Denver has earned the top spot in this year’s 94X WCHA preseason media poll.
Denver received 15 first-place votes to top the poll, ahead of Colorado College, which received seven first-place votes. Third-place North Dakota and No. 4 choice Nebraska-Omaha each received first-place votes.
First-place votes in the poll were worth 12 points, second place 11, and so on. The teams were placed in order based on the voting average.
Defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth placed fifth, followed by Minnesota. St. Cloud State finished seventh, followed by Wisconsin, Alaska-Anchorage, Bemidji State, Minnesota State and Michigan Tech.
| Team (First-place votes) | Points |
|---|---|
| 1. Denver (16) | 11.35 |
| 2. Colorado College (7) | 10.54 |
| 3. North Dakota (2) | 10.31 |
| 4. Nebraska-Omaha (1) | 8.31 |
| 5. Minnesota-Duluth | 8.12 |
| 6. Minnesota | 7.73 |
| 7. (tie) Wisconsin | 5.54 |
| 7. (tie) St. Cloud State | 5.54 |
| 9. Alaska-Anchorage | 3.85 |
| 10. Bemidji State | 2.92 |
| 11. Minnesota State | 2.12 |
| 12.Michigan Tech | 1.69 |
The media also selected Denver sophomore forward Jason Zucker as the preseason player of the year, North Dakota’s Rocco Grimaldi preseason rookie of the year and preseason coach of the year Scott Owens from CC, as well as the preseason All-WCHA Team.
PRESEASON ALL-WCHA TEAM
Forwards: Jack Connolly, Minnesota-Duluth; Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College (unanimous selection); Jason Zucker, Denver
Others receiving votes: J.T. Brown, Minnesota-Duluth; Rocco Grimaldi, North Dakota; Corban Knight, North Dakota; Danny Kristo, North Dakota; Drew Shore, Denver
Defensemen: Ben Blood, North Dakota; Justin Schultz, Wisconsin (unanimous selection)
Others receiving votes: Gabe Guentzel, Colorado College; Brad Hunt, Bemidji State; Nick Jensen, St. Cloud State; Brady Lamb, Minnesota-Duluth; David Makowski, Denver
Goalie: Aaron Dell, North Dakota
Others receiving votes: John Faulkner, Nebraska-Omaha, Kent Patterson, Minnesota
