Two months into the season and who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve thunk that the Seawolves would be tied with the Badgers and the Gophers would be struggling to get league wins? North Dakota\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also middle-of-the-pack — much lower than they were predicted, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just par for the course for the Fighting Sioux under Dave Hakstol in the first half of the season.<\/p>\n
Of course, we still have about three months until the end of the season which means the coaches still think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153early\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and, good for the rest of us, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still plenty of hockey left to play.<\/p>\n
Red Baron WCHA Offensive Player of the Week:<\/i> Chad Rau, Colorado College (again).
\nWhy:<\/i> Led all conference players over the weekend with four points in the Tigers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 split with the University of Denver — a hat trick on Friday and an assist on Saturday.
\nAlso Nominated:<\/i> Tyler Ruegsegger, DU; Ben Street, UW.<\/p>\n
Red Baron WCHA Defensive Player of the Week:<\/i> John Swanson, St. Cloud State.
\nWhy:<\/i> Was a plus-three, had one goal and two assists and helped his Huskies kill off 15 of 16 Clarkson power plays in the series against the Golden Knights.
\nAlso Nominated:<\/i> Nate Prosser, CC; Alex Kangas, UM.<\/p>\n
Red Baron WCHA Rookie of the Week:<\/i> Richard Bachman, Colorado College.
\nWhy:<\/i> Stopped 52 of 56 Pioneer shots in the weekend series with Denver as well as helped CC prevent the Pioneers from getting a power play goal on the weekend.
\nAlso Nominated:<\/i> Alex Kangas, UM; Ryan McDonagh, UW.<\/p>\nSCSU — Filling the Holes<\/h4>\n
At the beginning of the season, St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko said his team probably had the most questions coming into this season. It was easy to see why — the team lost its star goaltender, Bobby Goepfert, and basically turned over the entire defensive corps.<\/p>\n
However, two months into the season, and it looks like the Huskies have had no problem answering those questions. If you count and keep DU and CC as the favorites for the top-two in the league, St. Cloud State looks to be an early contender for third — and home ice — not in the latter half of the league like I (and the other pundits) thought way back in late September. (Even though they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re there currently. Need I continue to stress that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still early, people?)<\/p>\n
Granted, I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen the Huskies play yet this season (don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry — I will), but the current numbers speak for themselves:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Ryan Lasch and Garrett Roe are tops in the WCHA (second in the nation) in scoring with 20 points.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Lasch has the most goals in the WCHA (10) and is seventh in the nation.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Roe is tied with most assists in the league (11) and is tied for sixth nationally.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Roe has the most power play points in the WCHA (16) as well as the most power play goals in the league (6), good enough to be tied for fourth overall.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Aaron Brocklehurst leads all WCHA defensemen in scoring with 12 points, good enough to be tied for second nationally.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Roe is leading super-frosh Kyle Turris and the rest of the rookies in the nation with 20 points (Turris only has 15)
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Jase Weslosky, Goepfert\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s replacement, is third in goals against average (1.67), good enough for eighth nationally, second\/sixth in save percentage (.940) and third\/tied for 13th in winning percentage (.667).
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 The Huskies have the top scoring offense in the league (fourth nationally), averaging 3.75 goals per game; the third scoring defense (ninth nationally), allowing 2.08 goals per game, is the least penalized team in the league (four teams average the same amount and only two teams average fewer), averaging 11 minutes a game and have the best power play (sixth nationally), with a 24.1% success rate.<\/p>\n
Motzko stresses that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still early — and his team has only played six league games as compared to 10 like most of the league — but is nonetheless happy with how things have turned out so far.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jase has done a tremendous job and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not going to say it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a surprise,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Motzko, noting his more than adequate job filling in for Goepfert last season. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153[Goaltending] was just one big hole to fill and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done an outstanding job doing that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153A couple of our guys that were kind of [defensive] anchors last year came back — Matt Stephenson and Garrett Raboin — have just been so solid for us,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Motzko. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The big thing that has really changed our D corps is we switched John Swanson from forward to defense \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got a chance to be awful special back there if he continues to utilize his talent like he does.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Offensively, the Huskies have been getting contribution all over, from their back line (Aaron Brocklehurst) to having two solid offensive lines and some top offensive talent.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We felt we had an awful good offensive player with Garrett [Roe] coming in,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Motzko. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s almost been every single night he finds a way to find the scoresheet.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ryan [Lasch] has just picked it up from where he was a year ago,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he continued. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153From the top of the circle in, I have not seen many better than this guy.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had such balance with two lines and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been Nate Dey and [Andreas] Nodl — it can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get overlooked how strong they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been and I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the key. We kinda have two number one lines that we throw out there — it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to defend two lines like that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever watched (or listened) to a hockey game with announcers, you know they always talk about momentum swings — and typically after a goal, big hit or big save (or, if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the minors\/pros, a fight). <\/p>\n
Sometimes — okay, often times — nothing actually happens. Oh, okay, so Goalie A made the big save to keep Team A in it, and sure, maybe Team A got an odd-man rush out of it. However, Team B happened to pick off the centering pass and oh, look at that, Player B deked Goalie A out of his shorts and put his (or her) team up by two.<\/p>\n
However, sometimes those momentum swings really do happen — as was the case for the University of Denver Pioneers last Saturday against Colorado College.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sometimes you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re really looking forward to getting into intermission and sometimes you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not, depending on how things are going,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said DU head coach George Gwozdecky. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tonight was one of those games where I was thinking, ‘If we could just hang on to get to that first intermission only down one \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6’.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
He continued on a bit later, saying how \u00e2\u20ac\u0153it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just amazing to me to see how psychologically this game works.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Tigers score early and for the rest of the period — and probably early in the second — we just seemed to be just a little bit slow, a little bit short at plays and CC on the other side just seems to be a lot more in control being able to make plays and having us on our heels and being able to penetrate into the offensive zone and being able to stand players up and able to defend plays a lot easier. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We get that first goal and all of a sudden there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just that huge, enthusiastic swing for us where, all of a sudden, our guys are now a lot more excited and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re back in the game, so to speak, and from that point on, the whole thing changes. Now all of a sudden, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the ones who are making the plays and [are] a lot more aggressive and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got our opponent on [their] heels and at that point you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re saying, ‘Well, okay, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want intermission to get here — I want to keep playing’.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Michigan Tech inked four players for next season and two for the 2009-10 season. Seth Soley (Omaha Lancers\/USHL), Brett Olson (Waterloo Black Hawks\/USHL), Ricky Doriott (Sioux City Musketeers\/USHL) and Bryce Reddick (Cowichan Valley Capitals\/BCHL) will join the squad next season with Evan Witt (Vernon Vipers\/BCHL) and Jacob Johnstone (Green Bay Gamblers\/USHL) following the year after.<\/p>\n
Everybody is playing this weekend and for the first time all year, all 10 WCHA teams are playing each other. Here are the numbers:<\/p>\n
No. 10 St. Cloud State @ No. 13 Wisconsin<\/b>
\nPoll Movement: SCSU — stayed put after splitting with Clarkson. UW — down one after earning one point at the College Hockey Showcase.
