WCHA
STANDINGS 2012-2013
Team………………………W-L-T………Points
1. St. Cloud St……………17-8-1.…….….352. Minnesota……………...14-7-2……..…33
2. North Dakota.………….13-6-7………..33
4. Minnesota State………15-10-1....…....31
4. Wisconsin…....………..12-7-7………...31
6. Nebraska-Omaha…......14-10-2…...…30
7. Denver…………..……..12-9-5..…........29
8. Colorado College …….10-12-4...…….24
9. Minnesota-Duluth….…..8-13-5……….21
10. Michigan Tech………..7-15-4.…..…..18
11. Bemidji State……..…..6-13-7.......…..17
12. Alaska-Anchorage…...2-18-6.......…..10
The # numbers below are now the PAIRWISE rankings.
WCHA Games
#2 Minnesota
@ Bemidji St.
Last weekend the Gophers split (2-0L, 5-1W) with
the Pioneers in Minneapolis and the Beavers got a point from NoDak (4-2, 2-2) in
Grand Forks.
The Gopher faithfully will be hoping for some
help, from Wisconsin, this weekend to keep their hopes alive for the last WCHA
title. The Beavers still have a chance
to move up the standings, they could finish as high as ninth place, with a
sweep. BSU plays sound defense and clogs
up the passing and shooting lanes. The
Beavers style can frustrate teams, but if their opponents can get a lead, they
can force BSU to change their style. The
Gophers will need to draw some penalties to get the power play some chances to
score. All the numbers point to the
Gophers, but when teams like have BSU nothing to lose, you need to watch out
for the kitchen sink. GOPHERS 3-PTS
Alaska-Anchorage
@ #8 Denver (Fri/Sun)
Last weekend the Seawolves were swept by the
Nanooks (2-1ot, 3-1) in the home/home series and the Pioneers split (2-0W, 5-1L)
with the Gophers in Minneapolis.
The Pioneers still have some control over their
own fate, but they need to sweep the Seawolves, and have UNO drop below
them. I’m sure the Seawolves would like
to welcome DU to the bottom half of the bracket and keep them there, by winning
a game or two. DU played well last
weekend in Minneapolis, I watched the replays. And if they play like that again
this weekend, they should secure four points.
UAA has nothing to lose; they have been locked into last place for a
couple of weeks now. I wouldn’t be
surprised if Shyiak pulled a few tricks out of his sleeve this weekend. PIONEERS SWEEP
Last weekend NoDak got three points (4-2, 2-2ot) from the Beavers in Grand Forks and the Mavericks split (4-1L, 7-2W) with the Tigers in Colorado Springs.
This is a big series for both teams. UND still has an outside chance at the title
and MSUM for that matter too. The Mavericks
are 10-5-1 at home this year and UND is 8-6-1 away from Grand Forks. NoDak has scored three more goals and given
up three more than MSUM has in the WCHA this season, so those are pretty even
numbers. The big difference is that
NoDak has 7 ties in the league and the Mavericks have just one. With so much on the line for both teams, this
should be a very entertaining series to watch.
SPLIT
Last weekend the Tigers split (4-1W, 7-2L) with the MSUM Mavericks in Colorado Springs and the Huskies split (5-3L, 5-1W) with the SCSU Huskies in St. Cloud.
The Huskies gave themselves a boost with a win
over SCSU on Saturday, and gave the rest of the league hope at title with that
win. MTU has been better over the last
month, going 4-4-0 in their last eight games, and CC has gone 3-2-3 over their
last eight contests. The Tigers can’t
move up the standings, they are stuck at 8th place and could slip to
9th if they lose twice this weekend.
CC hasn’t been too good on the road this season going 4-8-3 away from
home and the Huskies are 5-7-2 at home in MacInnis Student Ice Arena. I’m going say both black and gold teams
win. SPLIT
#10 St.
Could St. @ #20 Wisconsin
Last weekend the Huskies split (5-3W, 5-1L) with
the MTU Huskies in St. Cloud and the Badgers swept (4-3, 6-2) the UNO Mavericks
in Omaha.
The other top teams will be watching the
scoreboard for these games. If the
Huskies win on Friday, they will secure at least a share of the McNaughton
Cup. The Badgers have plans of their
own; a win on Friday (coupled with a UNO loss or DU tie/loss) would secure them
home ice. The Badgers are 7-7-3 home
this year, but they aren’t playing in the Kohl center this weekend, they are at
coliseum, for a throwback weekend, and the Huskies are 7-6-1 on the road. I’m not sure if the pressure got to SCSU last
Saturday, because if they would have won, they would have already secured a
share of the title. This series should
have the feel of a playoff series with the stakes high for both teams. The Badgers need some quality wins to move up
the rankings, and improve their odds of getting into the NCAA tournament. SPLIT
#25 Nebraska-Omaha
@ Minnesota-Duluth
Last weekend the Mavericks were swept by the
Badgers (4-3, 6-2) in Omaha and the Bulldogs swept the UAH Chargers (4-2, 4-0)
in Duluth.
The Mavericks saw their chance at the McNaughton
Cup slip away last weekend. UNO also saw
their home ice spot put in jeopardy, with suffering a pair of losses in
Omaha. They need to put last weekend in
the past and move on to this series and get back on track. UMD is looking to continue to build momentum
for the playoffs and what better way to do that by dragging UNO to the bottom
half with a sweep in Duluth. However,
that is a tall order given Omaha’s scoring ability and the Bulldogs porous
defensive play this year. SPLIT
