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.

Weekend Match-Ups (by Donn)

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I think it is time to do a top ten list, since I haven’t done with this season, so here it goes.

10 – Number of league games most teams have left
9 – Teams that realistically have a chance at home ice
8 – Games BSU has gone without a win currently
7 – Weeks left in the regular WCHA season
6 – WCHA Teams in the USA Today College Hockey Poll
5 – Number of tie games both UND and UW have
4 – Home games left for MSUM
3 – Periods per hockey game
2 – Outdoor games for the WCHA this season
       (UND/UNO, Feb-9 & UM/UW, Feb-17)
1 – Where SCSU sets to start February

WCHA STANDINGS 2012-2013

Team………………………W-L-T………Points

1. St. Cloud St……………12-6-0…….….25
2. Minnesota……………...10-4-4……..…24
2. Nebraska-Omaha…......11-5-2…....….24
4. Minnesota State……….10-9-1.…...….21
4. North Dakota.………..…8-5-5…….…..21
4. Wisconsin…....…………8-5-5………...21
7. Denver…………..……...8-6-4…….......20
8. Minnesota-Duluth….…..8-7-3…………19
9. Colorado College ……..7-10-1..…..….15
10. Bemidji State……..…..4-10-4......……12
11. Michigan Tech………..4-10-4…..……12
12. Alaska-Anchorage…....1-15-4…...……5

WCHA Games

#12 St. Could St.  @ Bemidji St.

Last weekend the Huskies took three points from NoDak (3-1, 2-2ot) in Grand Forks and the Beavers were swept by the UNO Mavericks (5-3, 2-1) in Bemidji.

The Huskies are on a four game unbeaten streak (3-0-1) entering this weekend and the Beavers on a eight game winless streak (0-6-2).  SCSU can put the on official notice that they are in the driver’s seat for the McNaughton Cup with a sweep of the Beavers this weekend.  However, BSU would like nothing better than to play the spoiler to one of their in-state rivals.  The Beavers need to get some timely scoring and stay out of the box, if they want a chance to beat SCSU.  But in the end, the Huskies will leave Bemidji with the points.  HUSKIES SWEEP

Colorado College @ Alaska-Anchorage

Last weekend the Tigers were on a bye and the Seawolves were swept by the Badgers (5-2, 2-1) in Madison.

The Tigers need to get a sweep this weekend if they want to have any chance of getting into the top half of the standings before the regular season ends.  The Seawolves appear to already be mathematically eliminated from home ice, sorry UAA.  The Tigers are 4-8-0 this year away from Colorado Springs, and the Seawolves are 2-7-3 at home in Sullivan Arena.  The Tigers might be a rusty after a weekend off, so look for the Seawolves to come out guns a blazing and try to put CC away early.  The Tigers have the firepower to put up goals, however they are giving up the lion’s share of goals too.  SPLIT

#10 Denver @ Minnesota-Duluth

Last weekend the Pioneers were on a bye and the Bulldogs beat the US U-18 team (3-1) in Duluth.

The Pioneers are on a three game winless streak now, and have been streaking all year, going on two 4 game win streaks, a 5 game win streak, and an 8 game winless streak.  DU has not won a road game since Nov-16 at Colorado Springs.  The Bulldogs have been playing five hundred hockey all season, winning some, losing some.  But looking a little deeper, the wins are against teams lower than them and the losses are against the teams above them.  This is a tough series to predict give the ups and downs of DU and UMD struggles against good teams.  SPLIT

#19 Wisconsin @ #7 North Dakota
Last weekend the Badgers swept the Seawolves (5-2, 2-1) in Madison and NoDak got a point from the SCSU Huskies (3-1, 2-2ot) in Grand Forks.

The Badgers have 1 loss in their last 14 games, going 10-1-3, since Nov-30.  However, in that stretch they have 4 wins versus UAA, 2 wins over Huntsville, and tied MTU twice, so it hasn’t been the toughest competition.  Meanwhile, NoDak is winless in their last four games, going 0-2-2 against UM and SCSU.  If UND wants to keep in the hunt for the last WCHA title as we know it they need wins this weekend.  If NoDak can get the ship righted and some timely saves, they can take the points they need to have.  The Badgers should be confident heading into this weekend give their current winning ways, but their confidence or over-confidence could be their undoing in Grand Forks. 

