Game 38: Bemidji State vs. UMD (WCHA Final Five First Round)

ST. PAUL -- Here we go from St. Paul.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Connolly (Mike) - Connolly (Jack) - Fontaine
Schmidt - Oleksuk - Brown
Seidel - Hendrickson - Basaraba
DeLisle - Flaherty - Grun

Faulk - Montgomery
Bergman - Lamb
Olson - Palm

Reiter - Crandall

BSU
George - Read - Lowe
Billberg - McLeod - Illo
MacQueen - Walters - Cramer
Jubinville - Fisher - Findlay

Areshenko - Hunt
Rendle - Adams
Carlson - MacIntyre

Bakala - Dugas - Bosch

Back in the Capital City

The WCHA converted their league tournament to the Final Five format in 1993. Since that happened, UMD has never made the tournament three years in a row.

Until now.

UMD starts their third straight St. Paul soiree with an afternoon date against Bemidji State, the only other Minnesota team in the Final Five, Thursday at the XCel Energy Center.

The Beavers stunned Nebraska-Omaha in two games during the first round, moving their improbable record against UNO to 5-0-1 this season. That means over one-third of BSU's wins this season came against the Mavericks.

Go figure.

It's easy to just put that series on goaltending, because BSU's Dan Bakala was indeed a difference-maker, but he can't score the goals.

"Our best players played very well," coach Tom Serratore said.

By that, he doesn't just mean Bakala. He's also giving the nod to Matt Read, Jordan George, and Ian Lowe, as he should.

Especially Read.

"We had no secondary scoring this year," Serratore said. "Teams could key on him more. He does everything. He's very versatile, got great depth to his game. He's tough as nails. He's good defensively. He makes plays."

Along with guys like Justin Fontaine and Mike Montgomery from UMD, Read could have bolted for the pros, and there's a chance he'd be in the NHL right now if he had chosen the right free-agent contract.

Instead, Read returned, intent on leading his school into the WCHA, and intent on leaving his mark on the growing Bemidji State hockey program.

While his play was consistently strong throughout the season, Read's Beavers were up-and-down all year long, finishing tenth in the standings and never really even threatening to get a home-ice position. They found the right formula against UNO, however, and they found a way to get into the Final Five in their WCHA debut.

"It's kind of like that run we made to the Frozen Four a couple years ago," Serratore said. "There's a real buzz in the community."

For UMD, it's a trip that will never get old. The Bulldogs are there once again, and this time they're playing with no pressure on them.

UMD is virtually assured -- if not completely -- of a spot in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Anything they can do this weekend is not to cement their spot in the field. Instead, it's gravy on what's been a successful season. Last year, UMD knew they probably needed to beat North Dakota in the play-in game. When they lost 2-0, it brought a good season to a grinding halt. Two years ago, they needed a win over Minnesota to have a shot at the NCAAs. They got it, then added two more on a magical run through the tournament.

No one wants to go one-and-done at the Final Five, but UMD at least can go into Thursday's game without insane pressure to win games. It's hard to say for sure that it will help their mindset, or that the mindset needs help.

******

The Bulldogs are playing a tough opponent, one that needs to win to keep their season going. It's a team they've struggled with in the recent past (4-7-1 in the last 12 games against Bemidji), and one that can burn UMD with good top-line play and quality goaltending.

So what does Scott Sandelin do?

Last weekend, he wanted the Connolly-Connolly-Fontaine line to match up against Garrett Roe's line for St. Cloud State.

Will he want FCC to have to deal with Read all afternoon long?

UMD is home team, so they get the last change, and they get to dictate matchups. Getting the Connollys away from Read might end up being a priority, as UMD has a couple lines -- including the third line with emerging sophomore Jake Hendrickson -- that could match up well against Read's group.

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing the top lines battle one another. Read is a great defensive forward, but FCC hasn't backed down from many (if any) challenges this season. That's why they've been as good as they've been, and why they have played together virtually the entire season.

