points. Just six points separate seven teams from third through ninth. Alaska Anchorage, Minnesota State, Nebraska Omaha and North Dakota have the most home league contests remaining with eight each.

The top six ranked teams at the conclusion of the regular season will earn home ice for the first round of men's WCHA playoffs. Those best-of-three series will be contested the weekend of March 9-11.

The six first round playoff winners will then earn berths in the 2012 Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five, set for March 15-17 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. At the Final Five, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeded teams will receive a first-day bye. There will be two games played on Thursday at 2:07 pm and 7:07 pm CT, and then two semi-final matchups on Friday at 2:07 pm and 7:07 pm CT. On Saturday, the Broadmoor Trophy championship game will be played at 7:07 pm CT. The winner of the Final Five receives the WCHA's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

In action last weekend – Friday, Jan. 6 and Saturday, Jan. 7 – seven WCHA teams combined for a 7-4-1 record against non-conference opponents, upping the league's record against outside Div. 1 foes to 45-28-8 (.605) this season. Minnesota Duluth and Wisconsin led the way, with the Bulldogs winning twice at CCHA-member Western Michigan (4-1, 5-2) and the Badgers sweeping visiting RIT of the Atlantic Hockey Association (6-3, 2-1). North Dakota took a home game to Winnipeg, Manitoba and the MTS Centre and won against Clarkson of ECAC Hockey last Saturday by a 3-1 count. Minnesota State split a two-game road set at ECAC-member St. Lawrence (3-4, 3-1), Denver split a home set against independent Alabama-Huntsville (2-3, 5-2), Colorado College lost (1-3) and tied (3-3 ot) against visiting ECAC Hockey-member Cornell, and host Minnesota dropped a 4-3 decision to Notre Dame of the CCHA in the Hall of Fame Game.

At Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo last weekend, visiting Minnesota Duluth received a game-winning goal and three points from center Travis Oleksuk, three assists from center Jack Connolly and 26 saves from goaltender Kenny Reiter in the 4-1 win over Western Michigan on Jan. 6 and then had five different players tally goals in a 5-2 triumph over the Broncos on Jan. 7, with right winger Joe Basaraba netting the winner and Reiter stopping 31 of 32 shots on goal. Connolly enters this Friday night's game with Nebraska with an 18-game scoring streak – four games shy of the team's single-season record set by Mark Pavelich in 1978-79.

At the Kohl Center in Madison, defenseman Justin Schultz scored two goals and set up two others for four points and reached the 100 career point plateau last Friday while freshman defenseman Jake McCabe tallied the eventual winner – his first goal as a collegian – to lead Wisconsin to a 6-3 win over RIT. Then last Saturday, McCabe again knocked home the game-winner as the Badgers completed the sweep with a 2-1 verdict. Also of note in the series, UW centerman Mark Zengerle stretched his point-scoring streak to 19 consecutive games, two shy of the Wisconsin record of 21 held by current head coach Mike Eaves.

In Canton, N.Y., last weekend visiting Minnesota State fell by a goal (3-4) to St. Lawrence on Friday as left winger Jean-Paul Lafontaine (1g, 1a) and defenseman Zach Palmquist (2a) each had two points before the Mavericks came up with a 3-1 triumph in game two last Saturday as right winger Justin Jokinen provided the game-winner, MSU's penalty-killer went a perfect 5-of-5, and goaltender Phil Cook stopped 29 of 30 shots on goal.

At Magness Arena in Denver, the host Pioneers fell 3-2 to Alabama-Huntsville last Friday after opening a 2-0 lead but DU stormed back on Saturday to claim a 5-2 victory as right winger Shawn Ostrow scored a goal and set up another, left winger Ty Loney and defenseman Joey LaLeggia each had two assists, bluelinder John Lee tallied the winner and goaltender Adam Murray returned from injury with 22 saves.

Up at MTS Centre in Winnipeg, North Dakota played host to Clarkson in the U.S. College Hockey Classic, fashioning a 3-1 victory behind center Carter Rowney's two-goal game (game-winner), two assists from defenseman Dillon Simpson and 21 stops by netminder Aaron Dell.

And at Colorado Springs World Arena, the host CC Tigers came back from a 3-1 setback to Cornell last Friday to register a 3-3 overtime tie on Saturday as left winger Jaden Schwartz led the way with a pair of goals and one assist and defenseman Gabe Guentzel drew two assists.

Through games of Jan. 9, and with just five non-conference contests remaining in the 2011-12 regular season, WCHA-member teams stand 13-1-0 (.929) vs the Atlantic Hockey Association, 6-2-0 (.750) vs Independents, 11-5-4 (.650) vs ECAC Hockey, 10-13-1 (.438) vs the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, and 5-7-3 (.433) vs the Hockey East Association.

In the latest USCHO.com Div. 1 Men's College Hockey Poll released for Jan. 9, Minnesota Duluth continues with a unanimous No. 1 national ranking, Minnesota is at No. 5, Colorado College is at No. 8, Denver is at No. 16 and North Dakota is at No. 17. Also receiving votes from the WCHA were Nebraska Omaha and St. Cloud State.

And in this week's (Jan. 9) USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Div. 1 Men's College Hockey Poll, Minnesota Duluth is No. 1, Minnesota is No. 5 and Colorado College is at No. 8. Also receiving votes were Denver and North Dakota.

Looking ahead to the weekend of Friday and Saturday, Jan. 20-21, there will be four WCHA series and three non-conference games contested. In league play, Wisconsin hosts Alaska Anchorage, Colorado College visits Minnesota, North Dakota heads to St. Cloud State and Minnesota State entertains Nebraska Omaha. Outside the loop, Minnesota Duluth plays host to independent Alabama-Huntsville while Michigan Tech takes on visiting Upper Peninsula-rival Northern Michigan of the CCHA for one game on Saturday. Bemidji State and Denver will both be idle.

Games for Friday, January 13: Alaska Anchorage at Michigan Tech (WCHA), 7:07 pm ET; Minnesota Duluth at Nebraska Omaha (WCHA), 6:37 pm CT; Minnesota at North Dakota (WCHA), 7:37 pm CT; Wisconsin at Minnesota State (WCHA), 7:37 pm CT; Bemidji State at Denver (WCHA), 7:37 pm MT; St. Cloud State at Colorado College (WCHA), 7:37 pm MT.

Games for Saturday, January 14: Alaska Anchorage at Michigan Tech (WCHA), 7:07 pm ET; Minnesota at North Dakota (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT; Minnesota Duluth at Nebraska Omaha (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT; Wisconsin at Minnesota State (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT; Bemidji State at Denver (WCHA), 7:07 pm MT; St. Cloud State at Colorado College (WCHA), 7:07 pm MT.

Results of Friday, January 6
Minnesota State 3 at St. Lawrence 4 (NC); Minnesota Duluth 4 at Western Michigan 1 (NC); RIT 3 at Wisconsin 6 (NC); Alabama-Huntsville 3 at Denver 2 (NC); Cornell 3 at Colorado College 1 (NC).

Results of Saturday, January 7
Minnesota State 3 at St. Lawrence 1 (NC); Minnesota Duluth 5 at Western Michigan 2 (NC); * Notre Dame 4 at Minnesota 3 (NC); RIT 1 at Wisconsin 2 (NC); # Clarkson 1 vs North Dakota 3 (NC); Alabama-Huntsville 2 at Denver 5 (NC); Cornell 3 at Colorado College 3 ot (NC). * Hall of Fame Game; # at MTS Centre (Winnipeg, MB).