(Video) UND 2 NU 1

I decided to put the game winning goal up from the Yale vs. Minnesota game as well. When I .fast forwarding to the UND goals I thought what the heck. I was in the car on my way to Hugo's,  and I was listening to the game on 1500ESPN and Frank and Wally had barely got set when the overtime was already over. Not really a memorable call to the end of the Gophers season.

UND grinds out win against Niagara Purple Eagles

This was a typical hard fought regional semifinal playoff game, this is what I call a grind it out win. This wasn't a lot of fun to watch, but UND still moves on. Mac's goal to tie the game was your typical timely, big time goal.

Coming into this game, when you look at both team's schedules, you would think that game shouldn't even be close, but this is the NCAA playoffs. I thought we might see about a 6-1 game, but after the first period, I figured this was going to be a war. I also thought that this was a nasty game as well. In the end, UND was able to do what good teams do, they found a way to win.

Related articles

• UND Finds Tough Sledding Against Tech (insidehockey.com)
• Day 2 Reflections From WCHA Final Five (insidehockey.com)

Links of interest NCAA Hockey

Those that want to watch the games on ESPNU here is the link to the games today. [click to view]

Here is the TV schedule for the NCAA tourney games.  [click to view]

Here is the link to listen to the Gopher game against Yale on the Radio [click to listen]

Here is the link to listen to the UND Hockey game(s) on the Radio [iHeartRadio]

UND Officials Web Page

UND Official Press Guide for the NCAA Playoffs.

UMN Official Minnesota Hockey Web Page.

Yale Bulldogs Hockey Official Web Page.

Niagara Official Web Page

Related articles

• Time to move the NCAA Hockey Tourney back on campus (thehockeywriters.com)
• College Hockey's March Madness Continues: This weekend's NCAA Division one television schedule (3/29 - 3/31) (thehockeywriters.com)

CC's Joe Marciano hits Minnesota's Tom Serratore from behind

Colorado College Tiger defenseman Joe Marciano received a five minute major for this cross-check on Minnesota Gopher forward Tom Serratore. I think Marciano was lucky to remain in the game and I am not sure what he was upset with. These are the kind of hits that I would like to see gone from "all" levels of hockey.

Related articles

• Tom Serratore the heart and sole of the Beavers (thehockeywriters.com)
• Gophers ruin Beavers senior night (thehockeywriters.com)

Badgers defenseman John Ramage destroys Mavericks forward Teddy Blueger

“That’s contact to the head, that’s a no brainer,” FSN television analyst Kevin Gorg said on viewing the hit by  Wisconsin defenseman John Ramage on Minnesota State Maverick Teddy Blueger. The funny thing with Gorg, he’s supposed to know hockey, but every time he opens his mouth he removes all doubt. I haven’t seen many guys that get hit in the head grab their shoulder.

Look at the video, Teddy Blueger is holding his shoulder.

In the press box, we had the luxury of getting a few good looks at this hit, to me this appears to be another legal shoulder-to-shoulder hit that was called a major penalty. For those people that want to call penalties for hard hits, they're going to call foul, but hockey is a physical game. I don't think John Ramage who plays the game straight up should be penalized for being a physical player.

[Click to watch video]

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writers Combine. 

Stoykewych shocks UND in OT

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

Saint Paul, Minn. – The University of North Dakota started off the day, by putting two players, senior forwards, Corban Knight and Danny Kristo, among the top 10 national finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. The Hobey Baker is given annually to the top player in NCAA Division I men’s hockey.

Then, it was off to the quarter final game of the Red Baron WCHA Final Five where 17,038 fans watched the match-up between the University of North Dakota (21-11-7, No. 3 seed) and the Colorado College Tigers (16-18-5, No. 6 seed) at the Xcel Energy Center.

The University of North Dakota doesn’t get fazed when they give up the first goal of a game, anymore. In fact, it happens a lot.  In 19 games where the opposition scored the first goal, the Green and White are 9-5-5.

