WCHA Power Rankings: Week 17

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here is the week 17 WCHA Power Rankings. This season, I have been doing the WCHA Power Rankings with Taylor Seibel, who is a contributor for College Hockey Weekly.

1. Minnesota  – (18-4-4, WCHA 10-4-4) – This past week, the Minnesota Gophers were off. This weekend, the Gophers travel to Saint Cloud to play the Huskies at the National Hockey Center. This series could decide who wins the WCHA regular season title.

2. Saint Cloud State – (17-10-1, WCHA 14-5-1) – This past weekend, the Huskies swept (4-0 W – 4-1 W) the Bemidji State Beavers at the Sanford Center. This weekend, the Huskies entertain the Minnesota Gophers at the National Hockey Center.

3. University of North Dakota – (14-8-6, WCHA 9-5-6) – This past weekend, UND took (1-1 T – 4-1 W) three points against the Wisconsin Badgers at Ralph Engelstad Arena. The weekend, UND travels to Omaha to play the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks in a two game series at the CenturyLink Center on Friday night. Saturday’s game will move outdoors to the TD Ameritrade Park. UND and UNO have played six times in their history and they have a 3-3-0 record against each other.

4. Nebraska Omaha – (16-10-2, WCHA 12-6-2) – This past weekend, the Mavericks split (4-3 W – 1-2 L) their weekend series with the Michigan Tech Huskies as the CenturyLink Center in Omaha. This weekend, the Mavericks entertain North Dakota at the CenturyLink Center on Friday night. Saturday’s game will move outdoors to the TD Ameritrade Park. UNO and UND have played six times in their history and they have a 3-3-0 record against each other.

5.  Denver University – (15-8-4, WCHA 10-6-4) – This past weekend, the Denver Pioneers swept (3-0 W – 4-3 W) the Bulldogs at Amsoil Arena. This weekend, the Pioneers play the Colorado College Tigers in a home and home series.

6.  Minnesota State Mankato – (16-9-3, WCHA 10-9-1) – This past weekend, the Mavericks were off. This weekend, the Mavericks travel to Duluth to play the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs at Amsoil Arena.

7.  Wisconsin – (11-9-6, WCHA 8-6-6) – This past weekend, the Wisconsin Badgers took (1-1 T – 1-4 L) one point against North Dakota at Ralph Engelstad Arena. This weekend, the Badgers entertain the 11^th place Bemidji State Beavers at the Kohl Center. The Badgers have a 6-0-0 record all-time against the Beavers.

8.  Colorado College – (10-14-4, WCHA 7-10-4) – This past weekend, the Colorado College Tigers took (3-3 T – 2-2 T) two points against the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves at Sullivan Arena. This weekend the Tigers play the Denver Pioneers in a home and home series.

9. Minnesota Duluth – (10-13-3, WCHA 8-9-3) – This past weekend, the Bulldogs were swept (0-3 L – 3-4 L) by the Denver Pioneers at Amsoil Arena. This weekend, the Bulldogs entertain the Minnesota State Mavericks at Amsoil Arena. Saturday night, the Bulldogs had a 3-1 lead going into the third period before giving up three goals in 91 seconds to lose 4-3.  

10. Michigan Tech – (8-13-4, WCHA 5-11-4) – This past weekend, the Huskies split (3-4 L – 2-1 W) their weekend series with Nebraska-Omaha at the CentryLink Center. This weekend, the Huskies entertain the last place Alaska Anchorage Seawovles during the Winter Carnival.

11. Bemidji State – (5-16-5, WCHA 4-12-4) – This past weekend, the Beavers were swept (0-4 L 1-4 L) by the Saint Cloud State Huskies at the Sanford Center. This weekend, the Beavers travel to the Kohl Center to play the Wisconsin Badgers. The Beavers are winless in 10 games (0-8-2), and they have not won since December, 15, 2012. The Beavers are 0-6-0 all-time against the Badgers. 

