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 January 11, 2010/For Immediate Release Administrative Office Western Collegiate Hockey Association JAN. 15-16 WCHA SERIES HAVE ALASKA ANchORAGE AT MIchIGAN MSC 8302 University of Denver TEch, MINNESOTA STATE HOSTING MINNESOTA DULUTH, NORTH 2211 S. Josephine Street Denver, CO 80208-8302 DAKOTA AT MINNESOTA, COLORADO COLLEGE HOSTING WISCONSIN p: 303 871-4491. f: 303 871-4770 RACE FOR REGULAR SEASON TITLE, MACNAUGHTON CUP FINDS TOP SIX TEAMS SEPARATED BY email: [email protected] FIVE POINTS WITH EIGHT WEEKS TO GO; WCHA-MEMBER TEAMS STAND 37-19-5 (.647) IN NON- Doug Spencer CONFERENCE PLAY; DENVER RISES TO NO. 1 IN JAN. 11 USCHO.COM DIV. 1 MEN’S POLL … UW Associate Commissioner for Public Relations NO. 3, UND NO. 4, CC NO. 8, UMD NO. 10, SCSU NO. 14 … UM, MSU RECEIVE VOTES; TICKETS Public Relations Office AVAILABLE FOR 2010 RED BARON™ WCHA FINAL FIVE MARch 18-20 AT XcEL ENERGY CENTER; Western Collegiate Hockey Association 559 D’Onofrio Drive, Ste. 103 WCHA ALUMS PARISE, RAFALSKI AND SUTER TABBED AS ALTERNATE CAPTAINS FOR 2010 U.S. Madison, WI 53719-2096 MEN’S OLYMPIC HOCKEY TEAM p: 608 829-0100. f: 608 829-0200 email: [email protected] MADISON, Wis. – Four Western Collegiate Hockey Association series will be contested over the upcoming weekend of Friday and Saturday, Jan. 15-16, as the race for the 2009-10 regular season championship and HOME OF A RECORD 36 MEn’s MacNaughton Cup and the scramble for a top five finish and home ice for the first round of league playoffs NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP heads into the final eight weeks. Alaska Anchorage (6-13-1, 4-11-1 WCHA) will head to Michigan Tech (3-18-0, 2-14-0 WCHA) for a two-game TEAMS SINCE 1951 set at John MacInnes Student Ice Arena (4,128) on Friday at 7:07 pm ET and Saturday at 5:07 pm ET; Minnesota 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, State, Mankato (11-11-2, 5-10-1 WCHA) will entertain No. 10-ranked Minnesota Duluth (14-7-1, 10-5-1 WCHA) 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, at Verizon Wireless Center (4,832) on Jan. 15 at 7:37 pm CT and on Jan. 16 at 7:07 pm CT; Minnesota (11-10-1, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 6-7-1 WCHA) will host defending league champion and No. 4-ranked North Dakota (12-6-4, 8-6-2 WCHA) at 1982, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1997, Mariucci Arena (10,000) on Friday and Saturday at 7:07 pm CT each evening; and No. 8-ranked Colorado College 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 (12-7-3, 8-5-3 WCHA) welcomes No. 3-ranked Wisconsin (12-5-3, 8-4-2 WCHA) to Colorado Springs World Arena at 7:37 pm MT Friday and 7:07 pm MT Saturday. This week’s No. 1 nationally-ranked team – league-leading MEN’S MEMBER TEAMS Denver – is idle. University of Alaska Anchorage The Alaska Anchorage at Michigan Tech series on Jan. 15-16 will be the only two regular season matchups Colorado College con’t University of Denver Michigan Tech University 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 23 16 10- 3- 3 .719 47- 40 22 14- 5- 3 .705 69- 57 St. Cloud State University University of Wisconsin 2 Minnesota Duluth 21 16 10- 5- 1 .656 58- 44 22 14- 7- 1 .659 79- 58 3 St. Cloud State 20 16 9- 5- 2 .625 47- 41 22 12- 7- 3 .614 65- 54 4 Colorado College 19 16 8- 5- 3 .594 52- 40 22 12- 7- 3 .614 73- 55 2010 RED BARON™ 5 Wisconsin 18 14 8- 4- 2 .643 54- 30 20 12- 5- 3 .675 80- 44 WCHA FINAL FIVE North Dakota 18 16 8- 6- 2 .562 48- 32 22 12- 6- 4 .636 71- 46 March 18, 19, 20 7 Minnesota 13 14 6- 7- 1 .464 37- 37 22 11-10- 1 .523 58- 59 Xcel Energy Center • St. Paul, MN 8 Minnesota State 11 16 5-10- 1 .344 41- 52 24 11-11- 2 .500 67- 62 9 Alaska Anchorage 9 16 4-11- 1 .281 31- 58 20 6-13- 1 .325 43- 72 visit us on the web at: 10 Michigan Tech 4 16 2-14- 0 .125 30- 71 21 3-18- 0 .143 41- 94 wchA.COM ThIS WEEK IN THE WCHA Games for Tuesday, January 12: Northern Michigan at Michigan Tech (nc), 7:07 pm ET. Games for Friday, January 15: Alaska Anchorage at Michigan Tech (WCHA), 7:07 pm ET; North Dakota at Min- nesota (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT; Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota State (WCHA), 7:37 pm CT; Wisconsin at Colorado College (WCHA), 7:37 pm MT; St. Cloud State at Quinnipiac (nc), 7:00 pm ET. Games for Saturday, January 16: Alaska Anchorage at Michigan Tech (WCHA), 5:07 pm ET; North Dakota at Minnesota (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT; Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota State (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT; Wisconsin at Colorado College (WCHA), 7:07 pm MT; St. Cloud State at Quinnipiac (nc), 7:00 pm ET. WCHA MEN’S RELEASE/WEEKLY #15/1-11-2010 of the two teams. Minnesota Duluth stands 2-0-0 vs Minnesota State UPCOMING IN THE WCHA this season after 5-2 and 3-2 wins in Duluth on the opening weekend of the league season – Oct. 16-17. The Fighting Sioux hold a 1-0-1 series Games for Friday, January 22 advantage on the Golden Gophers heading into the weekend, after a Colorado College at Alaska Anchorage (WCHA), 7:07 pm AT 4-0 victory and 3-3 (ot) tie in Grand Forks on Oct. 16-17. And Colorado Denver at Wisconsin (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT College has a 1-0-1 head-to-head advantage on the Badgers, after the Minnesota at St. Cloud State (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT Tigers won 3-2 and tied 1-1 (ot) in Madison back on Oct. 16-17. North Dakota at Cornell (nc), 7:00 pm ET On Tuesday evening, Michigan Tech will continue a busy nine days Minnesota Duluth at Bemidji State (nc), 7:35 pm CT – in which the Huskies play five games – when they host CCHA-member Northern Michigan at 7:07 pm ET in Houghton. Games for Saturday, January 23 Also outside the WCHA this week, St. Cloud State (12-7-3) heads east St. Cloud State at Minnesota (WCHA), 5:07 pm CT to take on Quinnipiac (13-7-1) of ECAC Hockey on Friday and Saturday Colorado College at Alaska Anchorage (WCHA), 7:07 pm AT at 7:00 pm ET each evening. Denver at Wisconsin (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT So far this season, and following Minnesota’s Jan. 8-9 sweep of visiting North Dakota at Cornell (nc), 7:00 pm ET Harvard, WCHA-member teams have run up an impressive 37-19-5 record Bemidji State at Minnesota Duluth (nc), 7:07 pm CT for a .647 winning percentage. With eight weeks to go in the regular season, pre-season MacNaughton Cup-favorite Denver (16 gp, 23 points) holds a two-point advantage over Michigan Tech (12) second place Minnesota Duluth (16 gp, 21 points) and a three-point lead Jan. 15-16 vs ALASKA ANCHORAGE; Jan. 29-30 vs MINNESOTA STATE; over third place St. Cloud State (16 gp, 20 points). Colorado College (16 Feb. 5-6 vs MINNESOTA DULUTH; Feb. 19-20 at Denver; Feb. 26-27 vs gp, 19 points) is just one back of SCSU in fourth, Wisconsin (14 gp, 18 WISCONSIN; March 5-6 at North Dakota. points) and North Dakota (16 gp, 18 points) share fifth, Minnesota (14 gp, Minnesota (14) 13 points) is seventh, Minnesota State (16 gp, 11 points) is eighth, Alaska Jan. 15-16 vs NORTH DAKOTA; Jan. 22 at St. Cloud State; Jan. 23 vs ST. Anchorage (16 gp, 9 points) is in the ninth spot, and Michigan Tech (16 CLOUD STATE, Jan. 29-30 at Alaska Anchorage; Feb. 12-13 at Denver; Feb. gp, 4 points) is 10th. 19-20 vs COLORADO COLLEGE; Feb. 26-27 at Minnesota Duluth; March Through games of January 10, seven WCHA-member teams own win- 5 & 7 vs WISCONSIN. ning records overall, six have overall winning percentages of .614 and Minnesota Duluth (12) above, and one is at an even .500. Denver is at 14-5-3 (.705), Wisconsin Jan. 15-16 at Minnesota State; Jan. 29-30 vs WISCONSIN; Feb. 5-6 at is at 12-5-3 (.675), Minnesota Duluth is at 14-7-1 (.659), North Dakota is Michigan Tech; Feb. 19-20 at North Dakota; Feb. 26-27 vs MINNESOTA; at 12-6-4 (.636), St. Cloud State and Colorado College are both at 12-7-3 March 5-6 at Alaska Anchorage. (.614) and Minnesota (11-10-1) is at .523. Sitting at an even .500 on the Minnesota State (12) season is Minnesota State (11-11-2). Jan. 15-16 vs MINNESOTA DULUTH; Jan. 29-30 at Michigan Tech; Feb. 12-13 In this week’s ( Jan. 11) USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Div.