SAINT PAUL, Minn. – The WCHA capped off the regular season this past weekend, with the University of North Dakota hoisting it’s 11th McNaughton Cup for being the regular season champions. 
With the University of Minnesota and Michigan Tech squaring off in a late game, and the seeding for the WCHA tournament coming down to that final game, the results were released late Saturday night.
All ten teams in the WCHA are invited to the tournament, with the first round being a best-of-three games elimination round. Winners of the elimination round move on to the WCHA Final Five at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, March 19-21.
The winner of the tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Several other teams could make the NCAAs with a strong showing in Saint Paul, meaning the NCAAs are not out of reach for any team in the WCHA. Minnesota holds the record with seven WCHA tournament championships. Usually the WCHA is a strong conference, but the WCHA teams have had an off year with only Denver and North Dakota having guaranteed spots in the NCAA tournament. Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Colorado College will need to play strong and win the first round at least to be considered for the big dance. The remaining field would need to play Cinderella and win the WCHA playoff to earn a guaranteed berth in the Frozen Four tournament. The seeds and match ups for the upcoming WCHA tournament are as follows:
#1 University of North Dakota (UND) Fighting Sioux vs #10 Michigan Tech Huskies UND brings their momentum from the regular season to this matchup, with a regular season record of 17-7-4 in WCHA play (22-12-4 overall). Michigan Tech brings a 2-19-7 WCHA record (6-23-7 overall). The two met for three games during the regular season with the first game during the Great Lakes invitation tournament in Grand Rapids Michigan ending in a Michigan Tech victory. The only WCHA sanctioned meetings came in January, with the first game ending in a tie, and a 5-0 shutout victory for the Sioux in the third game. Leading scorers for the Fighting Sioux are forward Ryan Duncan ( 36 points, 15G, 18A), defenseman Chay Genoway (31 points, 3G, 28A), and defenseman Brad Miller (30 points, 6G, 24A). UND has 13 NHL draftees on the roster: Chris VandeVelde (Edmonton), Jason Gregoire (NY Islanders), Brett Hextall (Phoenix), Matt Frattin (Toronto), Andrew Kozek (Atlanta), Brad Malone (Colorado), Matt Watkins (Dallas), David Toews (NY Islanders), Joe Finley (Washington), Derrick LaPoint (Florida), Corey Fienhage (Buffalo), Ben Blood (Ottawa), and goaltender Brad Eidsness (Buffalo). Michigan Tech’s leading scorers are forward Jordan Baker (25 points, 15 G, 10A), center Brent Olson (23 points, 10G, 13A), and defenseman Drew Dobson (17 points, 4 G, 13 A). There are no current NHL draftees on the roster. #2 Denver University (DU) Pioneers vs #9 University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves (UAA) DU and UAA split the only two matchups this season in late January. Denver posted a 16-8-4 WCHA record (20-10-5 overall), and Anchorage brings a WCHA record of 9-14-5 (14-15-5 overall). Denver comes in having lost just one game in the final six, while UAA is riding a four game winning streak. Leading scorers for Denver are: Forward Anthony Miani (39 points, 11G, 28A), forward Rhett Rakhshani (32 points, 14G, 18A), and defensemen Patrick Wiercioch (30 points, 11G, 19A). NHL teams have drafted nine of the current roster members: Rahkshani (NY Islanders), Wiercioch (Ottawa), Joe Colborne (Boston), Tyler Ruegsegger (Toronto), Jesse Martin (Atlanta), Brian Gifford (Pittsburgh), Matt Glasser (Edmonton), John Lee (Florida), and goalie Marc Cheverie (Florida). The Seawolves’ leading scorers are Paul Crowder (31 points, 14G, 17A), Kevin Clark (29 points, 11G, 18A), Tommy Grant (24 points, 14G, 10A). They also have the school’s first ever NHL draftee in defenseman Nils Backstrom (Detroit). #3 University of Wisconsin (UW) Badgers vs #8 Minnesota State University (MSU) Mavericks The Badgers enter the WCHA tournament having only won once in their past six games (a 4-1 win over #1 UND), and they bring a 14-11-3 WCHA record (17-15-4 overall). MSU comes in on a five game unbeaten streak (2 wins, 3 ties), all against teams higher than them in the standings. Wisconsin took the season series with one win and one tie at the end of