Wisconsin Badgers' 2006 National Championship Completes Another Remarkable Season in WCHA
April 21, 2006
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MADISON, Wisc. - It was another banner season for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, it's member teams, student-athletes and coaches in 2005-06 as the men's league marked it's 54th year overall. A WCHA team captured the national championship for the fifth straight season and record 36th overall since it's founding in 1951, had a member student-athlete win the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as college hockey's top player, had five teams ranked among the nation's top 15 in the final Div. 1 poll, including one at No. 1, had a record nine players earn All-American honors, smashed it's own collegiate season attendance record, had four of it's head coaches named as finalists for national coach of the year, had four teams qualify for the national tournament, had another record-setting post-season conference tournament, had more than 210 of it's games televised, and had another solid winning record against non-conference opponents.
TEAM HIGHLIGHTS
National Rankings: 2006 national champion Wisconsin finished the 2005-06 season as the No. 1-ranked team in the final USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll. The WCHA had five teams among the top 15 in the final poll, with NCAA Frozen Four participant and 2006 Red Baron WCHA Final Five champion North Dakota at No. 3, WCHA regular season and MacNaughton Cup champion and NCAA tournament participant Minnesota at No. 8, NCAA tournament participant Colorado College at No. 11, and St. Cloud State at No. 15.
Wisconsin spent the most time of any team in the No. 1 spot on the poll this season, holding the position for nine weeks, including seven straight weeks between Nov. 28 and Jan. 16.
Four WCHA teams - Colorado College, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin - held a spot on the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll throughout the entire season.
In the final USCHO.com/CSTV Division 1 Men's Poll, issued on March 20, 2006, the WCHA had six teams among the top 20, with Wisconsin at No. 2, Minnesota at No. 3, North Dakota at No. 6, Colorado College at No. 12, St. Cloud State at No. 14, and Denver at No. 16. Others receiving votes in that poll included Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth.
Non-Conference Records: Through 90 non-conference games played by WCHA-member teams in 2005-06, the league compiled a collective 50-33-7 (.594) against outside Div. 1 competition.
The best non-conference records were owned by Wisconsin at 10-1-0 (.909), North Dakota at 9-3-1 (.731), Colorado College at 8-3-0 (.727), Minnesota at 5-2-2 (.667), St. Cloud State at 5-1-2 (.750), and Minnesota State at 4-3-1 (.563).
Winning Records: Six WCHA-member teams had winning records overall in 2005-06 and six had won at least 21 games.
2006 NCAA champion Wisconsin led the way with a 30-10-3 overall mark and a .733 winning percentage. MacNaughton Cup-champion Minnesota (27-9-5, .720) was next, followed by NCAA Frozen Four qualifier and 2006 WCHA Final Five/Broadmoor Trophy-champion North Dakota (29-16-1, .641), Colorado College (24-16-2, .595), Denver (21-15-3, .577), and St. Cloud State (22-16-4, .571).
Attendance: The WCHA, home to more than one million fans per season in each of the last 14 seasons and more than 1,500,000 in each of the past three seasons, set another Div. 1 college hockey conference season standard in 2005-06 after a record-setting WCHA Final Five.
The 2006 Red Baron WCHA Final Five, held March 16-18 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn., drew a tournament record 87,579 fans and a tournament record average per game attendance of 17,516.
That total pushed the WCHA's total attendance for 2005-06 to a record 1,552,920, eclipsing the previous mark of 1,513,137 set in 2003-04.
The 2005-06 per game average attendance of 7,430 in the WCHA also set a new standard, surpassing the league's previous record average per game of 7,149 set in 2004-05.
The WCHA became the first collegiate hockey league to surpass the seven-figure attendance mark with 1,114,993 in 1993-94 and then was the first to draw in excess of 1,500,000 with 1,511,991 in 2002-03.
National Championship: The WCHA men's league claimed a record 36th national championship in the 54 years of it's existence when Wisconsin won the 2006 NCAA Men's Frozen Four over Boston College at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. It was the fifth straight NCAA title for the league and sixth in the last seven years. Wisconsin junior forward Robbie Earl was named Most Outstanding Player of the Frozen Four.
In-Season Tournaments Won: Colorado College won both the IceBreaker Invitational in Colorado Springs in October with wins over Union and Maine and the Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit in December with victories over Michigan and Michigan State. Minnesota won the Dodge Mariucci Classic in Minneapolis in December with wins over Union and UMass-Lowell. Wisconsin won the Badger Hockey Showdown in Madison in December with victories over Western Michigan and Northern Michigan. Minnesota Duluth went 1-0-1 against Maine and Cornell in the Florida College Classic in December. And Wisconsin and Minnesota combined for a 3-0-1 mark against hosts Michigan State and Michigan in the annual College Hockey Showcase in November.
WCHA Regular Season Championship: The 2005-06 regular season title and MacNaughton Cup was won by the Minnesota Golden Gophers with a league record of 20-5-3 and 43 points.
