With Denver’s late victory over St. Cloud State, the Pioneers finally solved the mystery 10 of the league’s 12 teams were waiting to have answered. Even after five of the WCHA’s six games were completed, only Michigan Tech and North Dakota knew where they were going.

Here are the final standings for the regular season:

1 – North Dakota

2 – Denver

3 – Nebraska-Omaha

4 – Minnesota Duluth

5 – Minnesota

6 – Colorado College

7 – Wisconsin

8 – Alaska-Anchorage

9 – St. Cloud State

10 – Bemidji State

11 – Minnesota State

12 – Michigan Tech

Here are the playoff matchups for next weekend:

Michigan Tech at North Dakota

Minnesota State at Denver

Bemidji State at Nebraska-Omaha

St. Cloud State at Minnesota Duluth

Alaska-Anchorage at Minnesota

Wisconsin at Colorado College

There are definitely some intriguing series mixed in. North Dakota is really the only runaway favorite in all of those contests. Even Minnesota State gave Denver a run (led late in both games, but ended up with only one point) two months ago when the teams met in Mankato. Bemidji finished the year 3-0-1 against UNO. Anchorage split with Minnesota at Mariucci in early February. Wisconsin and CC split this weekend in their only meeting of the year. St. Cloud hammered Duluth 8-2 Feb. 11 before adding a tie the following night at Amsoil Arena last month.

After a couple of weeks to take care of some personal stuff, I’m back (try and hold your enthusiasm to a minimum, please). And just in time too. It’s just about playoff time, which for us college hockey fans, is the best time of the year. I’m always confused by the amount of movement in the Pairwise Rankings this time of year, too. It seems that some teams can sit stagnant for weeks at a time, and all of the sudden, they climb like mad over the last two weeks. I’m not going to try and understand how it all works, all I know is, 16 days from now, we know who the 16 teams headed to the NCAA Tournament will be.

In the WCHA, there is still plenty to be decided. A vast majority of the home ice slots have been awarded, but there are still two left. And of course, who is going where, is still extremely fluid — unless you play for Michigan Tech or North Dakota.

That’s what this column will try and predict. We can come back in about 60 hours and dissect it all, and I’ll probably be more wrong than right. But it’s fun to play around anyways.

Here is what we know for sure: Perhaps Michigan Tech can just ride back to Grand Forks Saturday night with North Dakota. The two teams play in Houghton this weekend and will play next weekend at Ralph Engelstad Arena. As the MacNaughton Cup champions, UND is the No. 1 seed for the entire playoffs. Tech’s season is likely to end in 9 days.

Denver, Nebraska-Omaha and Minnesota Duluth will also play at home. Against who? That’s left to be decided. UNO and UMD meet this weekend in Duluth to decide third place, although either team could jump into second place if Denver stumbles. The red Mavs lead the Bulldogs by one point.

Minnesota and Colorado College (and its opponent this weekend, Wisconsin) all control their own home ice destiny. With one point at Bemidji State, the Gophers wrap up home ice. CC leads the Badgers by one point for the final home ice slot.

Here is where things get tricky: St. Cloud State is still in the mix for home ice. They need the Tigers and UW to split at the Kohl Center (very possible). They also need to sweep at Denver (not likely).St. Cloud could also finish as low as 10th (also unlikely).

Alaska-Anchorage and Minnesota State follow St. Cloud and play each other this weekend. Neither team can finish sixth, Anchorage could finish seventh and the highest the Mavericks could go is eighth. In theory, either could also finish in 11th. UAA enters play at the Verizon Wireless Center two points up on the home team. MSU took three points from the Seawolves at Sullivan Arena early in the year, so if these two squads finish tied, Minnesota State would have the edge.

Bemidji State hosts Minnesota tied with the purple Mavericks at 20 points for 10th place — although the Beavers have that edge in a head-to-head tie.