12. Alaska Anchorage – (3-16-7, WCHA 1-15-4) – This past weekend, Seawolves took (2-2 T – 3-3 T) two points from the Colorado College Tigers at Sullivan Arena. This weekend, the Seawolves travel to Houghton Michigan to play the Huskies at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena during the Winter Carnival. The Seawolves are mired in horrible streak and have won one game in the last 20 games (1-15-6), breaking it down further the Seawolves have not won since December 1, 2012.

Taylor Seibel’s WCHA Power Rankings

1. St. Cloud State – (17-10-1, 14-5-1 WCHA) – The Huskies are on a roll following a weekend sweep over Bemidji State.  In conference play, SCSU is 8-0-1 in their last 9 WCHA games.  St. Cloud hosts Minnesota in a pivotal series next weekend that could very well determine who will win Big Jim’s Cup.

2. Minnesota – (18-4-4, 10-4-4 WCHA) – The Gophers were off this past weekend.  Minnesota is second in the league in winning percentage, and still has a tremendous chance of winning the WCHA for the second consecutive season.  Next weekend, a trip to St. Cloud is in store for the Gophers.

3. North Dakota – (14-8-6, 9-5-6 WCHA) – North Dakota finally ended their 5 game winless streak, the longest during Coach Hakstol’s tenure, with a 4-1 victory on Saturday over Wisconsin.  The 3 points vaulted North Dakota into a three-way tie for third in conference.  Next weekend, North Dakota takes on former coach Dean Blais and his UNO Mavericks.

4. Nebraska Omaha – (16-10-2, 12-6-2 WCHA) – The Mavericks struggled with the visiting Michigan Tech Huskies this weekend, scoring only a split.  Next weekend, North Dakota comes to Omaha in a key WCHA series for both sides, and the series will include an outdoor game on Saturday.

5. Denver – (15-8-4, 10-6-4 WCHA) – Denver used a furious rally late in the third period on Saturday to complete a sweep over Duluth in Duluth.  Next weekend, the Gold Pan will be on the line, as Denver squares off against in-state rival Colorado College.

6. Wisconsin – (11-9-6, 8-6-6 WCHA) – The Badgers were only able to take one point in Grand Forks this weekend, largely due to an ineffective special teams unit.  On the weekend, the Badgers were 0-8 on the powerplay, while North Dakota scored 3 of their 5 goals with the man advantage.  Next weekend, the Badgers host Bemidji State in WCHA play.

7. Minnesota State – (16-9-3, 10-9-1 WCHA) – The Mavericks were off this past weekend.  Mankato has an excellent shot at home ice this season, but they will need to continue to play solid hockey.  Next weekend, the Mavericks travel to Minnesota Duluth to take on the Bulldogs in WCHA action.

8. Colorado College – (10-14-4, 7-10-3 WCHA) – The Tigers missed a golden opportunity to tally up points in the conference by managing only 2 draws against Alaska Anchorage this weekend.  The Tigers road to home ice doesn’t get any easier next weekend, as arch-rival Denver is on the schedule in a crucial home and home series to decide the Gold Pan.

9. Minnesota Duluth – (10-13-3, 8-9-3 WCHA) – The Bulldogs were minutes away from a convincing victory on Saturday over Denver, but collapsed and watched their weekend end with 0 points.  Next weekend, the Bulldogs look to get back on their feet as they host Minnesota State in WCHA play.

10. Michigan Tech – (8-13-4, 5-11-4 WCHA) – The Huskies surprised many with an overtime victory on Saturday in their series with Omaha to take 2 points.  Of Michigan Tech’s 5 WCHA wins this season, 3 of them have come in OT, giving the Huskies an impressive 3-0-4 record in the extra session in conference play.  Tech hosts Alaska Anchorage next weekend.

11. Bemidji State – (5-15-5, 4-12-4 WCHA) – Taking on St. Cloud State is no easy task, and that proved true this weekend for the Beavers as the Huskies swept Bemidji in Bemidji.  Next weekend, the Beavers travel to Madison to take on the Badgers, and they hope to end their winless streak that dates back to December 15^th. 

