March 15, 2004

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Five-game ticket packages still available, single game tickets on sale now; Golden Gophers are defending Final Five champions; Final Five to be telecast by Fox Sports Net North; Live Final Five audio available at wcha.com; Annual WCHA awards banquet to be held Thursday; Six WCHA teams among top 15 in latest USCHO.com Division 1 Pairwise Rankings; 2003-04 season home attendance in WCHA reaches 1,430,573

MADISON, Wisc. ­ It's the championship season throughout Division 1 men's collegiate hockey and for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, all eyes will be focused this week on the 2004 Red Baron WCHA Final Five, set for March 18, 19 and 20 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. The field is set following a topsy-turvy first-round of league playoffs this past weekend that saw only two teams hold on to their pre-tournament seed and two of the top five ranked clubs get upset.

Heading to Saint Paul this week to battle for the league playoff championship, the Broadmoor Trophy and the WCHA's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament, will be 2003-04 WCHA regular season and MacNaughton Cup champion University of North Dakota (28-6-3, .797), second place finisher University of Minnesota-Duluth (25-11-4, .675), two-time defending NCAA champion University of Minnesota (24-13-3, .638), Colorado College (20-15-3, .566), and upstart University of Alaska Anchorage (13-21-3, .392).

Coach Dean Blais' Fighting Sioux are the No. 1 seed and will be marking their 11th appearance in the WCHA Final Five/Four since the league first went to a common site for its post-season championship in 1987-88. UND is 10-8 all-time at the Final Five/Four. Overall, North Dakota has won or shared the league's playoff title seven times overall (1967, 1968, 1979, 1980, 1987, 1997, 2000) and won the Final Five/Four in 1987, 1997 and 2000.

Coach Scott Sandelin's Bulldogs are the No. 2 seed and will be making their 5th appearance in the WCHA Final Five/Four since 1987-88 and UMD is 3-5 all-time at the Final Five/Four. Overall, Minnesota-Duluth has won or shared the league's playoff title two times (1984, 1985.

Coach Don Lucia's defending WCHA Final Five-champion Golden Gophers are the No. 3 seed and will be making their 16th appearance in the WCHA Final Five/Four since 1987-88 (missing only in 1997-98). UM has a 18-15 record at the Final Five/Four. Overall, Minnesota has won or shared the league's playoff title a total of 12 times (1961, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2003) and won the Final Five/Four in 1993, 1994, 1996 and 2003.

Coach Scott Owen's CC Tigers are the No. 4 seed in Saint Paul and will be making the program's 10th appearance in the WCHA Final Five/Four since 1987-88. CC is 11-10 all-time at the Final Five/Four. The Tigers have a WCHA playoff title from 1978 but have never won the Final Five/Four.

And coach John Hill's Seawolves are the No. 5 seed and will be making the program's first-ever appearance in the Final Five. UAA joined the WCHA for the 1993-94 season.

The 2004 Red Baron WCHA Final Five will get underway at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday, March 18 at 7:08 pm CT with No. 5 Alaska Anchorage against No. 4 Colorado College. The winner of that game will then move on to take on No. 1 North Dakota on Friday, March 19 at 2:08 pm CT. On Friday night, No. 3 Minnesota will take on No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth at 7:08 pm CT. On Saturday, the third place game will face-off at 2:08 pm CT while the Broadmoor Trophy championship game will get underway at 7:08 pm CT.

The winner of the Broadmoor Trophy next Saturday night will also earn the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's automatic berth into the 2004 NCAA Men's Division 1 Tournament.

WCHA First-Round Playoff Results

Best-of-3. Friday, March 12: #10 Michigan Tech 2 @ #1 North Dakota 6; #9 Minnesota State 4 @ #2 Minnesota-Duluth 3 ot; #8 Alaska Anchorage 3 @ #3 Wisconsin 2; #7 Colorado College 4 @ #4 Denver 3; #6 St. Cloud State 1 @ #5 Minnesota 6.

Saturday, March 13: #10 Michigan Tech 3 @ #1 North Dakota 4 ot (UND wins series, 2-0); #9 Minnesota State 2 @ #2 Minnesota-Duluth 6 (series tied 1-1); #8 Alaska Anchorage 0 @ #3 Wisconsin 4 (series tied 1-1); #7 Colorado College 6 @ #4 Denver 1 (CC wins series 2-0); #6 St. Cloud State 3 @ #5 Minnesota 7 (UM wins series 2-0).

Sunday, March 14: #9 Minnesota State 5 @ #2 Minnesota-Duluth 6 (UMD wins series 2-1); #8 Alaska Anchorage 4 @ #3 Wisconsin 1 (UAA wins series 2-1).

This Week in the WCHA
2004 Red Baron WCHA Final Five € Xcel Energy Center - Saint Paul
Live television coverage: Fox Sports Net North. Live audio: wcha.com

Thursday, March 18: No. 5 Alaska Anchorage vs No. 4 Colorado College, 7:08 pm CT (FSN).

