WCHA Power Rankings: Week 18

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here is the week 18 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  – (19-5-4, WCHA 11-5-4) – This past week, the Minnesota Gophers split (4-2 W – 3-4 L) their weekend series with the Saint Cloud Huskies at the National Hockey Center. This weekend, the Gophers travel to Wisconsin to play the Wisconsin Badgers at the Kohl Center on Friday night, before making the trek south to Chicago, Illinois to play in the Hockey City Classic at Soldier Field on Sunday. The game will air on the Big Ten Network at 3:30 p.m. CT.

2. Saint Cloud State – (18-11-1, WCHA 15-6-1) – This past weekend, the Huskies split (2-4 L – 4-3 W) their series with the Minnesota Gophers at the National Hockey Center. This weekend, the Huskies are off.

3. University of North Dakota – (16-8-6, WCHA 11-5-6) – This past weekend, UND swept (2-1 W – 5-2 W) their weekend series with the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks in series that included a game at the CenturyLink Center on Friday night. Saturday’s game moved outdoors to the TD Ameritrade Park. This week, UND is off.

4. Minnesota State Mankato – (18-9-3, WCHA 12-9-1) – This past weekend, the Mavericks swept (4-2 W – 5-1 W) the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs at Amsoil Arena. This weekend, the Mavericks entertain the Michigan Tech Huskies at the Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato.

5.   Denver University – (15-9-5, WCHA 10-7-5) – This past weekend, the Denver Pioneers took (1-1 T – 5-6 O.T. L) one point in a home and home series with the Colorado College Tigers. This weekend, the Pioneers are off.

6. Nebraska Omaha – (16-12-2, WCHA 12-8-2) – This past weekend, the Mavericks were swept (1-2 – 2-5) by North Dakota. Friday’s game was at the CenturyLink Center and Saturday’s game was outdoors at TD Ameritrade Park. This weekend, The Maverick travel north to Alaska to take on the last place Seawolves at Sullivan Arena.

7.  Wisconsin – (12-9-7, WCHA 9-6-7) – This past weekend, the Wisconsin Badgers took (2-2 T – 3-2 W) three points in their series with the Bemidji State Beavers at the Kohl Center. This weekend, the Badgers entertain the Minnesota Gophers at the Kohl Center on Friday night, before making the trek south to Chicago, Illinois to play in the Hockey City Classic at Soldier Field on Sunday. The game will air on the Big Ten Network at 3:30 p.m. CT.

8.  Colorado College – (11-14-5, WCHA 8-10-4) – This past weekend, the Colorado College Tigers took (1-1 T – 6-5 O.T. W) three points in a home and home series with the Denver Pioneers. This weekend, the Tigers are off.

9. Minnesota Duluth – (10-15-3, WCHA 8-11-3) – This past weekend, the Bulldogs were swept (2-4 L – 1-5 L) by the Minnesota State Mavericks at Amsoil Arena. This weekend, the Bulldogs travel to Bemidji to play the Beavers at the Sanford Center. The Bulldogs have won one game in their last six games and have been swept two series in a row.

10. Michigan Tech – (9-14-4, WCHA 6-12-4) – This past weekend, the Huskies split (3-4 L – 2-1 W) their weekend series with the last place Alaska Anchorage Seawovles during the Winter Carnival. This week, the Huskies play the Northern Michigan Wildcats in Houghton, Michigan on Tuesday night and then the Huskies travel to Mankato, Minnesota to play the Minnesota State Mavericks at the Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato.

11. Bemidji State – (5-17-6, WCHA 4-13-5) – This past weekend, the Beavers took (2-2 T 2-3 L) one point from the Wisconsin Badgers at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin. This weekend, the Beavers entertain the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs at the Sanford Center. The Beavers are winless in 12 games (0-9-3), and they have not won since December, 15, 2012. The Beavers are also, 0-7-1 all-time against the Badgers.

12. Alaska Anchorage – (4-17-7, WCHA 2-16-6) – This past weekend, Seawolves split (5-4 W – 1-6 L) their weekend series with the Huskies during the Winter Carnival in Houghton, Michigan. The Seawolves broke their horrid streak, wining for the first time since December 1, 2012. This weekend, the Seawolves entertain the Omaha Mavericks at the Sullivan arena.