THIS WEEKEND’S MATCH-UPS AND SOME PREDICTIONS

North Dakota at Michigan Tech — Sioux sweep

Colorado College at Wisconsin — Split

Alaska-Anchorage at Minnesota State — Mavericks sweep

Minnesota at Bemidji State — Split

St. Cloud State at Denver — Pioneers sweep

Nebraska-Omaha at Minnesota Duluth — Split

THAT WOULD MEAN…

(1) North Dakota

(2) Denver

(3) Nebraska-Omaha

(4) Minnesota Duluth

(5) Minnesota

(6) Colorado College

(7) Wisconsin

(8) Minnesota State

(9) St. Cloud State

(10) Alaska-Anchorage

(11) Bemidji State

(12) Michigan Tech

MY PLAYOFF MATCH-UPS

(12) Michigan Tech at (1) North Dakota

(11) Bemidji State at (2) Denver

(10) Alaska-Anchorage at (3) Nebraska-Omaha

(9) St. Cloud State at (4) Minnesota Duluth

(8) Minnesota State at (5) Minnesota

(7) Wisconsin at (6) Colorado College

That would be some fantastic playoff match-ups, with plenty of room for some high seeds to go down. I would be especially intrigued by SCSU at UMD and MSU at Minnesota. The Mavericks and Gophers had an epic playoff battle three years ago, and I would love to see it again. It would also feature two series with rematches of games this weekend (Tech-UND, CC-UW).

What do you think?

How about Mike Connolly tonight? Five goals in a 6-4 win over Minnesota. So like the Gophers did to the Bulldogs back in December, UMD turns around and takes three points at home over the Gophers. It’s a big win for UMD, which for the moment, moves into first place all alone in the WCHA. And is there any question on who the league’s Offensive

I say the moment because as I write this, Denver is leading Colorado College 5-3. Obviously there’s plenty of time left (20 minutes to be exact), but it appears as though the Pioneers will jump ahead of North Dakota too and tie the Bulldogs.

What has gotten into Nebraska-Omaha? That’s 2 out of 3 games now where the Red Mavericks have put at least 55 shots on goal. St. Cloud State’s Mike Lee stopped 51 shots tonight — AND GOT THE LOSS. You know things aren’t going your way when that happens. SCSU led the game 3-0 early, but UNO put so many shots on Lee, they were bound to catch up eventually.

Don’t tell Minnesota State that, though. One night after putting 43 shots on Bemidji State’s Dan Bakala and only scoring twice, the Purple Mavericks put 41 on Bakala and can only score once in a 4-1 loss. Any guess on who the league’s Defensive Player of the Week is going to be? And while Bakala was solid all weekend, the Mavs have nobody to blame but themselves — their power play was horrendous all weekend, including an 0-for-6 mark tonight. BSU meanwhile went 2-for-4 with the man advantage.

So, what does all that mean?

The top of the league just got a little tighter. Bemidji made the bottom of the league a little tighter. Minnesota State missed a golden opportunity to put themselves in prime position to get in the home ice race next weekend at CC. And depending on how Alaska-Anchorage does tonight against Michigan Tech, the Seawolves could find themselves in the driver’s seat for home ice.

What a wacky season in the new WCHA.

As we head down the stretch, I’d like to make a post or two like this every week, just to keep you updated on the WCHA playoff picture heading down the stretch.

With a month or so left before the playoffs begin, the playoff picture is slowly starting to clear up — at least in terms of who will likely be hosting the first round games. Now who those teams are playing? That’s for the final month to decide.

Right now, North Dakota (28 points), Denver (27), Minnesota Duluth (27), Nebraska-Omaha (24) and Wisconsin (24) are in great shape. It would take unlikely poor finishes to knock these teams below sixth place in the standings.

From there, five teams are right in the thick of things for the sixth and final home ice slot. Heading into tonight’s action, Colorado College (20 points) has that spot. But Minnesota is right on their heels just a point back. Alaska-Anchorage is two points back in eighth while Minnesota State and St. Cloud State are four points back, tied for ninth place. One thing to keep in mind (as I mentioned on Twitter last night, @CHNDanMyers), one thing to keep in mind is games played. Minnesota State and Alaska-Anchorage have played in 21 games. CC, Minnesota and St. Cloud State have played in just 19 games.