Denver and Wisconsin tied for second with identical 17-8-3 records and 37 points while North Dakota and Colorado College tied for fourth place with 32 points each.
WCHA Playoffs, First Round: No. 1 seed Minnesota, No. 2 seed Denver, No. 3 seed Wisconsin, No. 4 seed North Dakota, and No. 5 seed Colorado College all earned home ice for the opening round of the WCHA playoffs and all five series were televised. Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota all won their first round series while Colorado College was upended by No. 6 seed and visiting St. Cloud State, 2-1, and Denver was upset by visiting and No. 9 seed Minnesota Duluth, 2-1.
2006 Red Baron WCHA Final Five: It was the third straight season with Red Baron as title sponsor, with the University of North Dakota emerging as the Broadmoor Trophy champion.
The event drew a record attendance of 87,579 to the five games at Xcel Energy Center, eclipsing the previous mark of 82,564 set in 2004 at Xcel Energy Center. Four of the five games also set attendance records, with 16,312 at the March 16 matchup between St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth, 16,468 at the Friday afternoon (March 17) game between Wisconsin and North Dakota, a Final Five record 19,353 at the Friday evening clash between Minnesota and St. Cloud State, and 16,134 at the Saturday (March 18) afternoon third place game between UM and UW. The Broadmoor Trophy championship game on Saturday night drew a sellout crowd of 19,282.
The league also hosted at the Final Five a dozen members of the 1972 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team that claimed a Silver Medal in Japan as well as former Michigan Tech All-American and NHL goaltender Tony Esposito.
All five games were televised live by Fox Sports Net North and all five games were also audiocast live via the league's web site at wcha.com.
To kickoff the 2006 Red Baron WCHA Final Five, the league also honored it's post-season award winners at the Grand Ballroom in the Rivercentre on Thursday afternoon, March 16.
NCAA Men's Tournament: Four WCHA teams qualified for the NCAA championship tournament, with Minnesota and Wisconsin both earning No. 1 regional seeds and North Dakota and Colorado College also qualifying.
Wisconsin won the NCAA Midwest Regional at Resch Center in Green Bay with victories over Bemidji State and Cornell while North Dakota claimed the NCAA West Regional at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks with victories over Michigan and Holy Cross. Minnesota was defeated by Holy Cross in Grand Forks while CC fell to Cornell in Green Bay.
WCHA teams went 4-2-0 in the NCAA regionals, with UW goaltender Brian Elliott and UND goaltender Jordan Parise both earning regional MVP awards. WCHA teams were 6-3-0 overall in NCAA tourney play.
Individual Highlights
Hobey Baker Memorial Award: The WCHA claimed college hockey's top men's individual honor in 2005-06 when University of Denver junior defenseman Matt Carle earned the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. A WCHA player has now won the last five consecutive Hobeys, with the WCHA also owning a record 12 Hobeys overall.
Also among the three Hat Trick finalists was Wisconsin junior goaltender Brian Elliott while joining Carle and Elliott among the 10 finalists were Colorado College senior forwards Marty Sertich and Brett Sterling, and Minnesota junior forward Ryan Potulny.
WCHA Post-Season Individual Awards: The 2005-06 WCHA Men's Player of the Year was Denver defenseman Matt Carle, the WCHA Student-Athlete of the Year was Denver forward Ted O'Leary, the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year was Denver's Matt Carle, the WCHA Rookie of the Year was Minnesota forward Phil Kessel, and the WCHA co-Coaches of the Year were Minnesota's Don Lucia and St. Cloud State's Bob Motzko.
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association honored it's third group of post-graduate scholarship winners in 2005-06. On the men's side, the post-graduate scholarship winner was the University of North Dakota's Jake Brandt while on the women's side, the winner was University of Minnesota's Kelsey Bills.
WCHA Scholar-Athletes: The Western Collegiate Hockey Association, through Commissioner Bruce M. McLeod, Associate Commissioner Sara Martin, University of Wisconsin Faculty Representative Linda Baumann (Chair, men's league) and St. Cloud State University Faculty Representative Bill Hudson (Chair, women's league) announced on Feb. 22, 2006 an inaugural group of 50 WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award recipients, a new honor developed though Association member team Faculty Representatives and approved by the conference membership for this season.
"In keeping with a long-standing tradition of promoting excellence both on the ice and in the classroom, the WCHA is extremely pleased to announce this new annual award," said McLeod, Martin, Baumann and Hudson in a joint statement. "This is truly a significant development and all of this year's recipients should be extremely proud of their tremendous accomplishments as student-athletes. On behalf of the entire WCHA family - faculty representatives, athletic directors, coaches, staff and fellow student-athletes - we congratulate them all."