Make that­­­­­­ 9-6-5, with the loss to the Colorado College Tigers tonight.

“Here we are. If you would have said that on the fifth of January after we got swept in Omaha that we would be playing and winning game over North Dakota, I would have said that you’re crazy,” Head coach Scott Owens said on beating  North Dakota 4-3 in overtime of the quarterfinal game of the WCHA Final Five.”

The game had a lot of drama and probably didn’t go as planned.

With freshman forward Drake Caggiula in the sin bin for charging, the Colorado College Tigers would get on the board first with a power play goal from senior forward Rylan Schwartz at the 03:06 mark of first period.

That slim one goal lead would last 11:17 as freshman forward Drake Caggiula would make up for his blunder by scoring his seventh goal of the year at the 14:23 mark of the first period. That was Caggiula’s first goal since January 19^th, 2013.

UND would start a parade to the penalty box in the waning moments of the first period, but fortunately UND was able to stop the Tiger power play with a tenacious penalty kill, before the Tigers could do any damage on the power play.

Senior forward Danny Kristo would stop the bleeding at the 19:50 mark of the first period with his 25^th goal of the season.

UND would outshoot C.C. 11-4 in first period.

The second period was more of a grind out kind of period and the Tigers took advantage of a miscue to score shorthanded at the 07:54 mark of the second period as Alex Krushelnyski shot the puck past UND goalie Clark Saunders.

That was all of the scoring either team would generate the rest of the second period. UND would again outshoot C.C. 9-6.

Things would really get interesting for UND. At the 03:42 mark of the third period, Tiger forward Hunter Fejes took a shot from the top the circle that Saunders missed.

Make that 3-2 Tigers.

UND freshman Drake Caggiula would score at the12:45 mark of the third period to knot the game at 3-3, sending the game to overtime.  UND would out Tigers 12-10 in the third period.

At the 04:52 mark of the first overtime, sophomore Tiger defenseman Peter Stoykewych ended UND run for at four consecutive Final Five championships.

When asked how it feels to not be moving on to play for a four WCHA Final Five playoff championship. This is what Danny Kristo had to say. “I have never felt like this before,” Kristo said. “Obviously we won the last three. That was our goal coming in this year. Obviously, we wanted to four peat, or what not. You just go day-by-day. I thought we took about 20 minutes off there, between the second and third period and kind of got lulled to sleep, maybe we deserved to win the game, but we didn’t play to our potential, so at this time of the year you’re not going to win games. You can’t leave the game to a bounce of the puck.”

This is what coach Hakstol had to say.

“Congratulations to C.C., UND head coach Dave Hakstol said. “They’re grinding out wins. They’re doing a great job. They got the job done tonight. Overall, we played a pretty good hockey game. Pretty good doesn’t get the job doesn’t get it done this time of year against the quality of teams that are here. So, tough ending tonight, that’s our fate, We’ll regroup and get back to Grand Forks and work on our next project.”

Colorado College (17-18-5) moves on to play Minnesota in the 7:00 p.m. game and UND (21-12-7) goes home to find out who they play next weekend in the NCAA regionals.

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writers Combine

Final 5 Match-Ups (by Donn)

This is it, the last WCHA Final 5 as we have known it for decades.  Three out of last weekend’s first round series went to three games, which is not too surprising, given the depth and talent of the conference as a whole.  I’m looking forward to this long weekend of hockey and hopefully will take a lot of good memories from it. Most of the teams that are not going to St. Paul are done for the year, with the exception of DU.  The Pioneers could get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament; they are currently sitting at #13 in the pairwise.

WCHA FINAL STANDINGS 2012-2013

Team………………………W-L-T………Points

1. St. Cloud St……………18-9-1.……….37
2. Minnesota……………...16-7-2……..…37
3. North Dakota.………….14-7-7………..35
4. Denver…………..……..14-9-5..….......33
5. Wisconsin…....………..13-8-7………...33
6. Minnesota State………16-11-1....…….33
7. Nebraska-Omaha…......14-12-2…....…30
8. Colorado College …….11-13-4..….….26
9. Minnesota-Duluth….….10-13-5……….25
10. Michigan Tech………..8-16-4…..…..20
11. Bemidji State……..…..6-15-7......…..17
12. Alaska-Anchorage…....2-20-6.....…..10

The # numbers below are now the PAIRWISE rankings.

