After hearing a final presentation from representatives of Mankato State University, WCHA members voted unanimously today to admit Mankato as a full member of the conference, beginning in the 1999-2000 season. Mankato’s admission has been viewed as likely for several months, especially considering the school participated in the WCHA playoffs last season — and will … Read more
Colorado College head coach Don Lucia has decided not to renew the scholarship of last season’s No. 1 goaltender, Jason Cugnet, ending the sophomore’s hockey career at CC. “We felt that Jason didn’t have the commitment to this team,” Lucia told the Colorado Springs Gazette. “We laid out certain expectations for our players and our … Read more
Steward Raygor’s eyes welled with tears. Raygor, with four family members at his side, had just watched his son Erik accept the 1998 Hockey Humanitarian Award, presented to college hockey’s finest citizen, and the emotions hit him like a tidal wave. “This is, I believe, every father’s goal,” said Raygor, whose son recently finished his … Read more
Rosters for the WCHA all-conference and all-rookie teams are as follows: All-WCHA First Team F Brian Swanson Colorado College JrF Jason Blake North Dakota JrF Andre Savage Michigan Tech SrD Curtis Murphy North Dakota SrD Craig Anderson Wisconsin JrG Karl Goehring North Dakota Fr All-WCHA Second Team F Steve Reinprecht Wisconsin SoF Reggie Berg Minnesota … Read more
Top-ranked North Dakota was sluggish in its defeat of non-conference Mankato State, while streaking Colorado College failed to put away pesky Denver by more than two goals in either game. Only Wisconsin was a convincing winner, dominating Alaska-Anchorage on consecutive nights. So who’s going to skate out of Milwaukee’s Bradley Center with the Broadmoor Trophy? … Read more
Members of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux dominated the year-end awards announced today by the WCHA, as UND players won four major awards and occupied three spots on both of the first-team all-conference and all-rookie teams. Sioux defenseman Curtis Murphy took home Player of the Year honors after leading conference blueliners in league and overall … Read more
The University of Minnesota-Duluth’s athletic program has had to endure a lot of negative publicity in recent years, from turmoil surrounding former athletic director and current WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod right on through to the success — or lack thereof — of the Bulldog hockey program. Although UMD won the MacNaughton Cup as the WCHA’s … Read more
All the playoff posturing, injuries, streaks and statistical battles are irrelevant now. Here’s the bottom line: win four games (five games for some), collect your ticket to the NCAA tournament’s Field of 12. Now that the dust has settled on a wild season in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, let’s take a quick look at … Read more
Except for you, my friends on the World Wide Web, who, instead of being treated to tuxedos and slinky dresses on the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, will be treated to 30-some bloody, battered, bruised dudes — and one guy in a suit — waiting to get their mitts on some USCHO hardware. I think the … Read more
"Figures often beguile me, Scott, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.’" To which I responded: "You’re talking about Duluth’s penalty-kill percentage, right? I’ll bet they’d be … Read more
Much has been said about Anchorage as a place to play hockey. Too far. Too dark. Too cold. Even more has been said about Alaska-Anchorage hockey under Dean Talafous, who took over the program at the beginning of the 1996-97 season. Too low-scoring. Too slow. Too boring. Talafous takes umbrage at these comments. It is … Read more
The fat lady’s singing. Eight teams are hearing "Taps." It’s over because it’s over, Yogi. North Dakota is going to win the 1997-98 Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season championship, as most preseason observers may have suspected. With their powerful offense, steady defense and unbelievable young goaltenders, the Sioux and coach Dean Blais are finally looking … Read more
Yet perhaps the biggest news in the conference this week occurred off the ice, as Michigan Tech decided not to follow archrival Northern Michigan into the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. After four long months of self-evaluation, Husky coach Tim Watters, in conjunction with athletic director Rick Yeo, the school’s senior administration, local community, fans and … Read more
T.R. Moreau doesn’t even remember it happening. Fifteen minutes, two seconds into the first period of Wisconsin’s game against Minnesota-Duluth Jan. 9, Moreau and Duluth forward Joe Rybar followed the puck into the corner. Rybar checked Moreau into the boards, and the Badger winger’s neck whiplashed into the glass. Moreau fell to the ice and … Read more
Michigan Tech announced Friday its intention to remain a member of the WCHA, ending several months of speculation following the departure of in-state rival Northern Michigan to the neighboring CCHA. The decision to remain in the WCHA came along with an endorsement of the proposed Hockey Educational Center, which athletic director Rick Yeo said would … Read more
So much for lunges out of the cellar. So much for challenging the supremacy of this season’s Big Three. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is now essentially three mini-conferences, comprised of teams fighting for the McNaughton Cup, teams fighting for home ice in the first round of the WCHA playoffs and teams fighting to stay … Read more
Wait, did I say five weeks? Whoops, I meant six. A quick glance at the top of the conference shows the casual observer that league-leading North Dakota has played 18 games, leaving a mere 10 games on the Sioux schedule. Do a little simple division, and you find Dean Blais’ squad active for five more … Read more
For 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