Taylor WCHA Power Rankings

1. St. Cloud State – (18-11-1, 15-6-1 WCHA) – The Huskies managed a split against Minnesota at home.  St. Cloud is in the driver’s seat heading down the stretch run, but will have to continue their great play to skate the MacNaughton around at the end of the season.

2. Minnesota – (19-5-4, 11-5-4 WCHA) – The Gophers continue to play very solid, but lost a tight game on Saturday in St. Cloud.  Nobody in the country is more consistent than Minnesota, and when the Gophers get good or better goaltending, they are nearly unbeatable.  That being said, when Wilcox plays average, Minnesota is highly susceptible.

3. North Dakota – (16-8-6, 11-5-6 WCHA) – This may have been North Dakota’s most complete weekend of hockey all season, earning their first weekend sweep in WCHA play since December.  UND is still in the hunt for the MacNaughton, but would likely need to win out.  Fortunately, North Dakota plays their best hockey in February and March under Hakstol.

4. Nebraska Omaha – (16-12-2, 12-8-2 WCHA) – A disappointing weekend for the Mavs, but UNO is still a talented squad that can beat anyone in the league.  Omaha should get home ice, and the Mavs will be a team to keep an eye to see how they rebound from this past weekend.

5. Denver – (15-9-5, 10-7-5 WCHA) – The Pioneers captured the Gold Pan this weekend but little else.  Perhaps the most inconsistent team in the league, Denver has the ability to put up a half dozen goals on any night, shut you out on any night, or completely lay an egg on any night.  The Pios will need to be on top of their game in the next couple of weeks as they host UND and travel to Minnesota.

6. Minnesota State – (18-9-3, 12-9-1 WCHA) – An impressive weekend for Mankato, as the Mavs swept Duluth in Duluth.  Minnesota State has surprised many this season, and they are in position for home ice.  With one win in their final 6 conference games, the Mavs will have won more league games than any other Mankato squad in a decade.

7. Wisconsin – (12-9-7, 9-6-7 WCHA) – The Badgers took 3 points at home against Bemidji, and are in the midst of a 8-1-5 run in WCHA play.  The test won’t get any more difficult than this weekend, as the Badgers square off against arch-rival Minnesota in what should be a dandy of a series.

8. Colorado College – (11-14-5, 8-10-4 WCHA) – The Tigers played very well, and with a hunger that has not been seen most weekends of late in the Springs.  CC has top-half talent, but with the talent in the WCHA this season, will unlikely get home ice without a tremendous run in the final 6 games of the season.  Regardless, they’ll be a squad that nobody will want to see in the First Round of the WCHA Tournament.

9. Minnesota Duluth – (10-15-3, 8-11-3 WCHA) – The Bulldogs had a disappointing weekend, getting swept at home.  After starting 0-4-2 in WCHA play, the Bulldogs went on a run going 8-3-1 over their next 12 to get in the home ice picture.  Unfortunately for Duluth, they are 0-4-0 in their last two weekends, and are likely going to be on the road for the First Round of the WCHA Tourney.

10. Michigan Tech – (10-14-4, 6-12-4 WCHA) – The Huskies lost a heartbreaker to UAA on Friday, but did manage to salvage a split with a win on Saturday.  To make up for the disappointing loss on Friday, the Huskies also destroyed rival Northern Michigan 8-2 last night.  Tech is almost certainly going to be on the road for the First Round of the WCHA Tournament.

11. Bemidji State – (5-17-6, 4-13-5 WCHA) – The Beavers are a solid team, but that hasn’t shown on the scoreboard of late.  Bemidji has not won since December 15^th against Denver, going 0-9-3 since Christmas Break.  Finishing against Duluth, North Dakota, and Minnesota could very well mean not winning a game in the 2^nd half of the season.

12. Alaska Anchorage – (4-17-7, 2-16-6 WCHA) – The Seawolves made an impressive comeback on Friday to secure their first victory since December 1^st, and only their 2^nd WCHA victory of the season.  UAA will be on the road in the First Round of the WCHA Tournament, but they have played their best against the top teams in the league.