NORTH DAKOTA SWEEP

Michigan Tech @ #14 Nebraska-Omaha

Last weekend the Huskies were on a bye and the Mavericks swept the Beavers (5-3, 2-1) in Bemidji.

These teams met back in November, with the Mavericks sweeping the Huskies in Houghton by scores of 2-1 and 5-3.  UNO has gone 4-1-1 in their past six league games, and MTU is 3-2-1 over that same span.  The Huskies have just two wins on the road in WCHA play this year and those came at the expense of BSU.  The Mavericks are 8-3-1 at home this season and haven’t lost at home since Dec-14 to the other Mavericks.  The numbers point to the Mavericks which is what I’m looking at to predict this series. 

MAVERICKS SWEEP

BYE WEEK

#1 Minnesota
#15 Minnesota State

My take in a nut shell...

	WCHA Games								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA		W	L	T	GF	GA
St. Cloud State	17	12	5	0	24	58	37		15	10	0	83	62
Minnesota	17	9	4	4	22	57	41		17	4	4	94	47
Nebraska Omaha	17	10	5	2	22	64	52		14	9	2	93	70
Minnesota State	19	10	8	1	21	57	47		16	8	3	84	61
North Dakota	17	8	5	4	20	58	49		13	8	4	82	67
Denver	18	8	6	4	20	57	54		13	8	4	85	67
Wisconsin	17	7	5	5	19	40	38		10	8	5	54	47
Minnesota Duluth	18	8	7	3	19	50	51		10	11	3	64	68
Colorado College	18	7	10	1	15	60	66		10	14	2	88	94
Bemidji State	17	4	9	4	12	39	54		5	13	5	51	71
Michigan Tech	18	4	10	4	12	44	61		7	12	4	63	71
Alaska Anchorage	19	1	14	4	6	33	67		3	15	5	44	78

Last night's game, was probably a game to forget, UND didn't play well at all, there is no other way of saying it. I don't see any reason to panic now, at least not yet. I think the last time I have heard the home crowd boo the boys in green in white was the game against Minnesota State where UND lost 6-0 to the Mavericks on December 1, 2001.

This is what I had to say about last night's game.

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.

Things aren't all that bad... Sky not falling yet.

	WCHA Games								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA		W	L	T	GF	GA
Minnesota	16	9	3	4	22	56	39		17	3	4	93	45
St. Cloud State	16	11	5	0	22	55	36		14	10	0	80	61
Nebraska Omaha	16	9	5	2	20	59	49		13	9	2	88	67
North Dakota	16	8	4	4	20	57	46		13	7	4	81	64
Denver	18	8	6	4	20	57	54		13	8	4	85	67
Minnesota Duluth	18	8	7	3	19	50	51		10	11	3	64	68
Minnesota State	18	9	8	1	19	55	46		15	8	3	82	60
Wisconsin	16	6	5	5	17	35	36		9	8	5	49	45
Colorado College	18	7	10	1	15	60	66		10	14	2	88	94
Bemidji State	16	4	8	4	12	36	49		5	12	5	48	66
Michigan Tech	18	4	10	4	12	44	61		7	12	4	63	71
Alaska Anchorage	18	1	13	4	6	31	62		3	14	5	42	73

Year Before Xmas ------After Xmas 

2004-05 13-7-2 (.636) 12-8-3 (.587)

2005-06 12-7-1 (.625) 17-9-0 (.654)

2006-07 7-10-1 (.417) 17-4-4 (.760)

2007-08 8-6-1 (.567) 20-5-3 (.768)

2008-09 9-8-1 (.528) 15-7-3 (.660)

2009-10 9-6-3 (.583) 16-7-2 (.680)

2010-11 13-5-2 (.700) 19-4-1 (.813)

2011-12 9-8-1 (.528) 17-5-2 (.750)

2012-13 10-5-3 (.639) 3-2-1 (.583)

Totals 91-62-15 (.586) 135-51-19 (.704)

Here are the numbers that Jayson Hajdu has put together, UND after this weekend's Minnesota series, has a .709 winning percentage during the second half of the season under coach Dave Hakstol. 

Crunching the numbers, UND isn't sitting too bad on January 20, 2013. I know early, but even after only taking one point in their weekend series against the Minnesota Gophers, UND is tied for sixth in the Pairwise Rankings with UMass Lowell. 

Related articles

• Week 13 Wcha Power Rankings (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Week 14 Power Rankings (ndgoon.blogspot.com)