I know it’s a cliche when sports announcers say, “It all comes down to THIS!” before a championship game, but it’s a cliche for a reason. This week’s WCHA championship game features two Upper Peninsula rivals playing on UP soil for the right to advance to the NCAA tournament. What could be better? Both Northern … Read more
It’s semifinal time! Three of the WCHA’s top four seeds advanced to this round. The “odd” team out is Michigan Tech, who was the fifth-seed and swept fourth-seeded Bemidji State but was only an “upset” in name only. The winners this weekend move on to the single-game WCHA championship to play for the brand-new Jeff … Read more
Conference playoff season is upon us, and it might be the most fun part of college hockey in my humble opinion. The best-of-three series, to me, most closely resemble “playoff hockey” — there’s something about playoff series rather than single-elimination tournaments that rewards consistency rather than puck luck. (Of course, those winner-take all elimination games … Read more
It’s the last weekend of the regular season. There’s still a MacNaughton Cup championship to be decided, plus three playoff spots and four teams left to claim them. What’s going to happen? Let’s find out! Lake Superior State at Ferris State The Lakers have gotten themselves back into playoff contention thanks to a four-game win … Read more
It’s the penultimate weekend of WCHA action, with playoff spots still up for grabs. (And if you were a fan of this league and weren’t already aware, the Predict WCHA Playoff Blog is your go-to source for figuring out all the playoff scenarios using math and stuff.) We’ve also got two pretty rare Thursday-Friday series, … Read more
First of all I wanted to thank all the readers here at USCHO. This will be my final weekend picking and writing about the WCHA, I start a new job on Monday and with that development, Jack will be taking a solo lap for the rest of the season as WCHA columnist. It’s been fun … Read more
After a few teams took some games off last weekend, everyone’s back in action this week for a full slate of WCHA games. Lots at stake, too: Can Northern Michigan stay on top of the league standings? Will Tech, Huntsville, Ferris or Alaska clinch a playoff spot? Will Alaska Anchorage and Lake Superior Stay alive? … Read more
Last week, we had four WCHA series and all of them were sweeps. (Not only that, but all the sweeps involved a team from the top of of the standings taking six points from the team on the bottom half of the standings.) This week, the slate is similar: Team from the top half of … Read more
1. We have to start off with a somber note after the passing of Jim Johannson, assistant executive director of USA Hockey. WCHA President and Men’s League Commissioner Bill Robertson issued the following statement” “On behalf of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and our member institutions, we are profoundly shocked and deeply saddened to … Read more
Bemidji State at Ferris State Jack: The Beavers lost and tied against North Dakota last week (ironically, they lost the game in which they largely looked like the better team and tied the one they looked like the worse one… hockey is weird). Still, they carry a long conference unbeaten streak into this series at … Read more
Ferris State at Lake Superior State Sean: With two teams failing to pick up wins, I feel like Game 1 of this series is going to be a big one. Win Friday, take confidence into Saturday and get the sweep. Bulldogs 3-1, 2-1 Jack: A pair of teams both struggling. LSSU has won just once … Read more
Everybody’s finally back in action this weekend, and, aside from one tournament, eight teams are back in league play. Should be fun to see how it plays out. Bemidji State at Lake Superior State Sean: The Lakers come home after a third-place showing in Pittsburgh, while the Beavers had conference sweep last week. Even with this … Read more
A bit of a strange schedule for the Great Lakes Invitational this year, with the games taking place Monday and Tuesday at Detroit’s new Little Caesar’s Arena. That means the 53rd GLI is getting its own blog post from us for the New Year. The games begin in less then two hours, so here’s what … Read more
Less than an hour to midnight here in the frozen Central Time Zone. For those of you reading this on the East Coast, Happy New Year! For everyone else, you can wait until the clock strikes 12 by reading my three things on the WCHA to close out the New Year! 1. Wildcats climb the … Read more
And we’re back! Most of the teams in the WCHA got just one week of break, so it’ll be a quick turnaround for Bemidji State, Alabama Huntsville, Minnestoa State and Northern Michigan — all four played the weekend of Dec. 15, and all four are back in action starting tonight for some important conference series. … Read more
It’s the last harrah before the holiday break, and a bunch of WCHA teams are in action. Which ones will get what they want from St Nick and which get coal in their stockings? Here’s what we think. Lake Superior State at Michigan Tech Sean: Tech got conned into a sweep last week by Ferris State … Read more
Everyone’s back in action this week for an all-WCHA weekend. Which teams will be able to separate themselves as the first half winds down? Here’s what we think. Minnesota State at Lake Superior State Sean: It’s a fresh weekend for the Mavericks, but it’s never easy visiting the Lakers. Mavericks 3-2, 2-1 (OT) Jack: The Mavs … Read more
It’s officially December, which means it’s really not early in the season anymore. We’re in the thick of things now, and teams are starting to define themselves in relation to others. With four conference series this weekend, which programs will get some separation in the standings? Here’s what we think: Anchorage at Ferris State Sean: Ferris … Read more
Here is what we learned this past weekend in the WCHA: 1. Non-conference struggles continued for the WCHA. The league went 1-6 in non-conference tilts, with Bemidji State picking up the only win against Princeton last Wednesday before Thanksgiving. 2. Michigan Tech is taking care of it’s own business, but it’s going to need some … Read more
Bowling Green at Minnesota State Jack:These guys again? MSU and BG met Oct. 20-21 in Bowling Green. They split. The two league leaders meet again this week — this time in Mankato. I have a feeling we’ll get similar results. Mavericks 4-2, Falcons 5-3 Sean: Has to be a split, right? But it should be … Read more