Friday, March 19: Thursday's Winner vs No. 1 North Dakota, 2:08 pm CT; No. 3 Minnesota vs No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth, 2:08 pm CT (FSN).

Saturday, March 20: Third Place Game, 2:08 pm CT (FSN); Broadmoor Trophy Championship Game, 7:08 pm CT (FSN).

WCHA to provide complete Live Audio Coverage of 2004 Red Baron WCHA Final Five at wcha.com

The 2004 Red Baron WCHA Final Five will also be broadcast live over the internet for the fourth consecutive season via the league's official web site ­ wcha.com.

All five games of the championship will again be broadcast live on www.wcha.com, with Jack Swanson, former play-by-play voice of the Wisconsin Badgers and owner, station KJ102 in Roseau, Minn., and Jim Rich, voice of This Week in the WCHA (the league's weekly radio show) handling the commentary. The league will also rotate special guests throughout the broadcasts.

The Broadmoor Trophy

One of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's two major championship trophies is the statuesque and highly sought-after Broadmoor Trophy, which has been awarded annually since 1985 to the winner of the conference's post season championship tournament.

The Broadmoor Trophy itself dates to 1981 when it was first presented to the conference by the world-renowned Broadmoor Hotel and Resort Complex of Colorado Springs, Colo.

For the first three seasons of its partnership with the WCHA (1981-1984) ­ and due to the departure of league member and MacNaughton Cup (regular season championship trophy) custodian Michigan Tech to the CCHA ­ the Broadmoor Trophy was presented to the Association's regular season champion.

But when the Huskies returned to the WCHA fold in 1984 ­ with the MacNaughton Cup in hand ­ the Broadmoor Trophy became, and has remained since, the symbol of the league's post-season tournament championship. Long an ardent supporter of college hockey, the Broadmoor Hotel included the former Broadmoor World Arena, which hosted the NCAA Ice Hockey Championship a total of 11 times between 1948 and 1969.

WCHA Playoff Champions

Season: Champion(s) (Head Coach)
1959-60: Denver* (Murray Armstrong) & Michigan Tech* (John MacInnes)
1960-61: Denver* (Murray Armstrong) & Minnesota* (John Mariucci)
1961-62: Michigan Tech (John MacInnes)
1962-63: Denver (Murray Armstrong)
1963-64: Denver (Murray Armstrong
1964-65: Michigan Tech (John MacInnes)
1965-66: Denver (Murray Armstrong) & Michigan State€ (Amo Bessone)
1966-67: Michigan State€ (Amo Bessone) & North Dakota€ (Bill Selman)
1967-68: Denver€ (Murray Armstrong) & North Dakota€ (Bill Selman)
1968-69: Denver+ (Murray Armstrong) & Michigan Tech+ (John MacInnes)
1969-70: Michigan Tech+ (John MacInnes) & Wisconsin+ (Bob Johnson)
1970-71: Denver+ (Murray Armstrong) & Minnesota+ (Herb Brooks)
1971-72: Denver€ (Murray Armstrong) & Wisconsin€ (Bob Johnson)
1972-73: Denver€ (Murray Armstrong) & Wisconsin€ (Bob Johnson)
1973-74: Michigan Tech€ (John MacInnes) & Minnesota€ (Herb Brooks)
1974-75: Michigan Tech€ (John MacInnes) & Minnesota€ (Herb Brooks)
1975-76: Michigan Tech€ (John MacInnes) & Minnesota€ (Herb Brooks)
1976-77: Wisconsin (Bob Johnson)
1977-78: Colorado College€ (Jeff Sauer) & Wisconsin€ (Bob Johnson)
1978-79: Minnesota€ (Herb Brooks) & North Dakota€ (Gino Gasparini)
1979-80: Minnesota€ (Herb Brooks) & North Dakota€ (Gino Gasparini)
1980-81: Michigan Tech€ (John MacInnes) & Minnesota€ (Brad Buetow)
1981-82: Wisconsin (Bob Johnson)
1982-83: Wisconsin (Jeff Sauer)
1983-84: Minnesota Duluth (Mike Sertich)
1984-85: Minnesota Duluth (Mike Sertich)
1985-86: Denver (Ralph Backstrom)
1986-87: North Dakota (Gino Gasparini)
1987-88: Wisconsin (Jeff Sauer)
1988-89: Northern Michigan (Rick Comley)
1989-90: Wisconsin (Jeff Sauer)
1990-91: Northern Michigan (Rick Comley)
1991-92: Northern Michigan (Rick Comley)
1992-93: Minnesota (Doug Woog)
1993-94: Minnesota (Doug Woog)
1994-95: Wisconsin (Jeff Sauer)
1995-96: Minnesota (Doug Woog)
1996-97: North Dakota (Dean Blais)
1997-98: Wisconsin (Jeff Sauer)
1998-99: Denver (George Gwozdecky)
1999-00: North Dakota (Dean Blais)
2000-01: St. Cloud State (Craig Dahl)
2001-02: Denver (George Gwozdecky)
2002-03: Minnesota (Don Lucia)
* first-round winners; € second-round winners;
+ East and West Regional winners

