College Hockey   CC Tigers and USAFA Falcons Hockey

According to multiple reports, including the Denver Post, former Maine standout and current Dubuque coach Jim Montgomery, 43, is the new Denver coach.

The USHL coach is a former assistant coach at RPI and Notre Dame. A press conference is scheduled for 11 a.m. MT on Monday.

Montgomery is Maine’s all-time leading scorer (301 points). Both current DU assistants are expected to be retained.

Montgomery was a favorite to take over in Orono after that Hockey East program fired Tim Whitehead earlier this week. That makes George Gwozdecky, who was fired by Denver earlier this month, the likely leading candidate to take over the Black Bears.

Former Alaska-Anchorage coach John Hill wants his old job back. The other candidates include Air Force associate coach Mike Corbett.

Denver junior Nick Shore has left the program to sign with the Los Angeles Kings.

Yale blanked Quinnipiac 4-0 to claim its first NCAA championship as senior Bulldogs goalie and birthday boy Jeff Malcolm out-performed Hobey finalist Eric Hartzell.

Hobey Baker winner Drew LeBlanc signed with Chicago hours after receiving the award as college hockey’s best player. The SCSU honoree makes it nine WCHA players in the past 12 years to win the sport’s top award. Ben Hanowski moved on to the Flames.

Here is a list, started by the Grand Forks Herald’s Brad Schlossman, that I have added to this morning in an attempt to keep up with the offseason comings and goings.

 NCHC early signings

Denver

Scott Mayfield, so, D, N.Y. Islanders

Juho Olkinuora, so. G, Winnipeg Jets

Nick Shore, jr., F, Los Angeles Kings

Minnesota Duluth
Chris Casto, so, D, Boston Bruins

Nebraska Omaha
Andrej Sustr, jr, D, Tampa Bay Lightning

North Dakota
Derek Forbort, jr, D, Los Angeles Kings

Western Michigan
Dan DeKeyser, jr, D, Detroit Red Wings

Big 10 early signings

Michigan
Jacob Trouba, fr, D, Winnipeg Jets
Jon Merrill, jr, D, New Jersey Devils

Minnesota (four of top 5 scorers)
Mark Alt, jr, D, Philadelphia Flyers

Zach Budish, jr, F, Nashville Predators

Nick Bjugstad, jr, F, Florida Panthers

Nate Schmidt, jr, D, Washington Capitals

Erik Haula, jr, F, Minnesota Wild

Ohio State
Chris Crane, jr, F, San Jose Sharks

NCHC departures (seniors)

Colorado College

Andrew Hamburg, F, ECHL San Francisco

Joe Marciano, D, ECHL Orlando

Rylan Schwartz, F, San Jose Sharks

North Dakota

Corban Knight, F, Florida Panthers

Danny Kristo, F, Montreal Canadiens

Andrew MacWilliam, D, Toronto Maple Leafs

St. Cloud State

Ben Hanowski, F, Calgary Flames

Drew LeBlanc, F, Chicago Blackhawks

Western Michigan

Dane Walters, F, San Jose Sharks

Luke Witkowski, D, Tampa Bay Lightning

Raise your hand if you thought before the season began that the teams in the ECAC third-place game would be the ones playing for a national championship on Saturday? Be honest.

Yale edged UMass-Lowell 3-2 in overtime and No. 1 Quinnipiac blew past St. Cloud State 4-1.  That means the ECAC will have its first national champ since Harvard in 1989.

The composition of the Frozen 4 teams are good hints at what kind of recruiting it takes to win a national title; older, less-talented players who develop over a full four years.

SCSU’s Drew LeBlanc was named as the Hobey Baker Award winner, a first for the Huskies program.

The Denver Post cleared up some of the rumors by disclosing the four finalists for the open Pioneers job: Seth Appert, a former DU assistant under fired coach George Gwozdecky and the current head coach at Rensselear; Derek Lalonde, who succeeded Appert at DU before becoming the coach of the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers; Jim Montgomery, a former Maine star and NHL player who is head coach and general manager of the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints; and Boston College associate head coach Greg Brown.

The Troy (N.Y.) Record writes about Appert’s chances.