"What-if" calculator is back again

WCHA Final
Team	GP	Pts
SCSU	28	38
UND	28	37
UMN	28	37
Nebraska-Omaha	28	35
Mankato	28	32
Denver	28	31
UW	28	31
CC	28	27
UMD	28	24
MTech	28	19
Bemidji State	28	14
AA	28	11

The “What-if” calculator is back at Sioux Sports, you can login and make your predictions on how you see the season ending, in the WCHA. Here is how I see it shaking out. If you want, you can add your predictions.

Jack Edwards with the call of the Bruins comeback

Wow! What a game. I think this is one of the better games that I have watched this season to date. Jack Edwards is right, "get over it, we go to hockey games to get excited." Right? The Boston Bruins scored two goals in a minute and 17 seconds to tie the game. Before losing in a shootout.

What can I say about Brad "The Little Ball of Hate" Marchand, he just keeps scoring goals for the Boston Bruins. That was the seventh goal of the year for Marchand.

This weekend’s NCAA Division one television schedule (2/15 – 2/17)

Big Ten Network (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ere is this weekend’s National College Hockey television schedule. There is a full slate of college hockey on television again this weekend. Check your television guide for times in your local area. As with any schedules, channels will change and have in the past.

This weekend, there will also be three college hockey games that will be available in Canada, so, for college hockey fans north of the border, you should check your local television guides as well.

For college hockey fans that are looking for college hockey to watch on television this weekend, because their favorite team is on a bye week, there are many games to choose from, again this weekend.

This weekend, there will also be two more outdoor hockey games on Sunday, at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. This will be a double header, and it’s being billed as the Hockey City Classic. If you have you have the sports pack on DirecTV, you can watch the game between Miami and Notre Dame at 1:00 p.m. CT and then at 3:30 p.m. CT you can watch the Badgers and the Gophers on the Big Ten Network, which is on most premium sports cable television packages.

Fri.	Feb. 15		Northern Michigan at Michigan State	BTN	6:30 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 15		Boston University at Maine	NBC Sports Net.	6:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Feb. 15		Notre Dame at Miami	CBS Sports Net.	6:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 15		Minnesota at Wisconsin	FS North	7:00 p.m.	668/669 / 436
Sat.	Feb. 16		Bowling Green at Ferris State	FS Detroit	6:00 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Feb. 16		Boston University at Maine	NESN	6:00 p.m.	628 / 434
Sat.	Feb. 16		Northern Michigan at Michigan State	FS Detroit	6:00 p.m.	663 / 430
Sun.	Feb. 17		Notre Dame vs. Miami (Soldier Field)	FS Detroit	12:00 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Sun.	Feb. 17		Minnesota vs Wisconsin (Soldier Field)	BTN	3:30 p.m.	663 / 430

*NESN = New England Sports Network, FCS = Fox College Sports, FSN+ = Fox Sports North-Plus, NBCSN = NBC Sports Network, DirecTV requires the “Sports Pack” to view the Regional sports Networks, (C) Denotes games available in Canada. All times are Central Standard Time.

Cross Posted at the Hockey Writers Combine... 

Minnesota Unveils their jerseys for the Hockey City Classic

.@gopherhockey shows the final @officemax #HCC sweater reveal! Captain @burdish24 rockin' the Sunday sweater: twitter.com/HkyCityClassic…
— Hockey City Classic (@HkyCityClassic) February 13, 2013

Tonight, the Minnesota Golden Gophers Hockey team unveiled their jersey's for the Hockey City Classic that will take place at Soldier Field on Sunday February 17, 2013 at 3:30 p.m. CT. If you're able to get the Big Ten Network on your television set you will be able to watch that game.

Related articles

• Badgers unveil Hockey City Classic uniform (btn.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings: Week 17 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

UND goalie Zane Gothberg Defensive Player of the Week

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – For the second time in as many weeks, North Dakota freshman goalie Zane Gothberg has garnered weekly honors from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).

One week after being named WCHA Rookie of the Week, Gothberg today was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in UND’s road sweep at No. 14 Nebraska Omaha last weekend. The Thief River Falls, Minn., native held the league’s top-scoring offense to just three goals on 65 shots, registering a 1.50 goals against average and a .954 save percentage in the series.

