Western Collegiate Hockey Association Bruce M. McLeod Commissioner Carol LaBelle-Ehrhardt Assistant Commissioner of Operations Greg Shepherd Supervisor of Officials Administrative Office Western Collegiate Hockey Association 2211 S. Josephine Street, Room 302 Denver, CO 80210 p: 303 871-4491. f: 303 871-4770 clabelle@wcha.com Doug Spencer Associate Commissioner for Public Relations Western Collegiate Hockey Association 559 D Onofrio Drive, Ste. 103 Madison, WI 53719-2096 p: 608 829-0100. f: 608 829-0200 dspencer@mailbag.com Home of a Collegiate Record 37 Men s National Championship Teams Since 1951 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011 Men s Conference Members University of Alaska Anchorage Bemidji State University Colorado College University of Denver Michigan Technological University University of Minnesota University of Minnesota Duluth Minnesota State University University of Nebraska Omaha University of North Dakota St. Cloud State University University of Wisconsin 2012 Red Baron WCHA Final Five March 15-17 Xcel Energy Center Saint Paul, MN wcha.com November 28, 2011 Nine League Games Highlight Schedule for Opening Weekend of December as MTU Hosts UMD, UM Hosts MSU, UND Heads to UAA, BSU Visits SCSU CC Hosts DU in Single Game Friday Nebraska Omaha to Take on Host Alabama Huntsville in Nashville; North Dakota Battles Back with Nov. 25-26 WCHA Sweep of CC; Alaska Anchorage, UNO Both Secure Three-Point Weekends; Wisconsin Sweeps Mercyhurst; This Week s Division 1 Men s National Polls Find Minnesota Duluth at No. 4, Minnesota at No. 5, Colorado College at No. 8, Denver at No. 10, Michigan Tech at No. 20 UNO, UND and SCSU Receive Votes; Ticket Packages Continue on Sale for 2012 Red Baron WCHA Final Five, March 15-17 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul MADISON, Wis. Nine league games, including four two-game match-ups, will highlight the upcoming December 2-3 weekend of play in the men s Western Collegiate Hockey Association as Michigan Tech hosts Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota entertains Minnesota State, North Dakota travels to Alaska Anchorage and Bemidji State visits St. Cloud State. Colorado College, meanwhile, entertains Denver in a single WCHA contest on Friday. Three of those four two-game league series this weekend UM vs MSU, UND vs UAA and BSU vs SCSU will be the only two regular season encounters between the respective clubs. No. 20-ranked Michigan Tech (8-5-1, 5-4-1 WCHA) and No. 4-ranked Minnesota Duluth (9-3-2, 7-2-1 WCHA) will face-off at 7:07 pm ET each evening at John MacInnes Student Ice Arena (4,128) in Houghton. The Huskies are one of the most improved teams in college hockey under first-year head coach Mel Pearson while the defending national champion Bulldogs are unbeaten over their last 10 games at 8-0-2. The 2011-12 WCHA Men s Standings Conference Only Overall Pts GP Record Win% GF- GA GP Record Win% GF- GA 1 Minnesota 16 10 8-2- 0.800 36-19 16 11-4- 1.719 68-32 2 Minnesota Duluth 15 10 7-2- 1.750 42-21 14 9-3- 2.714 56-33 Nebraska Omaha 15 12 6-3- 3.625 44-41 16 7-6- 3.531 53-53 4 Denver 11 9 4-2- 3.611 36-30 13 6-4- 3.577 48-40 Michigan Tech 11 10 5-4- 1.550 30-25 14 8-5- 1.607 42-33 6 Colorado College 10 9 5-4- 0.556 40-33 11 7-4- 0.636 48-35 St. Cloud State 10 10 4-4- 2.500 29-28 16 6-7- 3.469 50-49 8 Wisconsin 9 12 4-7- 1.375 35-43 16 7-8- 1.469 52-52 9 North Dakota 8 10 4-6- 0.400 28-32 14 6-7- 1.464 40-45 10 Bemidji State 7 10 3-6- 1.350 23-35 14 5-8- 1.393 34-45 11 Alaska Anchorage 5 10 2-7- 1.250 17-38 14 5-7- 2.429 34-47 Minnesota State 5 10 2-7- 1.250 30-45 14 3-10- 1.250 35-57 This Week in the WCHA con t Games for Friday, December 2: Minnesota Duluth at Michigan Tech (WCHA), 7:07 pm ET; * Nebraska Omaha vs Alabama-Huntsville (NC), 7:00 pm CT; Minnesota State at Minnesota (WCHA), ; Bemidji State at St. Cloud State (WCHA), ; Denver at Colorado College (WCHA), 8:07 pm MT; North Dakota at Alaska Anchorage (WCHA),. * Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, TN). Games for Saturday, December 3: * Nebraska Omaha vs Alabama-Huntsville (NC), 1:00 pm CT; Minnesota Duluth at Michigan Tech (WCHA), 7:07 pm ET; Bemidji State at St. Cloud State (WCHA), ; Minnesota State at Minnesota (WCHA), ; North Dakota at Alaska Anchorage (WCHA), 7:07 pm AT. * Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, TN).