Thursday Games

Colorado College @ #6 North Dakota

Last weekend NoDak ended MTU’s season in three games (5-3W, 2-1L, 6-0W) in Grand Forks and the Tigers beat their archrival Pioneers in three games (5-3L, 2-1W, 4-3W) in Denver.

2012-13 series – Tied wins 2-2-0

The first series was in Colorado Springs Nov30/Dec1 with the Tigers winning the first game (5-3) and UND winning the second in overtime (3-2).  They met for the second series in Grand Forks in mid-January with the Tigers again winning the opening game (4-3) and UND winning the finale (5-3).

UND has a chance to be the first four-peat champion this weekend and it starts with a stiff test in CC.  The Tigers have the offensive power to compete with anyone in the league; the big question is their defense and goaltending.  The same could be said about UND, they too have has some blips in their own zone too.  Both have a short week after playing three games (Fri/Sat/Sun) and then a short rest and travel before this Thursday night game.  The Tigers need to keep winning to extend their season, UND could lose and still make the NCAA tournament.  I’m going with UND in this game, since they have been getting more consistent play in the net.  NODAK WINS

(I also want them to win so we all get to see another UND/UM game.)

#9 Minnesota State @ #16 Wisconsin

Last weekend the Mavericks took out the UNO Mavericks in three games (4-3Wot, 2-1L, 3-1W) in Mankato and the Badgers ended the UMD Bulldogs season by sweeping them (3-1, 4-1) in Madison.

2012-13 series – Tied 2-2-0

The first series was in Madison on Nov23/24 with the Mavericks sweeping the series (4-2, 4-2).  They met for the second series in Mankato in mid-January with the Badgers returning the favor in dramatic fashion, by sweeping the Mavericks in overtime in both games (4-3ot, 2-1ot).

The Badgers have clawed their way back in the NCAA tournament picture, now they are firmly on the bubble with their #16 rank.  The Mavericks would be in the NCAA tournament if it started this weekend, but if get some wins this weekend they can move up the rankings and improve their seeding. 

This game I’m not sure about who is going to win, I don’t have a feeling right away for one team or the other.  Both are playing well and need/want to advance to Friday’s game against SCSU.  Even with UW being the “home” team in this game, I’m going to go with the “visitors” for the win, in overtime.  MAVERICKS WIN

Friday Games

#12 St. Could St.

Last weekend the Huskies swept the Seawolves (6-1, 5-1) in St. Cloud.

Season Series
vs MSUM – SCSU wins 2-0-0
vs UW – Tied 1-1-0

Since the Huskies are the top seed they will “host” the winner from Thursday’s MSUM/UW play-in game.

If my prediction from Thursday hold true, the Huskies will be facing in-state foe Mankato for the right to advance to the championship game.  SCSU had to settle for “sharing” the MacNaughton Cup and now will want the Broadmoor Trophy all to themselves.  The Huskies have not captured the playoff title since 2001 and the Mavericks have never hoisted either piece of hardware.  HUSKIES WIN

#2 Minnesota

Last weekend the Gophers swept the Beavers (2-1ot, 4-3) in Minneapolis.

Since the Gophers are the second seed they will “host” the winner of the CC/UND from Thursday’s play-in game.

