University of Minnesota Golden Gophers Head to 2012 NCAA P: 303 871-4491
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Western Collegiate Hockey Association Bruce M. McLeod Commissioner Carol LaBelle-Ehrhardt Assistant Commissioner of Operations Greg Shepherd Supervisor of Officials Administrative Office March 28 – April 5, 2012 Western Collegiate Hockey Association 2211 S. Josephine Street, Room 302 Denver, CO 80210 University of Minnesota Golden Gophers Head to 2012 NCAA p: 303 871-4491. f: 303 871-4770 [email protected] Men’s Frozen Four April 5-7 in Tampa, Florida as WCHA Seeks Doug Spencer Record 38th National Championship Since 1951 Associate Commissioner for Public Relations WCHA Regular Season/MacNaughton Cup-Champion Minnesota Claims NCAA West Regional Western Collegiate Hockey Association Title in Saint Paul … Gophers Joined by Boston College, Ferris State and Union College at 559 D’Onofrio Drive, Ste. 103 National Championship at Tampa Bay times Forum; National Semifinals on Thursday have Madison, WI 53719-2096 p: 608 829-0100. f: 608 829-0200 Union vs Ferris State, Minnesota vs Boston College; North Dakota, Minnesota Duluth, Denver [email protected] Earn NCAA Tourney Bids but Fall Short at Regionals; UM’s Don Lucia, MTU’s Mel Pearson Named Finalists for Men’s Div. 1 National Coach of the Year; North Dakota is Red Baron™ WCHA Final Home of a Collegiate Record 37 Five Champion for Record Third Straight Season; Latest USA Hockey/USA Hockey Magazine Div. Men’s National Championship 1 Men’s Weekly National Poll has UM No. 2, UND No. 5, UMD No. 6, DU No. 10 Teams Since 1951 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, MADISON, Wis. – The No. 2-ranked University of Minnesota Golden Gophers will carry the collective 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1974, hopes of the men’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association when they head south to compete in the 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 2012 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four championship in Tampa, Fla. Set for April 5 and 7 at the Tampa Bay Times 1982, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1997, Forum (19,500), this season’s national championship field also includes NCAA regional winners Boston 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, College, Ferris State University and Union College. 2011 Teams representing the WCHA have captured a record 37 national championships since the league’s founding in 1951, with the most recent title earned by Minnesota Duluth in 2011 at Xcel Energy Center in Men’s Conference Members Saint Paul, Minn. Other recent NCAA Frozen Fours captured by league-member clubs include Wisconsin University of Alaska Anchorage con’t Bemidji State University Colorado College University of Denver 2011-12 WCHA Men’s Standings Michigan Technological University University of Minnesota Conference Only Overall University of Minnesota Duluth Pts GP Record Win% GF- GA GP Record Win% GF- GA Minnesota State University 1 Minnesota 40 28 20- 8- 0 .714 88- 57 42 28-13- 1 .679 154- 93 University of Nebraska Omaha 2 Minnesota Duluth 37 28 16- 7- 5 .661 103- 73 41 25-10- 6 .683 147-106 University of North Dakota 3 Denver 36 28 16- 8- 4 .643 96- 79 43 25-14- 4 .628 139-111 St. Cloud State University 4 North Dakota 33 28 16-11- 1 .589 82- 73 42 26-13- 3 .655 135-108 University of Wisconsin 5 Colorado College 31 28 15-12- 1 .554 95- 86 36 18-16- 2 .528 114-104 6 St. Cloud State 28 28 12-12- 4 .500 86- 74 39 17-17- 5 .500 120-104 2012 Red Baron™ 7 Nebraska Omaha 27 28 11-12- 5 .482 83- 85 38 14-18- 6 .447 106-112 8 Michigan Tech 26 28 11-13- 4 .464 85- 87 39 16-19- 4 .462 111-116 WCHA Final Five 9 Bemidji State 25 28 11-14- 3 .446 72- 89 38 17-18- 3 .487 101-109 March 15-17 • Xcel Energy Center 10 Wisconsin 24 28 11-15- 2 .429 76- 83 37 17-18- 2 .486 105-102 Saint Paul, MN 11 Minnesota State 18 28 8-18- 2 .321 73-102 38 12-24- 2 .342 101-129 12 Alaska Anchorage 11 28 5-22- 1 .196 60-111 36 9-25- 2 .278 85-134 wcha.com Upcoming Schedule • 2012 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four April 5 & 7 • Tampa Bay Times Forum • Tampa, FL Thursday, April 5: Semifinals: Ferris State vs Union College, 4:30 pm ET (TV - ESPNU/ESPN3; Minnesota vs Boston College, 8:00 pm ET (TV - ESPNU/ESPN3). Saturday, April 7: National Championship Game: Ferris State/Union Winner vs Minnesota/Boston College Winner, 7:00 pm ET (TV - ESPN2/ESPN3). WCHA Men’s Release • Frozen Four • 032812-040512 in 2006, Denver in both 2005 and 2004 and Minnesota in 2003 and 2002. At the 2012 