My guess is that we'll see a bit of juggling Thursday, especially if UMD gets off to a less-than-stellar start. Sandelin won't fool around in a playoff game. He will seek out the best matchups to benefit his team. As home coach for the game, it's a luxury he will take full advantage of.

103:13

If that's what it takes to get UMD into the NCAA field and back to the Final Five, we'll take it, right?



Mike Montgomery said it best ... everyone got their money's worth.

The longest game in UMD men's hockey history lasted into the third overtime before Mike Connolly ended it with -- as both TV's Judd Medak and radio's Kraig Karakas pointed out -- a very similar goal to the one that ended that magical NCAA game against Princeton two years ago.

With the series win, UMD is a lock for the NCAA field when it's announced Sunday. Before that, the Bulldogs have a chance to improve their seeding position. If things go well, they could still earn a top four spot, meaning a No. 1 regional seed. A place in the middle of the bracket does seem a bit more likely, but anything is possible.

We'll have more on the Final Five as the week goes on. For now, just enjoy the video.

Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Bulldogs One Win Away From St. Paul

Writing while watching the Hermantown-St. Thomas Academy game is hard, but we'll try to persevere.

UMD looked strong Friday night at Amsoil Arena, winning 4-2 in front of a less-than-large crowd that appeared distracted at times by the Duluth East game that was going on at the same time.

The Bulldogs got an early lead and then gave up what has to be fairly categorized as a soft goal to tie the score, following the exact script of the team's 8-2 loss to St. Cloud State exactly a month earlier.

Then they flipped the script. They played strong defensively, giving little time and space to St. Cloud's top skill players, Garrett Roe and Drew LeBlanc. Coach Scott Sandelin was able to match his top line of Connolly/Connolly/Fontaine up with Roe's line effectively, which bears watching as the series continues Saturday night.

Line matchups can become important in the playoffs, and Sandelin's ability to use his top line against the Huskies' top group could prove huge as we move forward. UMD has a good defensive line, with Jake Hendirckson, Joe Basaraba, and David Grun. If necessary, Sandelin -- who gets the last line change as the home coach -- could work that group against Roe's line. But if FCC can play against them and be effective, there's no reason to do anything different.

Now, it's time for a follow-up. There are a few areas where UMD needs to be improved over Friday.

Kenny Reiter made a couple nice saves, most notably in the third period. He also allowed a soft goal to David Eddy, and was victimized by that odd goal through the five-hole in the third period. Not going to blame him on that, but it's a goal a lot of today's goalies -- with such butterfly tendencies -- probably wouldn't have given up. Reiter looked a bit uneven at times, like he might have been fighting the puck. He also came up big a few times, making it clear he was seeing the puck just fine, thankyouverymuch. Just need him to be a little more consistent. We know he can do it, as he was a huge factor in last year's playoff run.

Defensively, there were few breakdowns and few poor shifts. St. Cloud State is going to come hard Saturday, especially in the first ten to 15 minutes of the game. UMD has to exceed that intensity level and play the game at the level they did Friday, at the minimum. An early lead might be enough to get SCSU to break down a bit, given that they're playing from their season and know it.

The next time someone says "You make your own luck" to you, slap them. UMD hit five pipes Friday, and had two more go off SCSU goalie Mike Lee, meaning they counted as saves and not pipes. There's no real way to fix that, but UMD did a great job fighting off the bad luck and continuing to work hard and bear down on the net Friday. It's sometimes easier said than done, but it has to continue Saturday to avoid Sunday.

And we all want to avoid Sunday. Though we'll do it if that's what it takes to go to St. Paul.

******

Road teams tasted success Friday. Alaska-Anchorage won at Minnesota, Wisconsin at Colorado College, and Bemidji State at Nebraska-Omaha.

Not to say that St. Cloud State or Minnesota State can't come back, but it's a much more daunting task to win two straight on the road than it is to win one of two. Those Friday night road winners are in much better position to steal their series.

(No, I'm not looking it up, but I'm guessing it's not terribly common for the home team to win Friday and then lose Saturday and Sunday. It's probably happened the other way around far more often.)