Season Series

vs UND – UM wins 1-0-1
vs CC – UM wins 1-0-1

Again, if my Thursday predictions hold true, the Gophers will face long, long, time rival UND in the evening tilt at the Xcel Center.  Last year these team clashed in a semi-final game, remember… the Gophers staked themselves to a 3-0 lead, UND called a time out, and then rattled off 6 unanswered goals for a 6-3 win.  (Then UM and UND met a week later again at the Xcel Center in the NCAA tournament with the UM winning.)  I don’t think we will get that kind of game this time around, but who knows, that’s why they play the games.  I’m inclined this time around to give the nod to the Gophers in this game, to set-up a rubber match with the Huskies.  GOPHERS WIN

Saturday - CHAMPIONSHIP Game

Well this as far as I’m allowed to stretch my predictions.  We’ll know by the end of Friday if I’m even close to correct.  But if I am, it’s a SCSU/UM game for the Broadmoor trophy, a title that cannot be shared, and the auto-bid for the NCAA tournament.  I’m thinking the Gophers might be spent emotionally if they beat UND the evening before.  The Gophers are a pretty solid lock on a number one seed, whereas the Huskies could use another quality win to solidify their spot in the tourney.  HUSKIES WIN

Related articles

• WCHA Power Rankings: Week 22 (thehockeywriters.com)

Results of the 2012-13 Blogger/Website All-WCHA Awards

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

s/t to A Tradition of Excellence for putting on the Second Annual Blogger/Website All-WCHA Awards. This is how the vote shook out.

* Asterik denotes a unanimous selection

All-WCHA First Team:
F - Ryan Walters, Nebraska-Omaha
F - Erik Haula, Minnesota
F - Danny Kristo, North Dakota
D - Nate Schmidt, Minnesota
D - Nick Jensen, St. Cloud State
G - Stephon Williams, Minnesota State

All-WCHA Second Team:
F - Drew LeBlanc, St. Cloud State
F - Corban Knight, North Dakota
F - Rylan Schwartz, Colorado College
D - Mike Boivin, Colorado College
D - Joey LaLeggia, Denver
G - Adam Wilcox, Minnesota

All-WCHA Third Team:
F - Matt Leitner, Minnesota State
F - Josh Archibald, Nebraska-Omaha
F - Eriah Hayes, Minnesota State
D - Andrew Prochno, St. Cloud State
D - Andrej Sustr, Nebraska-Omaha
G - Juho Olkinuora, Denver

WCHA All-Rookie Team:
F - Alex Petan, Michigan Tech
F - Tony Cameranesi, Minnesota-Duluth
F - Jonny Brodzinski, St. Cloud State
D - Nolan Zajac, Denver *
D - Andy Welinski, Minnesota-Duluth
G - Stephon Williams, Minnesota State

WCHA Player of the Year: Ryan Walters, Nebraska-Omaha

WCHA Defenseman of the Year: Nate Schmidt, Minnesota

WCHA Rookie of the Year: Stephon Williams, Minnesota State

WCHA Coach of the Year: Mike Hastings, Minnesota State


Here's the rundown of the voters.

Ryan, Gopher Puck Live
Matt, Bulldog Country
Joe, Colorado Springs Gazette
Travis, @nodakhockey/Fighting Sioux Hockey Facebook Fan Page
Emily, Beyond the Pond
Taylor, The Hockey Writers Combine
Eric, Goon's World/The Hockey Writers Combine
Tim, Tech Hockey Guide
Matthew, USCHO
Nate, College Hockey News/SB Nation Team Minnesota
Donn, Goon's World
Andy, Bucky's 5th Quarter
Andrew, College Hockey High Horse
Jeff, Mav Mania
Dave, Sioux Sports
Chad, A Tradition of Excellence

Related articles

• My 2012-2013 All-WCHA Ballot (thehockeywriters.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings: Week 22 (thehockeywriters.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings: Week 22 (insidehockey.com)
• Weekend Match-Ups (by Donn) (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Another 2012-2013 All-WCHA Ballot (thehockeywriters.com)

Weekend Match-Ups (by Donn)

Here we are the middle of March and the playoffs have arrived in St. Could, Minneapolis, Grand Forks, Mankato, Madison, and Denver.  Congratulations to all those teams on a top half finish in the WCHA’s last season as we know it.  This is the first MacNaughton Cup title for SCSU, who are sharing it with UM (their 11^th).

