INSIDE HOCKEY

This 2007-08 season, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) was once again one of the dominant conferences in college hockey. Currently, the conference has seven teams in the top 14 in the pairwise rankings, all of whom would be in the NCAA tournament if the season ended today. However, only five of those teams have home ice. Colorado College, North Dakota and Denver are the teams to beat with Minnesota State, St. Cloud State, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth as the wild cards.

Here is a look at the first round match-ups.

#1 Colorado College vs. #10 Alaska-Anchorage

The Colorado College Tigers bring together a mix of youth and leadership. Junior Chad Rau and seniors Jack Hillen and Jimmy Kilpatrick bring the leadership while sensational freshman goaltender Richard Bachman and sophomore defensemen Brian Connolly and Nate Prosser bring the mix of young talent.

Head coach Scott Owens has his team playing well when it matters most. The Tigers took the MacNaughton Cup as the conference’s regular season champion this past Friday against Denver, and completed a sweep of their rivals the next night.

On the other side, the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves had the week off. Their last series was against Minnesota and the Seawolves came out with one point. This young club, led by sophomores Josh Lunden, Kevin Clark and Paul Crowder has a bright future ahead of them. This year however, head coach Dave Shyiak and the club went through some growing pains going 7-19-8 while capturing just three victories in the conference. Time will come for the Seawolves, but for now they will play the role of underdog once again.

#2 North Dakota vs. #9 Michigan Tech

Ranked as the pre-season number one team before the year even began, the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota had an up and down first half, though things changed in the second half. The Sioux’s last loss was January 4th against St. Cloud State and since then they have gone 14-0-3. During that span Dave Hakstol’s club outscored their opponents 52-22.

Thanks to the play of J.P. Lamoureux in net (most likely to be a Hobey Baker Finalist), the Sioux defense has given up the fewest goals in the nation (62). Robbie Bina, Chay Genoway and Taylor Chorney are prime candidates to be on the all WCHA team and have been the major players on defense. T.J. Oshie, Ryan Duncan and Chris VandeVelde are the leading scorers for the Sioux.

Last year, Michigan Tech made it to the Final Five. This year, the conference was so strong that the Huskies ended up on the short end. Juniors Michael-Lee Teslak and Rob Nolan split the duty between the pipes, each having a solid season. Peter Rouleau and Tyler Shelast were the team’s leading scorers. Head coach Jamie Russell did see some improvement from his club, but with a tough first round opponent, expect the club to prepare for next season.

#3 Denver vs. #8 Minnesota-Duluth

Does this sound familiar, Denver in slump mode? That’s what the team has seen over the past few months. Since January, the Pioneers have gone 6-9-1, but the team is in such good position in the pairwise rankings that even if they fall this weekend, they should still make the NCAA tournament.

Brock Trotter, who left in February to sign a pro contract, is still the team’s leading scorer and goaltender Peter Mannino has been standing on his head the past few games. The freshmen class, led by Tyler Bozak and Kyle Ostrow, is a solid bunch and will have to step up if the Pioneers want to avoid another first round upset.

Minnesota-Duluth just came off a split of Minnesota, and they want in on the action. Currently, the Bulldogs are tied for 14th in the pairwise with Boston University, but Scott Sandelin’s club would be the last team out if the season ended today.

The Bulldogs did not have one goal scorer with ten goals. While their offense is lacking, the defense has played well. Sophomore Alex Stalock has three shutouts on the year thanks to in large part of the defensive play of Jason Garrison, Josh Meyers and the rest of the defense. The offense will have to get going if they want to knock Denver out of the tournament, again.

#4 Minnesota State vs. #7 Minnesota

Head coach Troy Jutting had one of his better years since he took over the Mavericks in the 2000-01 season. Jutting will look to guide the team to their first NCAA appearance since 2002-03.

Mike Zacharias has taken over the number one spot in between the pipes and has played well. With four shutouts, a 2.21 goals-against-average and a 17-11-4 mark, Zacharias numbers proved to be good. Mick Berge is the team’s leading goal scorer with 19 and will look for more against the Golden Gophers.

Minnesota on the other hand, had a roller coaster ride. Head coach Don Lucia did not post 20 regular season wins (before conference tournament time) for the first time since 1999-00 when the Gophers had 17 victories before the tournament. Kyle Okposo left in December and signed with the Islanders, however, Blake Wheeler and Ben Gordon have played well in his place. In net, freshman Alex Kangas started 24 games and has played very well. Expect Kangas to be a key factor in this series.

#5 St. Cloud State vs. #6 Wisconsin

The match-up everyone in the college hockey world will be watching is between these two bubble teams. St. Cloud State has three players with 40-plus points, Ryan Lasch, Garrett Roe and Andreas Nodl. This trio is lethal and one of them can light the lamp at any given moment.

Goaltender Jase Weslosky did a good job replacing Bobby Infertile. Weslosky played in 29 games allowing only 59 goals against him. Aaron Brocklehurst is a good two way player helping Weslosky’s cause, while Garrett Raboin improved on the defensive side in his sophomore year.

Wisconsin on the other hand, is a team no one knows. What Badger team will show up? Is it a team that can score five one night, or is it a team that will lose that tough 1-0 game?

Kyle Turris played in 32 games and is the team’s leading scorer. Four of the top five scorers are either freshmen or sophomores, which is a good sign for the future if they all stay. Shane Connelly had the tough task of replacing legend Brian Elliott in net, but he has done well. Senior defensemen Kyle Klubertanz and Davis Drewiske want to go back to the Frozen Four; however, a victory in this series is a must if the Badgers want to get into the NCAA tournament.

Upset Alert: Denver

Sleeper Team: Minnesota-Duluth

Tournament Final Prediction: North Dakota over Colorado College