Last week in the WCHA the playoff picture cleared up some. With UND sweeping UAA and DU sweeping UW, both teams have locked themselves into home ice. CC's sweep of UM helped them into 3rd place, but have only 3-games left. UMD took 3pts from MTU to help them stay in the race for home ice. MSU-Mankato is pretty much guaranteed a road trip to start the playoffs which means they join UAA and MTU as teams that will be on the road for the first round.


WCHA STANDINGS
1 North Dakota..............15-6-3...33
1 Denver......................15-7-3...33
3 Colorado College.......12-8-5...29
4 Wisconsin................13-9-2...28
5 Minnesota-Duluth.....10-8-6...26
6 St. Cloud State.........12-11-1...25
7 Minnesota..............10-10-4...24
8 Minnesota State........9-13-2...20
9 Alaska-Anchorage......7-14-5...19
10 Michigan Tech..........1-18-7...9


#16 Wisconsin at Minnesota State
This is the only series these two teams play against each other this year. Last season the Mavericks owned a 2-1-1 record against Bucky. The Badgers need some wins to keep their position in the top half of the league and improve their odds of getting into the NCAA tourney. It looks as if UW will most likely finish somewhere between 3rd and 6th place. While the Mavericks look to finish between 6th and 8th place. MSU-Mankato needs loads of luck to get home ice, so now they can play the spoiler role. UW is 3-3-0 and MSU-M is 2-3-1 in their last six games. Both teams were swept in their last WCHA series. The Mavs magic number seems to be 2, if they hold their opponents to 2 or fewer goals they have a good record, 11-0-1 overall. Bucky has been shut-out in 2 of the last 5 games, so they need to score. I'm going with the Mavericks this weekend, they had last weekend off to rest up and get ready for their final push. Mavericks sweep the Badgers.


#19 St. Cloud State at #5 Denver
The Pioneers are pretty much a lock for the NCAA tourney, and most likely will finish 1-2 in the league. The Huskies are only a point out of the final home ice spot, after a bye last weekend, so they need points to keep the dream alive. Back on Nov. 14-15 SCSU sweep DU at the National Hockey Center. DU is coming off a big road sweep of UW, so they hope to keep momentum rolling, and hope they do not suffer a let down, this weekend. The Huskies would like nothing better than to get a season sweep of DU and really improve their chances for home ice in two weeks. DU would like to take four points and lock them into at least #2 in the league. DU might be without forward Tyler Ruegsegger (5th in team scoring 12g, 11a) who suffered an "upper body injury" last weekend. With that in mind I'm going to call a split in this series. Huskies on Friday and Pioneers on Saturday.


#14 Minnesota-Duluth at #18 Minnesota
Well this is another big series in the race for home ice. IF the Bulldogs sweep the Gophers, UMD is in good shape to hold a playoff series, and the Gophers would be on the road, possible to Duluth... IF the Gophers sweep they would be in position to grab home ice, but would need some help this weekend and next. The Bulldogs are 4-6-4 away from the DECC, and the Gophers are 8-5-5 at Mariucci this season, but are 1-3-1 in their last 5 home games, ouch! If the UM doesn't get some points this weekend, Coach Lucia might feel worse now then when he had his medical condition earlier this year. UMD plays well when they have the lead, and UM has not played well when they have been trailing. With that said the first goal of the games is going to be important and I also say who ever scores first wins the game.


#13 Colorado College at #8 North Dakota (Sat. & Sun.)
The Sioux have secured home ice for the first round, and the Tigers are in a good spot to hold onto home ice. If UND can sweep CC they would only need one more win secure the top spot in the WCHA. CC has 3-games left, these two at Grand Forks and one at Denver, not an easy way to end the season. The Tigers got their second WCHA sweep of the season last weekend, their last was back in mid-October against MTU. While the Sioux swept UAA on the road, in doing so goalie Brad Eidsness became only the 3rd UND freshman goalie to hit the 20-win plateau, joining former Sioux greats Ed Belfour and Karl Goehring - Congratulations Brad! Since the start of 2009 the Sioux have been scoring over 4goals/game and giving up just a shade over 2 goals/game. I watched the CC-UM games last weekend, and CC capitalized on some UM mistakes and got a few bounces. The Tigers were outplayed by the Gophers for large chunks of time, and where out shot 37-19 on Saturday. I don't think they have "turned things around" in C-springs just yet. This is a big weekend for both teams, but with the Sioux rolling and being back at home and CC being 5-5-4 on the road this season, I'm taking the Sioux, sweep.


UAA at UAF (Non Conference)
All I know that this series is for the Governor's Cup, I hope Governor Sarah Palin presents the winners the Cup... A look the standing and records this year points to the Nanooks being the favorite. UAF is 4th in the CCHA and UAA is 9th in the WCHA. So with the "Battle for Alaska" going on this weekend in a home-and-home series, I'm backing the WCHA, and saying the Seawolves sweep the Nanooks.


MTU is on a bye week, next week they host the Gophers.