I posted on Twitter during the week that I thought Wisconsin, Bemidji State, and UAA had the best shots at winning their series among the five road teams that weren't playing UMD. Nothing really shocked me there on Friday, as Dan Bakala carried the Beavers, Wisconsin rode a strong defense (I had looked at one point in the second period, and CC had 12 total shots on goal despite having five power play chances), and the Seawolves just keep playing well.

Based on the crowds I saw a couple times that I caught UAA on TV, no one in Anchorage had really noticed their improved hockey team. Hopefully, they'll get the message if the Seawolves can manage one more win in Minneapolis.

All-WCHA Team Announced

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Here is the information from the WCHA on the 2010 awards.

The five nationally-ranked teams that make up the field for this week’s 2010 Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five championship – the University of Denver, the University of Wisconsin, St. Cloud State University, the University of North Dakota and the University of University of Minnesota Duluth – all had at least two players named to an all-league team while the MacNaughton Cup-champion Pioneers also led with four individual award winners to highlight the annual WCHA Awards Banquet and Ceremony held today (March 18) at RiverCentre in Saint Paul, Minn.

Denver junior goaltender Marc Cheverie was named the WCHA Player of the Year, Michigan Tech senior defenseman Eli Vlaisavljevich is the WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year, Wisconsin junior blueliner Brendan Smith was the head coaches’ choice as WCHA Defensive Player of the Year, North Dakota forward Danny Kristo was the WCHA Rookie of the Year, Denver forward Rhett Rakhshani was honored as the WCHA Scoring Champion, DU’s Cheverie was recorgnized as the WCHA Goaltending Champion, and Pioneers’ head coach George Gwozdecky was named the WCHA Coach of the Year.

The 2010 Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five gets underway Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center (18,064) with a quarterfinal matchup between the No. 5 seeded and No. 11-ranked Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (22-16-1) and the No. 4 seeded and No. 5-ranked North Dakota Fighting Sioux (22-12-5) at 7:07 pm CT.

On Friday, there will be two semifinals, with No. 3 seed and No. 6-ranked St. Cloud State (22-12-5) taking on No. 2 seed and No. 3-ranked Wisconsin (24-9-4) in the afternoon tilt at 2:07 pm CT followed by Thursday’s winner against No. 1 seeded and top-ranked Denver at 7:07 pm CT.

Then on Saturday, the 2010 Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five will conclude with the third place game at 2:07 pm CT and the Broadmoor Trophy championship contest at 7:07 pm CT. All five Final Five games are being telecast live by Fox Sports North and audiocast live via wcha.com with the winning team receiving the WCHA’s automatic bid into the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Hockey Tournament, which gets underway the following weekend at four regional sites.

WCHA Player of the Year Marc Cheverie, a junior from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, was also named to the All-WCHA First Team and is the WCHA Goaltending Champion. One of the nation’s elite netminders, he led all WCHA goalies with a 2.05 goals-against average and a .934 saves percentage in conference play to lead the Pioneers to the conference regular season title. A four-time WCHA Defensive Player of the Week, Cheverie enters the postseason leading all goalies in the country with 24 wins (24-4-3) and ranked third nationally in goals-against average (1.94) and first in saves percentage (.937) and winning percentage (.823).

WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year Eli Vlaisavljevich, a senior defenseman from Shoreview, Minn., has been named a WCHA Scholar-Athlete three times and to the All-WCHA Academic Team three times during his collegiate career at Michigan Tech. He currently carries a 4.0 cumulative grade-point average in Bio Medical Engineering and is a candidate for a Rhodes Scholarship. Vlaisavljevich is also among 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award for 2009-10, has been awarded the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship and the Michigan Tech’s Provost Award for Scholarship, and was named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District First Team. He helps in several elementary classrooms, is a mentor with the Michigan Tech Athletics Koaches Kids Program and volunteers with the Copper Country Junior Hockey Association. Vlaisavljevich appeared in 111 career games for the Huskies with 10 points (3g, 7a). The WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year Award is determined from nominations made by the member institutions and each institution then has one final vote. The criteria is as follows: 1) must be a senior student-athlete, i.e. one who is finishing his competition as an eligible player in the WCHA; 2) consistently displays outstanding sportsmanship on and off the ice; 3) is a good student making satisfactory progress toward a degree; and 4) is a good hockey player who has performed consistently as a regular member of the team.