And while MSU and UAA have played more games, they also have the easier games tonight (Seawolves host Tech, Mavs host Bemidji). Both squads are seeking home sweeps this evening. Minnesota plays at Minnesota Duluth, CC plays Denver and SCSU is in Omaha. What does all of that mean? There is a solid chance things could be even more muddled 8 hours from now.

Tonight’s game is especially important for the Mavericks. While they only have six games left after this evening, four of them are against teams directly in front of them (at CC next weekend, home vs. UAA the final weekend). A win tonight could very well move them within a victory of CC and the last home ice spot when the teams clash six days from now.

The Seawolves need two points tonight because their remaining schedule (at North Dakota, home vs. UNO and at Minnesota State) is extremely tough. St. Cloud’s schedule is as brutal as it gets, with home games against North Dakota and Wisconsin sandwiched by road series at Duluth and Denver. Combined with their game tonight at UNO, the Huskies will see each one of the top 5 teams in the league over the next four weeks.

Minnesota should get four points at home vs. Michigan Tech in three weeks, but will have their hands full with Denver and Wisconsin the next couple. They finish at Bemidji State. DU and Tech are at home, where the Gophers have lost more than they’ve won this season.

Bemidji State has fallen back to 11th position at 12 points while Michigan Tech hasn’t won a game since October and is buried in 12th. If the Beavers can grab a win in Mankato tonight, they may be able to catch the Mavericks down the stretch

I’ll post an update tonight after the first round of games.

According to Roman Augustoviz of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnesota senior goaltender Alex Kangas re-injured himself in practice Monday — an injury which has now put his season, and collegiate career, in jeopardy.

Kangas last appeared in a game Dec. 3 at Minnesota State. He sustained the injury in practice Dec. 11 — a day the Gophers were originally scheduled to play Minnesota Duluth. The game was moved back, however because of a snowstorm in the Twin Cities.

Gophers coach Don Lucia has yet to confirm the exact location and nature of the injury, but has hinted that surgery may now be necessary to correct the issue. A source close to Kangas has told Augustoviz that Kangas is suffering from a hip injury.

Kent Patterson has filled in full time with Kangas on the shelf. His .917 save percentage is fifth in the WCHA, so there is no immediate concern about a drop off in play. Both Patterson’s save percentage and goals against average have been significantly better than Kangas’ this season.

Where the Gophers need to be concerned is in regards to their depth. With Kangas seemingly unavailable, Jake Kremer assumes the No. 2 hole behind Patterson. Kremer, a junior from Eden Prairie, Minn., has never played in game that counts.

More importantly, with only two healthy goaltenders, the Gophers may be forced to significantly adjust their practice schedule. Most schools carry a third goaltender just for practice purposes. This injury may force Minnesota to get creative in that quest — by either shortening practices for their goaltenders, giving Patterson days off, or by recruiting a goaltender off the school’s club team — which other teams have done in the past.

Minnesota is locked in a battle with Wisconsin and others for the final home ice slot in the WCHA playoffs. The Gophers head to Grand Forks this weekend for a series against No. 2 North Dakota, with Minnesota on the verge of dropping out of the Pairwise picture altogether. The Gophers have missed the last two NCAA Tournaments and the seat of Lucia’s office chair has grown increasingly warm over the last 24 months.

Last week, we here at College Hockey News named Minnesota State as our team of the week. And it was well deserved — the Mavericks were coming off a solid weekend in which they defeated a top-12 team in Notre Dame and a dominating win over Brown.

This past weekend, MSU returned home and didn’t play very well — but the fact is, they won twice, extending their winning streak to four games. They’ve now won 8 of 10 and have put themselves in the thick of the Pairwise discussion. Even the two games they lost — they were swept at home by North Dakota before Christmas — they were extremely competitive in. They blew a 2-0 lead in the first game against the Fighting Sioux.

Unfortunately, “almost wins” don’t count come March, and a ninth place finish in the WCHA isn’t going to be enough to get the Mavericks to their first NCAA Tournament since 2003. Every team in the league has played half its league schedule, no more, no less. With 14 games remaining on the schedule, the time is now for Minnesota State to take what it has learned about itself in nonconference play, where MSU has gone 6-0-2 this season, and apply it to league games.