In Friday’s 2-1 win at CenturyLink Center, Gothberg turned aside 33 of 34 shots, including all 14 he faced in the third period. The following evening, he made 29 saves in UND’s 5-2 win at TD Ameritrade Park in the Mutual of Omaha Battles on Ice.

The sweep gave Gothberg a career-best 4-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1), while giving UND sole possession of second place in the WCHA.

Gothberg has started six of UND's last seven games, losing only once (3-1-2) with a 1.96 goals against average and a .935 save percentage. His .778 winning percentage during league play leads the WCHA, and his .926 save percentage ranks third. Gothberg’s overall save percentage of .918 is the third-lowest by a freshman in UND history.

Gothberg is the first UND player this season to receive WCHA Defensive Player of the Week honors. Minnesota State senior forward Eriah Hayes was named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week, while MSU freshman forward Teddy Blueger was the WCHA Rookie of the Week.

UND is idle this week and will return to action Feb. 22-23 at Denver.

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)

How some of us voted; Tech Hockey Guide Web Media Poll

Andy Johnson, Bucky’s Fifth Quarter

1. Minnesota

2. Saint Cloud

3. North Dakota

4. Denver

5. Nebraska-Omaha

6. Wisconsin

7. Minnesota State

8. Colorado College

9. Minnesota Duluth

10. Michigan Tech

11. Bemidji State

12. Alaska Anchorage

Mathew Semisch, Radio Free Omaha

1. Minnesota

2. Saint Cloud

3. North Dakota

4. Nebraska-Omaha

5. Wisconsin

6. Denver

7. Minnesota State

8. Michigan Tech

9. Colorado College

10. Minnesota Duluth

11. Bemidji State

12. Alaska Anchorage

Eric Burton, Goon’s World

1. Minnesota

2. Saint Cloud

3. North Dakota

4. Minnesota State

5. Denver

6. Nebraska-Omaha

7. Wisconsin

8. Colorado College

9. Minnesota Duluth

10. Michigan Tech

11. Bemidji State

12. Alaska Anchorage

Tim Braun, Tech Hockey Guide

1. Minnesota

2. Saint Cloud State

3. North Dakota

4. Nebraska-Omaha

5. Denver

6. Minnesota State

7. Wisconsin

8. Colorado College

9. Minnesota Duluth

10 Michigan Tech

11. Bemidji State

12. Alaska Anchorage

Troy Mills, The Beaver Pond

1. Minnesota

2. Saint Cloud State

3. North Dakota

4. Denver

5. Minnesota State

6. Nebraska-Omaha

7. Wisconsin

8. Minnesota Duluth

9. Colorado College

10 Michigan Tech

11. Bemidji State

12. Alaska Anchorage

WCHA smartly scraps its “Alaska Plan”

I know that this story is a couple of days old. Last summer, before the WCHA added UAH, the league had decided to go with a cash saving measure known as the “Alaska plan”. Now that the WCHA has add Alabama Huntsville this winter, the league has decided to scrap the “Alaska Plan”. Which was the right move.

Looking at this plan from an outsider’s perspective, I think this plan would’ve made the league look second rate, and also would have cheapened the league’s WCHA post season championship.

Matt Wellens, The Mining Journal --- Over the summer, ADs and presidents from the league's then nine future members - Northern Michigan, Michigan Tech, Lake Superior State, Ferris State, Bowling Green State, Minnesota State, Bemidji State, Alaska-Anchorage and Alaska-Fairbanks - approved a nine-team playoff format that would send the No. 1 seed straight to the league semifinals.

Meanwhile, the Nanooks and Seawolves would play every year in the first round, whether they finish second and third, or eighth and ninth.

The support for that plan has now been replaced by a traditional, three-round, two-weekend, eight-team bracket that has yet to be presented or approved by the university presidents.

"I think we came up with something that is a better alternative, a more fair alternative and its something that is going to work financially," NMU AD Forrest Karr said.

The "Alaska Plan" prevented the group of eight cash-strapped NCAA Division II schools and one Div. I institution from having to pay for up to two teams flights to the nation's 49th state at the last minute should Anchorage or Fairbanks finish between No. 2 and 5.

