West Regional – Grand Rapids, Mich. No. 4 Yale vs. No. 1 Minnesota Matthew: Yale is perfect so far this season against WCHA opposition – the Bulldogs won at both Denver and Colorado College back around Thanksgiving – and perhaps that ought to ring some alarm bells for Minnesota. The Golden Gophers will be looking … Read more
Colorado College v Wisconsin Wisconsin vs. Colorado College Matthew: This is going to be a surreal Final Five championship on several levels: The Xcel Energy Center won’t be completely packed considering North Dakota and Minnesota were eliminated previously, and few people had picked UW or CC – and even fewer picked both – to make … Read more
St. Cloud State v Wisconsin: Matthew: Wisconsin struggled mightily through most of this season to score and to sort out its special teams units, and yet the Badgers are as little as 60 minutes of game time away from playing for the Broadmoor Trophy and the WCHA playoff championship. UW has scored 14 goals in … Read more
Minnesota State v Wisconsin: Matthew: Mike Hastings was richly deserving of his WCHA Coach of the Year honors this season as MSU has been marvelous in their first year under his tutelage. The problem, though, is that the Mavericks are winless all-time in the Final Five and were taken to the three-game limit last week … Read more
No. 12 seed at Alaska-Anchorage at No. 1 St. Cloud State: Matthew: Alaska-Anchorage took a pair of poundings last Friday and Sunday at Denver, losing the teams’ two games by a combined 13-2, and this weekend doesn’t look any brighter for the Seawolves. UAA head coach Dave Shyiak is in the final season of his … Read more
St. Cloud State fans were launched onto cloud nine – sorry – when their Huskies knocked off No. 14 Wisconsin 4-2 in Madison, Wis. Friday and clinched a share of SCSU’s first (and final) WCHA men’s regular season championship. What was missing in the visiting team’s locker room at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, however, was … Read more
No. 8 St. Cloud State at No. 14 Wisconsin: Matthew: Thanks to the Wisconsin high school state basketball championships going on at UW’s Kohl Center, this series will take place at Madison, Wis.’s much older Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Many Badgers fans aren’t over the moon about it – the two games aren’t part of the … Read more
No. 16 Wisconsin at No. 13 Nebraska-Omaha: Tyler: In a battle of two teams that need two wins, I’m giving UNO a slight edge but I’m not going with a sweep. If the Badgers settle into their structured defensive style and take away UNO’s speed, they’ll have chance to come away with a win, but … Read more
Note: Penn State and Wisconsin are set to take part in a rare Sunday-Monday series in Madison, Wis.. The two-game set was pushed back due to the Wisconsin high school wrestling championships taking place at UW’s Kohl Center over the past few days. Penn State at No. 18 Wisconsin: Matthew: I can’t get over a … Read more
No. 6 North Dakota at No. 10 Denver: Matthew: In only picking up one point from a possible four last time out against intrastate rival Colorado College, DU missed an opportunity to keep its name on the still fairly large list of WCHA teams that still have a realistic chance of winning the league’s regular … Read more
Border rivals Minnesota and Wisconsin split their final regular season series against each other as members of the WCHA, with the Gophers picking up a win in Madison on Friday before the Badgers won outdoors on neutral ice in Chicago late Sunday afternoon. Minnesota opened the weekend well but had to survive a late comeback … Read more
No. 2 Minnesota at No. 18 Wisconsin Friday; in Chicago Sunday Matthew: A very tough recent slate of games has seen Minnesota fall into a pattern of not picking up maximum points from each series over recent weeks, and I see that happening again this time around. I doubt a noticeable home-ice advantage will be … Read more
Note from Tyler: Congratulations to Joe Paisley, who is once again working full-time at the Colorado Springs Gazette. I was glad to work with a professional writer like Joe this season and it’s even better to see a fellow writer working in a full-time capacity on his regular beat once again. Matthew Semisch, a sixth-year … Read more
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;} Three pull away from pack St. Cloud State, Minnesota and North Dakota all separated themselves from the pack in the race for the MacNaughton Cup. With … Read more
No. 7 North Dakota at No. 14 Nebraska-Omaha Joe: A lot has been made of the outdoor game but this series will be decided by North Dakota offense, which must attack the net against UNO’s defense, which is seventh overall in the WCHA. UND will, but expect UNO senior John Faulkner to steal one win. … Read more
As much attention as the final WCHA series between North Dakota and Minnesota received two weeks ago, North Dakota versus Wisconsin arguably had a lot more flavor in its last series before the teams leave for new conferences. UND and Wisconsin won’t play next season but the are slated to play four seasons after that. … Read more
No. 10 Denver at Minnesota-Duluth Joe: The Pioneers’ first visit to the “new” Amsoil Arena will be a tough one against a still-inconsistent UMD squad that has improved over the course of the season. I expect Denver to bounce back following a bye week with a superior defensive effort to earn a road split. Tyler: … Read more
Alaska-Anchorage at No. 20 Wisconsin Joe: The league’s No. 2 defense should be enough for the Badgers to get three points against the struggling Seawolves, who average only 1.91 goals (last in the WCHA), but usually manage one good game a weekend. Tyler: The Badgers defense held the Seawolves to 12 shots in a game … Read more
No. 6 North Dakota at No. 1 Minnesota Joe: This series should bring out the best in both teams. That bodes well for UND, which did not put together a full 60 minutes each night against Holy Cross and Colorado College. North Dakota will have to play its best to beat Minnesota, which it will … Read more
No. 13 Nebraska-Omaha at No. 9 Denver Joe: Two teams with potent offenses and solid defensive corps that also chip in offensively. The difference will be in goal where Denver has the edge with Juho Olkinuora. Pioneers win and tie. Tyler: Olkinuora is the key in this series. In his last 20 games going back … Read more