Here we are - we’ve finally arrived - the last weekend of the WCHA regular season.
The MacNaughton Cup will be moving to a new home, good-bye Denver, hello Grand Forks. (The Sioux clinched at least a share of it last weekend.) It doesn’t seem that the season started almost five months ago – My how time flies when you’re watching WCHA hockey.
I wonder about the future… Will Goon’s old liver survive the Final 5 in St. Paul? Will team’s still play their “natural league rival” 4 games next season? Will the refereeing improve? (Not likely) How many early departures will teams suffer over this spring? Will UND pick a new nickname?
Okay, enough daydreaming, back to what’s at hand, 10 positions will be decided this weekend, MTU locked up the 12th spot a few weeks ago, and UND locked up the top spot last weekend. The top 4 teams cannot be caught, so it is just deciding who gets what seed there. Spots 5 thru 8, that’s where the action will be. It’s possible to have a 3-way tie for 5th place after this weekend - possible, not probable. The bottom 4 teams are stuck, they cannot get home ice.
WCHA standings
TEAM……………..…....W-L-T...Pts
1. North Dakota…..….….19-6-1…39
2. Denver……..…………16-7-3…35
3. Nebraska-Omaha.…..16-8-2…34
4. Minnesota-Duluth......14-7-5…33
5. Minnesota……..…...12-10-4…28
6. Colorado College.…12-12-2…26
7. Wisconsin………..…11-12-3…25
8. St. Cloud State........10-12-4…24
9. Alaska-Anchorage…10-14-2…22
10. Bemidji State…….….8-14-4…20
10. Minnesota State…….8-14-4…20
12. Michigan Tech………2-22-2…6
WCHA (Numbers are current PairWise Rank)
#14 Colorado College @ #21 Wisconsin
Last weekend the Tigers took 3-points from the UMD Bulldogs in Colorado Springs and the Badgers were swept by the SCSU Huskies in St. Cloud.
A month ago the Badgers were a big cheese, now they’ve turned into a dried up, crusty cracker – what happened in Badger-ville? They went winless in February, going a 0-5-1. (Perhaps they were lucky - February is the shortest month.) The Tigers have just been plugging along and are 2-points ahead of the Badgers for the final home ice playoff spot. The fans in Mad-town will need to cheer hard this weekend, as they need a sweep to grab that coveted last playoff spot. It’s also quite possible these teams will be playing each other next weekend too, in the first round of the playoffs. CC has been okay on the road this year posting a 6-7-1 record away from World Arena. The Badgers have been good at the Kohl Center going 13-5-2 at home this season. This is going to be a battle, for both teams. If Wisconsin can score first and get the crowd really into it, CC could be in trouble, but if CC can score first they can take the crowd out of the game. SPLIT
#8 Nebraska-Omaha @ #11 Minnesota-Duluth
Last weekend the Mavericks split with the DU Pioneers in Omaha and the Bulldogs got 1-point from the CC Tigers in Colorado Springs.
UMD has a 4-1-0 advantage in the all time series versus UNO. The Bulldogs had a rough February, going 2-3-3 and the Mavericks went 6-2-0 last month. Both teams still have a chance to grab the number two seed in the WCHA and neither can drop lower than fourth place. If you start looking ahead at first round match-ups, UNO might be concerned about hosting the Beavers. The Bulldogs need to stop the bleeding and playing a tough UNO team isn’t going to make it easy. Both are still in good shape for making the NCAA tournament, but if UMD can’t stop the bleeding their season might end earlier than expected. UNO has scored 88-goals in league play this season and UMD has netted 85-goals. The Bulldogs are 9-4-2 at home this season, 7-1-2 at the old DECC and 2-3-2 in the new Amsoil Arena, while the Mavericks are 7-8-1 away from Omaha. UMD fans might want this series played back at the good old DECC. I’m leaning towards a split in this series, but a sweep either way wouldn’t be to shocking. SPLIT
#19 Minnesota @ Bemidji St.
Last weekend the Gophers swept the MTU Huskies in Minneapolis and the Beavers were swept by the UND Fighting Sioux in Grand Forks.
The Gophers lead the overall series with a 6-1-0 mark. The Gophers also lead the WCHA in penalty minutes this season with 412, and they are 11th in conference on penalty killing. The Beavers should know this and try to capitalize on their power play chances this weekend, since BSU is leading the WCHA power play perecentage at 21.7%. The Gophers look to lock up home ice this weekend, and can do it on Friday with a win. The Beavers can only climb as high as 8th with a sweep this weekend. Don’t expect BSU to roll over play dead, since home ice is out, coach Serratore won’t let his team do that. Do expect the Beavers to play a tough, close to the vest, style game(s) this weekend. BSU has had problems scoring goals, much like the Gophers have this season. The Gophers found some offense last weekend, but hanging a pair of 5’s on MTU is not exactly climbing Mount Everest. The Beavers need scoring from their top line and power play, if they want to get some points this weekend. I see these games as a race to three. The first team to reach three goals in the game will most likely win it. SPLIT
#2 North Dakota @ Michigan Tech
Last weekend the Sioux swept the BSU Beavers in Grand Forks and the Huskies were swept by the UM Gophers in Minneapolis.
The Sioux clinched at least a share of the MacNaughton cup last weekend and can get it out right by getting one point this weekend. I watched the Huskies and Gophers game last weekend, as well as the Sioux-Beavers. MTU isn’t as bad as their record would indicate, they just haven’t gotten any bounces. Look for the Sioux to use their team speed to cause problems this weekend at John MacInnes Arena. This will be the first of back to back weekends these teams play. Next weekend the Huskies will make the return trip to Grand Forks for the first round of the WCHA playoffs. The Sioux are 10-4-2 away from The Ralph and the Huskies are 1-10-4 at home this year. (I can see UND winning Friday and then resting players on Saturday, with nothing to gain.) SIOUX SWEEP
#19 St. Cloud St. @ #5 Denver
Last weekend the Huskies swept the UW Badgers in St. Cloud and the Pioneers split with the UNO Mavericks in Omaha.
The Huskies have been mushing their way up standings in 2011. Unfortunately their horrible first half has them sunk into a bottom half finish. They Huskies are heating up at the right time of the year and are not a team people want to see in the first round of the playoffs. The Pioneers have stumbled a bit, but are back home at Magness Arena where they are an impressive 13-3-2 overall this season. The Huskies are 5-6-1 this season away from the National Hockey Center. (They are going to update/renovate the NHC using $31M to do so, I can’t wait to see a new upgraded NHC.) The Pioneers are just about a shoe-in for the NCAA tourney, and the Huskies still have a chance too. DU has talent and is at home, so I don’t think they’ll get swept, but do they have the instinct to finish off teams? SPLIT
Alaska-Anchorage @ Minnesota State
Last weekend the Seawolves split with in-state rival, the UAF Nanooks, in a home-home series and the Mavericks were enjoying a bye weekend.
These teams met back in October in Anchorage, and MSUM won and tied UAA at Sullivan Arena. The Mavericks hold a 7-6-3 home record at Verizon Wireless Center this season and the Seawolves are a lowly 3-10-0 away from Anchorage. Both teams will be on the road next weekend, regardless of what happens in this series. The Seawolves are the second lowest scoring team in the league (only MTU is lower) netting only 54-goals. So needless to say, they want a couple of low scoring games. Same could be said for the Mavericks, they have only scored 66-goals in the WCHA so far this season. I’m going with the home team in this series. MAVERICKS SWEEP
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