wcha blog

We had to hurry to get our picks in, since Lake Superior State and Michigan State play tonight (Thursday), while everyone else is on the normal, Friday-Saturday schedule, including a couple more WCHA series (Jack and I actually will be in the same building this weekend!). Jack had a pretty good week last week, and … Read more

Shane here … It was a wild first week in all of college hockey. There were results that made you question your rankings and picks. Instead of tossing everything I studied in the preseason out the window, I’m going to give my gut at least another week. Can’t speak for Jack, who sent his picks … Read more

It’s opening weekend for just about everybody in the WCHA (Michigan Tech is the lone dissenter, as the Huskies have two exhibition games this weekend to get ready for their regular-season opener next week against Ferris State). With three of the league’s teams playing home-and-home series against nonconference instate rivals (along with the NMU/Wisconsin and … Read more

Well, here we are. The final week of the regular season. And, like last year, there remains much to be decided, including the regular-season championship, the final home-ice spot for the league tournament as well as the final playoff spot. The theme of the weekend from the league coaches seems to be, “Everybody’s playing for … Read more

Two weeks left. Four games to go in the regular season. No team has clinched anything but home ice. No team has been eliminated from contention. Welcome to the WCHA. This weekend all 10 teams are in action with plenty on the line — the MacNaughton Cup, the final home ice slot, the final playoff … Read more

Three weeks left in the regular season and…. four teams are off this week. Not sure why it worked out what way because it definitely would have been more exciting to have all 10 teams in action for ever game in the final month of the season. Oh well… C’est la vie. Six teams are in … Read more

Jack here. We’re at the month mark of the regular season, and six of the 10 WCHA teams have eight games to play in that time. In other words: Get ready for a sprint to the finish line. Minnesota State and Michigan Tech have already clinched home ice and Bowling Green can this weekend if … Read more

Shane here … It’s February, and you can almost feel the tension in the air. The final five weeks of the regular season will be a “bloodbath” as one player told me this week. Let’s hope it doesn’t get too messy in the stretch run. Perhaps we’ll start to see some separation in the standings … Read more

Shane here … The WCHA race is heating up. I’m curious to see how much of it comes down to the wire like it did last season when the MacNaughton Cup, home ice and the final playoff spots all came down to the final weekend. It’s a six-week sprint, starting now – or at least … Read more

Jack here. We’re almost 2/3rds of the way through the college hockey season. In the WCHA, that means… well, it means we’re probably nowhere near close to figuring out which team is going to win the MacNaughton Cup, but we maybe have a decent idea. Right now Minnesota State holds an eight-point first-place lead and … Read more

Dare we say this is rivalry week in the WCHA? Lots of good matchups this weekend, with, once again, all 10 team in action against each other. And there’s some history between a lot of these teams, even if that history only goes back to last season. So without further ado, let’s pick … Minnesota … Read more

I love these weeks, and there needs to be more of them. It’s good for the WCHA when all 10 WCHA teams are in action, especially when they’re all playing against each other, which is the case this weekend. It’s just the second time this season that it has happened, but it gets everyone paying … Read more

Shane here … Happy new year, everybody! Jack and I weren’t so hot with our WCHA picks last week. Didn’t see that Lake Superior State tournament championship in Florida coming (Congratulations, Lakers!). Didn’t see Michigan Tech and Ferris State losing in the first round of the Great Lakes Invitational. The picks get no easier this … Read more

And we’re back! Kinda. The WCHA eases back into action this week with three teams participating in holiday tournaments. Michigan Tech and Ferris State are making this season’s Great Lakes Invitational an ostensible all-Michigan version of a WCHA/B1G challenge Sunday and Monday in Detroit, while Lake Superior State is making its first trip to the Florida College Hockey Classic. … Read more

Slim pickings as far as college hockey goes this week. In fact, aside from a Bemidji State/Ohio State women’s series also happening this weekend, this is the only non-exhibition Division I action this week. Shane still has a slim lead over me in the overall picks but I gained on him thanks to picking the … Read more

The first half of the season is coming to an end, Jack, and I’d say we’ve done fairly well with our picks, especially considering there have been a few surprises in what’s become a pretty darn-good conference. No more wasting time, though, I have shopping to do: Lake Superior State at Ferris State Shane: Lake Superior … Read more

We’re finally into December, and I’m still hanging tough three games behind Shane (Ferris State tying Wisconsin last Friday didn’t do me many favors, but it turned out Shane also picked the Badgers to win on the wrong day so it’s a wash). This week just seven of the league’s teams are in action, with … Read more

Happy Thanksgiving, WCHA fans! I’m particularly thankful for my ability to guess correctly on the some splits last weekend, while Jack went the other way, and therefore pass my cohort for the overall lead. Sure, we could have stuck with picks straight sweeps or splits, but we’re going game by game for a high degree … Read more