American Int'l 5 at Bentley 1
Army 0 at Holy Cross 6
Niagara 5 at Air Force 4 OT
Robert Morris 4 at Mercyhurst 4 OT
CCHA
Northern Michigan 6 at Michigan State 5
Alaska 2 at Lake Superior 4
Bowling Green 1 at Notre Dame 5
Western Michigan 1 at Miami 3
Ohio State 1 at Michigan 2
ECAC
Cornell 3 at Rensselaer 2 OT
Princeton 1 at Dartmouth 4
Brown 5 at St. Lawrence 1
Colgate 3 at Union 6
Yale 6 at Clarkson 3
HOCKEY EAST
Providence 3 at Massachusetts 3 OT
New Hampshire 2 at Merrimack 3 OT
Vermont 2 at Maine 4
WCHA
Bemidji State 1 at Michigan Tech 0
Denver 3 at Minnesota 7
Alaska Anchorage 1 at North Dakota 3
Minnesota State 1 at Colorado College 2
St. Cloud State 3 at Minnesota Duluth 3 OT
Wisconsin 3 at Nebraska-Omaha 4
NON CONFERENCE
Alab-Huntsville 1 at Ferris State 5
Analysis – It was another interesting night of hockey in the WCHA, the race for home ice is starting to shake out. With three weeks to go in the season before the WCHA playoffs start, the UND Fighting Sioux lead the WCHA with 32 points, Denver is second with 31 points and UMD is tied with the UNO Mavericks for third place with 30 points.
Bemidji State 1 - Michigan Tech 0 – The BSU Beavers won the Winter Carnival Crown in Houghton Michigan against the hapless MTU Huskies. BSU Sophomore Jordan George’s breakaway goal with 93 seconds left in regulation lifted the Bemidji State Beavers to a 1-0 win over Michigan Tech. The loss by the Huskies increased their winless streak to 26 games but with the tie on Friday night the MTU Huskies stopped a 18 game losing streak. The MTU Huskies have not won a hockey game since October 15, 2010. [Up North Sports]
Denver 3 – Minnesota 7 – The Minnesota Gophers beat the DU Pioneers who coming into this series had dominated the Minnesota “not so Golden Gophers” 10-1-1 in the last 12 games, so you kind of figured that something had to give and it did as the flood gates opened for the Gophers as they hung a “7” spot on the Denver’s
Alaska Anchorage 1 – North Dakota 3 – The UND Fighting Sioux secured home ice by sweeping the UAA Seawolves. The Sioux outscored the UAA Seawolves 9-2 and proved that the trap can be broken with speed and crisp passes. The Sioux blew by the big slow lumbering team from UAA all weekend long exploiting their lack of foot speed. The UAA goaltenders actually kept their team in the games all weekend long and if they hadn’t gotten good goaltending it would have been more lop sided. I thought that UAA goaltenders Rob Gunderson and Chris Kamal both played well in net for the Seawolves and they will only get better with experience. The Sioux with the win now sit at the top of the WCHA standings with 32 points. [Woody, ADN], [Grand Forks Herald]
Minnesota State 1 – Colorado College 2 - The Purple Mavericks and the Colorado College Tigers split a weekend series in Colorado Springs, Co. C.C. Tigers forward Tyler Johnson scored the game winning goal at the 10:40 mark of the third period to secure the split for the Tigers. [Mankato Free Press], [Colorado Springs Gazette]
St. Cloud State 3 – Minnesota Duluth 3 OT – The UMD Bulldogs came back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game and earn a point in their weekend series with the SCSU Huskies at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, MN. With the tie the Huskies are sitting in ninth place of the WCHA standings and host the UND Fighting Sioux next weekend in Saint Cloud. [Saint Cloud Times], [Rink and Run]
Wisconsin 3 – Nebraska-Omaha 4 – The Wisconsin Badgers were swept by the UNO Mavericks in Omaha, Nebraska. The Wisconsin Badgers now own an unimpressive 1-9-2 record against ranked teams. The loss also dropped the Badgers to 15th over all in the Pair Wise Rankings. With the win the UNO Mavericks are sitting in third place two points out of first in the WCHA Standings. While I have had Badger fans remind me that while UW is 1-9-2 against rank teams, a fair number of these games have been in overtime or one goal losses; [4-3 BU, 4-2 DU, 1-0 UND, 4-2 UND, 6-5 UMD O.T., 3-2 UMD O.T., 2-0 UMD, 4-1 UNO, 4-3 UNO], a loss is a loss and it counts the same in the standings whether its by 1 goal or 5 goals. Just for the record, I am not trying to bag on the Wisconsin Badgers, personally, I have a lot of respect for the Wisconsin Badgers hockey program and their coach, the fact remains is that the Badgers have struggled against team above them in the standings. The Badgers are a good young team and if they aren’t raided by the NHL next season could be one of the top teams in the WCHA next season. [Madison.com], [Omaha.com]