four-game regular season series between the Huskies and Bulldogs will then conclude with a rematch in Duluth on Jan. 27-28. League-leading and No. 5-ranked Minnesota (11-4-1, 8-2-0 WCHA), holding a one-point advantage in the current standings, will welcome Minnesota State (3-10-1, 2-7-1 WCHA) to Mariucci Arena (10,000) for back-to-back puck drops. Up at Sullivan Arena (6,251) in Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage (5-7-2, 2-7-1 WCHA) will skate against defending WCHA/MacNaughton Cup-champion North Dakota (6-7-1, 4-6-0 WCHA) at both Friday and Saturday. Both the Seawolves and Sioux are coming off successful Thanksgiving-weekend league series. At the National Hockey Center (5,371) in St. Cloud Friday and Saturday, the SCSU Huskies (6-7-3, 4-4-2 WCHA) will take on Bemidji State (5-8-1, 3-6-1 WCHA) in 7:37 pm and puck drops. And in a single conference game at on Friday night, No. 8-ranked Colorado College (7-4-0, 5-4-0 WCHA) will entertain arch-rival and No. 10-ranked Denver (6-4-3, 4-2-3 WCHA) at Colorado Springs World Arena (7,380). In their first meeting back on Nov. 12 at DU s Magness Arena, the Pioneers prevailed 5-4. The two teams will meet again on Feb. 3 in Denver and on Feb. 4 in Colorado Springs. Through the first seven weeks of 2011-12 WCHA competition, Minnesota continues to lead the pack of 12 with 16 points in 10 games played on a 8-2-0 record. Minnesota Duluth (10 gp, 7-2-1) and Nebraska Omaha (12 gp, 6-3-3) are one point back with 15 each, and Denver (9 gp, 4-2-3) and Michigan Tech (10 gp, 5-4-1) are tied for fourth with 11 points apiece. Currently sharing sixth place with 10 points are Colorado College (9 gp, 5-4-0) and St. Cloud State (10 gp, 4-4-2), Wisconsin (12 gp, 4-7-1) is eighth with nine points and North Dakota (10 gp, 4-6-0) is ninth with eight points. Bemidji State (10 gp, 3-6-1) is 10th this week with seven points followed by Alaska Anchorage (10 gp, 2-7-1) and Minnesota State (10 gp, 2-7-1) tied for 11th with five points each. The top six ranked teams at the conclusion of the regular season will earn home ice for the first round of men s WCHA playoffs. Those best-of-three series will be contested the weekend of March 9-11. The six first round playoff winners will then earn berths in the 2012 Red Baron WCHA Final Five, set for March 15-17 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. At the Final Five, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeded teams will receive a first-day bye. There will be two games played on Thursday at 2:07 pm and, and then two semi-final Last Week in the WCHA Results of Friday, November 25 Michigan Tech 2 at St. Lawrence 3 (NC) Minnesota 3 at Michigan State 4 (NC) Mercyhurst 2 at Wisconsin 7 (NC) Alaska Anchorage 5 at Minnesota State 4 (WCHA) Colorado College 6 at North Dakota 7 (WCHA) * Princeton 0 at Denver 3 (NC) * Denver Cup (Denver, CO) Results of Saturday, November 26 Michigan Tech 3 at St. Lawrence 1 (NC) Minnesota 4 at Michigan State 4 ot (NC) Alaska Anchorage 5 at Minnesota State 5 ot (WCHA) Colorado College 3 at North Dakota 4 (WCHA) St. Cloud State 3 at Nebraska Omaha 4 (WCHA) * Miami 4 at Denver 2 (NC) Mercyhurst 2 at Wisconsin 5 (NC) * Denver Cup (Denver, CO) Results of Sunday, November 27 St. Cloud State 2 at Nebraska Omaha 2 ot (WCHA) Coming Up in the WCHA Games for Friday, December 9 Minnesota Duluth at Wisconsin (WCHA), Michigan Tech at Minnesota (WCHA), Alabama-Huntsville at Minnesota State (NC), Denver at Bemidji State (WCHA), Nebraska Omaha at North Dakota (WCHA), Alaska Anchorage at Colorado College (WCHA), Games for Saturday, December 10 Alabama-Huntsville at Minnesota State (NC), Denver at Bemidji State (WCHA), Nebraska Omaha at North Dakota (WCHA), Alaska Anchorage at Colorado College (WCHA), Minnesota Duluth at Wisconsin (WCHA), 8:07 pm CT Michigan Tech at Minnesota (WCHA), 8:07 pm CT Games for Friday, December 16 Michigan Tech at Northern Michigan (NC), 7:35 pm ET Alabama-Huntsville at Bemidji State (NC), Colorado College at Minnesota State (WCHA), Denver at St. Cloud State (WCHA), Games for Saturday, December 17 Alabama-Huntsville at Bemidji State (NC), Colorado College at Minnesota State (WCHA), Denver at St. Cloud State (WCHA), Russian Red Stars at North Dakota (EX), matchups on Friday at 2:07 pm and. On Saturday, the Broadmoor Trophy championship game will be played at 7:07 pm CT. The winner of the Final Five receives the WCHA s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Outside the WCHA this Dec. 2-3 weekend, Nebraska Omaha (7-6-3) will head east to play against host Alabama Huntsville (0-14-1) in a pair of non-conference games at Bridgeport Arena in Nashville, Tenn. Face-offs between the Mavericks and the independent Chargers are at 7:05 pm CT on Friday and 1:05 pm CT on Saturday. Through games of Nov. 28, Western Collegiate Hockey Associationmember teams are a combined 24-17-5 (.576) in 46 non-conference outings. WCHA teams are 9-0-0 (1.000) vs the Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA), 5-3-1 (.611) vs ECAC Hockey (ECACH) and 5-5-3 (.500) vs the Hockey East Association (HEA), and 5-9-1 (.367) vs the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). Idle from on-ice competition this week is Wisconsin (7-8-1). In the three WCHA series contested over the Thanksgiving weekend of Nov. 25-27, North Dakota was the big winner with two victories and four points while both Alaska Anchorage and Nebraska Omaha secured three points each. At Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, host North Dakota posted back-to-back wins over Colorado College. In a 7-6 verdict last Friday, the Sioux received nine points from the line of left winger Brock Nelson (2g, 1a), center Corban Knight (3a) and right winger Danny Kristo (2g, 1a), with Nelson netting the game-winner on a power-play at 11:54 of the third. Last Saturday, that same line came back with seven more points with Nelson getting a goal and two assists and Kristo tallying a shorthanded game-winner at 6:09 of the final period. Leading the way for the Tigers against the Sioux was center Rylan Schwartz, who notched back-to-back three-goal hat tricks. At Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato last weekend, visiting Alaska Anchorage took home three points by virtue of a 5-4 victory and 5-5 (ot) tie. In the series opener on Nov. 25, defenseman Curtis Leinweber led the Seawolves with a goal and an assist while left winger Scott
Allen s first goal of the season at 14:25 of the third period proved to be the game-winner. On Nov. 26, the visiting Seawolves jumped out to a 5-1 advantage in the second period behind two more goals from Leinweber and a goal and an assist from right winger Brett Cameron before the host Mavericks rallied back to secure a tie and point as left winger Jean-Paul Lafontaine tallied twice and center Matt Leitner contributed three points with a goal and two assists. Scoring the game-tying goal for MSU at 10:24 of the third was defenseman Joe Schiller. At CenturyLink Center in Omaha this past Saturday and Sunday, host Nebraska Omaha also banked three WCHA points with a 4-3 triumph and 2-2 (ot) tie against St. Cloud State. On Nov. 26, left winger Terry Broadhurst scored the game-winner and set up two others for three points while linemates Alex Hudson (C, 1g, 1a) and Matt White (RW, 2a) each had two points. On Sunday, UNO took a 2-1 lead in the second period off a goal from White at 10:46 before the Huskies drew even at 2-2 on left winger Ben Hanowski s game-tying marker at 18:53. Neither team was able to score in the third period and overtime session. In non-conference results over Thanksgiving, host Wisconsin won twice over Mercyhurst of the Atlantic Hockey