Valentine's Weekend Games (Sioux 7)

WCHA Standings

1 Denver.....................13-7-2...28
1 Wisconsin.................13-7-2...28
3 North Dakota.............11-6-3...25
4 Colorado College........10-8-4...24
5 Minnesota-Duluth........9-8-5...23
6 St. Cloud State..........10-11-1...21
6 Minnesota..................9-8-3...21
8 Minnesota State........9-11-2...20
9 Alaska-Anchorage......7-11-4...18
10 Michigan Tech.........1-15-6....8

Everyone in the league has played 22-games, except UND and UM 20-games, out of the regular season 28-games. That means most teams only have 12 more points available. Michigan Tech is first to know they will be on the road for the first round of WCHA playoffs.


Michigan Tech at St. Cloud State
It's the Huskies versus the Huskies! (I wonder if Michael Vick will be watching) In this dog fight the SCSU Huskies are looking to make a push into the top half of the WCHA, and get their record to over .500 in conference play. The MTU Huskies are just trying to finish the year strong. They are in the doghouse, 10th place, and it's very unlikely they will get out of it. For MTU to get out they would need to win their last six games and have UAA loss their last six games, not good odds. SCSU is 3-2-1 in their last six games while MTU 0-2-4 in their last six games. MTU has been shut-out 7 times this year and for them to get some wins they need their big dogs to do some scoring. SCSU has been "okay" as of late, but with a pair of wins against their doggie counterparts, they can say they are on their way up. I'm going to take the red and white Huskies of SCSU over the black and yellow Huskies. SCSU 3pts.


Alaska-Anchorage at #14 Minnesota
The Gophers look to be hemorrhaging going 2-6-0 in their last eight games, and the Seawolves are doing okay going 2-2-2 in their last six games. Both teams are still in the hunt for home ice, more so for Minnesota being only 2pts out of 5th place, while Alaska is 5pts out. The Seawolves can put the league on notice if they get some points this weekend at the expense of the Gophers. UAA would also seal MTU's 10th place finish by getting 2pts. The Gopher have CC, UMD, and MTU series left after this weekend, not a bunch of "easy" games as some announcers have said. That could add some fuel to the Gophers opponents, as if some of them don't smell blood in the water already. I'm going to take a split in this series.


Minnesota State at #11 North Dakota
Both teams are looking for points, MSUM needs them to try and get to the top half of the league and the Sioux want them to keep pace for the WCHA title and secure home ice. Both teams were off last weekend, so that keeps them even as far as a little rust might go. The Sioux have only lost one game(SCSU) in 2009, and only lost one home game(Cornell) since late November giving them a home season record of 9-3-1. MSUM has a 6-6-3 road record this season. The Mavericks and Sioux split their WCHA season opening series in Mankato, back in October. If the Sioux sweep the Mavericks this weekend, it would put UND in the drivers seat for the WCHA title while dealing the Mavericks a big blow and putting them in a tough spot to try and reach a top half finish. Sioux get a sweet sweep for Valentine's day :)


#8 Denver at #18 Colorado College (1-game)
This game has WCHA, NCAA, and Gold Pan implications riding on it. DU looks to hold on to the top spot in the WCHA with a win and CC wants to keep in the top half. The earlier meetings this season resulted in a Tigers win and a tie. A tie would mean CC retains the GP for another year, a DU win, well its a tie series 1-1-1, and we have to wait until the last weekend to see the out come. Since 2009 the Pioneers are 4-4-2 and the Tigers are 3-3-2, unless they tie someone will be over .500 and someone under it. Neither team has an easy schedule to finish out the year, so this game could be the turning point for one team. I'm go on a limb and going to call this game a tie.



#17 UMD and #13 UW are off this weekend.