With the conclusion of the Denver-Wisconsin series tonight in the Mile High City, next weekend’s WCHA Final Five is officially set: Minnesota, Minnesota-Duluth, Denver, North Dakota, St. Cloud State and Michigan Tech.

First, a few thoughts on this weekend: The number of series that lasted only two games was very surprising to me, especially considering how competitive these games were.

- Alaska-Anchorage had Minnesota on the ropes Saturday night, leading 3-1 in the second period. But a series of penalties allowed Minnesota to gain momentum and eventually the dam broke, as the Gophers rallied with six straight goals. That sweep wasn’t a surprise.

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Boston — Boston University was tied 2-2 with University of New Hampshire after Kevin Goumas passed back to Connor Hardowa for the game tying goal. But the Terriers didn’t let the score stay there for long, as Matt Nieto answered just 54 seconds later with the go-ahead goal.

Nieto’s goal would prove to be all BU needed to take the second game in the quarterfinal series, but Ryan Santana would seal it for the Terriers with a mid-third period goal to put BU up 4-2 and force a third game to determine which team will advance to the Hockey East semifinals.

What I saw

Kieran Millan kept the Terriers alive in the first period. He made two big saves in that period alone, later making a save on a breakaway from Mike Borisenok to keep BU up 1-0 at the close of the first. Kevin Goumas got an open chance on Millan in the second after BU mishandled the puck, but the goaltender was again there to keep his team in it. With three minutes to play, the Maine offense saw another opportunity to score, but Millan darted across the crease and blocked the shot with his elbow. This type of play characterized Millan’s skill throughout the entire game, in which he made 35 saves.

UNH was beating BU to the puck almost every chance they had to in the first period, which is why the Terriers depended on Millan so much early in the game. UNH’s forwards came out of the gate with hustle, and looked like a team that wanted to end this series tonight. They stay on top of the puck on every rebound, sometimes resulting in three consecutive shots. Despite the score, the Wildcats didn’t make it easy on Millan.

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This weekend is Quarterfinal weekend in the ECAC and the big question is who will end up in the Final Four. Last weekend’s ECAC first round was fully entertaining, with three of the opening round matchup’s going a full three games.

Here is what to expect in the second round.

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Because I cover the league as a whole, I do not receive an All-WCHA ballot. They are distributed by schools and their Sports Information Directors, generally to the local beat writers, radio guys, TV guys, etc. Coaches also get a vote, as do team captains. That’s how these guys are chosen.

Any scribes like myself who are not affiliated with a local daily or with the team itself do not get a ballot unless an SID provides us with one. Perhaps that will change in the new WCHA.

Anyways, without further ado, here is who I would choose if I had a ballot. I have no doubt I’ll be ripped, so you can do that in the comments below:

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We have an undisputed, outright WCHA MacNaughton Cup champion.

Minnesota made sure of that by winning over Wisconsin tonight. Even if they had stumbled, Minnesota-Duluth tied in St. Cloud, meaning the Bulldogs would have finished one point short anyways.

And while the results in Minneapolis and St. Cloud had no effect on seeding for the front-runners, it had plenty of meaning for the Huskies and Badgers.

Here’s what it means for them:

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NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Entering Saturday’s game against UMass, Merrimack was aware of its Hockey East playoff fate. By virtue of Maine’s 1-0 victory earlier in the afternoon over New Hampshire, the Black Bears clinched the final home ice position and Merrimack as their opponent. However, there was still much for the Warriors to play for, as concluding the regular season with a win and a run in the conference playoffs could yield an NCAA bid.

Saturday night, the Warriors accomplished one portion of their goal, defeating UMass, 5-3, at Lawler Arena behind a dominate third period. Merrimack scored three-consecutive goals to neutralize a 2-1 deficit entering the frame to earn the victory.

With the loss, the Minutemen settled for the eighth seed and will face Hockey East regular season champion Boston College in Chestnut Hill.

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Because I mentioned Wisconsin few times in the story that will be posted on CHN’s website here tonight, I did want to throw some props the way of the Badgers. What a performance tonight by the boys in Cardinal and White. Honestly, I haven’t seen much of the Badgers this season — a couple of games on television and that’s about it. But the team I saw tonight, if it plays like it did tonight, can beat anyone in the country.

That’s right. Anyone in the country. When I asked Mike Eaves after the game where this effort tonight ranked among his team’s games this season, he said it was at the top.

“We played Denver at home a couple of Saturdays ago and that was a pretty complete game,” Eaves said. “This ranks in that area.”

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*NOTE: Eric Stromgren and I will be live blogging events from Minneapolis and St. Cloud all weekend long, with him at the National Hockey Center and I at Mariucci Arena. Two arenas, two writers, one blog — join us tomorrow and let’s talk some hockey. Click here to find the chat, which should get underway at 6:30 p.m. CST. There will also be a link on CHN’s main page.

** SECONDARY NOTE: I will be on AM 1500 ESPN Twin Cities for a segment tomorrow, talking Gopher hockey. If you’re not local and wish to listen anyway, you can listen online here. “This Week In Golden Gopher Athletics” starts at 8 a.m CST, and I will be on around 8:50. 

Heading into the season’s final weekend, only Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth have a shot at taking home the MacNaughton Cup. The Gophers lead the Bulldogs by two points, and also have the added edge of playing at home this weekend. UMD plays at St. Cloud. In order to take the MacNaughton outright, and the top-seed in the playoffs, the Bulldogs will need to net three points on Minnesota, as the Gophers’ sweep of Duluth back in October assured them of the tiebreaker.

Should both teams finished tied, both will get a chance to dance with the Cup as they will be considered co-champs.

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Saturday’s game between Harvard and Clarkson marked an opportunity for both schools to secure a valuable bye in the first round of the ECAC playoffs. To begin the weekend, Clarkson sat in the pole position, one point ahead of Harvard and two clear of Quinnipiac.

But a cluster of teams near the middle of the standings meant that both needed three-point weekends to secure the next one off. Instead, Harvard took full control of its fate and won both games at the Bright Hockey Center. With a 3-2 win over Clarkson Saturday night, and a 4-1 win over St. Lawrence on Friday, Harvard passed Colgate and earned a third-place finish in the ECAC regular season.

Meanwhile Clarkson will host RPI in the first round of the conference playoffs, after losing both games this weekend.

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