Association, Michigan Tech split at ECAC Hockey-member St. Lawrence, Minnesota lost and tied at CCHA-member Michigan State, and Denver split two contests in their own Denver Cup Classic. At the Kohl Center in Madison, UW center Mark Zengerle (1g, 7a) and defenseman Justin Schultz (3g, 4a) combined for 15 points in the 7-2 and 5-2 victories, with Schultz scoring the winner in the series opener. At St. Lawrence, after a 3-2 setback last Friday Michigan Tech came back for a 3-1 triumph over the Saints on Saturday as right winger Milos Gordic fired home the game-winner at 5:46 of the middle stanza. In East Lansing, center Nick Bjugstad led the way for visiting Minnesota against Michigan State, scoring two goals in a 4-3 defeat last Friday and contributing two assists in a 4-4 (ot) tie last Saturday. And at Magness Arena in Denver, the host Pioneers split their two tournament games in the Denver Cup Classic, blanking Princeton 3-0 in the opener on Nov. 25 before falling 4-2 to Miami in the title contest on Nov. 26. Against Princeton, goaltender Juho Olkinuora stopped all 38 opponent shots on goal and center Nick Shore bagged the game-winning goal and set up another. Against Miami, DU held a 34-28 advantage in shots on goal but the Pioneers went 0-of-5 on the power-play. Looking ahead to the weekend of Friday and Saturday, Dec. 9-10, a total of five two-game Western Collegiate Hockey Association series will have Wisconsin hosting Minnesota Duluth, Michigan Tech traveling to Minnesota, Bemidji State entertaining Denver, North Dakota hosting Nebraska Omaha and Alaska Anchorage venturing to Colorado College. In non-conference play, Minnesota State will welcome Alabama-Huntsville. In the latest USCHO.com Div. 1 Men s College Hockey Poll for Nov. 28, Minnesota Duluth is up to No. 4 nationally, MInnesota is at No. 5, Colorado College is at No. 8, Denver is at No. 10 and Michigan Tech is at No. 20. Also receiving votes this week from the WCHA were Nebraska Omaha, North Dakota and St. Cloud State. And in this week s (Nov. 28) USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Div. 1 Men s College Hockey Poll, Minnesota Duluth is ranked No. 4, Minnesota is No. 5, Colorado College is No. 8 and Denver is No. 10. Also receiving votes were Nebraska Omaha and North Dakota. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association, home to a record 37 national championship teams since it s founding in 1951 including the most recent NCAA Frozen Four title won by Minnesota Duluth in 2011 marks it s 60th season of on-ice competition in 2011-12. Visit www.wcha.com/mobile for Live League & National Scoreboards, Box Scores, Statistics The Western Collegiate Hockey Association s official web site wcha. com now features fully functional mobile pages where visitors can access live league and national scoreboards, in-game box scores, statistics, standings, etc. To access all the latest developments as games are in progress visit www.wcha.com/mobile. Catch the League s Weekly Radio Show This Week in the WCHA at WCHA.com The WCHA is pleased to once again provide it s weekly radio show This Week in the WCHA via wcha.com and to interested media outlets. The show is available each Friday at WCHA.com and is also available for electronic distribution. Hosted by Jim Rich and produced by Kevin Falness of the Minnesota Wild Radio Network, This Week in the WCHA runs 6-7 minutes and features key moments and highlights from live game broadcasts, post-game sound clips, and a look at upcoming games.
This Week in the National Polls USCHO.com Div. 1 Men s College Hockey Poll Minneapolis, Minn./November 28, 2011 Rk Team (First Place) Record Pts Last Week 1 Merrimack (48) 9-0-1 997 1 2 Boston College (2) 10-4-0 902 5 Notre Dame 10-3-3 902 2 4 Minnesota Duluth 9-3-2 814 6 5 Minnesota 11-4-1 803 3 6 Ferris State 10-3-1 705 7 7 Ohio State 10-3-1 700 9 8 Colorado College 7-4-0 649 4 9 Union College 7-3-3 489 13 10 Denver 6-4-3 480 10 11 Lake Superior State 10-4-2 462 13 12 Western Michigan 6-4-4 429 12 13 Boston University 7-4-1 417 15 14 Yale 5-3-1 352 8 15 Colgate 9-4-1 348 16 16 Michigan State 8-5-1 263 20 17 Cornell 6-3-0 215 17 18 Miami 8-6-2 174 NR 19 Michigan 7-7-2 159 11 20 Michigan Tech 8-5-1 95 18 Others receiving votes: Nebraska Omaha 94, Massachusetts- Lowell 17, North Dakota 11, Northern Michigan 8, Air Force 6, Clarkson 5, St. Cloud State 3, Harvard 1. The USCHO.com Poll consists of 50 voters, including 28 coaches from the Division 1 conferences and 22 beat writers and sports professionals from across the country. The poll, published weekly by the Associated Press, is a production of USCHO.com, which provides in-depth coverage of college hockey. USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men s Division 1 College Hockey Poll Week 9: November 28, 2011 Rk Team, Points (1st Place) Record Last Poll 1 Merrimack, 510 (34) 9-0-1 1 2 Notre Dame, 448 10-3-3 3 3 Boston College, 439 10-4-0 5 4 Minnesota, 396 11-4-1 2 5 Minnesota Duluth, 366 9-3-2 6 6 Ferris State, 318 10-3-1 7 7 Ohio State, 292 10-3-1 10 8 Colorado College, 257 7-4-0 4 9 Union College, 185 7-3-3 12 10 Denver, 181 6-4-3 9 11 Lake Superior State, 142 10-4-2 14 12 Western Michigan, 139 6-4-4 13 13 Boston University, 111 7-4-1 NR 14 Colgate, 98 9-4-1 15 15 Yale, 86 5-3-1 8 others receiving votes: Michigan State, 43; Miami University, 23; Cornell, 16; Michigan, 14; Nebraska Omaha, 12; Air Force Academy, 2; North Dakota, 2. November 27, 2011 Jeff Sauer Guides U.S. National Sled Hockey Team to Win Over Norway in 2011 World Sled Hockey Challenge Opener CALGARY, Alta. Nikko Landeros (Berthoud, Colo.) scored two goals and added an assist, as the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team defeated Norway, 5-1, in its first game of the 2011 World Sledge Hockey Challege here tonight at the WinSport Canada Ice Complex. Overall, I m really happy with how we played in our first game of the tournament, said Jeff Sauer, head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. We picked our intensity up in the third period and were able to get the win. The next games for the U.S. team were Monday against Japan and Wednesday against Canada. Fans can follow the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team at www. usahockey.com. Team USA 2011 World Sledge Hockey Challenge Schedule Nov. 27 - Dec. 3 Calgary, AB WinSport Canada Ice Complex Date Opponent, Time (EST) Sunday, Nov. 27 Norway W, 5-1 Monday, Nov. 28 Japan, 2:00 pm Wednesday, Nov. 30 Canada, 9:00 pm Thursday, Dec. 1 Semifinal #1, 2:00 pm Semifinal #2, 9:00 pm Saturday, Dec. 3 Third Place Game, 2:00 pm First Place Game, 6:00 pm GLI Hockey Tournament Tickets on Sale Michigan Tech Hosts Michigan, Michigan State and BC HOUGHTON, Mich. Tickets for the 47th annual Great Lakes Invitational Hockey Tournament Dec. 29-30 in Detroit are on sale now. The 2011 edition of the GLI will feature tournament mainstays Michigan Tech, Michigan, and Michigan State along with invitational team Boston College in a true tournament format at Joe Louis Arena, home of the NHL s Detroit Red Wings. The two semifinals will be played on Thursday, Dec. 29, beginning with Michigan Tech vs Michigan State at 4:00 pm ET. Michigan will take on Boston College in the second semifinal at 7:30 pm ET. On Friday, Dec. 30, the third-place game will start at 4:00 pm ET with the championship game scheduled for 7:30 pm ET. Three of the four teams are currently ranked in the nation s top 15 including No. 2 Boston College, No. 4 Michigan and No. 15 Michigan Tech. Tickets can be purchased through the Joe Louis Arena Box Office (313 396-7575), Ticketmaster (800 745-3000) or OlympiaEntertainment. com. Prices start as low as $10 each.
