December 18, 2008
2008-09 WCHA Midseason Review

By Jess Myers

SURPRISE TEAM

It's easy to pick Wisconsin's first-half travails as the biggest surprise thus far, but it's legitimate for fans to ask just which Badgers we're talking about. Is it the team that spent October unable to win, and started 0-6-1? That team was a mess, with defensemen trying to carry too much of the offensive load, inconsistent goaltending and offense that wasn't doing enough. Or are we talking about the "since then" Badgers, who headed to the holiday break on a 9-1-1 tear and even spent a week in first place in the WCHA. These Badgers are simply better in every area, and are enjoying the comforts of home while playing with a confidence that may make them college hockey's in-season comeback story of the year.

Jamie McBain and Wisconsin have seen both highs and lows during the first part of the season.

SURPRISE INDIVIDUAL

If you were one of the people who, before the season started, predicted that the league's top offensive defensemen would be trying to catch Minnesota State's Kurt Davis in the blueliner scoring race, we've got a table reserved for you alongside the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and the Great Pumpkin. In other words, you don't exist. Davis, unfortunately for the Mavericks' foes, does exist, and the 22 points the sophomore from Plymouth, Minn., has recorded in 18 games are big reasons why the road to the WCHA Final Five may go through Southern Minnesota again in March.

WHAT HAPPENED TO ...

A better question might be to ask what bad news hasn't happened to Michigan Tech in the season's first half. To be fair, we didn't pick the Huskies for greatness, but we did expect "goodness" or even "competitiveness." Sadly for Tech coach Jamie Russell and his charges, those dreams of an upper-half finish have been waylaid by a mess of injuries that have made those rare nights when they can fill 20 sweaters something to celebrate. Scariest among the trips to the Husky sick bay was senior Malcolm Gwilliam's incident in Minneapolis where he went from the Mariucci Arena ice to a nearby hospital in a matter of minutes after suffering a stroke-like attack. Gwilliam won't be back on the ice this season. Here's hoping the New Year brings better thing for his team, which is 0-11-2 since winning on Halloween night.

BEST NEW FACE

With a deserved nod to Denver rookie Luke Salazar, who has come out of nowhere to register as one of just four WCHA players who has hit double digits in goals so far, we've got to give this honor to Minnesota freshman Jordan Schroeder. In a November to remember, Schroeder recorded a point in eight of the Golden Gophers' nine games, was named WCHA rookie of the week twice and national rookie of the month. He leads all league rookies in scoring and will spend the holiday break in Ottawa, wearing the Team USA sweater at the World Juniors for the second year in a row.

BIGGEST UPSET

On paper it wouldn't seem to be an upset, what with Denver having won a pair of national titles in this decade, while Minnesota State has never won a NCAA playoff game. But the Pioneers went to Mankato recently having gone a puzzling 1-5-2 in their pervious eight games in the home of the Mavericks, including some goofy on-ice happenings and some downright no-shows by the Pioneers. So when Denver began it's long trek back to the Rockies on a recent Sunday in possession of 3-2 and 5-2 road wins, it was a big indicator that the inexplicable troubles for the Pioneers may be in the past, and they're looking more like the WCHA's team to beat.

TOUGHEST ROAD OUT

With a nod to Wisconsin, where the dismal start was partly a product of the Badgers playing 10 of their first 14 games wearing the road red sweaters, we don't know what the schedule-makers at North Dakota were thinking. Before you flip your calendar over to 2009, the Fighting Sioux will have made two trips to Boston, one to Colorado College and another to Detroit for the Great Lakes Invitational. The high expectation folks in Grand Forks may look at a 9-8-1 record as a letdown, but when you consider the schedule, it might be the biggest positive so far.

TOUGHEST ROAD IN

Stop us if you've heard this before, but Alaska Anchorage has been a pleasant first-half surprise, and the Seawolves have scratched and clawed to a .500 record at the break. But, as fans in the Last Frontier know all too well, after Jan. 1 is when the trouble usually begins. Over the previous two seasons, the Seawolves were a combined 4-27-4 from New Year's Day until the end of the season. With trips to Minnesota State, Denver, Minnesota, Alaska (Fairbanks) and Minnesota Duluth on the second-half schedule, we'll be interested to see if these Seawolves can re-write history.

MUST-SEE SERIES

Garret Roe and St. Cloud State use a proficient power play to win games.

Minnesota won and tied at Wisconsin early in the season when the Golden Gophers were riding high and the Badgers were going through a dark period. Since then the maroon team has come back to Earth, while the folks in red have been soaring. What looked like it would be another mismatch a month or so ago now looks like there will be home playoff seeding on the line when the Badgers visit Mariucci Arena on Feb. 6-7 for the second half of the Border Battle.

BIGGEST QUESTION ANSWERED

Can St. Cloud State win consistently without contributions from its once-lethal power play? The answer is a qualified no. The Huskies have been able to put a few nice stretches together, and are still solidly in the hunt for a top-half finish in the WCHA, but even coach Bob Motzko has compared his team to a yo-yo this season. The few times that the Husky man-advanatage has clicked, we've gotten reminders of the fun they had at the National Hockey Center last season. But if the team is to contend for another NCAA berth and a shot at advancing, another 21 power play goals in the second half of the season is not likely to be enough.

BIGGEST QUESTION REMAINING

Can Colorado College figure out how to play in the first game of a series? Even the Tigers seemed baffled about their team's first-half inability to get consistent results in the opening game of a two-game series thus far. They were the nation's top-ranked team in October and looked like a lock to make a strong defense of their 2008 MacNaughton Cup, but a Friday night funk rolled into Colorado Springs and the Tigers can't seem to shake it. After a 5-0-3 start, the Tigers have played sub-.500 hockey (5-6-1) and are 0-5-1 in their last six weekend-opening games. And after last season's 0-3 finish to a championship season, they know that a cold start in the playoffs is a recipe for doom.