WCHA Awards and Playoff Preview

The WCHA regular season ended last weekend. Some how the Gophers managed to finish in the top half of the league which really proves how mediocre the WCHA was this year. UND won the regular season title while still managing to suck, amazing! Here are the annual DWG WCHA Awards and a preview of the WCHA playoffs. Sadly Brian Schack did not make All Conference.

WCHA First Team

F- Ryan Stoa (UMN)- Leading scorer in conference play. Will be playing in the NHL next season.
F- Ryan Lasch (SCSU)- Natural goal scorer who once again is one of the top scoring forwards in the country.
F- Ryan Duncan (UND)- This pains me to write because this kid is one of the most overrated players to ever skate in the WCHA. He has had a solid season for the team that won the league.
D- Jamie McBain (UW)- Top player on the Wisco. Probably 1st team All American. Great player.
D- Patrick Wiercioch(DU)- Several players could end up here but this Frosh has been fantastic all season. 2nd best rookie in the league.
G- Mark Cheverie (DU)- Number 1 or 2 in nearly every statistical category in the league. Alex Stalock from UMD would have been here if it wasn’t for his last two weeks. Talk about a case of the Albany’s.

All Frosh Team

F- Jordan Schroeder (UMN)- 2nd leading scorer in the conference and led the league in assists. Will most likely be picked as national frosh of the year be all the media outlets. Great player. Hopefully he sticks around for another season. Will be a top 5 pick this summer.
F- Jason Gregoire (UND)- Scored some big goals for UND this season. Will be a force the next 2 or 3 years.
F- Joe Colborne (DU)- Really started to come on the 2nd half of the season. Will be a monster if he plays another year of college. 1st round draft pick by Boston.
D- Patrick Wiercioch- If it wasn’t for Schroeder he would be frosh of the year.
D- Aaron Ness (UMN)- Much like the all conference team, the second D spot could go to several players. Ness had a good second half of the season and looks to be a stud in the future. Coaches also tend to give the awards to highly touted players. Plus he plays for the Gophers.
G- Brad Eidness (UND)- Also has a crack and making one of the all conference teams. Good young goalie who will only get better in the next couple years.

Conference MVP- Ryan Stoa- I could see several other players winning this award, but there is really no clear cut favorite. Stoa led the league in goals and pts while playing for an average team. I also want to give it to a gopher!

ROY- Jordan Schroeder- Lived up to the hype from day 1. His stats would have been better if Barriball could put the puck in the net.

Coach of the Year- Dave Hakstol- This pains me more than putting Duncan on the all conference team. You can’t deny the success this twat has had. You also can’t deny the fact that classless Dave wins games. UND still sucks and their logo should be changed to a honkie with a white sheet over his head. F’ing racisits!

WCHA Playoffs

#1 North Dakota vs #10 Michigan Tech- Michigan Tech is really bad and really boring to watch. This will most likely be a low scoring series but UND should sweep. UND does have a history of giving away a game in the playoffs but I wouldn’t count on it. UND wins 3-1 and 4-1 for a 2-0 sweep.

#2 Denver vs #9 Alaska- I have heard some people say they feel bad for Denver because they have to play Alaska this weekend. Those people are idiots. Yes, Alaska is better this season. That isn’t saying much. There is also chatter about Denver getting Bozak back this weekend which will really help him during the playoffs. Denver wins 3-2 and 4-2 for the sweep.

#3 Wisconsin vs #8 Mankato- Not sure what to expect in this series. Mankato has been playing really good hockey lately while Wisconsin has kind of gone in the tank. Because Wisconsin stole Mankato’s NCAA bid last year I am going with the revenge factor and picking the Mavericks. Mankato wins 3-2 Friday, Wisco wins 3-2 Saturday and Mankato wins 2-1 Sunday.....book it.

#4 CC vs #7 UMD— UMD couldn’t have got a better match up for the first round. After completely crapping down their leg the past two weekends they have dropped from a top 5 WCHA team looking to make the NCAA’s to this. The one thing they have going for them is CC is the most peace loving arena and team in the WCHA. You will be able to count the number of checks CC throws this weekend on your hands. Both teams have goalies that could potentially be red hot and steal the series. Although all signs are Stalock is in the toilet worse than WWWWWW’s life. CC wins in 3. UMD wins 3-2 Friday, CC 4-1 Saturday and CC 4-2 Sunday.

#5 Gophers vs #6 St. Cloud- Even though the Gophers are 4-0-0 vs St.Cloud this season I am worried. There is no possible way a team can get owned by this version of Gopher hockey. All St. Cloud has to do is sell the farm to shut down the Gophers top line and MN will score maybe 1 goal all weekend. You also have to factor in Kangas to this mess. He hit an all time low last Friday but did bounce back and pitch a shut out on Saturday. Which Kangas shows up this weekend will determine the series. If Jesus returns the Gophers win in two games. If Kangas 2009 shows up St. Cloud wins in 3. Gophers win 4-2 Friday, St. Cloud wins 3-2 on Saturday and who the hell knows on Sunday. I will pick the Gophers just because.

That will give us a final Five of UND, Denver, Mankato, Colorado College and MN. The only teams that should be allowed to play are UND and Denver. Vegas Tip of The Week= Denver wins the Final 5!

I have to go shower after putting Duncan and Hakstol on my awards list.