Montgomery is also a leading candidate for the open Maine job, which Gwozdecky is interested in. Meanwhile, the Alaska-Anchorage job remains open.

East First Team

West Second Team

Finally, the national semifinals are here. Here is Dave Starman’s scouting report on all four teams.

Capsules on each team follow along with my prediction.

2013 Frozen Four

Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh

Thursday semifinals

TV: ESPN2

No. 3 Massachusetts-Lowell (28-10-2) vs. No. 15 Yale (20-12-3), 2:30 p.m.

UML resume –Hockey East regular season and playoff champs (both program firsts); Northeast regional winner

Leaders — Scott Wilson, So., F (16g, 21a); Joseph Pendenza, Jr., F (14g, 23a); Derek Arnold, Jr., F (13g, 16a); Riley Wetmore, Sr., F (15g, 11a); Josh Holmstrom, Jr., F (12g, 12a); Chad Ruhwedel, Jr., D (7g, 16a); Christian Folin, Fr., D (6g, 15a); Connor Hellebuyck, Fr. , G (20-2-0, 1.31 goals against, .953 saves percentage).

Yale resume – ECAC third-place finisher; West regional winner

Leaders –  Kenny Agostino, Jr., F (17g, 23a); Andrew Miller, Sr., F (16g, 21a); Antoine Laganiere, Sr., F (14g, 13a); Tommy Fallen, Fr., D (7g, 16a); Jesse Root, Fr., F (11g, 11a); Stu Wilson, Fr., F (9g, 8a); Jeff Malcolm, Sr., G (18-6-2, 2.35 gaa, .916 saves).

Prediction: Lowell’s defense does a good job stopping Yale’s transition at the UML blue line with its solid, physical defense. That leads to transition chances for the River Hawks which should prove decisive. UML wins.

No. 9 St. Cloud State (25-15-1) vs. No. 1 Quinnipiac (29-7-5), 6 p.m. MT

SCSU resume – co-Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season champion; Midwest regional winner

Leaders – Hobey Baker Hat Trick finalist Drew LeBlanc, Sr., F (13g, 37a); Nic Dowd, Jr., F (14g, 25a); Jonny Brodzinski, Fr., F (22g, 11a); Kalle Kossila, Fr., F (15g, 18a); Ben Hanowski, Sr., F (17g, 14a); Nick Jensen, Jr., D (4g, 27a); Andrew Prochno, So., D (5g, 23a); Ryan Faragher, So., G (24-13-1, 2.22 goals, .916 saves).

Quinnipiac resume –ECAC regular-season champion, East regional winner

Leaders — Hobey Baker Hat Trick finalist Eric Hartzell, Sr., G (29-6-5, 1.55, 9.33); Matthew Peca, So., F (15g, 15g); Jeremy Langlois, Sr., F (12g, 18a); Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Jr., F (16g, 11a); Connor Jones, Jr., F (12g, 14a); Kellen Jones, Jr., F (12g, 14a).

Prediction: It’s strength vs. strength with SCSU’s offense taking on the Bobcat’s defense, led by Hobey hopeful Eric Hartzell. I give the edge to Quinnipiac in the nightcap.

Championship prediction: UMass-Lowell over Quinnipiac.

In other news, former Tiger Rylan Schwartz is living out of a suitcase for the short term in Worcester. He recorded an assist in his pro debut.

Union extended Rick Bennett’s contract through the 2019-20 season. He was an assistant at Union since 2005-06 and became associate head coach  from 2007-11 before being named head coach when Nate Leaman left for Providence.

Wisconsin sophomore forward Brendan Woods (12 points, five goals) signed with the Carolina Hurricanes. The 2012 fifth-round pick recorded 22 points (10 goals) in 75 games for the Badgers so the move was a surprise to coach Mike Eaves, who received word that Mark Zengerle, Michael Mersch and Tyler Barnes will stay for what many expect will be a Big 10 title contender.

He was not happy about it in October, but junior defenseman Eamonn McDermott grudgingly admitted the coaching staff’s decision to limit his ice time earlier this season paid dividends this postseason.

“I think it helped,” he said.

McDermott, listed at 5-foot-10, 183 pounds, appeared to wear down by the end of his first two seasons.

The coaches knew they needed him to play well later in the season.  With less time on special teams before Christmas, he looked faster this postseason and played quite well.