Tickets for 2012 NCAA Men s Division 1 Hockey West Regional in Saint Paul on Sale Now Tickets for the 2012 NCAA Division 1 Men s Hockey West Regional, co-hosted by the University of Minnesota and Xcel Energy Center on Saturday, March 24, and Sunday, March 25, in St. Paul, are on sale now. If Minnesota qualifies for the NCAA tournament, the Gophers will be assigned to play in the West Regional. All-session packages for the two-day event are priced at $90 (plus fees and taxes). Each 2012 Division 1 Men s Ice Hockey West Regional package includes one ticket to Session I (Saturday, March 24 two games) and one ticket to Session II (Sunday, March 25). The four participating teams will also host an open practice at Xcel Energy Center on March 23 before their opening round games. The regional winner will earn a trip to the NCAA Men s Frozen Four, which will be held at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla. Tickets may be purchased in person online at www.ncaa.com/ tickets, at the Xcel Energy Center box office, or by calling Ticketmaster charge-by-phone at 800-745-3000. To charge by phone using Ticketmaster TDD/TTY, call 800-359-2525. Note: game times will be announced by the NCAA in November. NCAA Men s Frozen Four Tickets on Sale 2012 Marks the First Time the Final will be Held in Florida INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. Tickets for the 2012 NCAA Men s Frozen Four went on sale Saturday, Nov. 19 at 10 am ET. Reserved all session tickets for both semifinals and the championship game are $195 and can be purchased by visiting NCAA.com/frozenfour. The event will take place on April 5 and 7 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla. The Men s Frozen Four has sold out 11 of the previous 12 years, with the only non-sellout occurring in 2010, when a crowd of 37,592 set the world indoor hockey attendance record at Ford Field in Detroit. The St. Pete Times Forum, which recently completed a $40 million renovation, will be known as the Tampa Bay Times Forum as of Jan. 1, 2012. This marks the first time the Frozen Four will be held in the state of Florida. both men s and women s member teams. In addition, the upgrades include: Easy access to standings and statistics right from the home page. A Live Game Day WCHA Scoreboard with links to live box scores that will appear on the home page on any day there is a game. A Live Game Day National Scoreboard with links to live box scores that will appear on the home page on any day there is a game. A Live Mobile WCHA Scoreboard box scores via www.wcha. com/mobile. This is a fully functional mobile website that also includes game stories, statistics, etc. A Live Mobile National Scoreboard box scores via www.wcha. com/mobile. Game story integration with game stories posted from all games to make the all-new WCHA.com a place fans want to visit more regularly. For example, on Saturday morning fans can read what happened in all Friday night games in one cohesive location. An Upgraded Standings Page includes information on headto-head records within the league. New Sortable Team Statistic Pages can be sorted by category at the top of the table. A New WCHA Against the Rest Page with records for each WCHA team against teams from other leagues. New WCHA-member team pages that feature direct links to each school s website, tickets, and audio and/or video broadcasts. Some of the new technology employed in the design of the all-new TheWCHAShop.com are upgraded photo zooming on the product pages, the ability for people to share product pages through places like Facebook and Twitter for added exposure, new TheWCHAShop. com Gift Certificates, and a new checkout process upgraded to a onepage checkout to make it easier for customers to shop. Additionally, TheWCHAShop.com is developing a mobile commerce website to allow for purchases from Smart Phones. Visit Us on the Web at WCHA.com Website Features Game Day Story Integration, Live Game-Day League & National Scoreboards, Mobile Applications; Sortable Statistics; Individual Player Pages; New On-Line Store at TheWCHAShop.com The Western Collegiate Hockey Association s official website WCHA.com was all-new for 2010-11. The WCHA teamed up with SportDesigns.com to provide visitors with a full-service experience that now features a significant number of upgrades, including new game-day live league and national scoreboards, fully-functional mobile pages, a host of new features including sortable statistics and individual player pages, and the league s on-line store TheWCHAShop.com. Now included at WCHA.com are game-day live scoreboards, fully functional mobile pages that include press releases, game stories, box scores, team and league stats and live game box scores, a more seemless integration of schedules, rosters, standings, live box scores, and statistics in conjunction with collegehockeystats.net, a new campus news section that features the latest press releases from
2012 Red Baron WCHA Final Five March 15-17 Xcel Energy Center Saint Paul, MN Download the WCHA Final Five Fan Guide Now at WCHA.com Featuring Information on Tickets, Hotels, Special Tournament Events, etc. The 2012 Red Baron WCHA Final Five will once again be held at one of the nation's premier ice hockey facilities, Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. Dates are Thursday, March 15, Friday, March 16 and Saturday, March 17. The six first-round playoff winners will be re-seeded No. 1 through No. 6, according to their regular season finish, and advance to the Final Five. 2012 Red Baron WCHA Final Five Schedule Thursday, March 15: Quarterfinals: 2:07 pm CT & Friday, March 16: Semifinals: 2:07 pm CT & Saturday, March 17: Broadmoor Trophy Championship Game, Red Baron WCHA Final Five Season Ticket Holders Season Ticket Holders: All tournament package holders for the Red Baron WCHA Final Five receive: discounted ticket pricing, right of first refusal to their seats the following year, seating upgrade opportunity (based on availability), and the ability to add additional packages. Season tickets will be mailed in February 2012. Tournament Ticket Packages: Reserve your tournament packages now to receive the best seats available following the season ticket holder renewal process. Alltournament packages are $160 for lower level, club level and upper level side sections and $75 for upper level end sections. Each ticket package includes five tickets, one ticket to each of the five games of the tournament. Group Tickets: Group tickets (10+) are available for tournament packages and individual games beginning December 5. Call (651) 312-3486. Single Game Tickets: Single game tickets (if available) go on sale to the public Monday, March 5, 2012. Purchase tickets in person at the Xcel Energy Center box office, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at (800) 745-3000. Individual Game Ticket Prices Game Date - Time (CT) LCU Upper Game 1: Quarterfinal Thursday, March 15-2:00 pm $25 $20 Game 2: Quarterfinal Thursday, March 15 7:00 pm $30 $20 Game 3: Semi-final Friday, March 16 2:00 pm $40 $20 Game 4: Semi-final Friday, March 16 7:00 pm $45 $20 Game 5: Championship Saturday, March 17 7:00 pm $45 $20 LCU = Lower, Club & Upper (Side) Levels; UPPER = Upper (End) Levels WCHA Fan Fest Friday, March 16 & Saturday, March 17 Iron Range Grill (Xcel Energy Center/Gate 4) 4:30 pm 6:30 pm Come celebrate the Red Baron WCHA Final Five with live music, interactive games, food & beverages and more! Cheerleaders, mascots and WCHA pep bands will rock the house with the school songs that lead their teams to victory! Microsoft Store WCHA Fan Fest is free and open to the public! Live Music Enjoy the sounds of local live music before the games on Friday and Saturday nights as these bands rock inside Gate 4 at the Iron Range Grill. Friday, March 16, 4:30 pm Uncle Chunk (www.unclechunk.com) Saturday, March 17, 4:30 pm Playback (www.playbackrocks.com) Dance Mania Bring your dance moves and shake what your momma gave you at the 2012 Red Baron WCHA Final Five Dance Mania Contest! Throughout the tournament, get up and dance when you hear the designated song! The person who shakes it the best throughout the entire tournament will walk away with $250 from Visit Saint Paul and tickets to the 2013 Red Baron WCHA Final Five. Costumes encouraged! Pick Your Final Five Get in on the action at this year s 2012 Red Baron WCHA Final Five with the Pick Your Final Five Sweepstakes! Pick the teams you think will be part of the 2012 Red Baron WCHA Final Five and you may go to the 2013 Red Baron WCHA Final Five with three friends for FREE! For details, visit www.xcelenergycenter.com/wcha. Stay & Play Saturday As you prepare for the championship game at 7 p.m. on Saturday, take time to enjoy all there is to do around Saint Paul. Hop on the FREE shuttle to Mall of America from the Crowne Plaza Hotel at 11 am, 1 pm and 3 pm. Take in the Minnesota Wild vs. Carolina Hurricanes at 1 pm. Or celebrate St. Patrick s Day at one of our local Irish pubs and then stop by the Microsoft Store WCHA Fan Fest at 4:30 pm.
WCHA Weekly Team Notebooks 112811 Seawolves University of Alaska Anchorage The Alaska Anchorage Seawolves will return to the Sullivan Arena to play host to the North Dakota Fighting Sioux for the teams only meetings of the 2011-12 regular season UAA and UND will face-off on Dec. 2-3 at 7:07 pm AST both nights UND holds the all-time series record against UAA, 43-18-4 and at UAA, 15-14-1 the last time UAA won was on Oct. 24, 2009 at home (2-1), while the last Seawolf sweep was on Nov. 17-18, 2006 (6-2, 4-2) at home in the last 10 outings, UND leads, 7-2-1 Last season, the Seawolves met for one WCHA series and a non-conference game on Oct. 8, 2010, UND and UAA skated to a 5-5 tie at the Sullivan Arena in the Kendall Hockey Classic in that game, UND was up 5-1, before UAA came back to send the game into extra minutes later on in the season on Feb. 11-12, UND swept UAA in Grand Forks, 6-1, 3-1 Prior to facing the Fighting Sioux, the Seawolves were on the road at Minnesota State UAA took a season-high three points from the Mavericks with a 5-4 win last Friday night and a 5-5 (ot) tie on Saturday night UAA s 10 goals in the two-game series easily topped the seven goals that UAA registered in its first eight WCHA games the Seawolves also scored four PPG s during the two games after scoring on the man advantage just twice in the first eight games UAA is now 2-1-1 in the last four games On Nov. 25, UAA collected its second win of league play and first league win on the road the Seawolves tallied a season-high five goals in league play and the first time scoring five goals since Oct. 15, when UAA recorded six against Mercyhurst the last time UAA scored five or more goals in a conference game was on Nov. 12, 2010 against Bemidji State (UAA won, 5-4) the Seawolves also scored two powerplay goals for the first time in league action this season and first since earlier this year against non-conference opponent Clarkson On Nov. 26, UAA posted a season-low 13 shots on net while allowing MSU to find the net for a season-high 46 shots the Seawolves were also tagged for a season-high 48 minutes of penalty time UAA now holds a five-game unbeaten streak against the Mavericks Individually, three Seawolves netted their first goals of the season last Friday night senior D/F Curtis Leinweber, sophomore F Brett Cameron and freshman F Scott Allen Allen collected the game-winning goal and the first collegiate point of his career Cameron and Leinweber each posted a multi-point game Cameron s fourth of his career and Leinweber s fifth junior F Mickey Spencer broke a seven-game scoreless streak with his team-leading 6th and 7th tallies over the weekend Spencer also leads UAA in points with nine, while junior D Scott Warner leads in assists with six suiting up in his first collegiate game on Nov. 25 was freshman F Kory Roy freshman F Eric Scheid produced his first collegiate multi-point night with two assists on Nov. 26 the Blaine, Minn., native has recorded 1-4=5 totals in the last five games Throughout the MSU series last weekend, UAA was without senior F Jade Portwood and junior forwards Daniel Naslund and Alex Gellert due to injuries. Beavers Bemidji State University The Bemidji State University men's hockey team returns to the ice this weekend to face St. Cloud State University The Beavers were idle last weekend The Beavers and Huskies have met on 86 previous occasions, dating back to the 1947-48 campaign, with SCSU holding 44-39-3 edge in the series St. Clpoud State took last year's seasons series 3-1-0, with two of the four meetings decided in overtime, including BSU's 3-2 victory on Nov. 6 In its last action (Nov. 19-20), Bemidji State split a Western Collegiate Hockey Association with North Dakota The Fighting Sioux used three goals in the final five minutes of the series opener to separate from the Beavers and gain a 5-2 victory On that Sunday, BSU got its revenge riding strong defense and special teams play to a 1-0 win That Sunday's 1-0 victory over North Dakota marked the Beavers' first win versus UND since Feb. 6, 1970 BSU is now 2-22-1 all-time versus UND Seven BSU players logged their names in the scoring column over the Nov. 19-20 weekend with goals coming off the sticks of Jordan George, Brance Orban and Brad Hunt George now leads the Beavers with seven goals and a pair of game-winners George's goal on Nov. 19 came on the power-play marking BSU first special teams goals since Oct. 22 a streak spanning eight games, 20 power-play opportunities and 479:32 minutes It ended