North Dakota is the nearly unanimous choice of WCHA coaches and media members to win that league’s regular season title.
The Fighting Sioux took 10 of 12 first-place votes in the coaches poll, organized by the Grand Forks Herald and 28 of 29 first-place votes in the media poll, conducted by KZIO-FM of Duluth, Minn.
St. Cloud State got the other first-place votes — two from the coaches to finish second and one from the media to finish third behind Minnesota-Duluth.
North Dakota defenseman Chay Genoway was selected as the preseason player of the year by the media, while Minnesota-Duluth forward Jack Connolly got the honors from the coaches.
Colorado College forward Jaden Schwartz was the consensus pick as the preseason rookie of the year.
The full polls follow:
Coaches Poll
Team (first-place votes) Points
1. North Dakota (10) 120
2. St. Cloud State (2) 105
3. Minnesota-Duluth 100
4. Denver 88
5. Minnesota 82
6. Colorado College 67
7. Wisconsin 64
8. Nebraska-Omaha 55
9. Bemidji State 46
10. Minnesota State 31
11. Alaska-Anchorage 19
12. Michigan Tech 15
Media Poll
Team (first-place votes) Points
1. North Dakota (28) 347
2. Minnesota-Duluth 300
3. St. Cloud State (1) 295
4. Denver 242
5. Wisconsin 218
6. Minnesota 203
7. Colorado College 182
8. Bemidji State 156
9. Nebraska-Omaha 125
10. Minnesota State 97
11. Alaska-Anchorage 51
12. Michigan Tech 46
