WCHA Series for Feb. 12-13 Feature UND at SCSU, UM at DU, MSU at UW; UMD, SCSU Share Lead; Four Points Lie Between Top Five
Jake Marto and the Fighting Sioux Play at SCSU on Feb. 12-13 |
 |
Feb. 8, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
MADISON, Wis. – With just one month now remaining in the race for the 2009-10 Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season championship and a top five finish, two teams – Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State – share first place, just one point lies between the top three clubs and just four points separate the current top five. There is also a logjam between three teams who currently sit sixth and tied for seventh and are separated by just a single point.
Six WCHA-member teams will be engaged in conference competition over the upcoming weekend of February 12-13 while four will be idle. No. 4-ranked St. Cloud State (18-8-4, 13-6-3 WCHA), sharing the top spot in the WCHA with Minnesota Duluth, will play host to defending MacNaughton Cup champion and No. 11-ranked North Dakota (13-10-5, 8-9-3 WCHA) at the National Hockey Center (5,371) on Friday and Saturday at 7:07 pm CT each evening. Earlier this season the two teams split in Grand Forks, with the host Fighting Sioux winning 4-2 on November 13 and the Huskies prevailing 3-2 on Nov. 14.
Pre-season conference favorite and No. 2-ranked Denver (18-6-4, 12-4-4 WCHA), trailing the co-leaders by just one point with two games in hand, engages visiting Minnesota (13-13-2, 8-10-2 WCHA) at Magness Arena (6,026). Face-offs are Friday evening at 7:37 pm MT and Saturday night at 7:07 pm MT. The Pioneers stand 2-0 vs the Golden Gophers this season with back-to-back 3-0 shutouts in Minneapolis back on Oct. 23-24.
And in Madison this weekend, No. 3-ranked Wisconsin (16-7-4, 11-6-3 WCHA), sharing fourth place with CC but with two games in hand on the Tigers, UMD and SCSU, entertains Minnesota State (12-14-2, 6-13-1 WCHA) at the Kohl Center (15,237) in a pair of 8:07 pm CT encounters on Friday and Saturday. In the first head-to-head series between the Badgers and Mavericks on Oct. 23-24 in Mankato, Wisconsin won 6-0 on Friday before MSU battled back to claim a 3-2 triumph on that Saturday.
Idle this week are Alaska Anchorage, No. 9-ranked Colorado College, Michigan Tech, and No. 7/8-ranked Minnesota Duluth.
This week’s WCHA standings find Minnesota Duluth (18-11-1, 14-7-1 WCHA) and St. Cloud State (18-8-4, 13-6-3 WCHA) sharing first place with 29 points amassed in 22 league games played. Denver (18-6-4, 12-4-4 WCHA) is third with 28 points, but has two games in hand on both UMD and SCSU. Wisconsin (16-7-4, 11-6-3 WCHA) and Colorado College (17-10-3, 11-8-3 WCHA) share fourth with 25 points each, but the Badgers have played two fewer games than UMD, SCSU and CC. North Dakota (13-10-5, 8-9-3 WCHA) stands sixth with 19 points, one ahead of seventh place co-holders Minnesota (13-13-2, 8-10-2 WCHA) and Alaska Anchorage (10-16-2, 8-14-2 WCHA) who each have 18. Minnesota State (12-14-2, 6-13-1 WCHA) is in ninth place with 13 points and Michigan Tech (5-22-1, 4-18-0 WCHA) is 10th with eight.
In conference action over the weekend of Feb. 5-6, host St. Cloud State earned three points against Alaska Anchorage in a 4-4 (ot) tie last Friday and a 6-0 victory on Saturday while host Michigan Tech split its annual Winter Carnival series against Minnesota Duluth. The Huskies won 3-1 last Friday before the Bulldogs came back for a 3-2 win on Saturday.
Outside the WCHA last weekend, Colorado College, Denver and Wisconsin combined for a perfect 5-0-0 record, raising the WCHA’s collective non-conference mark this season to an impressive 45-22-5 and a .660 winning percentage through 72 games.
A season ago (2008-09), North Dakota won the regular season title with 38 points while Denver was second with 36. It took at least 29 points to earn a first round home WCHA playoff berth with the Sioux, Pioneers, Wisconsin, Colorado College and Minnesota hosting opening round matchups.
As of February 8, six WCHA-member teams own winning records overall, five have winning percentages of at least .617 and one is at .500. Denver (18-6-4) is at .714, St. Cloud State (18-8-4) and Wisconsin (16-7-4) are both at .667, Minnesota Duluth (18-11-1) and Colorado College (17-10-3) are both at .617, and North Dakota (13-10-5) is at .554. Minnesota, meanwhile, is an even .500 at 13-13-2.
In this week’s (February 8) USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Division 1 Men’s College Hockey Poll, Denver is No. 2, Wisconsin is No. 3, St. Cloud State is No. 4, Minnesota Duluth is No. 8, Colorado College is No. 9 and North Dakota is No. 11.
In the February 8 edition of the USCHO.com Division 1 Men’s College Hockey Poll, Denver is No. 2, Wisconsin is No. 3, St. Cloud State is No. 4, Minnesota Duluth is No. 7, Colorado College is No. 9 and North Dakota is No. 11. Minnesota also received votes.
The 2009-10 campaign marks the 58th in the storied history of the WCHA, with the league owning a record 36 national championships. It also is the final season league membership consists of 10 teams, as Bemidji State University and the University of Nebraska Omaha come on board as new members for the 2010-11 campaign.
This Week in the WCHA
Games for Friday, February 12: North Dakota at St. Cloud State (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT; Minnesota State at Wisconsin (WCHA), 8:07 pm CT; Minnesota at Denver (WCHA), 7:37 pm MT.
Games for Saturday, February 13: North Dakota at St. Cloud State (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT; Minnesota State at Wisconsin (WCHA), 8:07 pm CT; Minnesota at Denver (WCHA), 7:07 pm MT.
|
|
 |