His strong play led a resurgent defensive corps along with Joe Marciano and Peter Stoykewych.

“That played out very well,” CC assistant Joe Bonnett said. “That definitely helped us.”

Typical of their determined play during a memorable playoff run, the Tigers refused to fold in the championship game Saturday night.

But a two-goal deficit late in the second period proved too big a margin to overcome as Colorado College lost 3-2 to Wisconsin in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five tournament championship Saturday, ending the Tigers’ season. The loss also marked CC;s last chance to win the WCHA trophy named after the landmark Colorado Springs hotel

The never-say-die approach by CC (18-19-5) started with the leaders in the locker room.

“It would have been easy to give up, especially after the adversity (losing streak) we faced,” senior captain William Rapuzzi said. “But we never lost the faith that if we kept working we could turn things around. I am so proud to have been the captain of the guys in that locker room.”

The championship gives Wisconsin (22-12-7) a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers needed that automatic qualifier to make the 16-team field.

The scrambling Tigers managed only four shots in the third as fatigue and a tight Wisconsin defense wore them down.

“They are a tough kind of team to play against in your sixth game in nine days,” Tigers coach Scott Owens said. “The part that hurts is knowing you were one goal away from the Broadmoor Trophy; one goal away from the NCAA Tournament.”

The Tiger never doubted they could come back after Nic Kerdiles scored the eventual game-winner with 3:45 left in second.

Schwartz scored on breakaway after a pass from Alexander Krushelnyski. The senior beat Joel Rumpel (20 saves) with 27.6 seconds left to make it 3-2 headed into the third.

“Rylan was a man this weekend,” Owens said. “After that goal, everyone sat up a little on the bench. It was one goal (deficit) entering the third period and Joe Howe (30 saves) was playing well.”

Earlier, Schwartz started a 3-on-2 rush that led to a Charlie Taft tap-in to trim the Badgers lead to 2-1 and give the senior his 100^th career assist. He moved into the national scoring lead with 53 points (20 goals).

Wisconsin took a 2-0 lead on scores by Tyler Barnes with 17 seconds left in the first and Sean Little with 16:32 left in the second.

It may take some time, but the Tigers will eventually look back on their 9-5-3 run to conclude the season with pride, Schwartz said.

“It’s hard right now,” he said. “But maybe in a few days, it will be something we will take pride in Hopefully this is something the young guys can take into next year.”

Here is a video of the players’ postgame press conference.

Notes

This year’s Final Five drew the third-largest crowd ever with 87,295 fans. The top two are 2007 (88,900) and 2006 (87,579). … Schwartz and Peter Stoykewych were named to the all-tournament team along with MVP Kerdiles, Barnes, John Ramage and Rumpel, all of Wisconsin. … Another WCHA Final Five tradition is coming to an end. Longtime Minnesota fans Cathy St. Martin and her late husband Tom hosted a league hospitality room for officials, coaches and media for the past 25 years … The new WCHA debuted a revised logo and that the top eight teams in the final regular-season standings will play in a best-of-three first-round series at the home site of the top four finishers, followed by the first-round winners advancing to the WCHA Final Five the following weekend for two first-day semifinals and the Broadmoor Trophy championship on Day 2. … Minnesota coach Don Lucia will coach the 2014 U.S. National Junior Team. SCSU coach Bob Motzko will serve as an assistant.

Wisconsin 3, Colorado College 2

Colorado College              0              2              0              – 2

Wisconsin            1              2              0              — 3

First period – 1. UW, Barnes (Kerdiles, Simonelli) 19:43. Penalties – UW, McCabe, interference, 3:54; CC, Taft, tripping, 8:20. CC, DiGiando, cross-checking, 14:01.

Second period – 2. UW, S. Little (McCabe, Dahl) 3:28; 3. CC, Taft (Schwartz) 7:19; 4. UW, Kerdiles (Ramage, Zengerle) 16:15; 5. CC, Schwartz (Krushelnyski) 19:33. Penalties – CC, Marciano, interference, 11:16.

Third period – No scoring. Penalties – UW, LaBate, tripping, 1:59; CC, Rapuzzi, tripping, 19:50.