I have included my preseason predicted finish number behind the points, I did okay on a few teams and completely missed on other…

WCHA FINAL STANDINGS 2012-2013

Team………………………W-L-T………Points…..Prediction

1. St. Cloud St……………18-9-1.……….37----------5
2. Minnesota……………...16-7-2……..…37----------3
3. North Dakota.………….14-7-7………..35----------2
4. Minnesota State………16-11-1....…….33---------11
4. Wisconsin…....………..13-8-7………...33----------8
4. Denver…………..……..14-9-5..….......33-----------1
7. Nebraska-Omaha…......14-12-2…....…30----------7
8. Colorado College …….11-13-4..….….26----------6
9. Minnesota-Duluth….….10-13-5……….25----------4
10. Michigan Tech………..8-16-4…..…..20-----------9
11. Bemidji State……..…..6-15-7......…..17-----------10
12. Alaska-Anchorage…....2-19-6.....…..10-----------12


The # numbers below are current PAIRWISE rankings.

1st Round of WCHA Games - Best of 3 Series

Alaska-Anchorage @ #10 St. Could St. 

Last weekend the Seawolves were swept by the Pioneers (7-1, 6-1) in Denver with the Huskies split with the Badgers (4-2W, 3-2L) in Madison.

2012-13 series – tied 1-1-0

These teams clashed back on Nov30-Dec1 in Anchorage, with the Huskies prevailing in the opener 4-3 in overtime, and the Seawolves extracting revenge the next night with a 3-1 win.  I don’t remember if or when the top seed has ever lost in the first round and I don’t see it happening this year.  SCSU has too much talent and depth for UAA to keep up in a three game series, if it even goes three games.  HUSKIES SWEEP

Bemidji St. @ #2 Minnesota

Last weekend the Gophers swept the Beavers in Bemidji (4-3, 5-1).

2012-13 series – UM wins 2-0-0

This is interesting, since these two teams just played each other last weekend in Bemidji.  I don’t care what level of hockey it is, it is hard to beat anybody four games in a row.  The downside for the Gophers is, does playing the same team two weekends in a row cause a problem in the next round for them?  The pressure is on the Gophers to dispose of the Beavers in two games.  The Beavers would like to gnaw on the Gophers this weekend in Minneapolis and stay there for play next weekend in St. Paul.  Remember when BSU made the Final 2011, by beating UNO on the road, and then beating UMD in a play-in game before losing to DU in a semifinal?  Well, I don’t think they are going to be making that trip.  GOPHERS SWEEP

Michigan Tech @ #5 North Dakota

Last weekend NoDak split with MSUM (4-3W, 2-1Lot) in Mankato and the Huskies split (2-0W, 4-3L) with the CC Tigers in Houghton.

2012-13 series – UND wins 2-0-0

These two longtime foes played in Houghton in mid-December with NoDak sweeping by scores of 6-1 and 4-1.  If I’ve looked up the numbers right the last time MTU beat UND it was December 28, 2008 at the Great Lakes Invitational Tournament.  This could also be the last time these teams play for years to come with the new conference changes coming next season.  The Huskies have been playing much better the second half of this season, but they don’t have what it takes to knock off a top tier team in a best of three series.  NORTH DAKOTA SWEEP

Colorado College @ #5 Denver

Last weekend the Tigers split with the MTU Huskies (2-0L, 4-3W) in Houghton and the Pioneers swept (7-1, 6-1) the Seawolves in Denver.

2012-13 series – DU wins 2-1-1

The Pioneers swept the Tigers back in November and in February the Tigers won and tied DU.  This being a rivalry and playoff series at once should be a humdinger to watch, almost makes me wish I was in Colorado.  I think this will be a three game series with the home team prevailing, but I’ve been wrong before.  PIONEERS IN 3

Nebraska-Omaha @ #9 Minnesota State

Last weekend the UNO Mavericks were swept by Bulldogs (5-4, 6-0) in Duluth and the MSUM Mavericks split with NoDak (4-3L, 2-1Wot) in Mankato.