WCHA Defensive Player of the Year Brendan Smith, a junior from Mimico, Ontario, also earned All-WCHA First Team honors as the backbone of Wisconsin’s team. A three-time WCHA Defensive Player of the Week, Smith led all WCHA defensemen during the regular season in goals (11), assists (18) and points (29). Entering the Final Five, Smith also leads all of those categories nationally as well with 15 goals, 29 assists and 44 scoring points through 36 games. Earlier this season, he tallied two power-play goals in the third period, including the game-winner with 1:22 left in regulation, to lead Wisconsin past Michigan 3-2 in the Camp Randall Hockey Classic played outdoors in front of 55,031 fans.

WCHA Rookie of the Year Danny Kristo, a freshman from Prior Lake, Minn., also earned All-WCHA Rookie Team honors. He led all WCHA rookies with 10 goals and ranked second with 23 points during regular-season conference play for North Dakota. A two-time WCHA Rookie of the Week, Kristo led all UND players with eight power-play goals in the regular season, including six in conference action.

WCHA Scoring Champion Rhett Rakhshani, a senior from Huntington Beach, Calif., led all league players with 35 points (15-20=35) in regular season conference play for league champion Denver and was also named to the All-WCHA First Team. One of three finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, he was a three-time WCHA Offensive Player of the Week, scored points in 28 of his 36 regular season games and had 16 multiple-point games. Heading into the Final Five, Rakhshani had scored 20 goals and set up 29 others for 49 points in 38 games.

WCHA Coach of the Year George Gwozdecky, who led his Denver Pioneers to the WCHA regular season championship and MacNaughton Cup here in 2009-10, is a two-time AHCA (American Hockey Coaches Association) Spencer Penrose Award-winner and now four-time recipient of the league’s coach of the year honor. Gwozdecky led Denver to back-to-back NCAA championships in 2004 and 2005 to become the only person to win an NCAA title as a player, assistant coach and head coach. He has now coached the Pioneers, who enter the Final Five with a nation’s best record of 27-7-4 and are ranked No. 1 in the national polls, to four WCHA regular-season championships. Gwozdecky previously earned the WCHA Coach of the Year award in 1994-95, 2001-02, and 2004-05.

The WCHA Player of the Year, WCHA Rookie of the Year and WCHA Coach of the Year awards are voted on by conference-member coaches, student-athletes, sports information directors and media. There are 80 voters total, with each member institution receiving eight ballots.

The WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year award is selected by league-member Faculty Athletic Representatives, while the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year is selected by the league’s ten head coaches.

Three different conference-member teams are represented on the All-WCHA First Team for 2009-10. Named to the First Team were (statistics are final league games only): F – Rhett Rakhshani, Sr., Denver (28 gp, 15-20=35); F – Blake Geoffrion, Sr., Wisconsin (25 gp, 19-15=34); F – Jack Connolly, So., Minnesota Duluth (28 gp, 12-21=33); D – Brendan Smith, Jr., Wisconsin (27 gp, 11-18–29); D – Patrick Wiercioch, So., Denver (26 gp, 4-16=20); and G – Marc Cheverie, Jr., Denver (17-4-3, 2.05 GAA, .934 sv%).

Members of the 2009-10 All-WCHA Second Team are: F – Justin Fontaine, Jr., Minnesota Duluth (28 gp, 18-15=33); F – Ryan Lasch, Sr., St. Cloud State (28 gp, 15-17=32); F – Tyler Ruegsegger, Sr., Denver (28 gp, 14-17=31); D – Ryan McDonagh, Jr., Wisconsin (28 gp, 3-9=12); D – Nate Prosser, Sr., Colorado College (28 gp, 4-16–20); and G – Brad Eidsness, So., North Dakota (14-8-2, 2.18 GAA, .914 sv%).