Power play – CC 0-2, UW 0-4. Shots on goal – CC 9-9-4 – 22; UW 13-11-9 – 33. Saves-minutes – CC, Howe 12-9-9 – 58:43; UW, Rumpel  9-7-4 – 59:57.  Referees – B. Shepherd, Anderson. Linesmen – Dokken, Hills. Attendance – 18,872.

LINES

CC freshman Cody Bradley is out for the second straight game with an upper body injury.Colorado College

LW-C-RW

Krushelnyski-Schwartz-Taft

Skalbeck-Winkler-Rapuzzi

Fejes-DiGiando-Hamburg

Maric-Collett-Hanson

LD-RD

Stoykewych-Boivin

Harstad-McDermott

Young-Marciano

Goalies– Howe, Thorimbert.

Wisconsin

LW-C-RW

Kerdiles-Zengerle-Barnes

LaBate-Woods-Mersch

R. Little-Dahl- S. Little

Navin-Meuer-Paape

LD-RD

Schulze-Ramage

McCabe-Simonelli

Wittchow-Faust

Goalies – Rumpel-Peterson.

Former Tiger Joey Crabb cleared waivers and was assigned to AHL Hershey.

WCHA Final Five Tournament

Broadmoor Trophy championship

No. 6 Colorado College (18-18-5) vs. No. 4 Wisconsin (21-12-7), 6:07 p.m. MT

Season series: CC leads 2-0

Notes: Badgers enter the game against CC on a five-game winning streak while the Tigers have won four straight. …. Tied for No. 17 in the Pairwise rankings, UW needs to win to garner an NCAA berth as does CC, which is tied for No. 25. … A quantity of shots on goal has meant little this weekend. None of the teams with the most have won so far. … CC will be playing its sixth game in nine days tonight and Wisconsin, its fifth in nine.

Quote: “We’ll take the same low-key approach,” Tigers coach Scott Owens said. “We’re playing a team that is trying to do the same thing which is survive. They are a very disciplined and defensive-minded team. I hope the adrenalin can continue for one more night.”

Leaders:  CC,  Rylan Schwartz, sr., C (19g, 32a); Alexander Krushelnyski, jr., LW (15g, 27a); William Rapuzzi, sr., RW (15g, 20a); Mike Boivin, sr., D (14g, 14a); Scott Winkler, sr., C (13g, 15a); Archie Skalbeck, jr. F (12g, 11); Eamonn McDermott, jr. D (3g, 20a); Joe Howe, sr., G (14-11-4, 2.97 goals against, .915 saves percentage). UW,  Michael Mersch, jr. F (23g, 13a); Mark Zengerle, jr. F (9g, 22a); Nic Kerdiles, fr. F (9g, 21a); Tyler Barnes, jr. F (14g, 15a); Joel Rumpel, soph. G (15-8-4, 1.84 gaa, .934 saves).

WCHA Final Five Tournament

Friday semifinals

No. 1 St. Cloud State (23-14-1) vs. No. 4 Wisconsin (20-12-7), 1:07 p.m. MT

Season series: tied 1-1

Notes: Badgers enter Friday’s game against SCSU on a four-game winning streak that began with a 3-2 win over the Huskies. …. At No. 16 in the Pairwise rankings, UW needs to win to garner an NCAA berth. … The first line of Nic Kerdiles, Mark Zengerle and Tyler Barnes accounted for three of Thursday’s seven goals.  … Joel Rumpel made 38 saves in the quarterfinal win.

Leaders:  UW,  Michael Mersch, jr. F (23g, 13a); Mark Zengerle, jr. F (9g, 22a); Nic Kerdiles, fr. F (8g, 20a); Tyler Barnes, jr. F (13g, 15a); Joel Rumpel, soph. G (14-8-4, 1.87 gaa, .933 saves). SCSU, Drew LeBlanc, sr. F (13g, Division I-best 37a); Nic Dowd, jr. F (14g, 24a); Jonny Brodzinski, fr. F (21g, 11a); Kalle Kossila, fr. F (15g, 17a); Ryan Faragher, soph. G (22-12-1, 2.27 gaa, .916 saves).

