Nothing really big to say here; just a typical, fun-filled WCHA weekend.
Minnesota-Duluth/North Dakota
– The Sioux showed that yes, the Bulldogs can be beaten.
– In doing so, UND showed us glimpses of the team that was picked to finish first in the league.
– That being said, they’re not there yet.
– Also, even though UMD lost, they proved the next night that they deserve to stay on top of the league standings (and why they continue to rise on the national stage)(even though polls don’t matter. really).
Wisconsin/Minnesota
– The Gophers go from an amazing Saturday night at CC a week ago to being shut out by the Badgers at home on Friday.
– However, part of that may be due to the vast amount of injuries the team has had to deal with.
– That being said, the Gophers have shown enough signs of promise that if they can get more of the upper class to step up outside of Jay Barriball and Jacob Cepis, they’ll have a shot come February/March.
– Wisconsin is continuing to prove in this, their supposed rebuilding year, that they don’t rebuild; they reload, and arguably do it better than anyone in the league.
Minnesota State/Nebraska-Omaha
– I’m beginning to think that none of us gave UNO enough credit in our preseason voting at the beginning of the year.
– I’m also beginning to think I underestimated what Dean Blais can do.
– It’s still pretty early, though, and this is a long season.
– Which is a good fact for Minnesota State, as they still have some time to prove that they’re not the team we thought they would be and fix their struggles.
Colorado College/Denver
– Denver wins Friday night for Jesse Martin in front of probably the best home crowd I’ve ever seen at Magness Arena.
– However, the Pioneers’ performance Saturday showed that the team is still probably going to face the growning pains we all thought they would.
– The Tigers, on the other hand, are looking like they’re going to be putting their fans through one heck of a rollercoaster ride this season; from being blown out by Minnesota to blowing out Denver.
– However, it was very good to see someone other than the Schwartz brothers get on the scoreboard – Stephen Schultz had a great night.
Bemidji State/St. Cloud State
– Unrelated to the games at hand, the Huskies retired the first-ever number in program history; number 24, the number Bret Hedican wore during his tenure at SCSU, will no longer be worn by any future Husky.
– Getting back on track, the Huskies still have yet to prove they can put together a whole weekend.
– That being said, they’re coming closer and closer and it’ll only be a matter of time.
– As for the Beavers, it was great to see them get not only their first league win, but their first win of the season overall.
– “I was just so proud of the resiliency of our guys tonight,” head coach Tom Serratore told the Bemidji Pioneer on Saturday. “There’s no question that this was the biggest regular-season win in the history of our program and we got a big monkey off our back.”