12.  Alaska Anchorage – (3-16-7, 1-15-6 WCHA) – The Seawolves managed two draws against the visiting Tigers from Colorado College this weekend.  UAA’s six draws in conference play ties them with North Dakota and Wisconsin for the most sister-kissers this season.  Next weekend, UAA travels to Houghton to take on Michigan Tech in WCHA play.

WCHA Power Rankings: Week 16

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here is the week 16 WCHA Power Rankings. This season, I have been doing the WCHA Power Rankings with Taylor Seibel, who is a contributor for College Hockey Weekly.

1. Minnesota Gophers – (18-4-4, WCHA 10-4-4) – This past week, the Minnesota Gophers split (1-2 – 4-1 W) their weekend series with Minnesota State Mankato. This weekend, the Gophers are off.

2. Saint Cloud State – (15-10-1, WCHA 12-5-1) – This past weekend, the Huskies took (3-1 W – 2-2 T) points against North Dakota. This weekend, the Huskies travel to Bemidji to play the Beavers at the Sandford Center.

3. Nebraska Omaha – (15-9-2, WCHA 11-5-2) – This past weekend, the Mavericks swept (5-3 W – 2-1 W) the Bemidji State Beavers. This weekend, Mavericks entertain the Michigan Tech Huskies as the CenturyLink Center in Omaha.

4. University of North Dakota – (13-8-5, WCHA 8-5-5) – This past weekend, UND took (1-2 L – 2-2 T) one point against Saint Cloud State University at the Ralph Engelstad Arena. This weekend, UND entertains the Wisconsin Badgers at Ralph Engelstad Arena. The Badgers come into this weekend's series having won seven of eight games and are on a 10-1-2 and have only lost once since November 24, 2012. 

5.  Denver University – (13-8-4, WCHA 8-6-4) – This past weekend, the Denver Pioneers were off. This weekend, the Pioneers travel to Duluth to play the Bulldogs at Amsoil Arena.

6.  Wisconsin – (11-8-5, WCHA 8-5-5) – This past weekend, the Wisconsin Badgers swept (5-1 W – 2-1 W) the Seawolves at the Kohl Center. This weekend, the Badgers travel to Grand Forks to play North Dakota at Ralph Engelstad Arena in an important two game series.

7. Minnesota State Mankato – (16-9-3, WCHA 10-9-1) – This past weekend, the Mavericks split (3-3 T – 4-0 W) their home and home series against the Minnesota Gophers. This weekend, the Mavericks are off.

8. Minnesota Duluth – (10-11-3, WCHA 8-7-3) – This past weekend, the Bulldogs beat 3-1 the U-18 team in an exhibition game. This weekend, the Bulldogs entertain the Pioneers at Amsoil Arena.

9. Colorado College – (10-14-2, WCHA 7-10-1) – This past weekend, the Colorado College Tigers were off. This weekend, the Tigers make the trek north, to Alaska to play the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves at Sullivan Arena.

10. Michigan Tech – (7-12-4, WCHA 4-10-3) – This past weekend, the Huskies were off. This weekend, the Huskies travel to Omaha to play the Mavericks at the CentryLink Center.

11. Bemidji State – (5-14-5, WCHA 4-10-4) – This past weekend, the Beavers were swept (3-5 L 1-2 L) by the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks at the Sanford Center. This weekend, the Beavers entertain the Saint Cloud State Huskies at the Sanford Center.

12. Alaska Anchorage – (3-16-5, WCHA 1-15-4) – This past weekend, Seawolves were swept (1-2 L – 2-5 L) by the Wisconsin Badgers at the Kohl Center. This weekend, the Seawolves entertain the Colorado College Tigers. The Seawolves are mired in horrible streak and have won one game in the last 20 games (1-15-4).