No. 2 Minnesota (26-7-5) vs. No. 6 Colorado College (17-18-5), 6:07 p.m. MT

Season series: Minnesota leads 1-0-1

Notes: Senior goalie Joe Howe returned to his freshman while the Tigers’ penalty kill went 6-for-6 against a potent North Dakota power play. Alexander Krushelnyski scored his third shorthanded goal for CC to win the special teams battle. … All three UND goals came at even strength. … Minnesota has the nation’s top offense (3.61 goals) and power play (25.16 percent). … CC scored three goals in the third period to forge a 4-4 tie last time the teams played.

Quote:  “(Minnesota is) big and strong and will be good on a smaller sheet,” Tigers coach Scott Owens said. “We’re just going to stay with our deal and see if we can make some good things happen. We respect them a ton, they’re No. 1 in the country, but because of the schedule we played we’re not really intimidated by anybody.”

Leaders:  CC,  Rylan Schwartz, sr., C (18g, 32a); Alexander Krushelnyski, jr., LW (15g, 26a); William Rapuzzi, sr., RW (15g, 20a); Mike Boivin, sr., D (14g, 14a); Scott Winkler, sr., C (13g, 14a); Archie Skalbeck, jr. F (12g, 11); Eamonn McDermott, jr. D (3g, 19a); Joe Howe, sr., G (13-11-4, 3.08 goals against, .912 saves percentage). UM, Erik Haula, jr. F (16g, 33a); Kyle Rau, soph. F (15g, 24a); Nick Bjugstad, jr. F (21g, 15a); Zach Budish, jr. F (13g, 22a); Adam Wilcox, fr. G (25-6-5, 1.84 gaa, .923 saves). Wilcox is profiled by College Hockey News.

Here are the game stories from Thursday night’s semifinal: Colorado Springs Gazette; Grand Forks Herald; USCHO and College Hockey News.

A state lawmaker wants to give Minnesota $800,000 to maintain its rivalry with North Dakota. A sold-out Mariucci Arena is not incentive enough?

Here are the game stories from the Wisconsin win:the Wisconsin State Journal; Mankato Free Press;  USCHO, and College Hockey News. Of note, four Mavericks were injured in the loss.

Air Force’s McKenzie garners league honor

Air Force junior Adam McKenzie is the Atlantic Hockey Association Defenseman of the Year as voted by the league’s coaches.

McKenzie was named the AHA Player of the Week on March 4 as he scored five points (1-4-5) as the Falcons swept the 13^th-ranked Purple Eagles in the final regular-season series. He had a career-high four points (1-3-4) in the win on March 2.

A first-team all-AHA selection this season, McKenzie is third Falcon to win the AHA Defenseman of the Year award, joining Greg Flynn (2008-09) and Tim Kirby (2011-12).

The Petaluma, Calif., native finished with 20 points (12 assists), including 11 points over the final nine games, including a career-high two goals in the season-ending loss to Canisius for Air Force (17-13-7).

Other AHA major awards:  Niagara coach David Burkholder was named Coach of the Year, Niagara junior goaltender Carsen Chubak was selected as the Player of the Year while Purple Eagle senior forward Marc Zanette was named Best Defensive Forward.

The improved play of two CC freshmen– Cody Bradley, Hunter Fejes –  give the Tigers two more reasons to hope headed into the WCHA Final Five.

Here is the WCHA’s Final Five press release which contains plenty of preview notes for all the series.

The Grand Forks Herald weekly video show focuses on the Final Five this week.

Hobey Baker hopeful Corban Knight is featured in these videos produced by North Dakota athletics.

North Dakota’s Nick Mattson weighs in on the significance of the Final Five to him.

UND leading scorer Danny Kristo started playing baseball with the neighbor kids at the age of 3. It was then that his parents realized he had a rare competitive drive. Not much has changed for Kristo, who has grown into one of the best college hockey players in the nation through his intense competitive drive.

Former Tiger Richard Bachman won in his first AHL game since being sent down to Texas.

Tim Hall performed well in his recent return to ECHL play after a preseason concussion.

Here is a look at the CCHA semifinals, which includes future NCHC team Miami.

WCHA Final Five Tournament

Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minn.

Thursday quarterfinals

No. 5 Minnesota State (24-12-3) vs. No. 4 Wisconsin (17-12-7) 1:07 p.m.