To earn recognition as a WCHA Scholar-Athlete, conference-member student-athletes must have completed at least one year of residency at their present institution prior to the current academic year and must also have a grade-point average of at least 3.50 on a 4.0 scale for the previous two semesters or three quarters, or may qualify if his or her overall GPA is at least 3.50 for all terms at his or her present institution.
This year's first group of men's and women's WCHA Scholar-Athletes were recognized and honored on-ice at member team home games during the 2005-06 season and presented with a commemorative plaque. The winners were also to be recognized in the men's and women's post-season tournament programs as well as in future men's and women's conference yearbooks.
By member school, and in alphabetical order, men's WCHA Scholar-Athletes for 2005-06 were:
Colorado College: John Brunkhorst, Scott McCulloch, Brett Sterling, Lee Sweatt. University of Denver: Zach Blom, Steven Cook, J.D. Corbin, Daniel King, Brock McMorris, Ted O'Leary. Michigan Tech University: Brandon Schwartz, Tyler Skworchinski. University of Minnesota: Mike Howe, Evan Kaufmann. Minnesota State University: David Backes, Ryan Carter, Chad Clower, Joel Hanson, Ryan McKelvie. University of North Dakota: Erik Fabian, Chris Porter, Matt Smaby. St. Cloud State University: Nate Raduns, Matt Stephenson.
WCHA All-Academic Team: A total of 93 men's players were named to the 2005-06 WCHA All-Academic Team, a gain of five overall from the 88 named in 2004-05.
All-Americans: Nine WCHA players were named to the 2006 All-American teams, including five of the four first teamers.
Wisconsin junior goaltender Brian Elliott, Denver junior defenseman Matt Carle, Minnesota junior forward Ryan Potulny and Colorado College senior forward Brett Sterling selected to the West All-American First Team.
Named to the West All-American Second Team from the WCHA were St. Cloud State junior goaltender Bobby Goepfert, Wisconsin senior defenseman Tom Gilbert, Minnesota State junior forward David Backes, Wisconsin sophomore forward Joe Pavelski and Denver sophomore forward Paul Stastny.
Additional National Awards: Wisconsin's Mike Eaves, North Dakota's Dave Hakstol, Minnesota's Don Lucia and St. Cloud State's Bob Motzko were finalists for the AHCA's Spence Penrose Award as Div. 1 Men's National Coach of the Year.
Denver junior defenseman Matt Carle was named Player of the Year by both USCHO.com and Inside College Hockey.com.
Wisconsin junior goaltender Brian Elliott was named Goaltender of the Year by Inside College Hockey.com.
Minnesota freshman forward Phil Kessel was named Rookie of the Year by both USCHO.com (co) and Inside College Hockey.com.
St. Cloud State head coach Bob Motzko was named national coach of the year by Inside College Hockey.com.
EXPOSURE
Television: More than 210 WCHA mens' games were televised in 2005-06, including all five first round WCHA playoff series, all five Final Five games by Fox Sports Net North, all six NCAA regional games WCHA teams appeared in, and all three games at the 2006 NCAA Men's Frozen Four in Milwaukee.
Radio: This Week in the WCHA, the league's weekly radio show, marked it's ninth season in 2005-06. It is heard throughout the 10 men's member markets.
Web Site: wcha.com, the official web site of the WCHA, had reached a total of 1,617,181 page impressions for the 2005-06 season thru the month of March, already surpassing the season total of 1,600,528 of 2004-05. With three months to go, the 1,617,181 could challenge the all-time record total of 2,033,657 set in 2003-04.
In March, 2006, a monthly league record of 567,202 page impressions were registered by wcha.com.
New On-Line Store Launched: On Dec. 2, 2005, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association unveiled a new on-line store that features an exciting array of products for college hockey fans of all ages and for every conference-member school. The WCHA Shop is the result of a new partnership with SportDesigns.com.
"The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is tremendously pleased to announce this new on-line store and it is the result of a great spirit of cooperation between the conference, SportDesigns and our official web site provider, CSTV Online," said Commissioner Bruce M. McLeod.
"We are confident fans and visitors to the store will be as impressed as we are and will find the variety of products available in The WCHA Shop an exciting development.
The launch of The WCHA Shop, in conjunction with our new licensing agreement with Licensing Resource Group, Inc. (LRG), will move us forward in our continuing efforts to improve our visibility and branding efforts."
SportDesigns.com, a web design and e-commerce company, was founded in the summer of 1998 and has been in the e-commerce business since opening The Hockey East Shop at SportDesigns.com in November of 1999. Since that time, SportDesigns.com has also opened the official online stores for the CCHA and the ECAC Hockey League
The same commitment to a wide range of products will exist for WCHA schools.
The store, which can be accessed from the official WCHA website at wcha.com, has products available for every school.
Stats Service: The WCHA was again a part of collegehockeystats.com in 2005-06. Up-to-date team and individual stats, game summaries, and standings are all available 24 hours a day and are typically updated within one hour after the conclusion of games.
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