\nOverall Records: SCSU — 7-3-2 (3-2-1 WCHA). UW — 5-6-1 (2-4 WCHA).
\nHead-to-Head: UW leads the overall series 36-20-8.
\nTop Scorers: SCSU — Ryan Lasch (10-10-20) and Garrett Roe (9-11-20). UW — Kyle Turris (5-10-15).
\nGoaltenders: SCSU — Jase Weslosky (9 gp, 6-3, 1.67 GAA, .940 sv %). UW — Shane Connelly (10 gp, 4-6, 2.91 GAA, .899 sv %).<\/p>\n
No. 20 Michigan Tech @ No. 14 Minnesota<\/b>
\nPoll Movement: MTU — down one after being idle. UM — down one after earning one point at the College Hockey Showcase.
\nOverall Records: MTU — 5-6-1 (4-5-1 WCHA). UM — 7-6-1 (3-5 WCHA).
\nHead-to-Head: UM leads the overall series 163-74-13.
\nTop Scorers: MTU — Tyler Shelast (7-2-9) and Drew Dobson (1-8-9). UM — Blake Wheeler (5-6-11) and Ben Gordon (4-7-11).
\nGoaltenders: MTU — Michael-Lee Teslak (8 gp, 3-3-1, 1.63 GAA, .939 sv %). UM — Jeff Frazee (10 gp, 5-5, 2.90 GAA, .893 sv %).<\/p>\n
No. 4 Colorado College @ Alaska-Anchorage<\/b>
\nPoll Movement: CC — stayed put after splitting with DU. UAA — went from receiving five votes to three after being idle.
\nOverall Records: CC — 8-4 (8-2 WCHA). UAA — 4-3-3 (1-3-2 WCHA).
\nHead-to-Head: CC leads the all-time series 41-11-3.
\nTop Scorers: CC — Chad Rau (9-6-15). UAA — Kevin Clark (5-6-11).
\nGoaltenders: CC — Richard Bachman (10 gp, 8-2, 1.70 GAA, .944 sv %). UAA — Jon Olthuis (9 gp, 3-3-3, 2.93 GAA, .888 sv %).<\/p>\n
Minnesota State @ No. 12 Minnesota-Duluth.<\/b>
\nPoll Movement: MSU-M — still out of the polls completely. tUMD — up three after splitting with UND.
\nOverall Records: MSU-M — 3-6-1 (1-6-1 WCHA). tUMD — 6-4-2 (5-4-1 WCHA).
\nHead-to-Head: MSU-M leads the overall series 12-11-3.
\nTop Scorers: MSU-M — Mick Berge (6-2-8). tUMD — Josh Meyers (4-5-9).
\nGoaltenders: MSU-M — Mike Zacharias (7 gp, 2-3-1, 1.93 GAA, .926 sv %). tUMD — Alex Stalock (12 gp, 6-4-2, 2.33 GAA, .915 sv %).<\/p>\n
No. 8 North Dakota @ No. 3 Denver<\/b>
\nPoll Movement: UND — down two after splitting with tUMD. DU — stayed put after splitting with CC.
\nOverall Records: UND — 6-4-1 (4-4 WCHA). DU — 9-3 (6-2 WCHA).
\nHead-to-Head: UND leads the overall series 125-108-7.
\nTop Scorers: UND — T.J. Oshie (7-4-11), Ryan Duncan (3-8-11) and Robbie Bina (0-11-11). DU — Brock Trotter (6-8-14).
\nGoaltenders: UND — Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (11 gp, 6-4-1, 1.61 GAA, .933 sv %). DU — Peter Mannino (12 gp, 9-3, 1.68 GAA, .935 sv %).<\/p>\nAs Always \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/h4>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a pleasure. See you next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two months into the season and who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve thunk that the Seawolves would be tied with the Badgers and the Gophers would be struggling to get league wins? North Dakota\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also middle-of-the-pack — much lower than they were predicted, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just par for the course for the Fighting Sioux under Dave Hakstol in the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n