That starts this weekend in Mankato where the Mavs play host to Denver. The Pioneers are one of three teams tied for fourth in the Pairwise rankings. A three or four point weekend would likely move the Mavericks from Pairwise afterthought to Pairwise bubble. There are plenty of opportunities for MSU to make some noise here in the second half. With seven series remaining, four come against teams ranked ahead of them in the Pairwise.

Wins over American International and Massachusetts-Lowell aren’t going to cut it anymore. For MSU, now it’s time to show what kind of team they really are.

In 1996, Michigan and Colorado College faced off for the Division I NCAA Championship in Cincinnati. To the casual college sports fan, it must have seemed like a typo – surely that’s got to be the University of Colorado, right?

Red Berenson, the legendary Michigan coach, remarked on the uniqueness of the game. I wish I could find the exact quote, but to paraphrase, Berenson noted the interesting situation that existed within college hockey in that a small school like Colorado College could not only reach the Division I title game, but that they would not immediately be dismissed, even against a school with the stature of the University of Michigan. Ultimately, the Wolverines would indeed claim the national championship… but not before the Tigers forced overtime.

How is it that Division III schools like Colorado College and Rensselaer have each won multiple Division I national championships? How can it be that Clarkson and St. Lawrence boast two of the highest all-time winning percentages in the history of Division I college hockey? How is it that RIT was playing Wisconsin in the Frozen Four this year? These are not questions that the ardent college hockey fan ponders. They understand the fabric of the game. They understand why Boston College and Boston University have the most heated rivalry in the sport, but are strangers in other sports. They know why Lake Superior State is a notable program. It doesn’t shock the college hockey fan when North Dakota beats Minnesota.

The college sports world revolves primarily around two sports – football and men’s basketball. Many of the same schools are dominant in one or both of those sports. But when it comes to college hockey, the smaller schools with the deep traditions have always been able to run with the best. To be fair, the top level schools are also quite dominant in college hockey. While there are only eight schools who compete in football’s six BCS conferences playing Division I hockey, five of them can claim national championships within the last 15 years, and all of them with the exception of UConn have made at least one appearance in the Frozen Four.

When one breaks the schools of the Division I college hockey fraternity down into the various subdivisions – the BCS, the remainder of the FBS, the FCS, the non-football D-I schools, Division II, and Division III, the largest single division is actually Division II with 16 different schools in that division “playing up.” And they’re no slouches, either. Lake State, Northern Michigan, and Michigan Tech have all claimed college hockey’s greatest prize. North Dakota’s seven national titles all came while the school was in Division II. Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State are often among the best teams in the WCHA, arguably one of the best conferences in the nation. 2/3rds of the WCHA’s membership are Division II or Division III schools.

A big part of the reason for this unique aspect of the sport is the insulated nature of college hockey’s structure. With the exception of the Ivy League, which operates as something of a sub-conference of ECAC Hockey, there are no conferences that are anything more than “hockey only.” In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, a mid-major Division I conference, sponsored hockey, but it was a marriage of convenience only. The Big East, the ACC, and the Big Ten all have schools participating in college hockey, but they’ve never become directly involved themselves.

That could all change with the expected announcement tomorrow that Penn State will become the sixth Big Ten school to sponsor varsity hockey. As those of us who have watched the CHA’s soap opera come to its tragic conclusion know very well, six is the magic number for a set of teams to create a conference that can hold an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

What will become of college hockey’s unique status if that happens? Many pundits are fearing the worst. They fear that the creation of a super-conference made up of most of the sport’s largest and best funded schools will leave those smaller schools out in the cold. They expect that the decimation of the CCHA and the removal of the two of the bedrock schools of the WCHA will be bad for those remaining small schools, especially under the belief that these schools will not be able to compete with the larger schools anymore.

It’s true that there will be some drawbacks. Minnesota isn’t going to visit St. Cloud State if they don’t have to. Same applies for Michigan and Ferris State. Those bigger schools coming into town can often be a big draw for the smaller school. A Big Ten conference would be a natural invitation for the other six schools of the conference to potentially start a new program – Indiana has already been rumored to be following Penn State into the varsity ranks. Those new programs will have access to more resources than most of the smaller, traditional hockey schools.