WCHA Final Five/Four Records, 1987-2003 - by Team

The 2004 Field
North Dakota: 11th appearance, 18 games played, 10-8
Minnesota-Duluth: 5th appearance, 8 games played, 3-5
Minnesota: 16th appearance, 33 games played, 18-15
Alaska Anchorage: 1st appearance
Colorado College: 10th appearance, 21 games played, 11-10

other current WCHA members
Denver: 5 appearances, 9 games played, 5-4
Michigan Tech: 3 appearances, 7 games played, 3-4
Minnesota State: 2 appearances, 3 games played, 0-3
St. Cloud State: 8 appearances, 15 games played, 5-10
Wisconsin: 13 appearances, 24 games played, 12-12

Strength of WCHA in 2003-04 Reflected in Polls, Results

The overall strength of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in 2003-04 is evident in on-going national polls, pairwise rankings and on-ice results.

In non-conference play (vs teams from other Div. 1 conferences) through games of March 14th, WCHA member teams owned a noteworthy 54-19-9 record and a .713 winning percentage. WCHA teams have been particularly strong outside league play the past three seasons, forging a 57-27-8 (.663) non-conference record in 2002-03 and a 56-24-2 (.695) non-league ledger in 2001-02.

Six WCHA teams are listed among the top 16 in the latest USCHO.com Div. 1 Men Pairwise Rankings for March 15th. North Dakota (28-6-3) is tied at No. 1 (with Boston College and Maine), Minnesota-Duluth (25-11-4) is No. 4, Minnesota (24-13-3) is No. 5, Denver (23-12-5) is No. 6, Wisconsin (21-12-8) is tied at No. 10 (with Michigan State and Ohio State), and Colorado College (20-15-3) is tied at No. 14 (with Colgate). St. Cloud State (18-16-4), meanwhile, is tied at No. 17 (with Cornell and Massachusetts).

Six WCHA teams were also ranked among the nation's top 15 teams in the most recent USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll and USCHO.com polls ­ issued for the week of March 8-14. North Dakota was No. 1, Minnesota-Duluth was No. 4, Wisconsin was No. 5/6, Denver was No. 5/6, Minnesota is No. 8, and St. Cloud State was No. 15. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association has had at least six teams ranked among the nation's top 15 the past 11 consecutive weeks, has had at least five teams ranked among the nation's top 15 in the national polls in 21 of 23 weeks, and has had seven of it's 10 teams among the top 15 five times overall.

Seven WCHA teams currently (thru March 14th) have overall winning percentages of .526 or better. North Dakota (28-6-3) is at .797, Minnesota-Duluth (25-11-4) is at .675, Denver (23-12-5) and Minnesota (24-13-3) are both at .638, Wisconsin (21-12-8) is at .610, Colorado College (20-15-3) is at .566, and St. Cloud State (18-16-4) is at .526.

Also of note, six WCHA teams have already reached the 20-victory plateau this season in North Dakota (28), Minnesota-Duluth (24), Minnesota (24), Denver (23), Wisconsin (21), and Colorado College (20). One season ago ­ in 2002-03 ­ six WCHA-member teams also finished the season with at least 20 victories in Colorado College (30), Minnesota (28), North Dakota (26), Minnesota-Duluth (22), Denver (21), and Minnesota State (20).

WCHA Players in the Spotlight € National Statistics of Note

Nine Western Collegiate Hockey Association players are among the top 25 NCAA Division 1 scorers in points per game this week. Listed at No. 2 nationally is North Dakota junior W Brandon Bochenski at 1.43 points per game on 24 goals, 29 assists and 53 points. At No. 3 is UND sophomore C Zach Parise (1.42, 20-27=47), at No. 4 is Minnesota-Duluth senior W Junior Lessard (1.38, 27-28=55), at No. 5 is Minnesota sophomore W Thomas Vanek (1.35, 22-24=46), at No. 7 is UND freshman W Brady Murray (1.27, 18-24=42), at No. 12 is UMD junior C Evan Schwabe (1.18, 14-33=47), tied at No. 16 is UM senior W Troy Riddle (1.12, 21-24=45), at No. 19 is UMD junior W Tyler Brosz (1.12, 12-26=38), at No. 24 is Minnesota State senior F Shane Joseph (1.10, 19-24=43). Also, Denver sophomore F Gabe Gauthier is No. 28 (1.08, 17-24=41).