2012-13 series – tied 1-1-0

The red and purple Mavericks locked horns back in mid-December in Omaha, Mankato won the opener 6-3 and Omaha won the closer 5-1.  Omaha has fallen hard the last two months, they have lost 7 of their last 9 games (8 of 10 if count the exhibition against the U-18 USA team) and their two wins are against UAA.  Before February rolled around, Omaha looked to be a top half finisher, and now they just look finished.  MINNESOTA STATE SWEEP

Minnesota-Duluth @ #18 Wisconsin

Last weekend the Bulldogs swept the UNO Mavericks (5-4, 6-0) in Duluth and the Badgers split (4-2L, 3-2W) with the SCSU Huskies in Madison.

2012-13 series – UW wins 1-0-1

It has been a while since these teams shared the ice, it was back in late October they played with the Badgers blanking the Bulldogs 2-0 and then they tied the following evening 2-2.  UMD is on their longest winning streak of the year at 4 in a row, sweeping UNO and UAH, and they tied the UM before to have a 5 game unbeaten stretch now.  UW has been one of the hotter teams in 2013 and have been playing good hockey as of late.  This is going to come down to which team wants it more and neither team is going to back down in these tilts.  I’m giving the nod to the home team, but just slightly.  BADGERS IN 3

2012-13 Blogger All-WCHA Awards Poll (by Donn)

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here is how I voted on my ballot.

2012-13 Blogger All-WCHA Awards Poll

All-WCHA First Team
F – Danny Kristo (UND)
F – Erik Haula (UM)
F – Drew LeBlanc (SCSU)
D – Nate Schmidt (UM)
D – Joey LaLeggia (DU)
G – Adam Wilcox (UM)

All-WCHA Second Team

F – Corban Knight (UND)
F – Rylan Schwartz (CC)
F – Ryan Walters (UNO)
D – Nick Jensen (SCSU)
D – Mike Boivin (CC)
G – Joe Rumpel (UW)

All-WCHA Third Team

F – Matt Leitner (MSUM)
F – Ben Hanowski (SCSU)
F – Alex Petan (MTU)
D – Jake McCabe (UW)
D – Dillon Simpson (UND)
G – Zane Gothberg (UND)

All-WCHA Rookie Team

F – Rocco Grimaldi (UND)
F – Nic Kerdiles (UW)
F – Blake Tatchell (UAA)
D – Jordan Schmaltz (UND)
D – Nolan Zajac (DU)
G – Stephon Williams (MSUM)

WCHA Player of the Year – Danny Kristo (UND)

WCHA Defensive Player of the Year – Joey LaLeggia (DU)
WCHA Rookie of the Year – Rocco Grimaldi (UND)
WCHA Coach of the Year – Mike Hastings (MSUM)
*WCHA Goaltender of the Year will be the First Team Goaltender

Updated: Goon's 2012-13 Blogger All-WCHA Awards Poll

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A Tradition of Excellence Blog, a hockey blog dedicated to UND hockey, distributed a ballot for the Second Annual 2012-13 Blogger/Website All-WCHA Awards Poll to the various fan bloggers and fan message boards from around the WCHA.

The voters were asked to pick the first, second, third and rookie teams just like the WCHA voters from the media. We also picked the player of the year, rookie of the year, defensive player of the year and coach of the year.

The ballots had to be back by today (3/14/2013).  

This is the ballot that I submitted, I stand by this ballot. Your critique is appreciated and welcome; however, if your sole purpose is to attack me, you might want to think twice before posting.

You’re also welcome to include your ballot as well if you want.

Everyone sees the game of hockey a little differently and through a different scope/lens.

First off, this was a tough year, there are so many good players that could have been selected to be on this year’s ballot and I know from posting this ballot on my blog; in some fans’ opinion, I have slighted their favorite player(s).

To those people, I apologize.

For the most part, I have been able to watch most if not all of the players in the WCHA this season. This past weekend, I was able to get a closer look at the Minnesota Gophers live in Bemidji, Minnesota.