But big schools joining the Division I ranks is no guarantee that they’ll start dominating anything. Look at UConn. They seem very content in running a varsity program with practically no resources allocated – most significantly, no scholarships. There’s no guarantee that these schools will commit the resources necessary to be successful. But there’s another aspect that people don’t often consider – one of the defining qualities of college hockey is that, with only a few exceptions, the sport is either the premier winter sport, or shares roughly equal billing with basketball. The overwhelming popularity of UConn basketball is one reason why the Huskies are relatively obscure in hockey. Even among the very best Big Ten teams like Michigan and Minnesota, hockey is popular enough to be one of the major draws of the winter. Ohio State, notably, lags in this category and has been unable to cement itself as one of the sport’s top programs. North Dakota, Boston University, and Colorado College may not be on the national level of the Big Ten, but their commitment and passion for the sport is unquestioned, and they regularly are among the top programs in the nation.

Does hockey have a prayer against basketball at Indiana? At Purdue or Illinois? It’s awfully hard to see hockey achieving levels there that it has achieved at Wisconsin or Michigan State. It’s not even a given that hockey at Penn State is going to be on par with their basketball program – time will tell.

Penn State is just one school. Granted, they are easily the biggest school to start a varsity program in the modern era, but they aren’t going to immediately start siphoning blue-chippers away from New Hampshire and Cornell. The small schools are already able to compete with the big schools, why would it necessarily be any different with most of them grouped in one conference? And bear in mind – a Big Ten conference would necessitate a new realignment of conferences that would encourage more schools to try their hand at fielding a varsity team of their own, and not just the big shots – plenty of the rumors of new programs over the years have been at the same type of smaller Division I and lower division schools that comprise the majority of the college hockey spectrum.

A Big Ten conference radically alters the landscape, and change is never easy, especially when the end result isn’t 100% clear. We may well lose some of the charm that makes college hockey a niche sport. But opportunities abound. This can be a positive for the entire college hockey world if it’s done right.

The comments today from Western Hockey League commissioner Ron Robison in the Regina (Saskatchewan) Leader-Post are a comedy of intentional naivete, with the newspaper allowing itself to be the co-conspirator.

Robison is responding to the recent comments and efforts from Paul Kelly, the Executive Director of College Hockey Inc. Kelly, of course, has been out and about, critical of the Canadian Hockey League’s practices (the CHL is the governing body of the Canadian Major Junior system). All of the issues were summarized in our recent article and Q&A with Kelly.

Kelly has been admittedly aggressive in his condemnation of many of the Major Junior leagues’ practices. It’s true that, to a large extent, the CHL is doing nothing wrong, and is simply winning the recruiting war. However, Robison “hey, don’t blame us” attitude, leaves out numerous specific things the Major Juniors did to hamper NCAA efforts, as the NCAA had begun making major inroads. Robison makes it sound like they’re just the better option, so of course players would go there.

Well, no.

“We have never attacked or been critical of their programs whatsoever. If (going to the NCAA) is what a player chooses to do, we respect that. Our position has been simply to continue to raise awareness to the fact that in addition to having a great development league we also have an outstanding education program.”

Yeah, that great “education program” has been torn to shreds. Is that what Robison means about just making sure players have the “right information?”

The paper writes:

“We’ve always been the leaders of the development area, the leading supplier to the NHL and the national team programs. Consequently, the appointment of Paul Kelly to College Hockey, Inc., is a response to the success the Canadian Hockey League is having.”

In other words, when you’re on top, there’s always someone trying to knock you down.

Yeah, so that’s why they implemented a transfer agreement with USA Hockey that essentially cuts off U.S. kids’ options? That’s why they changed the draft age in the WHL to 14 from midget? That’s why they changed the Jr. B and Tier II rules to cut off the NCAA’s supply lines?

C’mon.

The Regina paper should take a hint from Jeff Hicks, the writer at the Waterloo Record in Ontario, who is the only Canadian writer I’ve seen consistently present all sides of this issue accurately, with seeing things through Major Junior-colored glasses, or regurgitating the party line.

