Final Week of the Season.

Check out this press release from the WCHA. I like the sounds of sentence that is bolded. The league leading and number 6 ranked North Dakota (should say Fighting Sioux).

MADISON, Wis. - The final weekend of the 2008-09 regular season will bring about some of the most intriguing scenarios in the long and storied history of the 57-year-old Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The battle for the league championship and MacNaughton Cup is on the line as well as the final three first round home WCHA Playoff berths. And with all 10 member teams engaged in conference play this Friday and Saturday, March 6-7, fans everyone can be assured of a playoff atmosphere in the five arenas that will host games.

At the Kohl Center (15,237) in Madison, league-leading and No. 6-ranked North Dakota (21-11-4, 16-6-4 WCHA) will take on host and No. 19-ranked Wisconsin (16-14-4, 13-10-3 WCHA) in a pair of 7:07 pm CT face-offs that, for the Fighting Sioux, offer them the chance to add to their league record 13 regular season titles and that, for the Badgers, can elevate them as high as a third place finish and secure a home playoff berth. North Dakota enters the series on a seven-game unbeaten streak at 6-0-1 and sporting a 12-1-3 mark over their last 16 WCHA games. The two teams split their first series of the season in Grand Forks back on Oct. 31-Nov. 1, with UND winning 3-2 on that Friday and the UW taking a 5-2 decision on that Saturday.
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Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, North Dakota (26 WCHA gp, 35 points) holds a one-point lead - and one game in hand - over second place Denver (27 WCHA gp, 34 points). One, or both, of those teams will emerge as WCHA champions this weekend. Colorado College (27 WCHA gp) is third with 30 points, Wisconsin (26 WCHA gp) is fourth with 29 points, and Minnesota (26 WCHA gp), Minnesota Duluth (26 WCHA gp) and St. Cloud State (26 WCHA gp) are intwined in the fifth spot with 27 points each. Minnesota State (26 WCHA gp) stands eighth with 23 points, Alaska Anchorage (26 WCHA gp) is ninth with 19 points, and Michigan Tech (26 WCHA gp) is 10th with nine points.

A season ago (2007-08), it took 28 points to earn a top five finish and the home-ice advantage for the first round of WCHA playoffs, and only three teams - league champion Colorado College, second place North Dakota, and third place Denver - finished their 28-game league slates with winning records. So far this season, seven teams - UND, DU, CC, UW, UM, UMD and SCSU - all have winning records in conference competition. Also through games of March 1, there have been 22 ties in league competition, 37 games have been decided by just one goal, 27 have been decided by two goals, and 43 have been decided by three goals or more.