Taylor Seibel’s Power Rankings – January 27, 2013

1. St. Cloud State – (15-10-1, 12-5-1 WCHA) – The Huskies came into Ralph Engelstad Arena this weekend, and took 3 points from North Dakota.  St. Cloud State absolutely dominated North Dakota on Friday, and kept up with a resurgent UND squad on Saturday.  When SCSU is on, they are a national championship caliber team.  The Huskies travel to Bemidji to take on BSU in WCHA play next weekend.

2. Minnesota – (18-4-4, 10-4-4 WCHA) – The Gophers struggled at times against Minnesota State, but still managed a split with a road win on Saturday.  The Gophers have next weekend off before a huge series with SCSU the following weekend, which could decide the MacNaughton Cup.

3. Nebraska Omaha – (15-9-2, 11-5-2 WCHA) – The Mavericks finally solved Bemidji State, notching their first sweep over the Beavers since joining the WCHA.  Omaha has the advantage of an easier schedule coming down the stretch, and if they win the games they should, UNO will be in the mix for the MacNaughton.  Next weekend, Omaha hosts Michigan Tech in WCHA play.

4. North Dakota – (13-8-5, 8-5-5 WCHA) – North Dakota had another disappointing weekend, taking only 1 point.  UND is in serious trouble of missing the NCAA Tournament and potentially missing out on home ice if they don’t start playing to their potential.  The tools are there, but the effort has been extremely inconsistent over the past month.  Next weekend, North Dakota hosts Wisconsin in a key WCHA series.

5. Wisconsin – (11-8-5, 8-5-5 WCHA) – Wisconsin continues their hot streak, as this weekend they swept Alaska Anchorage in Madison.  The Badgers had an awful start to the season, but have responded with a dominating stretch, only losing once since November.  Next weekend, the Badgers look to continue their streak as they travel to North Dakota for WCHA play.

6. Denver – (13-8-4, 8-6-4 WCHA) – The Pioneers took a much needed weekend off this weekend after getting swept for the first time in four years.  Denver has been extremely inconsistent this season, and if not for superstar goaltending, they might be in the bottom half looking up.  Next weekend, The Pios travel to Duluth to take on the Bulldogs in WCHA action.

7. Minnesota State – (16-9-3, 10-9-1 WCHA) – The Mavericks showed that they belong in the WCHA race with a split against Minnesota, but failed to truly capitalize by falling at home on Saturday.  The Mavericks have the heart and coaching to get home ice for the WCHA Tournament, but they will need to win games that a top-half team should win to do so.  Next weekend, Mankato is off.

8. Minnesota Duluth – (10-11-3, 8-7-3 WCHA) – The Bulldogs beat the USA Under-18 squad in an exhibition this weekend.  Duluth is in the mix for home ice, and while they play a very difficult lineup in the stretch run, 6 of their last 10 are at home.  It all starts next weekend as Denver is coming to town for WCHA play.

9. Colorado College – (10-14-2, 7-10-1 WCHA) – The Tigers were off this weekend.  Colorado College has shown they can compete with anyone in the league, and are certainly capable of making a push for home ice.  However, they have been too inconsistent through this point of the season to be in the top half.  Next weekend, the Tigers travel to Anchorage in a series where CC needs 4 points.

10. Michigan Tech – (7-12-4, 4-10-4 WCHA) – The Huskies were off this weekend.  Michigan Tech came into the season as a popular pick for a top half finish, but have not played as well as many thought they could.  While a top-half finish is a stretch at this point, if the Huskies can play up to their potential, they will have a shot.  Next weekend, Tech travels to Omaha in WCHA play.

11. Bemidji State – (5-13-5, 4-10-4 WCHA) – The Beavers were finally stopped by Omaha in WCHA action, getting swept at home by a strong Maverick squad.  The road in isn’t any easier as Bemidji still faces off against SCSU, Wisconsin, Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota, and Minnesota.  Next weekend, the Huskies from St. Cloud make their way up to Bemidji.

