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From the WCHA …

MADISON, Wis. – The University of Denver Pioneers are the champions of the men’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association for 2009-10, after they completed a road sweep at Minnesota State on Saturday (Feb. 27) night with a 4-3 (ot) victory. Winners of a nation’s best 10 straight games, Denver earned the program’s 12th WCHA regular season title overall and first since 2005.
    On a weekend that saw road teams go 7-1-0 in conference play, three teams also secured home ice for the first round of WCHA playoffs in two weeks in Wisconsin, Minnesota Duluth and North Dakota. All three clubs completed sweeps on Saturday night, with the Badgers winning 5-2 at Michigan Tech, the host Bulldogs blanking visiting Minnesota 3-0, and visiting North Dakota prevailing 3-2 at Colorado College. Wisconsin is now 13-3-2 since Dec. 1 while the Sioux have won five straight and are 9-5-2 since the New Year. (See tie-breakers and playoff scenarios on p. 3).
    Outside the WCHA on Feb. 27, host Alaska Anchorage fell by a goal (3-2) at Alaska in Alaska Airlines’ Governor’s Cup play. In non-conference action this season, WCHA-member teams are a collective 45-24-5 for a .641 winning percentage through 74 games.
    Through games of Feb. 28 and with each team having two league games remaining, Denver (24-6-4, 18-4-4 WCHA), standing 13-1-2 overall in their last 16 contests, is the WCHA champion and in first place with 40 points. Wisconsin (21-8-4, 16-7-3 WCHA) is second with 35 points, St. Cloud State (20-10-4, 15-8-3 WCHA) is third with 33 points, Minnesota Duluth (19-14-1, 15-10-1 WCHA) is fourth with 31 points, and North Dakota (18-11-5, 13-10-3 WCHA) is fifth with 29. Colorado College (17-14-3, 11-12-3 WCHA) is sixth with 25 points, Minnesota (16-16-2, 11-13-2 WCHA) is in seventh place with 24 points, Alaska Anchorage (10-20-2, 8-16-2 WCHA) is eighth with 18 points, Minnesota State (14-18-2, 8-17-1 WCHA) is ninth with 17, and Michigan Tech (5-26-1, 4-22-0) is 10th with eight points.
    The upcoming weekend of Friday-Sunday, March 5-7, the last of the 2009-10 regular season, will feature a full slate of five WCHA series. Denver and Colorado College play a home-and-home set (Friday at DU, Saturday at CC), St. Cloud State and Minnesota play a home-and-home series (Friday at MSU, Saturday at SCSU), North Dakota hosts Michigan Tech (Friday and Saturday), Minnesota Duluth travels to Alaska Anchorage (Friday and Saturday), and Minnesota hosts Wisconsin (Friday at Target Center, Sunday afternoon at Mariucci Arena).
    Following the conclusion of the regular season, the 10 teams will be seeded No. 1 thru No. 10, according to their regular season finish and utilizing WCHA tie-breaking scenarios, and advance to the first round of WCHA playoffs. The No. 1 seeded team will host No. 10, No. 2 will host No. 9, No. 3 will host No. 8, No. 4 will host No. 7, and No. 5 will host No. 6. The first round, set for Friday thru Sunday, March 12 thru 14, are best-of-three series.
    Following the first round of WCHA playoffs, the five winners will be re-seeded No. 1 thru No. 5 according to their regular season finish and advance to the 2010 Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five, set for March 18-20 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. At the Final Five, No. 4 will host No. 5 on Thursday at 7:07 pm CT. There will be two semi-finals on Friday at 2:07 pm CT and 7:07 pm CT. Then on Saturday, the third place game will be played at 2:07 pm CT with the Broadmoor Trophy championship gam set for 7:07 pm CT.
    At John MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton on Saturday evening, visiting Wisconsin received two goals each from centers Aaron Bendickson and Andy Bombach while recording a 5-2 victory and WCHA sweep over Michigan Tech before 1,885. The Badgers, who owned a 50-32 advantage in shots on goal, scored three times in the third period, with Bendickson netting the game-winner at 4:20. Also for the UW, left winger John Mitchell had three assists. For the Huskies, who blanked the Badgers on all five of their power-play chances (MTU was 0-of-6), left winger Bryce Reddick scored his first two goals of the season. In nets, Scott Gudmandson earned the win for UW with 30 saves and Josh Robinson made 45 stops for MTU. Wisconsin won the season series, 4-0-0.
    At Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato on Saturday night, left winger Rhett Rakhshani scored at 4:47 of overtime to lift visiting Denver to a 4-3 victory over Minnesota State, a sweep of the weekend series and to the WCHA regular season championship before 4,110. The Pioneers had two-point games from five players in Rakhshani (1g, 1a), left winger Anthony Maiani (1g, 1a), right winger Joe Colborne (1g, 1a), center Tyler Ruegsegger (2a) and defenseman Patrick Wiercioch (2a). For the Mavericks, who led 1-0 and tied the game at 3-3 in the second period, center Tyler Pitlick scored two goals while right winger Eriah Hayes had one. In nets, Marc Cheverie had 36 stops for DU while Austin Lee had 32 for MSU. Denver won the season series vs MSU, 3-0-1.
    At the DECC in Duluth on Saturday evening, host Minnesota Duluth gained a weekend split with Minnesota in a 3-0 WCHA victory before a sellout crowd of 5,411 as right winger Justin Fontaine scored a pair of goals and goaltender Brady Hjelle stopped all 22 shots on goal. The Bulldogs, who won the season series 3-1-0 vs UM, clinched a home playoff berth with the victory. Fontaine’s first goal of the game, coming at 8:17 of the second period, held up as the winner while center Mike Connolly and defenseman Mike Montgomery both contributed two assists. In goal for UM, Alex Kangas had 34 saves.
    At Colorado Springs World Arena on Feb. 27, visiting North Dakota won for the second straight night over host Colorado College, this time 3-2 before 7,171, to claim the season series 2-0-0 and secure a first round home WCHA playoff berth. Leading the way for the Sioux were right winger Matt Frattin (1g, 1a) and center Brad Malone (3a) while right winger Danny Kristo knocked home the game-winner at 14:10 of the second period. UND center Chris VandVelde had the only goal of the first period to give his team a 1-0 lead before they added two in the second  to take a 3-1 advantage. For the Tigers, defenseman Mike Boivin scored his first goal of the season in the second period while right winger Tyler Johnson tallied with an extra attacker at 17:51 of the third. Between the pipes, Brad Eidsness picked up the victory for North Dakota with 27 saves while Joe Howe had 28 stops for CC.
    And in Fairbanks on Saturday night, visiting Alaska Anchorage fell by a 3-2 count to host Alaska in Alaska Airlines’ Governor’s Cup non-conference action before 4,459. The Seawolves received a first period goal from defenseman Kane Lafranchise to tie the game at 1-1 and a third period extra attacker power-play tally from defenseman Luka Vidmar at 18:18 to close to within one. In nets, Jon Olthuis had 27 saves for UAA.

