Todd D. MilewskiFor a guy who was just named the WCHA’s Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season, Wisconsin forward Steve Reinprecht was quite humble. “It feels good, though the times I’ve won it, it’s been unexpected,” the sophomore center said. “It’s good that you get the honor of being Offensive Player of … Read more
Well, this weekend Dean Blais’ North Dakota squad is Train A, and Grand Forks, N.D., is location X, while St. Cloud State assumes the role of Train B, and conductor Craig Dahl is happy to keep his team in the station. Western Conference Hockey Association power hangs in the balance this weekend as top-ranked North … Read more
The return to a complete schedule comes after a pivotal group of games a week ago, during which the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota showed why they are the defending national champions. UND took two clear-cut decisions from then-No. 8 Colorado College, 4-1 and 6-1, narrowing St. Cloud’s lead to just two points in the … Read more
If you take a casual glance at the WCHA standings, you might feel the urge to turn the page upside down. No, it’s not that old eyeglass prescription, and it’s not too much coffee. The Huskies of St. Cloud State are really in first place, and the Golden Gophers of Minnesota indeed seventh. St. Cloud’s … Read more
Colorado College is proving itself to be a hard charger in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, having climbed all the way up to No. 2 in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll this week after a pair of victories at surprising Michigan Tech. CC is now 3-0-1 on the season, one of only two undefeated … Read more
St. Cloud State, which dropped a pair at home to CCHA opponent Notre Dame two weekends ago, came back to earn three points against Mankato State, which had just split a pair in Duluth against the Bulldogs. Those selfsame ‘Dogs then turned around and put a whipping on big brother Minnesota Friday, before losing the … Read more
St. Cloud State, bereft of much of last year’s good-for-third-place talent, was swept by lightly-regarded CCHA opponent Notre Dame, and Minnesota-Duluth lost to upstart Mankato State on Friday before clawing back for a 7-6 goalies-optional victory the next day. In the same vein, Minnesota’s early-season showdown with Maine started out disastrously with a 6-1 thrashing, … Read more
For the rest, it’s game time once again as the first (near-)full weekend of play is finally upon us. Four of the eight — North Dakota, Denver, Colorado College and Minnesota-Duluth — hit the ice for the first time this season (though UND, CC and DU’s games are exhibitions against Canadian schools). The rest — … Read more
WCHA Playoffs: Final Five by Steve Page When the Western Collegiate Hockey Association expanded from nine to 10 teams in 1992-93, league officials decided to invite everybody to their tournament. Nice gesture, but now five teams reach the conference’s Final Four (which is, consequently, the Final Five instead). To solve the dilemma of having an … Read more
WCHA Playoffs: First Round by Steve Page Every coach in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association is in agreement on this: gaining home-ice advantage for the first round of the conference playoffs was their primary goal all season. So this weekend, it’s the have-nots traveling to the haves. Final WCHA Standings The victors in the best-of-three … Read more
WCHA Preview: Feb. 28-Mar. 1, 1997 by Steve Page North Dakota has come all the way back. A weekend sweep of visiting Alaska-Anchorage gave the Fighting Sioux a share of the WCHA regular-season title, their first since 1987. UND also gained the number-one seed for the WCHA playoffs by virtue of the tiebreaker it holds … Read more
WCHA Preview: Feb. 21-22, 1997 by Scott Brown Despite a split against Northern Michigan, the North Dakota Fighting Sioux edged ever closer to the MacNaughton Cup last weekend. Although the Sioux managed only two points on the road, their competitors fared no better: Minnesota split a home series with Minnesota-Duluth, and Denver and Colorado College … Read more
WCHA Preview: Feb. 14-15, 1997 by Scott Brown North Dakota refused to yield ground to its pursuers over the weekend. The first-place Fighting Sioux, edging ever closer to the MacNaughton Cup, swept last-place Michigan Tech to maintain a three-point lead in the standings over Minnesota. The Gophers, for their part, took four points against ninth-place … Read more
WCHA Preview: Feb. 7-8, 1997 by Scott Brown The playoff picture in the WCHA is simultaneously a little clearer and a little muddier than it was last week. The North Dakota Fighting Sioux staked their claim to the top spot in the conference, sweeping the Minnesota Golden Gophers in Grand Forks, ND, 6-4 and 6-2. … Read more
WCHA Preview: Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 1997 by Scott Brown The WCHA now officially enters the stretch run for the playoffs. With St. Cloud’s visit to Notre Dame out of the way, only WCHA league games remain for the ten teams in the conference. That means undiluted entertainment for fans, as no fewer than seven teams … Read more
WCHA Preview: Jan. 24-26, 1997 by Jim Thies Even though some teams had a chance to inhale a little breathing room, the WCHA race is still tight — seven teams within five points of each other with six weeks to go in the league season. Last weekend Alaska-Anchorage was the only team to earn four … Read more
WCHA Preview: Jan. 17-18, 1997 by Jim Thies How tight is tight? Take a look at the WCHA standings for one answer to that question. With seven weeks to go in the regular season, just four points separate the top six teams. That will make for some playoff-type hockey down the stretch as those squads … Read more
WCHA Preview: Jan. 10-11, 1997 by Jim Thies In past years, the WCHA often looked like this: one or two teams out front, with such large leads in the standings that the rest of the league was just playing for second place, or even third. That’s not the case this year. With the season half … Read more
WCHA Preview: Jan. 3-7, 1997 by Jim Thies After a full weekend of non-conference games, it’s time to get back to business in the WCHA. Three teams — Denver, Minnesota and Northern Michigan — all earned holiday tourney titles. Now it’s time to focus on the rest of the league schedule. The standings are tight, … Read more
WCHA Preview: Dec. 27-31, 1996 by Jim Thies Next to the end-of-the-year league and national playoffs, this time of year is possibly the most exciting for players, coaches and fans alike, since teams leave the rigors of conference play and face new opponents from across the nation. This leads to some great matchups, and that’s … Read more