12. Alaska Anchorage – (3-16-5, 1-15-4 WCHA) – The Seawolves failed to earn a point against Wisconsin this weekend, as the Badgers swept Anchorage in Madison.  Home ice is out of the equation for Anchorage, but they can still earn some respect and gear up for a charge in the WCHA Tournament.  Next weekend, Alaska Anchorage hosts Colorado College in conference play.

 

Related articles

• WCHA Power Rankings: Week 15 (insidehockey.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings: Week 14 (insidehockey.com)
• Week 13 WCHA Power Rankings (insidehockey.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings: 01/01/2013 (insidehockey.com)

Johnny McInnis goal that was waved off... MSU-M vs. UMN

The Mavericks were down 3-0 when the Mavericks score their first goal of the night by Zach Lehrk at the 12:59 mark of third period. The Mavericks appear to get their second goal of the game 27 second later when forward Johnny McInnis appears to have scored off a great pass from Matt Leitner, but the goal was waved off after the WCHA officials Brad Shepherd, C.J. Beaurline reviewed the goal and ruled that the puck was punched in.

Saint Cloud takes a bite out of UND.

Seal of the University of North Dakota (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Grand Forks, ND – Fresh off getting only a single point in their weekend series against the Minnesota Gophers last weekend, you would’ve thought that the University of North Dakota Hockey team would come out of the gates with a lot of fire and playing with a purpose.

Tonight, that was not the case. In fact, nothing went right for the University of North Dakota hockey team.

Tonight’s opponents, the Saint Cloud State Huskies were the ones that looked like they were the fifth ranked team in the nation, as they came out of the gates with a purpose, and raced to a 2-0 lead with goals from forwards Johnny Brodzinski and Ben Hanowski.  Not only was UND outplayed, but UND was also out shoot 7-3 in the first period as well.

Coming into tonight’s game, UND had a record of 5-3-3 when the opposition scores the first goal. Make that 5-4-3 with the 3-1 loss to the Saint Cloud State Huskies tonight.

The Second period didn’t start out well for North Dakota either, as they continued to stand around and watch the Huskies make plays. It’s not a stretch to say that UND was beaten to the puck for two and half periods of hockey. The Huskies would out shoot UND 11-5 during the second period.

The game just didn’t get much better in the third period as they would watch the Huskies extend the lead to 3-0 with another goal from the talented freshman Johnny Brodzinski’s.

After the game, Saint Cloud State Husky head coach Bob Moztko was impressed with the play of his freshman forward Brodzinski.

“I am not sure how many shots that he had tonight,” Motzko said. “I didn’t see, but he had eight or nine shots on goal. When he [Brodzinski] shoots the puck people are going to start see that it’s a big league shot, and it’s just deadly – he’s a big strong kid – he gets open, he reminds me of a kid [Matt Frattin] they had here a couple of years ago – a kid that shot every time he had the puck.”

North Dakota would break Husky goalie Ryan Faragher’s shutout bid at the 13:49 mark of the third period with a power play goal from freshman forward Rocco Grimaldi. That was all of the closer UND would get as the Huskies would hang on for the win with UND pressing in the waning minutes of the third, but they were unable to get anything past Faragher.

While Rocco Grimaldi was the only UND hockey player to get a puck past the rangy Husky goalie Faragher, Grimaldi didn’t spend much time relishing his ninth goal of the season.

“It just wasn’t our game,” Grimaldi said. “I can’t even put a finger on it what we did wrong. Just no one starting with myself, no one was inspired to play the game. That can’t happen; we just have to forget now that it’s over and done with and move on tomorrow we need those two points tomorrow.”

The game was rather clean as both team combined for a grand total of five minor penalties for 10 minutes in penalties.  UND was 1/1 on the power play and the Huskies were unable to cash in on their two power play opportunities.

After the game, Saint Cloud State Husky coach Bob Motzko seemed rather pleased with his team’s effort.

“Our guys blocked a lot of shots tonight,” Motzko said. “You’ve got to give yourself a chance here to play good defense,” “Ryan [Faragher] made a few key saves when he had to.”