Season series: 2-2; both teams recorded road sweeps

Leaders:  MSU, Matt Leitner, soph. F (17g, 28a); Eriah Hayes, sr. F (19g, 16a); Jean-Paul LaFontaine, soph. F (9g, 24a); Zach Lehrke, jr. F (8g, 17a); Stephon Williams, fr. G (21-10-2, 1.84 gaa, .929 saves). UW,  Michael Mersch, jr. F (23g, 12a); Mark Zengerle, jr. F (9g, 21a); Nic Kerdiles, fr. F (7g, 19a); Tyler Barnes, jr. F (11g, 14a); Joel Rumpel, soph. G (13-8-4, 1.87 gaa, .932 saves).

Quote No. 1: “It should be a whale of a game; it’s a whale of a field,” Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves said.

Quote No. 2: “We’re looking forward to playing one of the top teams in the country over the last three-four months,” MSU coach Mike Hastings said. “They’re hard to play against.”

No. 6 Colorado College (16-18-5) versus No. 3 North Dakota (21-11-7), 6:07 p.m. Thursday,

Season series: split, 2-2

Leaders: CC – Rylan Schwartz, sr., C (17g, 31a); Alexander Krushelnyski, jr., LW (14g, 26a); William Rapuzzi, sr., RW (15g, 19a); Mike Boivin, sr., D (14g, 14a); Scott Winkler, sr., C (13g, 14a); Archie Skalbeck, jr. F (12g, 11); Eamonn McDermott, jr. D (3g, 19a); Joe Howe, sr., G (12-11-4, 3.09 goals against, .912 saves percentage). North Dakota – Danny Kristo, sr. F (24g, 26a); Corban Knight, sr. F (15g, 33a); Rocco Grimaldi, fr. F (13g, 21a); Carter Rowney, sr. F (10g, 16a); Clarke Saunders, jr. G (13-7-4, 2.20 gga, .920 saves); Zane Gothberg, fr. G (8-4-3, 2.55 gaa, .918 saves).

Note:  North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol said Michigan Tech gave his team “one of the toughest first-round series we’ve had since I’ve been here. It was a great series that pushed us to be better.” Tech took UND to three games.

Friday semifinals

MSU/Wisconsin winner vs. No. 1 St. Cloud State (23-14-1), 1:07 p.m.

Season series: SCSU 2-0 vs. MSU; 1-1 vs. Wisconsin

SCSU leaders:  Drew LeBlanc, sr. F (13g, Division I-best 37a); Nic Dowd, jr. F (14g, 24a); Jonny Brodzinski, fr. F (21g, 11a); Kalle Kossila, fr. F (15g, 17a); Ryan Faragher, soph. G (22-12-1, 2.27 gaa, .916 saves).

Quote: “Our fans are fired up for this tournament,” Huskies coach Bob Motzko said. “We’re truly excited.”

CC/UND winner versus No. 2 Minnesota (26-7-5), 6:07 p.m.

Season series: UM 1-0-1 vs. CC and UND

Minnesota leaders:  Erik Haula, jr. F (16g, 33a); Kyle Rau, soph. F (15g, 24a); Nick Bjugstad, jr. F (21g, 15a); Zach Budish, jr. F (13g, 22a); Adam Wilcox, fr. G (25-6-5, 1.84 gaa, .923 saves).

Quote: “I think we could play this tournament three or four times in a row and have three or four winners,” UM coach Don Lucia said.

Broadmoor Trophy championship game, 6:07 p.m.

Semifinal winners

Tickets remain available for all three games for the WCHA playoff series between Colorado College and Denver. Keep in mind most CC fans sit in sections 5, 6 and 7. There is no TV for the series but it is available on Pioneer Vision.

CC’s seniors leads Division I with 65 goals; the most for any senior class. Here is the breakdown: Rylan Schwartz (15 goals), William Rapuzzi (15), Mike Boivin (14), Scott Winkler (13), Andrew Hamburg (6) and Joe Marciano (2).

Here are preview notes for the six WCHA playoff series this weekend.

Click on the school’s name (bolded) to go to its article:

No. 7 seed Nebraska-Omaha at No. 6 Minnesota State

No. 8 Colorado College at No. 5 Denver. Here are Three Things to Watch about that series.

