WCHA

Ice Breaker, Wisconsin and Minnesota State sweeps, and why Pairwise is premature: Weekend Review Ep. 2

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Notre Dame players celebrate a goal by Colin Theisen (13 - Notre Dame) (2018 Omar Phillips)
Notre Dame players celebrate a goal by Colin Theisen (13 - Notre Dame) (2018 Omar Phillips)
Notre Dame players celebrate a goal by Colin Theisen (13 – Notre Dame) as the Fighting Irish take the 2018 Ice Breaker title (photo: Omar Phillips).

Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger review the top results of the weekend: Notre Dame won the Ice Breaker tournament after a dramatic semifinal and shutout of Providence. Wisconsin swept Boston College while Minnesota State did the same to Boston University, while Minnesota Duluth got into the win column with a pair of victories at Michigan Tech.

Also: North Dakota scored just twice in a tie and loss at Bemidji State, while Ohio State survives first-ever week at No. 1 with a pair of road wins at Arizona State.

Plus: Union’s Cole Maier has seven points in three games.

And finally: Why you shouldn’t pay attention to the Pairwise Rankings this early — but why you should take notice of one of its components.

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Picking the WCHA championship game

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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

Picking the WCHA semifinals

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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

Picking the WCHA quarterfinals

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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

Picking the WCHA: Feb. 23-24

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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

Picking the WCHA, Feb. 15-17

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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

Northern Michigan’s Potulny, RIT’s Wilson guest on Feb. 13 edition of USCHO Live!

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08 Dec 17: Grant Potulny (Northern Michigan - Head Coach). The Bemidji State University Beavers host the Northern Michigan University Wildcats in a WCHA Conference matchup at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, MN. (Jim Rosvold)

Our guests on the February 13 edition of USCHO Live! are Northern Michigan coach Grant Potulny, whose Wildcats sit atop the WCHA standings and at No. 20 in the USCHO.com poll after winning nine of 10 league games since Jan. 1, and Rochester Institute of Technology coach Wayne Wilson, whose Tigers won all three games on a long weekend road trip to move into fifth place — yet still in reach of first — in Atlantic Hockey. Listen live or on-demand: http://www.uscho.com/uscho-live/2018/02/13/uconorthern-michigans-potulny-rits-wilson-guest-on-feb-13-edition-of-uscho-live/

Picking the WCHA: Feb. 2-3

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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

Robert Morris’ Schooley, Bemidji State’s Serratore slated for Jan. 23 USCHO Live!

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Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley. RMU mens hockey v Air Force at Consol Energy Center. Photo by Jason Cohn (JASON COHN/RMU ASSIGNED)

Our guests on the Tuesday, January 23, edition of USCHO Live! are Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley and Bemidji State coach Tom Serratore, both leading teams moving up the standings in their leagues in the second half of the season. Listen live or on-demand: http://www.uscho.com/uscho-live/2018/01/22/robert-morris-schooley-bemidji-states-serratore-slated-for-jan-23-uscho-live/

Three things we learned: Jan. 21

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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

WCHA Picks: Jan. 19-20

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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

Picking the WCHA, Jan. 5-6

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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

Picking the WCHA, Dec. 29-30

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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

Picking the WCHA, Dec. 8-9

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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