This Week in the WCHA

Results of Friday, February 26: Wisconsin 5 at Michigan Tech 2 (WCHA); Minnesota 3 at Minnesota Duluth 2 (WCHA); Denver 3 at Minnesota State 1 (WCHA); North Dakota 3 at Colorado College 2 ot (WCHA); *Alaska 7 at Alaska Anchorage 4 (nc).  *Governor’s Cup.

Results of Saturday, February 27: Wisconsin 5 at Michigan Tech 2 (WCHA); Denver 4 at Minnesota State 3 ot (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT; Minnesota 0 at Minnesota Duluth 3 (WCHA), 7:37 pm CT; North Dakota 3 at Colorado College 2 (WCHA); *Alaska Anchorage 2 at Alaska 3 (nc), 7:05 pm AT.  *Governor’s Cup.

North Dakota 3, Colorado College 2

North Dakota   1          2          0          3

Colorado College         0          1          1          2

First period – 1. North Dakota, VandeVelde (Malone, Frattin), 16:42 (pp). Penalties – ND, MacWilliam (holding), 3:18; ND, MacWilliam (cross checking), 6:48; ND, MacWilliam (tripping), 12:55; CC, DeBoer (interference), 15:41.

Second period – 2. Colorado College, Boivin (Johnson), 1:42; 3. North Dakota (Frattin (Trupp, Malone), 10:19; 4. North Dakota Kristo (Malone), 14:10. Penalties – ND, Hextall (interference), 12:06; CC, Rapuzzi (slashing), 18:21.

Third period – 5. Colorado College, Johnson (Lowery, Fredheim), 2:09. Penalties – ND, Frattin (elbowing), 10:30; CC, Hall (roughing), 13:27; ND, Gregoire (roughing), 13:27.

Power play — North Dakota 1-2, Colorado College 0-5. Shots on goal — North Dakota 12-9-10 –31, Colorado College 12-4-13-29.. Saves-minutes – North Dakota, Eidsness, 12-3-12-60:00; Colorado College, Howe, 11-7-10-58:16. Attendance – 7,171.

No. 12 Colorado College will open the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs on the road for the first time in six years.