the longest span of time without a goal on the man-advantage since the Beavers the move to the Division 1 level for the 1999-2000 season Dan Bakala's 26-save shutout on Nov. 20 stood as the senior's first of the season and seventh of his career He finished the weekend vs UND 1-1-0 with a 2.02 goals-against average and.934 save percentage in 118:49 minutes between the pipes BSU's 1-0 victory over UND on Nov. 20 was just the seventh in the history of the program Since making the jump to the Division 1 ranks for the 1999-2000 season, BSU is 3-57-7 hen scoring only one goal On Nov. 19, BSU was out scored 3-1 in the third period extending a trend in 2011-12 BSU has now been outscored 19-8 in the third period of 2011-12 games, which includes a 15-4 deficit in the third period of WCHA contests Only Alaska Anchorage (2) has scored more infrequently during the third period in WCHA play this season and the Seawolves have played one fewer game (8) than BSU (10) The Bemidji State penalty-kill unit allowed two power-play goals on Nov. 19 for the first time since Miami (Ohio) scored two goals on six man-advantage opportunities Oct. 7 the Beavers first game of the season BSU finished the UND weekend 1- for-5 on the power-play and are now 8-for-45 (.178) on the season, which includes a 7-for-34 (.206) mark in league play to rank seventh The BSU penalty-kill held UND scoreless on six power-play opportunities on Nov. 20 to finish the weekend 8-for-10 BSU is now 51-of-62 (.823) on the season, which includes snuffing out 37-for-44 (.841) in WCHA play to rank third in the league Shea Walter s third-period goal on Nov. 19 stands as his sixth of the season a new single-season career-high He is now second on the team in goals scored and has netted six of his career 14 goals in the first 14 games of the 2011-12 season Out-shot both games in the UND series to the tune of 62-49, BSU has been out shot in 11 of its 14 games this season BSU now trails its opponents in shots on goal 437-332, which includes a 346-240 differential in nine WCHA games BSU is now 2-8-1 when being out shot, 2-0-0 when out shooting its opponent and 1-0-0 when shots are even With a goal this weekend, Brad Hunt is just three points shy of the 100-point plateau With 22-75=97 points, the senior captain is seventh on BSU s all-time defenseman scoring list Only five defenders in the history of the program have gone over the 100-point plateau The last was Jude Boulianne Jr. (1991-95) The Bemidji State (5-8-1, 3-6-1 WCHA) vs St. Cloud State (6-7-3, 4-4-2 WCHA) series gets underway at 7:37 pm this Friday with a 7:07 pm opening face-off slated for the following evening Both games will take place at the National Hockey Center. Tigers Colorado College CC, which went 3-4-2 in its first nine games against North Dakota at the new Engelstad Arena, is just 1-5-1 in the last seven and winless (0-3-1) since its last victory there on Nov. 3, 2007 The Tigers are 19-81-6 in 106 all-time appearances in Grand Forks With three hat tricks already in 2011-12, junior center Rylan Schwartz still remains four shy of former great Bob McCusker s single-season school record of seven set in 1956-57 Colorado College s Joe Slattery earlier posted six during the 1947-48 campaign Schwartz now has struck for 17 of his 29 career goals as a Tiger in the last 14 games dating back to a 4-3 loss to the Fighting Sioux at last season s WCHA Final Five in St. Paul, Minn. He scored twice in
Weekly Team Notebooks con t that game, and now has collected eight tallies in his last three outings against UND Last Saturday s 4-3 defeat marked the first time since its season opener against Bemidji State that CC scored fewer than four goals in a game The Tigers currently lead the nation with an average of 4.36 red lighters per contest overall Colorado College, which converted on three of 11 power-play opportunities against the Sioux last weekend, has clicked for at least one PPG in 10 consecutive outings since going for 0-for-4 vs. BSU on Oct. 14 The Tigers lead the WCHA and rank third nationally with a 26.3% success ratio (15-for-57) with the manpower advantage With a pair of assists in both games last weekend, sophomore left wing Jaden Schwartz extended his point-scoring streak to 17 consecutive games dating back to the final six of last season He has picked up at least one assist in five straight outings Last Saturday, when Rylan Schwartz opened the scoring just :40 seconds into the game, marked the fourth time in 2011-12 that CC has lit the lamp in the first minute of a period The shorthanded goal by North Dakota in the third period of last Saturday s game was the fourth scored against Colorado College this season The Tigers gave up 11 SHG in 2010-11, tying for the national lead Secondperiod tallies last Friday by senior center Nick Dineen and Rylan Schwartz came just :16 seconds apart, representing CC s quickest two goals of the campaign The Tigers now have struck twice in less than two minutes on eight occasions in 2011-12 Seven of those pairs have come within :65 seconds of each other, six in under a minute With a goal and an assist in last Friday s 7-6 loss, senior defenseman Gabe Guentzel recorded the 19th multiple-point game of his collegiate career He ranks second nationally among defensemen with 1.09 points per contest this season With four points (1g, 3a) in the recent series at UND, junior forward Scott Winkler improved his season total to 12 (3g, 9a) That s one more than the total of his first two years as a Tiger Junior defenseman Mike Boivin, who recorded an assist in both games against the Sioux, also has surpassed his offensive production of last season with 10 points (2g, 8a) already in 2011-12 Colorado College s blue-line corps collectively has accounted for 33 points (6g, 27a) through 11 games. Pioneers University of Denver Denver (6-4-3, 4-2-3 WCHA) begins its five-game road swing at Colorado College (7-4-0, 5-4-0 WCHA) on Friday, Dec. 2 The Pioneers are tied fourth in the WCHA at 11 points, while the Tigers are tied for sixth at 10 points DU and CC meet for the 281st time in the all-time series that dates back to 1950 The Pioneers defeated the Tigers, 5-4, on Nov. 12 and need a win to retain the Gold Pan Trophy for the third consecutive year CC leads the Gold Pan Trophy series 10-8, but DU leads the all-time series 157-109-14 The Pioneers are 8-18-3 all-time at World Arena vs. CC Drew Shore and Jason Zucker lead DU in scoring with 18 points (6g, 12a) and 17 points (6g, 11a), respectively Joey LaLeggia (6g, 5a), Nick Shore (4g, 7a) and Beau Bennett (3g, 8a) have added 11 points each Shore has eight points (2g, 6a) during his five-game point streak and Zucker has seven points (2g, 5a) during his five-game point streak LaLeggia leads NCAA rookie blueliners in points (11), goals (6) and assists (5) Adam Murray (5-2-1, 3.40 GAA,.902 Sv%) and Juho Olkinuora (1-2-2, 1.91 GAA,.933 Sv%) have shared goaltending duties Olkinuora started both games during last weekend s Denver Cup Classic in place of the injured Murray, who is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury Olkinuora stopped 62 of 65 shots last weekend and recorded 38 saves for his first career shutout in Denver s 3-0 win over Princeton DU ranks ninth in the WCHA on the power-play at 18.6% (11-for-59) and fourth on the penalty-kill at 80.9% (55-for-68) DU continues WCHA play at Bemidji State (Dec. 9-10) and St. Cloud State (Dec. 16-17). Huskies Michigan Technological University After a 13-day road trip that covered more than 9,000 miles, the Michigan Tech hockey team returns to home ice this weekend The Huskies host defending national champion Minnesota Duluth Friday and Saturday (Dec. 2-3) at 7:07 pm both nights Tech s last home series was Nov. 4-5 vs. Minnesota State The Black and Gold are 6-1-1 at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena this season Freshman Tanner Kero (Hancock, MI) tallied a goal in each game of Tech s split at St. Lawrence last weekend The center scored with an extra attacker on the ice late in a 3-2 loss last Friday, then had an even-strength tally in the Huskies 3-1 win Saturday. Kero owns 6-2=8 in his rookie campaign Senior Brett Olson (Superior, WI) had a point in both games last weekend to increase his team scoring lead The captain owns five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 14 games this season He has scored at least one point in 12-of-14 games on the year Goaltender Josh Robinson (Frankenmuth, MI) continued his strong senior season with two starts at St. Lawrence The 6-0, 185- pound netminder tallied 44 saves while allowing just four goals in the two games to improve his season numbers to a 2.07 goals-against average and.929 save percentage Both marks rank among the top 15 in the nation Robinson is currently third in the WCHA in save percentage in league games (.926) Tech s team leaders in goals are sophomore Milos Gordic (Burnaby, BC) and freshman Tanner Kero (Hancock, MI) with six apiece Three others Brett Olson (Superior, WI), Blake Pietila (Milford, MI) and Jacob Johnstone (Grand Ledge, MI) have five goals each Freshman David Johnstone (Grand Ledge, MI) notched a team-high three points last weekend with three assists The left wing currently has the fourth-most points and second-most assists on the team with 1-8=9 on the year Milos Gordic (Burnaby, BC) is tied for the national lead in power-play goals per game (0.5), having scored four power-play goals in eight games this season The sophomore hasn t played in 75 percent of the team s games (only eight of 14), otherwise he would rank tied for seventh in the country in overall goals per game (six in eight games 0.75 per game) Tech ranks third in the WCHA and 15th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 2.36 goals per game The Huskies have already doubled their win total from 2010-11 (four) with eight wins in their first 14 games. Golden Gophers University of Minnesota The Gophers host WCHA rival Minnesota State this weekend at Mariucci Arena The Mavericks are the last team to sweep the Gophers in the regular season, as they won 3-2 and 2-1 in Mankato on Dec. 3-4, 2010 Minnesota is 8-2-0 in the WCHA and alone in first place with 16 points Minnesota Duluth, who the Gophers swept on the road earlier this year, is second with a 7-2-1 record and 15 points Nebraska Omaha, who has played 12 WCHA games, is 6-3-3 and also has 15 points The Gophers stepped out of WCHA play this past weekend when they traveled to East Lansing, Mich., for a pair of games against soon-to-be Big Ten rival Michigan State Minnesota went 0-1-1 against the Spartans as they lost 4-3 on Friday and tied 4-4 on Saturday It was the first weekend all year that the Gophers did not win at least one game Minnesota was 1-1-6 in overtime games last season This year the Gophers are 1-0-1 in overtime as they won at Minnesota Duluth on Oct. 14 and tied at Michigan State last Saturday Saturday's 4-4 tie was the sixth game in the last 12 meetings between the Gophers and Spartans that went past regulation All of those games ended in ties The Gophers just completed a tough stretch of their schedule where they played seven of 10 games away from Mariucci Arena The 10-game stretch included two road games at Alaska Anchorage, Wisconsin and Michigan State (last year the Gophers played only eight games outside of Minnesota the entire season) The other road game was at St. Cloud State Minnesota went 6-3-1 (3-3-1 on the road) during the 10-game stretch The Gophers won
Weekly Team Notebooks con t all three home games, as they swept North Dakota and beat St. Cloud State Nine of Minnesota s first 16 games were played on the road The Gophers, who are 5-3-1 away from home, have only seven more road games left all season and will not play a road game again until Jan. 13-14, 2012 when it travels to North Dakota In addition to heading to North Dakota, Minnesota will also play one road game at St. Cloud State and two games at Denver and Nebraska Omaha Minnesota is 12-7-4 in its last 23 road games dating back to the start of last season Minnesota finished last year with a 9-10-3 record at Mariucci Arena (first season under.500 at the new Mariucci) The Gophers are 6-1-0 this year at home (where they will play their next seven games) and have outscored their opponents 35-7 The Gophers are undefeated on Saturdays this year with a 6-0-1 record Minnesota, which has the second best offense in the nation by averaging 4.25 goals-per-game, has scored 68 goals in its first 16 games Last season, the Gophers scored 54 goals in their first 16 games (3.37 goals-per-game) This season, Minnesota has scored three or more goals in 14 of its 16 games Last season, the Gophers scored two or fewer goals in seven of its first 16 games One of the reasons that Minnesota has been scoring often this year is sophomore center Nick Bjugstad The Blaine, Minn., native is tied for first in the nation in points (25) and goals (15). Bjugstad had 13 points (9g, 4a) in eight November games He had at least one point in seven games and had a goal in six games In his last four games (all multiple-point games), he had nine points (6g, 3a), which included his first career hat trick against St. Cloud State on Nov. 19 Nick Bjugstad has 15 goals in 16 games this year He is the first Gopher to score 15 goals since Ryan Stoa tallied 24 goals in 36 games in the 2008-09 season Mike Hoeffel led the Gophers with 13 goals in 35 games last year and with 14 goals in 34 games in the 2009-10 season In his last 32 games (since returning to the Gophers from last year s World Junior Championship), Nick