WCHA's Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota Hit the Ice Thursday at 2011
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Western Collegiate Hockey Association Bruce M. McLeod Commissioner Carol LaBelle-Ehrhardt Assistant Commissioner of Operations Greg Shepherd Supervisor of Officials Administrative Office April 4, 2011/For Immediate Release Western Collegiate Hockey Association 2211 S. Josephine Street, Room 302 WCHA’s Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota Hit the Ice Thursday at Denver, CO 80210 p: 303 871-4491. f: 303 871-4770 2011 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four Championship in Saint Paul email: [email protected] Division 1 Ice Hockey Championship, Set for April 7 & 9 at Xcel Energy Center, Features WCHA Doug Spencer vs CCHA; Thursday Semifinals Feature Bulldogs Against Notre Dame, WCHA Regular Season & Associate Commissioner for Public Relations Playoff Champion Fighting Sioux Against Michigan; National Title Contest to be Held Saturday Public Relations Office Evening; North Dakota Seeks Eighth National Championship … Minnesota Duluth Looks for Western Collegiate Hockey Association 559 D’Onofrio Drive, Ste. 103 First; WCHA Teams Own Record 36 NCAA Crowns Since 1951; Latest USA Today/USA Hockey Madison, WI 53719-2096 Magazine Div. 1 Men’s Hockey Poll has UND No. 1, UMD No. 3, DU No. 7, CC No. 11, UNO No. 14; p: 608 829-0100. f: 608 829-0200 WCHA Teams Stand 56-27-12 (.653) in Div. 1 Non-Conference Play this Season email: [email protected] MADISON, Wis. – The North Dakota Fighting Sioux and the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs carry the collective Home of a Record 36 Men’s hopes of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association into this week’s 2011 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four, commenc- National Championship ing Thursday, April 7 and concluding Saturday, April 9 at Xcel Energy Center (18,064) in Saint Paul, Minn. Teams Since 1951 Those two WCHA teams make up half the field for this season’s national championship, with Central Col- 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, legiate Hockey Association (CCHA) members Michigan and Notre Dame rounding out the four-team field. 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, On Thursday (April 7) at Xcel Energy Center, the two semifinal match ups will have No. 3-ranked Minnesota 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1974, Duluth (24-10-6) vs No. 4-ranked Notre Dame (25-13-5) at 4:00 pm CT followed by No. 2-ranked Michigan (28- 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 10-4) against No. 1-ranked North Dakota (32-8-3) at 7:30 pm CT. Both semifinal contests will be televised live 1982, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1997, by ESPN2 HD. UND enters championship weekend with a nation’s best 15-game unbeaten streak at 14-0-1 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 since Jan. 28. The national championship game will then face-off on Saturday (April 9) at 6:00 pm CT. The title contest will be telecast live by ESPN HD. Conference Members This will be the fifth NCAA Men’s Frozen Four held in Saint Paul, Minn. In 1989, 1991 and 1994 the champion- University of Alaska Anchorage ship was held at the old Saint Paul Civic Center while in 2002 it was held at Xcel Energy Center. Bemidji State University North Dakota, the 2010-11 WCHA regular season (MacNaughton Cup) and playoff (Broadmoor Trophy) cham- Colorado College pions, earned a berth in the Frozen Four after winning the NCAA Midwest Regional championship at Resch University of Denver con’t on next page Michigan Tech University University of Minnesota 2010-11 WCHA Men’s Standings –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– University of Minnesota Duluth Conference Only Overall Minnesota State University Pts GP Record Win% GF- GA GP Record Win% GF- GA University of Nebraska Omaha 1 North Dakota 43 28 21- 6- 1 .768 112- 62 43 32- 8- 3 .779 178- 92 University of North Dakota 2 Denver 37 28 17- 8- 3 .661 93- 75 42 25-12- 5 .655 136-113 St. Cloud State University 3 Nebraska-Omaha 36 28 17- 9- 2 .643 94- 69 39 21-16- 2 .564 128- 99 University of Wisconsin 4 Minnesota Duluth 35 28 15- 8- 5 .625 91- 73 40 24-10- 6 .675 136-103 5 Minnesota 31 28 13-10- 5 .554 91- 78 36 16-14- 6 .528 113-102 2011 Red Baron™ 6 Colorado College 28 28 13-13- 2 .500 83- 84 45 23-19- 3 .544 143-131 WCHA Final Five 7 Wisconsin 27 28 12-13- 3 .482 75- 72 41 21-16- 4 .561 129- 98 March 17-19 • Xcel Energy Center 8 Alaska Anchorage 26 28 12-14- 2 .464 62- 78 37 16-18- 3 .473 89-106 Saint Paul, Minnesota St. Cloud State 26 28 11-13- 4 .464 84- 80 38 15-18- 5 .461 112-113 10 Bemidji State 21 