Tonight, Corban Knight’s 19 game point streak came to an end. This was only the third game in the last 24 that Knight didn’t at least have a point. Breaking it down further, this was also the first time all season long that Knight and Kristo didn’t have a single point.

There really is no way to sugar coat tonight’s game. It was not a good effort at all for the North Dakota Hockey team, and the head coach Dave Hakstol was not pleased with his team’s effort. “We didn’t play very well tonight,” Hakstol said. “ We got our tails kicked in our own building.”

North Dakota is known for it's second half surges, currently has a 3-3-1 record in it's last seven games.

Cross Posted at the Hockey Writers - Combine.

Related articles

• UND: The Weekend Ahead (1/25-1/26) (thehockeywriters.com)

One step back, before we move forward (UND vs. UMN)

Goldy Gopher, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities mascot. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is the big story that is making it’s way around Twitter this afternoon. From the looks of it, Minnesota Gophers beat writer Roman Augustoviz must have listened to Gophers head coach Don Lucia on WCCO radio last night. So, after a great weekend of hockey and after being asked about the rivalry probably hundreds of times, I guess he’s tired of being asked about the rivalry.

Roman Empire — Gophers coach Don Lucia used his weekly radio show on Monday to defend himself from critics complaining that North Dakota won’t be on the U’s schedule the next three seasons.

“We have a rule at the University of Minnesota — not put in by me — but by the regents that we can not play a team with an Indian nickname,” Lucia said. “And for years, this controversy with North Dakota and the nickname has been going on. And it has been fought in the courts and everything else.

“And it did not get settled until this summer. Well — if you want to put the blame on me for not waiting to find out whether it was going to get settled or not, then so be it. I can accept that fact.

“I wasn’t going to wait. When the conferences all broke up a couple of years ago. And we were heading into all these new conferences, it was kind of a frenzy and free-for-all for scheduling nonconference games. And when we had the opportunity to schedule some good opponents — I could have waited, but I chose not to wait. But I wanted to ensure we had a good schedule for our fans and our team.”

Whether you believe their company line or not, that’s up to you. It is what it is. This is what the Gophers head coach is saying, and he’s sticking to it. Hey whatever, we could discuss this till we are blue in the face if we want, but Lucia isn’t giving in. That being said, I can tell you that many in the UND fan-base are cynical. If you read some of the newspaper articles and hockey sites from this past weekend, you will see that not everyone was buying into this either. [click to view] and [click to view]

But I digress.

I have to admit that I am sad that this past weekend was the last regular season conference match-up between the two teams, maybe for some time. Such is life. Life is full of disappointments. I do think some fans are a bit delusional if they think that they can just replace the historic UND vs. UMN series with another random series against another hockey team and get the same intensity that this historic series has.

While there are currently no future games scheduled between the two teams, at least in the immediate future, there’s a very good chance that the two teams could meet again in the NCAA Playoffs. History tells us that there is a very good chance the two teams will see each other again, probably in the next year or two. Both teams have a history, and have met three times in the last eight years in the NCAA tourney, with UND holding a 2-1 edge.

It’s also a shame that a once great hockey conference is going to be a shell of it’s former self starting next season, but that is really something we can no longer control as well. These types of decisions are made by the folks that are paid big money to make these kinds of decisions, and they don’t always do what the fans want.

Finally, I also think that the players are going to miss this historic series as well. If  you don’t believe me, all you have to do is look at the comments from Gopher forward Nate Condon who was named WCHA Offensive Player of the week after he had a five point (2g-3a—5pts) weekend against UND.

Condon on his wknd: "It's good...especially since it's against (UND). If I can score that against them every time it would make my year."
— Nate Wells (@gopherstate) January 22, 2013

I guess for now, the series will have to wait, and all we can do is hope that cooler heads prevail. I think eventually the rivalry will resume play, sooner rather than later.

Originally posted at the Hockey Writers - Combine.