No. 9 Minnesota-Duluth  at No. 4 Wisconsin

No. 10 Michigan Tech at No. 3 North Dakota

No. 11 Bemidji State at No. 2 Minnesota, which also debuts its video series “Pride on Ice.”

No. 12 Alaska-Anchorage at No. 1 St. Cloud State.

Here is the TV/video stream availability for all six WCHA playoff series.

The All-WCHA honors will be coming out soon. Here are some sample ballots from bloggers on how they would have voted: Goon’s World, Western College Hockey Blog and Bucky’s 5th Quarter.

Air Force hosts Canisius in the Atlantic Hockey Association quarterfinals. Here are the Falcons’ preview notes, 3 Things to Watch and the Gazette preview.

The 2012-13 CCHA All-Conference Teams were announced Wednesday.

I bolded players from Miami and Western Michigan since those teams will be CC opponents in the NCHC next season.
First Team

Position        Name, Year, School      First   Totals

Forward Austin Czarnik, SO, Miami       8       46

Forward Anders Lee, JR, Notre Dame      7       44

Forward Riley Barber, FR, Miami 5       40

Defense Jacob Trouba, FR, Michigan      8       43

Defense Dan DeKeyser, JR, Western Michigan      6       36

Goaltender      Brady Hjelle, SR, Ohio State    6       39

Second Team

Position        Name, Year, School      First   Totals

Forward Tanner Fritz, SO, Ohio State    2       32

Forward Ryan Carpenter, SO, Bowling Green       1       22

Forward Andy Taranto, SR, Alaska        2       20

Defense Luke Witkowski, SR, Western Michigan    3       26

Defense Bobby Shea, SR, Bowling Green   2       25

Goaltender      Frank Slubowski, SO, Western Michigan   4       27

Vote Values: 1st place = 5, 2nd place = 3, 3rd place = 1

Honorable Mention (next six point totals, regardless of position with first team-votes in parentheses): Ryan Dzingel, SO, F, Ohio State, (2) 17; Domenic Monardo, SR, F, Lake Superior, (2) 16; Kyle Bonis, SR, F, Ferris State, (1) 16; Matthew Caito, FR, D, Miami, (1) 15; CJ Motte, SO, G, Ferris State, 14; Bryan Rust, JR, F, Notre Dame, 11.

Others receiving votes:

Forwards – T.J. Tynan, JR, Notre Dame, (1) 8; Chase Balisy, JR, Western Michigan, 8; Cody Kunyk, JR, Alaska, (1) 6; Matt Thurber, SR, Northern Michigan, 4; Dane Walters, SR, Western Michigan, 4; Cristoval Nieves, FR, Michigan, 1; Reed Seckel, SO, Northern Michigan, 1; Garrett Thompson, JR, Ferris State, 1.

Defensemen – Robbie Russo, SO, Notre Dame, (1) 9; Mac Bennett, JR, Michigan, (1) 8;  Colton Parayko, FR, Alaska, 8; Jason Binkley, SO, Ferris State, 6; Simon Denis, SO, Ferris State, 6; Craig Dalrymple, FR, Ohio State, 4; Steven Spinell, SR, Miami, 4; Trevor Campbell, SO, Alaska, 3; Scott Macaulay, SR, Northern Michigan, 3; Curtis Gedig, JR, Ohio State, 1; CJ Ludwig, JR, Northern Michigan, 1.

Goaltenders – Andrew Hammond, SR, Bowling Green, 8; Jared Coreau, JR, Northern Michigan, 6.

HOUGHTON, Mich. — Playoff-style hockey came a week early for Colorado College and it cost the Tigers in a competitive road game.

Host Michigan Tech used its size and took advantage of the smaller NHL sheet to slow down the Tigers and grind out a 2-0 win over eighth-place CC Friday night.

The loss showed CC that it must battle through a strong defense and attack the net, especially during next week’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoff series at an opponent to be determined.

“Playoff hockey is defensive hockey,” senior center Rylan Schwartz said. “We have to fight and work harder to score.”

It came down to individual battles lost in front of the MTU net.

“I didn’t think we lowered the shoulder and drove to the net enough,” said Tigers coach Scott Owens. “We didn’t pay the price to generate more scoring chances.”