28 8-15- 5 .375 62- 78 38 15-18- 5 .461 89-102 visit us at the all-new: 11 Minnesota State 20 28 8-16- 4 .357 67- 90 38 14-18- 6 .447 105-116 WCHA.com 12 Michigan Tech 6 28 2-24- 2 .107 49-124 38 4-30- 4 .158 75-169 ! WCHA regular season, playoff champions This Week in the WCHA –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2011 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four @ Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, MN Games for Thursday, April 7 Semifinal #1: Minnesota Duluth (24-10-6) vs Notre Dame (25-13-5), 4:00 pm CT (TV – ESPN2 HD) Semifinal #2: Michigan (28-10-4) vs North Dakota (32-8-3), 7:30 pm CT (TV – ESPN2 HD) Games for Saturday, April 9 National Championship Game, 6:00 pm CT (TV – ESPN HD) 2010-11 WCHA Men’s Weekly Release • #26 • 040411 Center in Green Bay on March 26-27. Coach Dave Hakstol’s top-seeded behind the bench, has now led his teams to five Frozen Four appearances, Sioux defeated No. 4 seed Rensselaer 6-0 on Saturday and then No. 2 seed finishing as the national runner-up in 2005 in Columbus, Ohio in what Denver 6-1 on Sunday to claim the title. The Pioneers (25-12-5) skated was an historic all-WCHA national championship with eventual winner past No. 3 seed Western Michigan, 3-2 in overtime, on that Saturday. Denver, UND, Colorado College and Minnesota. Minnesota Duluth, meanwhile, earned a trip to the NCAA Men’s Frozen Minnesota Duluth is seeking the program’s first NCAA men’s hockey Four by capturing the NCAA East Regional held at Webster Bank Arena in championship. The Bulldogs finished second in the 1984 national champi- Bridgeport, Conn, on March 25-26. Coach Scott Sandelin’s No. 3-seeded onship in Lake Placid, N.Y., losing to Bowling Green 5-4 in four overtimes Bulldogs won 2-0 against No. 2 seed Union, 2-0, on that Friday and then under former coach Mike Sertich. Coach Scott Sandelin will be making his upended No. 1-seed Yale by a 5-3 margin on Saturday. second Frozen Four appearance behind the UMD bench, with a previous Michigan won the NCAA West Regional held at Scotttrade Center in showing in 2004 in Boston, Mass. Minnesota Duluth’s other men’s Frozen St. Louis, Mo., while Notre Dame was victorious in the NCAA Northeast Four appearance came in 1985 in Detroit, Mich. Regional held at Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H. The Wolver- In this week’s (March 21, 2011) USCHO.com Men’s Div. 1 Hockey National ines were the 2010-11 CCHA regular season champions while the Irish Poll, the WCHA has five teams in the top 20 and five who received votes. finished second. North Dakota is again No. 1, Denver is No. 5, Minnesota Duluth is No. 11, The WCHA’s three other national tournament participants – Colorado Colorado College is No. 13 and Nebraska Omaha is No. 14. Also receiving College, University of Denver and University of Nebraska Omaha – came votes this week were Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alaska Anchorage, Bemidji up just short in NCAA regional competition last weekend. State and St. Cloud State. At the West Regional held at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo., the In this week’s (March 21, 2011) USA Hockey/USA Hockey Magazine Div. No. 4-seeded CC Tigers (23-19-3) defeated No. 1 seed and defending 1 Men’s Poll, North Dakota is No 1, Denver is No. 5, Minnesota Duluth is national champion Boston College 8-4 last Friday (March 25) night in No. 12, Colorado College is No. 13, and Nebraska Omaha is No. 14. their opener before falling one goal short of No. 2 seed Michigan, 2-1, in Through games of April 6, WCHA men’s member teams own a collec- the title contest last Saturday (March 26). The UNO Mavericks (21-16-2), tive 56-27-12 record in games vs other Div. 1 clubs this season for a .653 meanwhile, were edged 3-2 in overtime by the Wolverines last Friday. winning percentage. Against the four other Division 1 men’s leagues, The No. 2-seeded Pioneers (25-12-5) were 3-2 (ot) winners over No. WCHA teams are 10-5-1 (.656) vs HEA teams, 10-8-4 (.545) vs ECAC Hockey 3 seed Western Michigan at the Midwest Regional last Saturday before teams, 18-12-7 (.581) vs CCHA clubs, 12-0-0 (1.000) vs Atlantic Hockey falling to North Dakota in the title contest on Sunday. Association teams, and 6-2-0 (.750) vs independents. Teams representing the men’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association By WCHA-member teams, non-conference records are: Alaska Anchor- have captured a record 36 national championships since the league’s age (2-2-0), Bemidji State (4-2-0), Colorado College (6-4-1), Denver (5-2- founding in 1951, with the most recent title earned by Wisconsin in 2), Michigan Tech (2-4-2), Minnesota (3-2-1), Minnesota Duluth (7-0-1), 2006 in Milwaukee.