Recruiting is hard enough as it is. Especially in the Ivy League. But now Dartmouth has lost a prized recruit, late in the game, to one of the behemoth schools — Wisconsin.

Matt Lindblad “decommitted” from Dartmouth, and switched to the Badgers. Wisconsin has been hit hard by losses to the pros, and this fills a big need. But is it right? Of course, the online community is on fire over it. Most non-Badgers fans are enraged.

Still awaiting from comment from Dartmouth and/or Wisconsin. Ivy League schools typically can’t comment on players until they are enrolled in the school. And, the big problem is, they don’t give Letters of Intent. A LOI locks a player into a school — but the Ivies don’t use them. Had they used them, Lindblad wouldn’t have been able to go anywhere.

So the question is whether Wisconsin actively went after the player, or this was completely driven by Lindblad. It really seems seedy and unfair — but on the other hand, shouldn’t a player do whatever he wants to do? I don’t know. It’s a tough call. I think it depends on how vigorously Wisconsin was involved. I do think the player should’ve honored his commitment though.

Of course, this also happens to Wisconsin. They’ve lost players like Nate Hagemo and Patrick Wiercioch late in the game, when Minnesota and Denver, respectively, had holes they needed to fill. So turnabout is fair play. Although, the WCHA is supposed to have a gentlemen’s agreement (heh), and Dartmouth never did anything to anyone.

Meanwhile, the Badger fan blog, “60 Minutes,” says that a Princeton recruit may be in the process of doing the same thing.

Here’s Bruce Ciskie’s take:

Basically, Eaves took advantage of Dartmouth’s rules governing athletics, and its standing as an Ivy League school, to grab an important recruit for the 2010-11 class. He has to replace eight forwards off last year’s team, including Hobey Baker winner Blake Geoffrion and top playmaker Derek Stepan, and Stepan’s loss wasn’t expected.

That left the coach in scramble mode, and he did something that’s been done to him by WCHA rivals twice.

In this observer’s opinion, it just isn’t right. If a player’s commitment didn’t matter, we wouldn’t have players committing. And if it didn’t matter, the WCHA wouldn’t operate under a gentleman’s agreement.

Not only that, but most fans hate this type of thing when it happens to them, and two wrongs don’t make a right.

Earlier today, College Hockey News named Marc Cheverie — Denver’s junior goaltender — its Player of the Year. Later that afternoon, the Hobey Baker Award committee announced that Cheverie was not among the top three vote getters.

We won’t know who wins this year’s Hobey Baker Award until April 9, but we now know it won’t be Cheverie. And that’s just OK with us.

It’s not the first time our Player of the Year was not selected among the final three for the Hobey. In 2006, we chose Minnesota’s Ryan Potulny as POTY. No other player since 1997 has had as many goals as him that season. The next year, we picked Michigan’s T.J. Hensick, who was probably harmed in the eyes of Hobey voters for an egregious penalty he took in mid-season that year. We didn’t consider that in terms of POTY.

The last two years, our POTY and the Hobey winner matched — Kevin Porter and Matt Gilroy. Although, personally, I thought Minnesota’s Ryan Stoa was the best player in the country — albeit he was hurt by playing on a team that didn’t make the NCAAs.

This year, our internal panel was really split down the middle. It wasn’t so much a heated debate as it was just a discussion on philosophy. Should Cheverie be discredited for having been a part of three straight losses to end Denver’s season? And should Geoffrion get a boost for playing hot down the stretch, winning the West Regional MOP, and leading the Badgers to the Frozen Four?

The answer to both questions is definitely yes, but by how much? We certainly wrestled with this question. I think if you asked who should win two weeks ago, then Cheverie would’ve won in a cakewalk. Certainly the postseason is important, but does a couple of games override the whole season? Why would Denver have been without him? The Pioneers saw a scary glimpse of that in November.

Personally, I love Blake Geoffrion. He is an inspirational player, a captain, great on faceoffs, a leader — he has improved tremendously, too, over four years. He is a living example of why staying in school makes sense for most players. He is so much better prepared now for the NHL than he was two years ago.

But in the end, we leaned towards Cheverie.