In my opinion, Nate Schmidt (8g-22a—30tps) is the best defenseman in the WCHA, if I was a Gophers fan I would be worried, the free agent is going to get offers from professional hockey teams in the offseason. Schmidt is the real deal.

I also think that Ryan Walters (21g-29a—50tps) is the hands down favorite for Players of the Year in the WCHA. Ryan Walters is also the real deal and will garner free agent offers from professional hockey teams in the offseason as well.

My pick for Rookie of the year is Jonny Brodzinski (19g-11a—30pts), this is the same kid that only scored (10g-12a—22pts) in 58 games with the Fargo Force of the USHL the year before. Brodzinski, the undrafted 6’1’ 200 pound forward from Ham Lake Minnesota is becoming an unstoppable force on the ice and the Huskies are 17-6-1 when he scores at least a point.  

Bob Moztko had this to say about his rookie forward after a series earlier this season, 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.”

Coach of the year, I thought Mike Hastings earned the award with his team’s finish, especially after finishing 11^th, the year before. I can see an argument for Bob Motzko from Saint Cloud State as well, but they had a lot of returning players, so the Huskies winning the league title this season wasn’t really a shock to anyone.

All-WCHA First Team

F – Corban Knight, UND

F – Ryan Walters, UNO

F – Erik Haula, UMN  

D – Nate Schmidt, UMN

D – Joey LaLeggia, DU

G – Stephon Williams, MSU

All-WCHA Second Team

F – Drew LeBlanc, SCSU

F – Danny Kristo, UND

F – Rylan Schwartz, C.C.

D – Mike Bovin C.C.

D – Nick Jensen, SCSU

G – Adam Wilcox, UMN

All-WCHA Third Team

F – Matt Leitner, MSU

F – Alexander Krushelnyski, C.C.

F – Nic Dowd, SCSU

D – Andrew Prochno, SCSU

D – Dillon Simpson, UND

G – Joel Rumpel, UW

All-WCHA Rookie Team

F – Rocco Grimaldi, UND

F – Alex Petan, MTU

F – Jonny Brodzinski, SCSU

D – Nolan Zajac, DU

D – Jordan Schmaltz, UND

G – Zane Gothberg, UND

WCHA Player of the Year – Ryan Walters, UNO

WCHA Defensive Player of the Year – Nate Schmidt, UMN

WCHA Rookie of the Year – Jonny Brodzinski, SCSU

WCHA Coach of the Year – Mike Hastings, MSU

*WCHA Goaltender of the Year will be the First Team Goaltender

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writers Combine.

UND’s Zane Gothberg name Red Baron Co-Defensive player of the week

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Third time is a charm for UND's Freshman goalie Zane Gothberg

MADISON, Wis. – A pair of goaltenders who both totalled more than 70 saves in league competition last weekend, Colorado College’s Joe Howe and University of North Dakota’s Zane Gothberg, have been named Red Baron® WCHA Men’s co-Defensive Players of the Week for March 12.

Howe, a 6-0, 195-pound senior from Plymouth, Minn., turned aside 31 shots on goal last Friday (March 8) in a 2-0 setback at Michigan Tech before coming back with 46 stops to lead the visiting Tigers to a 4-3 road victory over the Huskies last Saturday (March 9). He posted 77 total saves in the series, with double-digit stop totals in all six periods and 20 in the second stanza of game two, and helped his team kill off seven of eight MTU power-plays.

Gothberg, a 6-2, 198-pound freshman from Thief River Falls, Minn., had a hot hand throughout visiting North Dakota’s WCHA series split at Minnesota State, stopping 72 shots – the most in a two-game series by a UND goalie this season. In last Friday’s 4-3 UND win, Gothberg made a career-high 37 saves, including 14 in the third period. The following night, he added another 35 saves in a 2-1 overtime loss in the regular season finale, which ended his personal six-game unbeaten streak. 