Going forward, no one really knows how all of this realignment is going to play out. I don’t think that anyone wants to see any team or league fail, but the "Alaska Plan" was an ill-conceived gong show.

WCHA Web Media Poll: Week 18

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.

The Minnesota Gophers are still the #1 team in this week’s WCHA Web Media Poll, garnering seven of 12 votes. Second in this week’s poll, are the Saint Cloud State Huskies, as they picked up five of 12 first place votes.  Coming in third is the University of North Dakota.

Again, there wasn’t a lot of movement again during this week’s poll. Spots one through five remain the same, as well as spots 10-12. The only real movement is spots six, seven, eight and nine, they all traded places.  Meaning, Minnesota State trades places with Wisconsin and Colorado College trades places with Minnesota Duluth.

Here’s a look at the results the Tech Hockey Guide WCHA Web Media Poll for Week 18:

		Pts	Previous	Record	High	Low
1.	Minnesota (7)	138	1	19-5-4	1	3
2.	St. Cloud State (5)	136	2	18-11-1	1	3
3.	North Dakota	122	3	16-8-6	2	3
4.	Denver	96	4	15-9-5	4	6
5.	Nebraska Omaha	95	5	16-12-2	4	7
6.	Minnesota State	88	7	18-9-3	4	7
7.	Wisconsin	78	6	12-9-7	4	8
8.	Colorado College	62	9	11-14-5	7	9
9.	Minnesota Duluth	46	8	10-15-3	9	10
10.	Michigan Tech	39	10	9-14-4	8	10
11.	Bemidji State	24	11	5-17-6	11	11
12.	Alaska Anchorage	12	12	4-17-7	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 Writers - Combine... 

Related articles

• WCHA Web Media Poll: Week 17 (thehockeywriters.com)
• WCHA Web Media Poll: Week 16 (thehockeywriters.com)
• WCHA Web Media Poll: Week 15 (thehockeywriters.com)

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll; UND 7th

February 11, 2013

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	Quinnipiac	(41)	21- 3-4	983	2
2	Minnesota	( 9)	19- 5-4	949	1
3	Miami		18- 7-5	874	3
4	Boston College		16- 7-2	819	5
5	New Hampshire		16- 7-3	779	4
6	Western Michigan		18- 7-5	748	6
7	North Dakota		16- 8-6	720	7
8	St. Cloud State		18-11-1	657	8
9	Minnesota State		18- 9-3	559	11
10	Yale		13- 6-3	557	10
11	Denver		15- 9-5	495	9
12	Notre Dame		18-11-1	478	11
13	Boston University		13-11-1	331	13
14	Massachusetts-Lowell		14- 9-2	317	16
15	Niagara		18- 5-5	299	15
16	Nebraska-Omaha		16-12-2	274	14
17	Dartmouth		11- 8-4	216	17
18	Wisconsin		12- 9-7	158	19
19	Merrimack		13-10-5	151	20
20	Alaska		13-11-4	57	NR
Others receiving votes: Union 40, Providence 16, Ferris State 12, Northern Michigan 5, Colgate 2, St. Lawrence 2, Holy Cross 1, Rensselaer 1.

Read more: http://www.uscho.com/rankings/d-i-mens-poll/#ixzz2KelxPAVd

While the polls don’t really matter, I do have to admit that I am surprised that UND swept the UNO Mavericks and stayed at seventh. Looking at the top of the poll, and seeing Quinnipiac Bobcats sitting there, makes one wonder.  

Joe Gleason gets hit from behind by Brian O'Rourke

props to @ajf727... I know the WCHA doesn't like to ref the game after it's over, but Omaha's Brian O'Rourke got away with a dirty, free, bush league hit on Joe Gleason. There is no way you can defend this hit, it was totally unnecessary.

In my opinion O'Rourke should be sitting out the next game that he's playing in. This is the type of hit that college hockey is trying to eliminate from the game of hockey. Some will say, but he got a five minute major and a game misconduct. Yep, he did, at the 20:00 mark of the third period.

(Video) Jon Gillies stones Kevin Goumas

Check out this amazing save by Providence Friars freshman goalie Jon Gilies on New Hampshire junior forward Kevin Goumas. Gilies was the backup goalie for the USA U-20 WJC team.