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four, the Ferris State Bulldogs (25- 11-5) will face-off against the Union College Dutchmen (26-7-7) in the first national semifinal on Thursday, April 5 at 4:30 pm ET. Ferris State, coached by Bob Daniels, was the regular season champion of the CCHA (Central Collegiate Hockey Association) and also claimed the NCAA Midwest Regional crown in Green Bay March 23-24. Union College, coached by Rick Bennett, was both the regular season and playoff champion of ECAC Hockey and took home the NCAA East Regional title in Bridgeport, Conn., March 23-24. The second national semifinal on April 5 will match Minnesota (28-13-1) against the Boston College Eagles (31-10-1) at 8:00 pm ET. Coach Don Lucia’s Golden Gophers captured the MacNaughton Cup as 2011-12 WCHA regular season champions and prevailed in the NCAA West Regional in Saint Paul March 24-25. Boston College, coached by Jerry York, won both the Hockey East Association regular In the March 19 USCHO.com Div. 1 Men’s College Hockey Poll, North season race and conference tournament championship as well as the Dakota is No. 4, Minnesota Duluth is No. 5, Minnesota is No. 6 and March 24-25 NCAA Northeast Regional in Worcester, Mass. Denver is No. 10. Also receiving votes were St. Cloud State, Colorado Both Frozen Four semifinal games on April 5 will be telecast live College and Michigan Tech. via ESPNU/ESPN 3. Through 91 games this season, WCHA-member teams stand a Thursday’s two semifinal winners at the Frozen Four will then meet combined 51-32-8 (.604) in games against other Div. 1 conference- for the national championship on Saturday, April 7 at 7:00 pm ET, with member teams. League-member teams stand 13-1-0 (.929) vs the that match up being telecast live via ESPN2/ESPN3. Atlantic Hockey Association, 8-2-0 (.800) vs Independents, 11-5-4 The Golden Gophers, winners of five previous national (.650) vs ECAC Hockey, 7-8-3 vs the Hockey East Association (.472) championships in 1974, 1976, 1979, 2002 and 2003, are making their and 12-16-1 (.431) vs the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. 20th Frozen Four appearance overall and first since 2005 in Columbus, Home to a record 37 national championship teams since it’s Ohio, when an all-WCHA national championship round included founding in 1951, the WCHA marks it’s 60th season of competition eventual champion Denver, runner-up North Dakota, Minnesota and in 2011-12. Colorado College. Minnesota owns a 19-16 all-time won-loss record in Frozen Four play. The Gophers’ back-to-back Frozen Four crowns in 2002 in Saint Paul This Week in the National Polls and 2003 in Buffalo both came under coach Don Lucia and were part of a run of five straight national championships claimed by WCHA- member teams from 2002-06 (2002 Minnesota, 2003 Minnesota, 2004 USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s Denver, 2005 Denver, 2006 Wisconsin). North Dakota won the NCAA title in 2000 and was runner-up in 2001. Division 1 College Hockey Poll Week 25: March 26, 2012 Four nationally-ranked teams from the WCHA – Denver, regular season and MacNaughton Cup-champion Minnesota, defending Rk Team, Points (1st Place) Last Poll Record Frozen Four champion Minnesota Duluth and playoff and Broadmoor 1 Boston College, 510 (34) 1 31-10-1 Trophy winner North Dakota – earned berths in the NCAA Div. 1 2 Univ. of Minnesota, 463 6 28-13-1 Men’s Ice Hockey Championship tournament, which opened with 3 Union College, 452 3 26- 7-7 four regional events contested March 23-25. 4 Ferris State Univ., 402 8 25-11-5 Denver fell by one goal to Ferris State, 2-1, on Friday in a semifinal 5 Univ. of North Dakota, 350 4 26-13-3 at the Midwest Regional at Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis. The FSU 6 Univ. of Minnesota Duluth, 340 5 25-10-6 Bulldogs went on to capture that regional and advance to the Frozen 7 Univ. of Michigan, 321 2 24-13-4 Four with a 2-1 victory over Cornell on Saturday. 8 Cornell Univ., 215 14 19- 9-7 Minnesota earned the trip to Tampa by winning the West Regional 9 UMass Lowell, 205 13 24-13-1 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn., defeating both Boston 10 Univ. of Denver, 177 9 25-14-4 University, 7-3, and league-rival North Dakota, 5-2. 11 Boston Univ., 170 10 23-15-1 And defending national champion Minnesota Duluth came up one 12 Univ. of Maine, 157 11 23-14-3 victory shy of reaching the Frozen Four when the Bulldogs fell 4-0 to 13 Miami Univ., 147 7 24-15-2 Boston College in the title contest at the Northeast Regional at DCU 14 Western Michigan Univ., 125 12 21-14-6 Center in Worcester, Mass.