The sixth-place Tigers were unable to complete a furious late rally and No. 8 North Dakota held on for the .3-2 win Saturday and the series sweep.

After a quiet third period, CC junior Tyler Johnson scored with 2:09 left to wake up the crowd of 7,171 announced fans at World Arena.

“We had a good 17-18 minutes, but we failed to clear the puck and they got a good tip,” Fighting Sioux coach Dave Hakstol said.

With the win, the fifth-place Sioux (18-11-5, 13-10-3 WCHA) clinched home ice with two games left in the regular season while the Tigers (17-14-3, 11-12-3) have a one-point lead over seventh-place Minnesota (16-16-2, 11-13-2).

“It’s disappointing,” Tigers coach Scott Owens said. “We battled and skated well. ( North Dakota) is a good team.”

It is only the second time since 1993 that the Tigers, losers of four straight, will open the postseason on the road. The last time was 2003-04, a three-game series win at Denver, next weekend’s opponent.

Mike Boivin scores his first goal as a Tiger after he was left unmarked as he charged into the zone to receive a backhanded pass from Tyler Johnson to tie it at 1-1. But North Dakota took advantage of two CC turnovers, including one as Brett Hextall left the penalty box, the take a 3-1 lead.

North Dakota cashed in its only power-play opportunity for a 1-0 lead on a goal by Chris VandeVelde.

The senior center knocked in the second rebound as the Tigers failed to clear the puck.

CC had a chance to go ahead, drawing three penalties, all by North Dakota’s Andrew MacWilliam. The third power play was the most effective, generating five quality shots, including one that forced a seeing-eye save by Sioux goalie Brad Eidsness.

North Dakota

LW-C-RW

Gregoire-VandeVelde-Knight

Trupp-Malone-Frattin

Hextall-Rowney-Kristo

Lamoureux-Zajac-Toews

LD-RD

MacWilliam-Blood

LaPoint-Marto

Gleason-Fienhage

Goalies – Eidsness-Dell

Colorado College

LW-C-RW

Hamburg-Schwartz-Testwuide

Sweatt-Overman-Civitarese

Hall-McMillin-Johnson

DeBoer-Dineen-Rapuzzi

LD-RD

Guentzel-Prosser

Lowery-Marciano

Fredheim-Boivin

Goalies – Howe, O’ Brien, Shibrowski

Losses by teams formerly ahead of CC helped the Tigers move up into a tie for 15th after Friday’s results were in. This suggests that a win Saturday night would be an enormous help for the Tigers’ hopes of making the NCAAs.

*Team’s RPI has been adjusted to remove negative effect from defeating weak opponent.

The PairWise^SM Ranking is a system which attempts to mimic the method used by the NCAA Selection Committee to determine participants for the NCAA Division I men’s hockey tournament. The PWR compares the top 25 teams in the RPI Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), judging them by four criteria: record against common opponents, head-to-head competition, record against other top 25 teams if the team has faced at least 10 top 25 opponents, and the RPI.

For each comparison won, a team receives one point. The final PWR ranking is based on the number of points (comparisons) won against top 25 teams. Ties are settled by the RPI.

A more complete explanation of the workings of the PWR is also available in our FAQ. There is also a FAQ available explaining the NCAA Tournament selection process.

The PWR can be reformatted and redistributed by any media outlet or person, provided USCHO’s URL (http://www.uscho.com/) accompanies the results.

Note:A team’s record is based only on games against other Division I hockey schools which are eligible for the NCAA Tournament. In particular, only non-exhibition matchups between schools in the six major conferences count towards a team’s record as used in the RPI and PWR. Other games, including contests against Canadian schools and tournament-ineligible D-I programs, are not counted.

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Addison DeBoer was awarded the second CC goal in Friday’s 3-2 overtime loss after it was revealed Saturday that Nate Prosser’s shot deflected off the shaft of his stick. … That means CC sophomore center Nick Dineen has not recorded a point since Dec. 12 at St. Cloud State.  … You won’t recognize his real name but you’d recognize Shadoe Stevens’ voice. The North Dakota alumnus graduated in 1967 under his real name, Terry Ingstad, before becoming the announcer for the old Hollywood Squares, the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and replacing casey kasme on ‘America’s Top 40.”

MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin, by virtue of a 5-2 Friday (Feb. 26) evening Western Collegiate Hockey Association victory at Michigan Tech, has joined Denver and St. Cloud State as teams clinching home ice for the first round of league playoffs. Now, four teams – Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota, Colorado College and Minnesota – remain in battle for the final two home playoff berths heading into the final three games of the regular season (see tie-breakers and playoff and championship scenarios on p. 3).
    The Badgers, who also moved into a share of second place, were joined as victors in WCHA play on Friday by three other teams who also all won on the road. League-leading and pre-season MacNaughton Cup favorite Denver claimed a 3-1 triumph at Minnesota State to run their nation’s best winning streak to nine games and open a five-point lead in the title chase, on-coming North Dakota prevailed by a 3-2 count in overtime at Colorado College to overtake the Tigers and move into sole possession of fifth place, and Minnesota stayed alive for home ice with a 3-2 win at Minnesota Duluth. Wisconsin is 12-3-2 since Dec. 1, North Dakota has won four straight and is 8-5-2 since the New Year, and Minnesota is 11-6-1 since Dec. 4.
    Outside the WCHA on Friday night, host Alaska Anchorage dropped a 7-4 decision to in-state rival and CCHA-member Alaska in Alaska Airlines’ Governor’s Cup play.
    Saturday’s (Feb. 27) schedule finds four WCHA matchups as Wisconsin is at Michigan Tech for a 7:07 pm ET face-off at John MacInnes Student Ice Arena, Denver plays at Minnesota State and the Verizon Wireless Center at 7:07 pm CT, Minnesota Duluth hosts Minnesota at 7:37 pm CT at the DECC (Duluth Entertainment & Convention Center), and Colorado College entertains North Dakota at 7:07 pm MT at Colorado Springs World Arena. In non-conference competition, Alaska Anchorage plays Alaska in Fairbanks in a 7:05 pm AT face-off.
    In non-conference action so far this season, WCHA-member teams are a collective 45-23-5 for a .651 winning percentage through 73 games.
    Through games of Feb. 26, Denver (23-6-4, 17-4-4 WCHA), standing 12-1-2 overall in their last 15 games, is in first place with 38 points in 25 games and Wisconsin (20-8-4, 15-7-3 WCHA) and St. Cloud State (20-10-4, 15-8-3 WCHA) – idle this week – are tied for second with 33 points, although the Badgers have one game in hand. Minnesota Duluth (18-14-1, 14-10-1 WCHA) is currently in fourth place with 29 points in 25 games, North Dakota (17-11-5, 12-10-3 WCHA) is fifth with 27 points in 35 games and Colorado College (17-13-3, 11-11-3 WCHA) is sixth with 25 points in 25 games. Minnesota (16-15-2, 11-12-2 WCHA) is just one point back of CC in seventh place with 24 points in 25 games, Alaska Anchorage (10-19-2, 8-16-2 WCHA) is eighth with 18 points in 26 league games, Minnesota State (14-17-2, 8-16-1 WCHA) is ninth with 17 points in 25 games, and Michigan Tech (5-25-1, 4-21-0) is 10th with eight points.
    The upcoming weekend of Friday-Sunday, March 5-7, the last of the 2009-10 regular season, will feature a full slate of five WCHA series. Denver and Colorado College play a home-and-home set (Friday at DU, Saturday at CC), St. Cloud State and Minnesota play a home-and-home series (Friday at MSU, Saturday at SCSU), North Dakota hosts Michigan Tech (Friday and Saturday), Minnesota Duluth travels to Alaska Anchorage (Friday and Saturday), and Minnesota hosts Wisconsin (Friday at Target Center, Sunday afternoon at Mariucci Arena).
    Following the conclusion of the regular season, the 10 teams will be seeded No. 1 thru No. 10, according to their regular season finish and utilizing WCHA tie-breaking scenarios, and advance to the first round of WCHA playoffs. The No. 1 seeded team will host No. 10, No. 2 will host No. 9, No. 3 will host No. 8, No. 4 will host No. 7, and No. 5 will host No. 6. The first round, set for Friday thru Sunday, March 12 thru 14, are best-of-three series.
    Following the first round of WCHA playoffs, the five winners will be re-seeded No. 1 thru No. 5 according to their regular season finish and advance to the 2010 Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five, set for March 18-20 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. At the Final Five, No. 4 will host No. 5 on Thursday at 7:07 pm CT. There will be two semi-finals on Friday at 2:07 pm CT and 7:07 pm CT. Then on Saturday, the third place game will be played at 2:07 pm CT with the Broadmoor Trophy championship gam set for 7:07 pm CT.
    At John MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton on Friday night, visiting Wisconsin scored three times in the third period, with left winger Jordy Murray netting the game-winner on a power-play at 1:30, to overcome host Michigan Tech for a 5-2 WCHA victory before 2,014. The Badgers, who outshot their hosts, 63-22, nonetheless found themselves 2-1 in the second period before left winger Ben Street tied the contest with a goal at 7:27. In the final period, Wisconsin received goals from Murray, defenseman Brendan Smith on a power-play at 2:55, and center Andy Bombach at 17:38. Also for the UW, right winger Michael Davies had three assists and center Derek Stepan had two. For the Huskies, who received a stellar 58-save effort from goaltender Kevin Genoe, left winger Bennett Royer scored the game’s first goal at 3:52 of the opening period while left winger Brett Olson tallied at 16:54 to put his club up 2-1. Wisconsin leads the season series, 3-0-0.
    At the DECC in Duluth on Friday evening, visiting Minnesota received the game-winning goal from left winger Jacob Cepis at 14:59 of the third period and 32 saves from goaltender Alex Kangas in a 3-2 WCHA victory over host Minnesota Duluth before a sellout crowd of 5,385. The Gophers were outshot 34-24 but did not surrender an even-strength goal in narrowing the season series vs UMD to 1-2-0. Also scoring for UM were center Nick Larson in the first period and defenseman Cade Fairchild in the third. For UMD, right winger David Grunn scored to tie the game at 1-1 in the second while left winger Travis Oleksuk scored a power-play goal at 10:35 of the third to tie it a 2-2.
    At Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato on Feb. 26, visiting Denver received third period goals from right winger Joe Colborne and defenseman Matt Donovan to overcome Minnesota State 3-1 in WCHA action before 3,723 and move to 2-0-1 vs the Mavericks in the regular season series. The Pioneers hit on 2-of-4 power-play chances and had 28 saves from goaltender Marc Cheverie. Colborne’s goal in the third was the game-winner. For MSU, center Zach Harrison scored at 11:19 of the second period to tie the game at 1-1 while Phil Cook had 17 stops in nets.
    At Colorado Springs World Arena on Friday evening, North Dakota right winger Matt Frattin (1g, 1a) scored at 2:09 of overtime to give the visiting Sioux a 3-2 WCHA triumph over host Colorado College before 6,851 that elevated them into fifth place. The Sioux outshot their hosts, 42-28, but found themselves trailing 2-1 in the third period after the Tigers received a go-ahead goal from defenseman Nate Prosser (2g) at 2:44. North Dakota then battled back to tie the game at 2-2 on center Brad Malone’s (1g, 1a) goal at 18:18 of the third to set up Frattin’s winner. In nets, Brad Eidsness had 26 stops for the win while Joe Howe had 39 stops for the Tigers. UND leads the season series, 1-0-0.
    And at Sullivan Arena on Friday evening, host Alaska Anchorage fell by a 7-4 count to Alaska in Governor’s Cup non-conference action before 4,362, despite outshooting their guests, 27-19 and hitting on 3-of-5 power-play chances. Leading the way for Alaska was right winger Andy Taranto (3g, 1a). For the Seawolves, right winger Kevin Clark scored a pair of goals, left winger Josh Lunden had a goal and an assist, and defenseman Lee Baldwin had two assists.