Good scoring opportunities were few on Friday, helping Tech freshman goalie Jamie Phillips record his first college shutout (22 saves) in only his third start to the delight of the 2,639 fans at John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

Michigan Tech 2, Colorado College 0

Colorado College              0              0              0              –0

Michigan Tech   1              0              1              –2

First period – 1. MTU, Gordic (Khaira, D. Johnstone) 9:40. Penalties – MTU, Petan, interference, 6:44; MTU, A. Pietila, tripping, 13:11; CC, McDermott, interference, 14:08.

Second period – No scoring. Penalties – CC, Boivin, slashing, 9:07; CC, Rapuzzi, tripping, 9:24; MTU, Sweeney, holding, 14:42; CC. Krushelnyski, holding, 18:45; MTU, D. Johnstone, unsportsmanlike, 18:45; MTU, J. Johnstone, embellishment, 18:45.

Third period – 2. MTU, Kero (B. Pietila, Seigo) 19:39 (EN).  Penalties – CC, Marciano, interference, 1:16.

Power play – CC 0-4, MTU 0-3. Shots on goal – CC 8-9-5 – 22; MTU 11-11-11 – 33. Saves-minutes — CC, Howe 10-11-10 – 59:41; MTU, Phillips 8-9-5 – 60:00. Referees – Adam, Walsh. Linesmen – Juopperi, Moberg. Attendance – 2,639.

ROUNDUP

Sorry for the delay on the update. The power (and wireless) at my motel and much of downtown Houghton was out until after I fell asleep on  Friday night.

No. 8 St. Cloud State 4, No. 13 Wisconsin 2

MADISON — Jonny Brodzinski, Nick Jensen and Drew LeBlanc scored third-period goals to send St. Cloud State to a 4-2 win against Wisconsin on Friday night at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Huskies earned at least a share of the regular season title with the win.

No. 2 Minnesota 4, Bemidji State 3

BEMIDJI — Junior forward Nick Bjugstad scored his second goal of the game at 14:54 of the third period to lift Minnesota to a 4-3 come-from-behind win against Bemidji State on Friday night at Sanford Center.

No. 5 North Dakota 4, No. 10 Minnesota State 3

MANKATO — Senior forward Carter Rowney and freshman forward Rocco Grimaldi each had a goal and an assist to help North Dakota skate to a 4-3 win against Minnesota State on Friday night at Verizon Wireless Center.

Minnesota-Duluth 5, No. 16 Nebraska-Omaha 4

DULUTH — Senior forward Mike Seidel scored two of Minnesota Duluth’s four goals in the second period as the Bulldogs skated to a 5-4 win against Nebraska Omaha on Friday night at AMSOIL Arena.

No. 12 Denver 7, Alaska-Anchorage 1

DENVER — Sophomore forward Ty Loney had three assists and sophomore forward Zac Larraza scored twice to lead Denver to a 7-1 win against Alaska Anchorage on Friday night at Magness Arena.

DU scored twice in the final 28 seconds of the first period to take a 3-1 lead and blow the game open. The series resumes Sunday morning.

LINES

No changes from Saturday by the Tigers.

Michigan Tech freshman goalie Jamie Phillips gets his second start in a row off heels of 5-1 road win at St. Cloud State.

Colorado College

LW-C-RW

Krushelnyski-Schwartz-Taft

Skalbeck-Winkler-Hanson

Fejes-Bradley-Rapuzzi

Maric-Collett-Hamburg

LD-RD

Stoykewych-Boivin

Harstad-McDermott

Young-Marciano

Goalies – Howe, Thorimbert

Michigan Tech

LW-C-RW

B. Pietila-Kero-Petan

Furne-J. Johnstone-Hietala

D. Johnstone-Khaira-Gordic

Eick-Rix-A. Pietila

LD-RD

Seigo-Sweeney

Hyland-Sova

Stebner-Nielsen

Goalies -- Phillips, Copley, Genoe

TRAVEL ROSTER

Backup goalie Courtney Lockwood, defenseman Michael King, center Jordan DiGiando and wing Scott Wamsganz did not travel with the Tigers for this weekend’s series at Michigan Tech.