The top three teams remain the same this week after none of them were able to sweep their respective home series. Minnesota remains in first after recovering on Saturday to split their series with Denver. St. Cloud State remains in second after a disastrous loss to Michigan Tech on Saturday night prevented SCSU from clinching a share of the McNaughton Cup. North Dakota was unable to makeup much ground on the top two after tying Bemidji State on Saturday. Minnesota State climbed up to fourth this week after earning a split in Colorado Springs while Wisconsin vaulted themselves up two spots to fifth after sweeping Nebraska Omaha in Omaha. UNO fell the farthest, dropping three spots behind Minnesota, State, Wisconsin and Denver. Minnesota Duluth swept a non-conference series with future WCHA member, Alabama Huntsville but remained ninth. Alaska Anchorage was swept by interstate rival Alaska over the weekend and remained in last place.
It’s been a crazy season for the WCHA. With one weekend remaining, five teams still have a chance at a share of the regular season title including the possibility of a four-way tie. Seven teams are still eligible to potentially host a playoff series and for the first time in WCHA history, a team with 29 points or more, will not be home for the first round of WCHA playoffs. Due to the fact that Alaska Anchorage hosts Denver on Sunday, we may not know quite a bit of the WCHA playoff matchups until Sunday evening. All-in-all, the final season for the majority of the membership has turned out to be one of the tightest races to the finish.
Here’s a look at the results the Tech Hockey Guide WCHA Web Media Poll for Week 21:
Pts | Previous | Record | High | Low | ||
1) | Minnesota (7) | 138 | 1 | 22-7-5 | 1 | 3 |
2) | St. Cloud State (4) | 129 | 2 | 20-13-1 | 1 | 4 |
3) | North Dakota (1) | 126 | 3 | 18-9-7 | 1 | 3 |
4) | Minnesota State | 103 | 5 | 21-10-3 | 2 | 7 |
5) | Wisconsin | 93 | 7 | 16-11-7 | 4 | 6 |
6) | Denver | 88 | 6 | 17-11-5 | 4 | 7 |
7) | Nebraska Omaha | 79 | 4 | 18-14-2 | 5 | 7 |
8) | Colorado College | 60 | 8 | 13-16-5 | 8 | 8 |
9) | Minnesota Duluth | 47 | 9 | 12-17-5 | 9 | 10 |
10) | Michigan Tech | 34 | 10 | 11-17-4 | 9 | 11 |
11) | Bemidji State | 27 | 11 | 6-18-8 | 10 | 11 |
12) | Alaska Anchorage | 12 | 12 | 4-21-7 | 12 | 12 |
About the Panel:
Representing | Name | Publication | |
Alaska-Anchorage | Taylor Hall | College Hockey News | @thall907 |
Bemidji State | Troy Mills | The Beaver Pond | |
Colorado College | Joe Paisley | Colorado Springs Gazette | @Paisleyhockey |
Denver | Mike Chambers | Denver Post | @MChambersDP |
Michigan Tech | Tim Braun | Tech Hockey Guide | @TBraunTHG |
Minnesota | Dan Myers | Minnesota Hockey Magazine | @1DanMyers |
Minnesota Duluth | Bruce Ciskie | The Ciskie Blog | @BruceCiskie |
Minnesota State | Chris Dilks | Western College Hockey | @ChrisDilks |
Nebraska-Omaha | Matt Semisch | Radio Free Omaha | @matthewsemisch |
North Dakota | Eric Burton | Goon’s World | @goon48 |
St. Cloud State | Jeremy Larson | Husky Hockey Time | @jclarson02 |
Wisconsin | Andy Johnson | Bucky’s 5th Quarter | @andyjohnsonB5Q |