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
As the 1995-96 season got started, Denver was expected to be one of the heavies in the WCHA. After all, the team had 14 of its top 17 scorers, along with the arguably-better half of a sterling two-man goalie rotation, returning from a team that finished third in the conference last year. With graduation decimating … 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
Colorado College head coach Don Lucia earned his 200th career victory Dec. 27 as his Tigers beat the Vermont Catamounts 6-0 at the Badger Hockey Showdown. The win came in Lucia’s tenth season as a head coach, the last four at Colorado College, where he has won an unprecedented three straight WCHA regular-season crowns. The … 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
Minnesota-Duluth coach Mike Sertich won his 300th career game on December 21, as the Bulldogs defeated visiting Harvard, 4-2, in a non-conference game. The win is a milestone for the 14-year coach Sertich, but far from the only one. Not only has he won 300 games, but he has also been named the WCHA Coach … Read more
WCHA PREVIEW: Dec. 13-15, 1996 WCHA Preview: Dec. 20-21, 1996 by Jim Thies Although most of the WCHA is off this weekend, Minnesota-Duluth stays in action, hosting ECAC member Harvard in a weekend series in Duluth, Minn. The rest of the teams take a break from play, but will be in action again soon, with … Read more
Teams from the WCHA are among the best in the country, year after year. As a unit, the league has won 29 NCAA titles, as well as claiming runner-up honors 25 times. WCHA teams have appeared a total of 77 times on the national stage. Obviously, players and coaches of member schools take pride in … Read more
WCHA PREVIEW: Dec. 13-15, 1996 WCHA Preview: Dec. 13-15, 1996 by Jim Thies North Dakota won three of four points from Colorado College last weekend, increasing its lead to six in the race for first place in the WCHA. The Fighting Sioux are off this weekend, but would probably rather be playing to keep their … Read more
It’s December already, hockey fans. The WCHA season is nearing its halfway point, and that can mean only one thing: media frenzy. That’s right. If there’s one thing media types love to do, it’s stop in the middle of a season and start pontificating — handing out laurels, wondering who’s going to do this and … Read more
WCHA PREVIEW: Dec. 6-7, 1996 WCHA Preview: Dec. 6-7, 1996 by Jim Thies North Dakota has jumped out to a four-point lead in the WCHA standings with 20 points, but Colorado College and Minnesota are close behind with 16 points each with another important weekend of play at hand. The big series has CC at … Read more
WCHA PREVIEW: Nov. 29-30, 1996 WCHA Preview: Nov. 29-30, 1996 by Jim Thies Even though there were some surprises last weekend in WCHA play, one thing remained constant: the standings are still close. Only four points separate the top five teams, which doesn’t even remotely resemble what’s happened in the WCHA the past few years … Read more
The WCHA announced Wednesday that the officiating crew of Buzzy Christensen, Jon Campion and Mark Nebel was suspended for one weekend, following a series they refereed in Marquette, Mich. The crew officiated both games of the Nov. 22-23 weekend between the Northern Michigan Wildcats and the Minnesota Golden Gophers, which the two teams split; Minnesota … Read more
And then, as musical stalwarts Genesis might say, there were three. Three teams — North Dakota, Minnesota and Colorado College — stand atop the WCHA standings; this week two of them are in action away from their home rinks, trying to preserve a piece of the lead. But with the way this year’s season has … Read more