2009-10 Wcha Men's Season-In-Review
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WESTERN COLLEGIATE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION Bruce M. McLeod Commissioner Sara R. Martin Associate Commissioner Carol LaBelle-Ehrhardt Assistant Commissioner of Operations ™ Greg Shepherd Supervisor of Officials April 27, 2010 Administrative Office Western Collegiate Hockey Association MSC 8302 2009-10 WCHA MEn’s SEASON-IN-REVIEW University of Denver WISCONSIN FINISHES SECOND AT NCAA MEn’s FROZEN FOUR IN DETROIT; BADGERS’ BLAKE GEOFFRION 2211 S. Josephine Street NAMED 2010 HOBEY BAKER MEMORIAL AWARD WINNER; SIX WCHA PLAYERS EARN ALL-AMERICAN Denver, CO 80208-8302 p: 303 871-4491. f: 303 871-4770 HONORS … FIVE ON WEST FIRST TEAM; BADGERS EARN FROZEN FOUR BERTH AFTER CLAIMING WEST email: [email protected] REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP IN SAINT PAUL; FINAL DIV. 1 NATIONAL POLL HAS UW NO. 2, DU NO. 4, SCSU NO. 5, UND NO. 7 … UMD RECEIVES VOTES; DENVER, WISCONSIN, NORTH DAKOTA, ST. CLOUD STATE EARN Doug Spencer Associate Commissioner for NCAA TOURNAMENT BERTHS; DENVER CAPTURES 2009-10 WCHA REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP, Public Relations MAcNAUGHTON CUP; NORTH DAKOTA IS RED BARON WCHA FINAL FIVE, BROADMOOR TROPHY WINNER; Public Relations Office WCHA UNVEILS NEW BROADMOOR TROPHY AND PLAYOFF FORMAT … SET TO WELCOME BEMIDJI Western Collegiate Hockey Association 559 D’Onofrio Drive, Ste. 103 STATE, NEBRASKA OMAHA INTO MEN’S LEAGUE FOR 2010-11; WCHA TEAMS GO 48-27-5 (.631) IN NON- Madison, WI 53719-2096 CONFERENCE PLAY; DU’S GwOZDECKY, UW’S EAVES ARE FINALISTS FOR AHCA DIV. 1 COAch OF THE YEAR p: 608 829-0100. f: 608 829-0200 AwARD; DENVER GOALTENDER CHEVERIE NAMED WCHA PLAYER OF THE YEAR TO HIGHLIGHT LEAGUE’S email: [email protected] POST-SEASON AwARDS; 41 PLAYERS NAMED AS WCHA SchOLAR-ATHLETES; RECORD 119 PLAYERS EARN HOME OF A RECORD 36 MEn’s ALL-WCHA AcADEMIC TEAM HONORS; 12 PLAYERS WITH WCHA TIES EARN MEDALS IN WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES; SEVEN WCHA PLAYERS EARN GOLD AT WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS; WISCONSIN DRAWS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 55,031 FOR OUTDOOR CAMP RANDALL HOCKEY CLASSIC FEB. 6; WCHA MEN’S HOME ATTENDANCE AGAIN TEAMS SINCE 1951 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, TOPS 1.5 MILLION AGAIN; MIchIGAN TEch TO GO ON EUROPEAN HOCKEY TOUR IN AUGUST 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1974, MADISON, Wis. – Another memorable season is in the history books for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, and it’s 10 men’s member teams, with the 2009-10 campaign featuring plenty of team and individual highlights. 1982, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1997, The University of Wisconsin, champions of the NCAA West Regional, came up one game short of winning the 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 national championship, finishing second to Boston College at the 2010 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four at Ford Field in Detroit before a record crowd of 37,592. Four WCHA-member teams qualified for the NCAA tournament in Denver, Wisconsin, North Dakota and St. Cloud MEN’S MEMBER TEAMS State. University of Alaska Anchorage Colorado College con’t University of Denver Michigan Tech University FINAL 2009-10 wESTERN COLLEGIATE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION STANDINGS University of Minnesota University of Minnesota Duluth Conference Only Overall Minnesota State University Pts GP Record Win% GF- GA GP Record Win% GF- GA University of North Dakota 1 Denver $ 42 28 19- 5- 4 .750 92- 65 41 27-10- 4 .707 133- 99 St. Cloud State University 2 Wisconsin 37 28 17- 8- 3 .661 109- 76 43 28-11- 4 .698 171-111 University of Wisconsin 3 St. Cloud State 34 28 15- 9- 4 .607 92- 84 43 24-14- 5 .616 138-122 4 North Dakota # 33 28 15-10- 3 .589 89- 61 43 25-13- 5 .640 140- 91 2010 RED BARON™ Minnesota Duluth 33 28 16-11- 1 .589 90- 77 40 22-17- 1 .562 126-109 WCHA FINAL FIVE 6 Colorado College 27 28 12-13- 3 .482 88- 85 39 19-17- 3 .526 123-113 March 18, 19, 20 7 Minnesota 26 28 12-14- 2 .464 80- 76 39 18-19- 2 .487 106-110 Xcel Energy Center • St. Paul, MN 8 Minnesota State 20 28 9-17- 2 .357 75- 92 39 16-20- 3 .449 110-112 Alaska Anchorage 20 28 9-17- 2 .357 66-106 36 11-23- 2 .333 87-141 visit us on the web at: 10 Michigan Tech 8 28 4-24- 0 .143 59-118 36 5-30- 1 .153 74-148 $ WCHA regular season champion; # WCHA playoff champion wchA.COM 2010 NCAA MEN’S FROZEN FOUR APRIL 8-10 • FORD FIELD, DETROIT, MIchIGAN Thursday, April 8: Semifinal:RIT 1 vs Wisconsin 8, 5:00 pm ET (TV–ESPN2 HD/ESPN360.com); Semifinal: Boston College 7 vs Miami 1, 8:30 pm ET (TV–ESPN2 HD/ESPN360.com). Saturday, April 10: National Championship Game: Boston College 5 vs Wisconsin 0, 7:00 pm ET (TV – ESPN HD/ESPN360.com). WCHA MEN’S RELEASE/SEASON REVIEW/04-27-2010 The Badgers’ captain – senior forward Blake Geoffrion – was named win- In home attendance, the men’s WCHA again topped the 1.5 million mark, ner of the 2010 Hobey Baker Memorial Award as college hockey’s top player including nearly 72,000 for the annual WCHA Final Five in Saint Paul. and six conference-member players earned All-American honors. Named to the West All-American First Team were goaltender Marc Cheverie of Denver, defensemen Brendan Smith of Wisconsin and Patrick Wiercioch of Denver, WISCONSIN FINISHES SECOND IN NATIONAL and forwards Blake Geoffrion of Wisconsin and Rhett Rakhshani of Denver. CHAMPIONSHIP IN DETROIT Earning West All-American Second Team honors was forward Jack Connolly BADGERS FALL TO BOSTON COLLEGE IN TITLE GAME of Minnesota Duluth. The University of Denver Pioneers captured the 2009-10 WCHA regular DETROIT, Mich./April 10 – The Wisconsin Badgers, the highest scoring team in season championship and MacNaughton Cup, while the University of North Division 1 men’s ice hockey, were unable to penetrate the defense of Boston Dakota prevailed in the 2010 Red Baron WCHA Final Dive as Broadmoor College here on Saturday night, falling 5-0 in the championship game of Trophy champions. the 2010 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four before a record-setting sellout crowd of At the Final Five at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, the WCHA also unveiled 37,592 at Ford Field. The Eagles broke open a 1-0 game with a total of four, a new playoff format for the 2010-11 season, revealed an all-new Broadmoor third period tallies, including two from right winger Cam Atkinson and an Trophy and again welcomed new men’s league members Bemidji State and empty-netter. Nebraska Omaha, who will begin play in the WCHA next season. The shutout loss – only the third time this season the Badgers were kept WCHA-member teams compiled an impressive 48-27-5 (.631) record in non- off the scoreboard (the other occasions were a 4-0 loss at Minnesota Duluth conference play this season and four league teams were ranked among the on Jan. 30 and a 2-0 setback to St. Cloud State at the WCHA Final Five on top 10 in the nation in the final Div. 1 poll. Wisconsin was No. 2, Denver was March 19) – snapped the Badgers’ four-game winning streak, which included No. 4, St. Cloud State was No. 5 and North Dakota was No. 7. Also receiving the NCAA West Regional championship on March 26-27 in Saint Paul, Minn. votes was Minnesota Duluth. Wisconsin ended a memorable season with a 28-11-4 mark overall and as Denver goaltender Marc Cheverie was named the WCHA Player of the Year national runners-up. and Michigan Tech’s Eli Vlaisavljevich earned the WCHA Outstanding Student- Boston College, meanwhile, concluded their campaign as the national Athlete of the Year Award to highlight league post-season awards. Forty-one champions, the fourth Frozen Four crown for the program and third under (41) league players earned WCHA Scholar-Athlete honors while a record 119 current head coach Jerry York, and with a 29-10-3 overall record. BC’s previous were named to the men’s All-WCHA Academic Team. Other top award winners NCAA championships came in 1949, 2001 and 2008. included Wisconsin defenseman Brendan Smith as WCHA Defensive Player “First of all, my congratulations to Boston College,” said Wisconsin head of the Year, North Dakota forward Danny Kristo as WCHA Rookie of the Year, coach Mike Eaves. “They played a very good game today and they deserved Denver coach George Gwozdecky as WCHA Coach of the Year, DU forward to win. First period I thought we did the things we wanted to do with the Rhett Rakhshani as WCHA Scoring Champion, and the Pioneers’ Cheverie as puck, both at our blue line and their blue line, and the second period we WCHA Goaltending Champion. picked it up … started getting some momentum going. Led by former Western Collegiate Hockey Association players Jonathan “In the third period, we never got that next goal, which could have pos- Toews (North Dakota) and Dany Heatley (Wisconsin), Canada claimed the sibly changed the game. They got the next one and the game was just about gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games with a 3-2 overtime victory over.” over the United States on Sunday (Feb. 28) in Vancouver. All 12 men’s players Wisconsin is now 9-12 in 21 all-time meetings with BC. The two teams also with WCHA ties earned medals in the tournament as the U.S. took home silver met in the Frozen Four title game on April 8, 2006 at the Bradley Center in and Finland claimed the bronze.