This Week in the WCHA

Results of Friday, February 26: Wisconsin 5 at Michigan Tech 2 (WCHA); Minnesota 3 at Minnesota Duluth 2 (WCHA); Denver 3 at Minnesota State 1 (WCHA); North Dakota 3 at Colorado College 2 ot (WCHA); *Alaska 7 at Alaska Anchorage 4 (nc).  *Governor’s Cup.Games for Saturday, February 27: Wisconsin at Michigan Tech (WCHA), 7:07 pm ET; Denver at Minnesota State (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT; Minnesota at Minnesota Duluth (WCHA), 7:37 pm CT; North Dakota at Colorado College (WCHA), 7:07 pm MT; *Alaska Anchorage at Alaska (nc), 7:05 pm AT.  *Governor’s Cup.WCHA Playoff Seedings and Scenarios

Denver, St. Cloud State and Wisconsin have now clinched home ice for the first round of WCHA playoffs. So four teams – Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota, Colorado College and Minnesota – are left fighting for the last two spots.
Denver can finish no worse than 2nd.
Minnesota Duluth can clinch home ice tonight (Feb. 27) with a win.
Minnesota Duluth can clinch home ice tonight with a tie AND a Colorado College loss to or tie with North Dakota.
North Dakota can clinch home ice tonight (Feb. 27) with a win AND a Minnesota loss to Minnesota Duluth.
Denver clinches the WCHA regular season championship with a win.
Denver clinches the WCHA regular season championship with a tie AND a Wisconsin loss or tie.
Denver clinches the WCHA regular season championship with a loss AND a Wisconsin loss.