February. Wisconsin’s leading scorers are defenseman Jamie McBain (34 points, 7G, 27A), freshman forward Derek Stepan (30 points, 8G, 22A), and forward Tom Gorowsky (26 points, 11G, 15A). The leading goal scorer for Wisconsin is forward John Mitchell with 14. The Badgers have 10 NHL draftees: McBain (Carolina), Stepan (NY Rangers), Blake Geoffroin (Nashville), Brendan Smith (Detroit), Jake Gardiner (Anaheim), Ryan McDonagh (Montreal), Cody Goloubef (Columbus), Patrick Johnson (Montreal), Chris Hickey (Minnesota), and Podge Turnbull (Los Angeles). The Mavericks’ offense is lead by forward Mick Berge (31 points, 7G, 24A), defenseman Kurt Davis (31 points, 6G, 25A), and forward Kael Mouillierat (30 points, 17G, 13A). There will be two NHL draftees in the locker room in Andrew Sackrison (St. Louis) and Justin Jokinen (Buffalo). #4 Colorado College (CC) Tigers vs #7 University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD) Bulldogs CC closed out the final five games of the season in much the same fashion as they did the rest of the season, going 2-2-1 in the final games. The Tigers have earned a 12-9-7 WCHA record (16-10-10 overall). The Bulldogs come in winless in their final five games (0-2-3) and with a 10-11-7 WCHA record (16-12-8 overall). UMD had the only win between the two teams this season, the other game ending in a tie. The teams have not seen each other since the beginning of December. The Tigers have scoring leaders in Chad Rau (39 points, 18 G, 19A) in addition to forward Eric Walsky (35 points, 11G, 14A), and defenseman Brian Connelly (26 points, 3G, 23A). In addition to Rau (Toronto), the Tigers have five other NHL draftees: Bill Sweatt (Chicago), Scott McCulloch (Chicago), Kris Freidheim (Vancouver), and goaltender Richard Bachman (Dallas). Duluth brings forward Justin Fontaine (44 points, 14G, 30A), forward MacGregor Sharp (38 points, 19G, 19A), and forward Mike Connolly (32 points, 11G, 21A). The Bulldogs also bring their fair share of NHL draftees with six: Josh Meyers (Los Angeles), Jordan Fulton (Calgary), Michael Gergen (Pittsburgh), Matt Greer (Columbus), Scott Kisher (Montreal), and goalie Alex Stalock (San Jose). #5 University of Minnesota (U of M) Golden Gophers vs # 6 Saint Cloud State University (SCSU) Huskies In the seemingly inevitable in-state matchup that comes with four teams residing in the state of Minnesota, the Gophers will host the first round matchup in Minneapolis. The Gophers came out hot at the beginning of the year, and spent some time ranked as the number one team in the nation before having a mid-season meltdown. The Gophers needed every game, including the final game of the regular season win against Michigan Tech in order to secure home ice in the first round of the playoff. The Gophers swept all four meetings between the two teams this season, and carry a 12-11-5 record in the WCHA (15-12-7 overall) after finishing the last five games 2-2-1. SCSU finished out the season by matching the Gophers 2-2-1 record. The Huskies finish the regular season with an even record of 13-13-2 in WCHA play (18-15-3 overall). The Huskies have shown they will not roll over for teams higher in the rankings, posting three wins in four games against number two Denver. Leading Gophers scorers are forward Ryan Stoa (41 points, 21G, 20A), forward Jordan Schroeder (40 points, 13G, 27A), and forward Jay Barriball (30 points, 9G, 21A). Minnesota’s roster is laced with NHL draftees (15): Stoa (Colorado), Barriball (San Jose), Cade Fairchild (St. Louis), Mike Hoeffel (New Jersey), Ryan Flynn (Nashville), Tony Lucia (San Jose), Mike Carman (Colorado), Aaron Ness (NY Islanders), Patrick White (Vancouver), David Fischer (Montreal), Jake Hansen (Columbus), Nico Sacchetti (Dallas), R.J. Anderson (Philadelphia), Nick Larson (Washington), Taylor Matson (Vancouver), and goaltenders Alex Kangas (Atlanta) and Kent Patterson (Colorado). The Huskies offense is led by WCHA regular season scoring champion forward Garrett Roe (46 points, 15G, 31A), forward Ryan Lasch (41 points, 18G, 23A), and defenseman Garrett Raboin (32 points, 10G, 22A). They bring five NHL draftees with them in Roe (Los Angeles), Aaron Marvin (Calgary), Nick Oslund (Detroit), goaltenders Dan Dunn (Washington) and Jase Weslosky (NY Islanders). The author can be reached at bryan.reynolds@prohockeynews.com
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