In goals per game among Div. 1 players, Lessard is No. 2 at 0.68 (27g), Michigan Tech sophomore W Chris Conner is No. 4 at 0.66 (25g), Bochenski is No. 7 at 0.65 (24g), Vanek is No. 8 at 0.65 (22g), Parise is No. 10 at 0.61 (20g), Alaska Anchorage sophomore F Curtis Glencross is tied at No. 16 at 0.56 (19g), Colorado College sophomore W Brett Sterling is No. 19 at 0.55 (16g), Murray is No. 21 at 0.55 (18g), and Riddle is No. 25 at 0.53 (21g).

In assists per game among Div. 1 players this week, Schwabe is No. 4 at 0.82 (33a), Parise is No. 5 at 0.82 (27a), Bochenski is No. 9 at 0.78 (29a), Brosz is No. 11 at 0.76 (26a), Colorado College sophomore F Marty Sertich is No. 12 at 0.74 (28a), Murray is tied at No. 13 at 0.73 (24a), Vanek is tied at No. 18 at 0.71 (24a), Lessard is No. 20 at 0.70 (28a), Minnesota junior D Keith Ballard is No. 21 at 0.70 (23a), and Minnesota-Duluth senior D Beau Geisler is No. 27 at 0.68 (23a).

In power-play goals nationally, Riddle is tied at No. 3 with 11, Bochenski and Lessard are tied at No. 5 with 10, Minnesota senior F Grant Potulny is tied at No. 11 with nine, and Joseph is tied at No. 14 with eight.

In shorthanded goals, Conner is No. 1 among Div. 1 players with eight while St. Cloud State junior W Dave Iannazzo is tied at No. 7 with three.

In game-winning goals, Murray is tied at No. 3 nationally with six, and Ballard, Bochenski and Gauthier are tied at No. 5 with five each.

In points per game among Div. 1 defensemen this week, Ballard is No. 2 at 1.03 (11-23=34), Geisler is No. 3 at 0.94 (9-23=32), North Dakota junior Nick Fuher is No. 13 at 0.69 (10-14=24), CC senior Andrew Canzanello is tied at No. 14 at 0.68 (5-21=26), UM sophomore Chris Harrington is tied at No. 19 at 0.68 (5-20=25), Denver sophomore Brett Skinner is No. 21 at 0.68 (6-21=27), MSU freshman Kyle Peto is No. 22 at 0.67 (3-19=22), Denver senior Ryan Caldwell is No. 23 at 0.66 (13-12=25), and UMD junior Tim Hambly is tied at No. 26 at 0.64 (5-18=23).

In points per game among Div. 1 rookies, Murray is No. 1 nationally at 1.27 (18-24=42), Minnesota State F David Backes is No. 5 at 0.95 (16-21=37), UND F Drew Stafford is No. 6 at 0.94 (10-21=31), MTU F Taggart Desmet is No. 23 at 0.70 (12-14=26), Alaska Anchorage F Charlie Kronschnabel is No. 24 at 0.70 (9-12=21), UND F Chris Porter is tied at No. 26 at 0.68 (10-15=25), and MSU D Kyle Peto is tied at No. 28 at 0.67 (3-19=22).

In goals-against average, North Dakota junior Jake Brandt is No. 7 at 2.10, Wisconsin junior Bernd Bruckler is No. 10 at 2.16, UND freshman Jordan Parise is No. 13 at 2.23, Colorado College freshman Matt Zaba is No. 14 at 2.23, CC junior Curtis McElhinney is No. 20 at 2.43, Minnesota freshman Kellen Briggs is No. 27 at 2.54, Denver senior Adam Berkhoel is No. 30 at 2.60, Minnesota-Duluth sophomore Isaac Reichmuth is No. 31 at 2.62, and St. Cloud State junior Adam Coole is No. 45 at 2.82.

In Div. 1 saves percentage, Bruckler is No. 11 at .922, Alaska Anchorage senior Chris King is No. 20 at .918, Berkhoel is No. 26 at .814, Zaba is No. 27 at .913, Brandt is No. 30 at .909, Reichmuth is No. 31 at .909, McElhinney is No. 35 at .907, Coole is No. 46 at .902, Parise is No. 47 at .902, and UAA senior Kevin Reiter is No. 48 at .902.

And in winning percentage among Div. 1 goaltenders this week, Brandt is No. 1 at .842 (16-3-0), Parise is No. 4 at .750 (12-3-3), Reichmuth is tied at No. 7 at .719 (21-7-4), Briggs is No. 11 at .691 (22-9-3), Coole is No. 15 at .632 (11-6-2), Berkhoel is tied at No. 16 at .629 (20-11-4), Bruckler is tied at No. 16 at .629 (18-9-8), McElhinney is No. 19 at .618 (10-6-1), and Zaba is No. 34 at .524 (10-9-2).

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