Gothberg, who is 4-1-2 with a .937 save percentage since Feb. 1, led the WCHA in winning percentage during league play (.708) and finished fourth in save percentage.

Also nominated: Matt Prapavessis, D, BSU; Joey LaLeggia, D, DU; Steven Seigo, D, MTU; Andrew Prochno, D, SCSU.

Per the UND Athletic Web Page

UND's WCHA Players of the Week

Nov. 20: Danny Kristo (Offensive)

Dec. 11:   Carter Rowney (Offensive)

Dec. 11:   Rocco Grimaldi (co-Rookie)

Dec. 18:   Corban Knight (Offensive)

Jan. 8:     Corban Knight (co-Offensive)

Feb. 5:     Zane Gothberg (Rookie)

Feb. 12:   Zane Gothberg (Defensive)
Feb. 27:   Danny Kristo (co-Offensive)

Mar. 12:  Zane Gothberg (co-Defensive)

Related articles

• UND goalie Zane Gothberg Defensive Player of the Week (mvn.com)

WCHA Web Media Poll: Week 22

Each week, I participate in a WCHA Web Media Poll that is put on by the Tech Hockey Guide with 11 other people that represent both the print media as well as the hockey blogosphere. This is the final WCHA Web Media Poll.

This week, again, positions 1 – 3 remain the same, as well as 7 – 12; the middle of the poll is again, all mixed up. Minnesota State after splitting with North Dakota dropped from fourth-to-sixth place. Wisconsin stayed at fifth place and Denver moved up to fourth place from sixth place.

Here’s a look at the results the Tech Hockey Guide WCHA Web Media Poll for Week 22:

Place	Team	pts	Previous	Record	High	Low
1.	Minnesota (6)	138	1	24-7-5	1	2
2.	St. Cloud State (6)	136	2	21-14-1	1	4
3.	North Dakota	120	3	19-10-7	3	3
4.	Denver	99	6	19-11-5	4	6
5.	Wisconsin	98	5	17-12-7	4	6
6.	Minnesota State	93	4	22-11-3	2	6
7.	Nebraska Omaha	60	7	18-16-2	7	10
8.	Colorado College	59	8	14-17-5	7	10
9.	Minnesota Duluth	57	9	14-17-5	7	9
10.	Michigan Tech	39	10	12-18-4	8	11
11.	Bemidji State	25	11	6-20-8	10	11
12.	Alaska Anchorage	12	12	4-23-7	12	12

Representing Name Publication Twitter

Alaska-Anchorage, Taylor Hall College Hockey News @thall907
Bemidji State, Troy Mills The Beaver Pond
Colorado College, Joe Paisley, Paisley Hockey @Paisleyhockey
Denver, Mike Chambers, Denver Post @MChambersDP
Michigan Tech, Tim Braun, Tech Hockey Guide @TBraunTHG
Minnesota, Dan Myers, Minnesota Hockey Magazine @1DanMyers
Minnesota Duluth, Bruce Ciskie, The Ciskie Blog @BruceCiskie
Minnesota State, Chris Dilks, Western College Hockey @ChrisDilks
Nebraska-Omaha, Matt Semisch, Radio Free Omaha @matthewsemisch
North Dakota, Eric Burton The Hockey Writers Combine and Goon’s World @goon48
St. Cloud State, Jeremy Larson, Husky Hockey Time @jclarson02
Wisconsin, Andy Johnson, Bucky’s 5th Quarter @andyjohnsonB5Q

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writes Combine.

Related articles

• WCHA Web Media Poll: Week 21 (thehockeywriters.com)
• WCHA Web Media Poll: Week 20 (thehockeywriters.com)
• WCHA Web Media Poll: Week 19 (thehockeywriters.com)
• WCHA Web Media Poll: Week 18 (thehockeywriters.com)
• WCHA Web Media Poll: Week 17 (thehockeywriters.com)
• WCHA Web Media Poll: Week 16 (thehockeywriters.com)
• WCHA Web Media Poll: Week 15 (thehockeywriters.com)