1. Denver University - Record 25-7-4 WCHA 19-5-4. Second half record 18 games played 14-2-2. The Pioneers went 8-0-0 in February. Open the WCHA playoff against MTU. This match up on paper has route written all over it. [DU player stats] [Beat writer blog]
2. University of Wisconsin - Record 22-9-4 WCHA 17-8-3. Second half record 16 games played 11-3-2. The Badgers went 7-1 in February. Open the WCHA playoffs against UAA who the Badgers have owned and they are an impressive 1-10-1 in their last 12 games against the Seawolves. [UW player stats] [Beat writer blog]
3. Saint Cloud State University - Record 20-11-5 WCHA 15-9-4. Second half record 18 games played 12-4-2. The Huskies went 3-2-1 in February. Open the WCHA playoffs against the MSU-M Mavericks, the Mavericks are 7-1-1 in its last nine visits to St. Cloud. [SCSU player stats] [Beat writer blog]
4. University of North Dakota - Record 20-11-5 WCHA 15-10-3. Second half record 18 games played 11-5-2. The Fighting Sioux went 5-1-0 in February. UND is 6-0 all time against Minnesota in the WCHA playoffs in Grand Forks, ND. [UND player stats] [Beat writer blog]
4. University of Minnesota Duluth - Record 20-15-1 WCHA 16-11-1. Second half record 18 games played 9-9. The Bulldogs went 2-4-0 in February. UMD swept the Tiger in the Springs during the WCHA playoffs last season to advance to the Final Five. Now C.C. gets a chance to return the favor. UMD is 3-1-0 against the Tigers this season so the chances of that happening aren't very good. [UMD players stats] [Beat writer blog]
6. Colorado College - Record 18-15-3 WCHA 12-13-3. Second half record 16 games played 6-10-0. The Tiger went 2-4-0 in February. Has a tall order to make the Final Five, beat the UMD Bulldogs at the DECC. The Bulldogs have not been swept at home this season. [C.C. player stats] [Beat writer blog]
7. University of Minnesota - Record 17-17-2 WCHA 12-14-2. Second half record 18 games played 9-8-1. The Gophers went 3-3-0 in February. [UMN player stats] [Beat writer blog]
8. Alaska Anchorage - Record 11-21-2 WCHA 9-17-2. Second half record 16 games played 5-9-2. The Seawolves went 0-5-1 in February. They have a tall order ahead of them. The Seawolves are 1-10-1 in their last 12 games against the Badgers. [UAA player stats] [Beat writer blog]
8. Minnesota State - Record 15-18-3 WCHA 9-17-2. Second half record 16 games played 6-9-1. The Mavericks went 2-4-0 in February. Mankato is 7-1-1 in its last nine visits to St. Cloud, however, I don't see how they get past the Huskies. [MSU-M player stats] [Beat writer blog]
10. Michigan Tech University - Record 5-28-1 WCHA 4-24-0 Second half record 15 games played 2-12-1. The Huskies went 1-5-0 in February. The MTU Huskie had four wins during the WCHA season. The Huskies beat the UMD Bulldogs twice and the SCSU Huskies and MSU-M Mavericks once each. They play at DU for the WCHA playoffs. [MTU player stats] [Beat writer blog]
Cross posted at the Sin Bin.
While the Badgers didn't play all that well in the neutral zone against the Gophers, they did demonstrate a very effective power play, as they have all season. They don't just move the puck around the perimeter with a forward positioned in front of the goaltender. Everybody moves around and the objective is to get an open man the puck with the goalie on the wrong side of the net, which should be any team's idea. It's not smart to take a penalty against the Badgers.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good post Goon. Excellent stats and numbers (and you know I'm a big stats guy). I was at Mariucci this afternoon and Goldy looked very good against Bucky. UND can't take Goldy lighly next weekend and they can't march to the penalty box either. The Gopher power play was deadly this afternoon. Sad thing is, the 6-1 win meant almost nothing and the Gopher fans celebrated like they had just won a national title.
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