WCHA
STANDINGS 2012-2013
Team………………………W-L-T………Points
1. Denver…………..……..8-4-4………......201. Nebraska-Omaha….....9-5-2…..………20
3. Minnesota………………8-3-3………….19
3. North Dakota.………..…8-3-3…..……...19
5. St. Cloud St………….…9-5-0………….18
6. Minnesota-Duluth….…..7-6-3………….17
6. Wisconsin…....…………6-5-5……….....17
8. Minnesota State……….8-8-0.…...…….16
9. Colorado College ……..6-9-1..….…….13
10. Bemidji State……..…..4-7-3....……....11
11. Michigan Tech………..3-10-3……….….9
12. Alaska-Anchorage…....1-12-3…...….….5
Non
Conference Games
#8 Miami
(OH) (12-5-5 overall) @ Wisconsin (8-7-5 overall)
Last weekend the RedHawks got a point at
Northern Michigan (2-1L, 3-3ot) and the Badgers swept the MSUM Mavericks (4-3ot,
2-1ot) in Mankato.
The RedHawks currently sit in second place in
the CCHA, behind Notre Dame. The Badgers
have only won twice at home this year and both of those were against
Huntsville, who are 3-17-1 on the season.
The Badgers are on a 10 game unbeaten streak, going 7-0-3, since Nov. 30th. I think the Badgers will find that RedHawks
will prove to be a tough opponent this weekend, since they are ranked in the
top ten. SPLIT
WCHA
Games
Minnesota-Duluth
@ Colorado College
Last weekend the Bulldogs swept the MTU Huskies
(1-0, 5-4) in Duluth and the Tigers split with NoDak (4-3W, 5-3L) in Grand Forks.
The Bulldogs have struggled against the teams
ahead of them in the standings, but luckily the Tigers are below them. This series will boil down to who wants it
more. The Tigers cannot afford to split
at home if they want to keep their hopes alive for a top half finish this
year. The Tigers have the offensive
talent to play with the top teams in the league, they just need to clamp down
on defense and get some timely saves from
their net minders. In the end, I
don’t believe either team will sweep.
SPLIT
Bemidji
St. @ Michigan Tech
Last weekend the Beavers were off and the
Huskies were swept (1-0, 5-4) by the UMD Bulldogs in Duluth.
These teams met earlier this season in Bemidji
with the Huskies sweeping that series, by winning both games in overtime. The Beavers will look to distance themselves
from fellow lower half team MTU. BSU is
two points ahead of the Huskies and also have two games in hand on them. The Beavers are currently on a four game
winless stretch and need to win if they want to avoid falling down the
standings. The Huskies just can’t seem
to find a winning formula, that they can use week in and week out. If the Huskies can put up a few goals, they
can put the struggling BSU offense on the ropes. I’m going on the ropes and going with the
home team this weekend. HUSKIES SWEEP
#7 Denver
@ #19 St. Could St.
Last weekend the Pioneers took three points
from the UNO Mavericks (7-4, 3-3ot) in Denver and the Huskies enjoyed a bye.
These teams met back in early November in
Denver with the teams splitting that series, SCSU won 3-0 on Friday and DU won
6-1 on Saturday. The Huskies have slid a
bit as of late losing three of their last four.
The upside is that they were all non-conference games, so that hasn’t
hurt them in the WCHA standings. The
Pioneers seem to back on track since their eight game slide, they are now on a
five game unbeaten streak, four wins and a tie.
Both teams are in thick of the hunt for the league title this year,
which should make for a great series at the National Hockey Center. I’m leaning right down the middle in these
games. SPLIT
#14 Minnesota
State @ Alaska-Anchorage
Last weekend the Mavericks were swept by the UW
Badgers (4-3ot, 2-1ot) and the Seawolves were swept by the UM Gophers (4-3,
7-1) in Minneapolis.
After a disappointing weekend the Mavericks
look to have just what the doctor ordered, UAA.
The Seawolves have only two wins at home in Anchorage this season. The airplane ride should give the Mavericks
some time to reflect on what went wrong last weekend and refocus on this
series. MAVERICKS 3pts
#6 North
Dakota @ #1 Minnesota
Last weekend NoDak split the CC Tigers (4-3L,
5-3W) in Grand Forks and the Gophers swept the Seawolves (4-3, 7-1) in
Minneapolis.
This weekend will mark the 282nd and
283rd hockey games between North Dakota and Minnesota; the Gophers
lead the all-time series 137-130-14. In 2012,
they split a series in January at the Engelstad Arena, and in March UND beat UM
(6-3) in the WCHA Final Five, and a week later UM beat UND (5-2) in the NCAA
tournament, with both those games at the Xcel Center in St. Paul. It appears to be this will be the last
meeting between these two teams, barring any NCAA tournament games, until
2016. So, better enjoy these games, and
you might want to record them to watch again later.
Last weekend neither of these teams looked all that
impressive in their games. I bet they
both are on top of their games this weekend.
Since these teams are splitting into two new leagues next year, it only
seems appropriate that they split their last league series. SPLIT
BYE
WEEK
Nebraska-Omaha