Bjugstad has 41 points (21g, 20a) Also dating back to last season, Bjugstad has 20 goals in his last 22 games Minnesota s sophomore class has produced the bulk of the scoring for the Gophers this year The Maroon and Gold has 176 points (68g, 108a) this year and the sophomore class has recorded 106 of those points (40g, 66a) points (60.2%) There are 11 sophomores on the team and all of them except Chris Student have played Of the 10 who have played, only defenseman Jake Parenteau is scoreless Nick Bjugstad leads the way with 25 points and is followed by Erik Haula with 21 Freshman Kyle Rau scored last Saturday at Michigan State and now has 10 goals on the year He is the first Minnesota freshman to score 10 goals since Jordan Schroeder had 13 goals in 35 games in the 2008-09 season Prior to Schroeder, Jay Barriball had 20 goals as a freshman in 2006-07. Bulldogs University of Minnesota Duluth After a one-week respite, the defending NCAA champion Bulldogs return to the ice this weekend to face long-time WCHA rival Michigan Tech University in Houghton UMD went 4-0-0 against the Huskies one year ago, winning 5-3 and 4-2 on Nov. 12-13 at the DECC and 5-0 and 3-0 in Houghton on Jan. 21-22 (marking the first time in team history the Bulldogs swept a series with two shutouts) The Bulldogs have reeled off five straight victories at the Huskies expense and are unbeaten in six of the last seen meetings between the two clubs (6-1-0) UMD also hasn t surrendered a goal to Michigan Tech in the last 154:50 of play The Bulldogs will bring the nation s longest unbeaten streak (10 games) into Friday night s clash with the Huskies UMD has gone 8-0-2 since falling 5-4 in overtime to visiting Minnesota on Oct. 15 UMD has dropped only five of its last 27 games away from Duluth going back to the start of last year (16-5-6 for a.704 winning percentage) The Bulldogs are also currently riding an eight-game road unbeaten streak (it is 6-0-2 since the opening of the 2011 NCAA tournament, including a 2-0-2 mark this season) The Bulldogs have been idle since posting their third consecutive home sweep with a 5-2 and 7-3 triumph over Minnesota State, Mankato on Nov. 18-19 UMD got points from 15 different players in the series, including sophomore right winger J.T. Brown, who scored twice and added three assists The seven goals the Bulldogs racked up in the rematch with MSU were a 2011-12 single-game high Senior center and two-time All-American Jack Connolly, who will take a careerhigh 12-game scoring streak into this weekend s series in Houghton, currently is tied for sixth in the country in scoring (eight goals and 13 assists for a 1.50 points per game average) and shares the WCHA lead for power-play points with 14 With two goals and two assists in UMD s two-game sweep of MSU, Connolly jacked his career scoring harvest to a nation-leading 158 points on 54 goals and 104 assists That puts the 2010-11 Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist in 18th place on UMD s all-time scoring charts, five points behind the No. 17 occupant, threetime All-WCHA honoree Mike Peluso (1994-98) and six points behind his former linemate, Justin Fontaine (2007-11) at No. 16 The 158 points Connolly has rolled up as a collegian are 33 more than the next closest active NCAA skater (Yale senior forward Brian O Neill) Connolly, the country s top returning scorer from a year ago (he finished third in the NCAA with a career-high 59 points), has been a model of consistency when it comes to offensive contributions Case in Point: Since the start of the 2009-10 season, he has been held pointless for more than one game only once (Jan. 23 and Jan. 29, 2010) Connolly, a member of the All-WCHA First Team and WCHA All-Academic Team the past two winters, has suited up in all 139 outings over the past four seasons He is just the second two-time All-American the Bulldogs have ever had in their lineup (defenseman Norm Maciver, in 1985-86, was the other) During their 10-game unbeaten streak, the Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 41-15 Senior goaltender Kenny Reiter, who has made 13 consecutive starts, picked up both wins in the two-game sweep over MSU In his last 10 appearances, the Pittsburgh, Pa. native is 8-0-2 with a 1.48 goals-against, a.947 saves percentage and three shutouts Reiter, a three-time WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award recipient, currently ranks fourth in the WCHA in both goals-against average (2.12) and saves percentage (.922) while his winning percentage (.769 off a 9-2-2 record) tops the league and is the fourth best mark nationally In addition, his three shutouts this season are bettered by only two other NCAA netminders (Minnesota s Kent Patterson with five and Clarkson s Paul Karpowich with four) Reiter is now 38-19-7 for his career with the with Bulldogs That translates into a.648 winning percentage, the second best figure in club history behind All-American Rick Kosti s.753 mark (60-18-2 between 1983-85) Going back to the start of the 2011 NCAA playoffs, the Pittsburgh, Pa., native has lost just twice in his last 17 appearances (13-2-2) UMD currently sports the highest-scoring senior class in the NCAA The seven Bulldogs in the group, including goaltender Kenny Reiter (1a) and left winger Cody Danberg, who suffered a season-ending knee injury on the opening night of play last month, have combined to produce 25 goals and 46 assists for 71 points 16 points more than their nearest competitor, Clarkson University Senior center Travis Oleksuk, who has pieced together two different five-game scoring streaks this season (the last of which was terminated by MSU on Nov. 19), stands fourth in the WCHA in goals with 12 two shy of his career best which he set last winter The Thunder Bay, Ont., product, who is a plus-10 on the year, has picked up at least one point in all but one (vs. Bemidji State on Oct. 29) of UMD s 14 outings this season The Bulldogs have outshot the opposition in all but one game thus far (at Denver on Nov. 6) and hold a 498-382 advantage in that department UMD s 35.6 shots per game average is the sixth best figure in the NCAA at the moment Left wing Caleb Herbert, who collected three goals (including a pair in the opener) and one assist against MSU, has moved into second place in the WCHA rookie scoring race with 14 points UMD has gotten more scoring production out of its defensemen (42 points) than all but one blueline crew in the entire country (Michigan with 50 points, Wisconsin with 46 and Minnesota with 43) Sophomore right winger J.T. Brown, a 2010-11 All-WCHA Rookie Team pick and the reigning Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player, has picked up a goal or an assist in each of the last seven outings and is now eighth in overall WCHA scoring with 19 points