A lot has been said by fans over the years about the job done by now-former Minnesota State coach Troy Jutting.

Some have been supportive. Some have been critical. Some have been ridiculously critical. Ask Shane Frederick of the Mankato Free Press. Moderating his live blog on game nights has become a bigger and bigger chore for him over the years.

Calling for a coach’s job is nothing new. Since the advent of talk radio and message boards on the internet, it’s become almost customary. Heck, as a sophomore at Minnesota State, I once wrote an editorial calling for Jutting’s job. I even named guys I would replace him with.

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The offseason is not even a week old for some, barely two weeks for others and the WCHA has already been hit exceedingly hard by early departures.

At this rate, there won’t be many top players left by the time the new season kicks off seven months from now.

Your early departures so far: Colorado College’s Jaden Schwartz, Nebraska-Omaha’s Terry Broadhurst, St. Cloud State’s David Eddy and Denver’s Drew Shore and Jason Zucker.

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After missing much of the Final Five last season because of a family vacation, I am exceedingly happy to be back for its entirety this year. Afterall, there is only one of these left after this season before we can expect major changes — not only in the teams, but in the look and feel as well as the locale of this tournament starting in 2014.

If you are not in town and want to follow along, please follow me on Twitter @MyersHockey. I will be providing updates from here all weekend long.

If you’re interested and haven’t yet found my WCHA Final Five preview, please check it out here.

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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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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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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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Part 2 today of my look at the WCHA Playoffs and who these teams would LIKE to play. Should have explained yesterday, but these opinions are based on realistic match-ups for the playoffs. Yeah, St. Cloud State would love to play Alaska-Anchorage (as everyone else probably would), but it’s not going to happen.

Without further ado, here is the top-half of the league, and who they’d like to play:

T4 — North Dakota: The Fighting Sioux have a big series at Denver this weekend, and a pair of wins would vault UND ahead of DU in the standings. At 27 points, North Dakota is just three points out of third place.

Who they want: Bemidji State

The Beavers beat North Dakota 1-0 earlier this season to score their first win over North Dakota. Ever. Safe to say, history resides on the side of the Fighting Sioux in this one.

T4 — Nebraska-Omaha: The Mavericks are hoping to stay within striking distance of Denver this weekend, because UNO hosts the Pioneers next weekend to wrap up the season. Although Omaha is tied with North Dakota in the standings, UNO has to be hoping for a split in the UND-DU series. If it happens, Omaha needs to take care of business against Minnesota.

Who they want: St. Cloud State

The Mavericks took 3 of 4 points against the Huskies in Omaha earlier this season and went 3-0-1 against them last season. Personally, I don’t think the Mavs care who they play, as long as it’s not Bemidji State. For some reason, the Beavers present UNO with a host of problems when they play, and I doubt the Mavericks would enjoy the constant questions in the lead up to that series.

T4 — Colorado College: The Tigers have been an average team virtually all season. After a 4-0 start, CC is just 12-12-2 overall and just a game over .500 in conference play. At 5-7 on the road in WCHA play, maintaining home ice is critically important and provides the Tigers with a distinct advantage.

Who they want: Wisconsin

CC is extremely familiar with the Badgers — the Tigers beat Wisconsin in three games in the first round last year. CC swept Wisconsin in their lone meeting this season at World Arena and are 5-2 against UW over the last two seasons. Plus, Wisconsin has just one road win this season, and a trip to Colorado Springs is probably the second most tedious in the league for the boys from Madison.

1-3 — Minnesota, Minnesota Duluth, Denver: All three of these teams are in a similar spot in terms of who they want to play… obviously only one will get them. Third place Denver and league-leading Minnesota are separated by four points with UMD stuck right in the middle, meaning plenty of shuffling can still take place among the top-3 teams.

Who they want: Alaska-Anchorage

The Seawolves style of play can present problems for any team, but it’s pretty safe to say all three teams would love the opportunity to take on Anchorage, a team that’s a lengthy plane ride away and has won just three times since Thanksgiving. These three teams are a combined 7-1-0 against UAA this season, with the lone Seawolf victory coming against UMD in Anchorage just a couple of weeks ago. I’m sure the Gophers would love the opportunity to avenge last season’s embarrassing playoff ouster at the hands of the Seawolves.

Instead of the weekly WCHA Power Rankings, I thought I’d delve ahead into the WCHA Playoffs, now just two weeks away. Afterall, the league’s actual power rankings — the standings — have separated a bit here in the last couple weeks. And while there is still plenty to be decided, if things hold serve this weekend, the league’s home ice teams and travelling teams will be quite clear.

That said, here is a look at who each team should be HOPING for when the playoffs do kick off Mar. 9. Feel free to agree or disagree below. Today, I will look at the bottom half of the WCHA. I will post the top-half Friday.

12 — Alaska-Anchorage: The Seawolves are locked into the 12th and final spot in the WCHA, meaning they will play the league’s top seed and MacNaughton Cup champion.

Who they want: Minnesota

When the Seawolves played at Minnesota in October, the Gophers were the best team in the country. Since then, the Gophers have been brilliant one weekend and just OK the next. UAA showed they can win at Mariucci Arena last season when they were to Minneapolis and knocked out the Gophers, advancing to the Final Five. This Seawolves team isn’t half as good as last year’s, so Anchorage will be a massive long-shot no matter where it goes. Minneapolis would also be easy from a travel standpoint.

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