Voted to the 2009-10 All-WCHA Third Team were: F – Michael Davies, Sr., Wisconsin (26 gp, 10-22=32); F – Joe Colborne, So., Denver (26 gp, 16-13=29); F – Garrett Roe, Jr, St. Cloud State (27 gp, 14-18=32); D – Garrett Raboin, Sr., St. Cloud State (25 gp, 3-12=15); D – Chay Genoway, Sr., North Dakota (7 gp, 4-3=7); and G – Dan Dunn, Jr., St. Cloud State (9-2-2, 2.76 GAA, .912 sv%).

And members of the 2009-10 All-WCHA Rookie Team are: F – Danny Kristo, Fr., North Dakota (28 gp, 10-13=23); F – Craig Smith, Fr., Wisconsin (28 gp, 6-19=25); F – Rylan Schwartz, Fr., Colorado College (28 gp, 6-14=20); D – Matt Donovan, Fr., Denver (26 gp, 4-11=15); D – Justin Schultz, Fr., Wisconsin (28 gp, 2-14–16); and G – Joe Howe, Fr., Colorado College (12-12-3, 2.90 GAA, .905 sv%).

Seven players named to the various all-league teams were also earlier honored as WCHA Scholar-Athletes for 2009-10. They were goaltenders Marc Cheverie of Denver and Brad Eidsness of North Dakota, defensemen Patrick Wiercioch of Denver and Garrett Raboin of St. Cloud State, and forwards Rhett Rakhshani, Tyler Ruegsegger and Joe Colborne from Denver. Raboin joined DU’s Rakhshani and MTU’s Vlaisavljevich among the 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.

WCHA major award winners and members of the various all-league teams who were honored as member of the All-WCHA Academic Team for 2009-10 included CC’s Nate Prosser, DU’s Marc Cheverie, Joe Colborne, Rhett Rakhshani, Tyler Ruegsegger and Patrick Wiercioch, MTU’s Eli Vlaisavljevich, UMD’s Jack Connolly and Justin Fontaine, UND’s Brad Eidsness, SCSU’s Ryan Lasch and Garrett Raboin, and UW’s Ryan McDonagh.

Voting for the all-league teams in the WCHA is done by conference-member coaches, players, sports information directors and media. Points for the all-league teams are awarded on a five (1st team vote), three (2nd team), and one (3rd team vote) basis.

WCHA Major Award Winners for 2009-10

WCHA Player of the Year
Marc Cheverie, Jr., G, Denver

WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year
Eli Vlaisavljevich, Sr., D, Michigan Tech

WCHA Defensive Player of the Year
Brendan Smith, Jr., D, Wisconsin

WCHA Rookie of the Year
Danny Kristo, Fr., F, North Dakota

WCHA Scoring Champion
Rhett Rakhshani, Sr., F, Denver

WCHA Goaltending Champion
Marc Cheverie, Jr., G, Denver

WCHA Coach of the Year
George Gwozdecky, DU

2009-10 All-WCHA First Team
Pos Name Team Ht Wt Yr Hometown Pts
F Rhett Rakhshani Denver 5-10 180 Sr Huntington Beach, CA 358
F Blake Geoffrion Wisconsin 6-2 188 Sr Brentwood, TN 333
F Jack Connolly Minnesota Duluth 5-8 160 So Duluth, MN 256
D Brendan Smith Wisconsin 6-2 190 Jr Mimico, ON 372
D Patrick Wiercioch Denver 6-4 185 So Maple Grove, BC 243
G Marc Cheverie Denver 6-3 180 Jr Cole Harbour, NS 364

All-WCHA Second Team
Pos Name Team Ht Wt Yr Hometown Pts
F Justin Fontaine Minnesota Duluth 5-11 175 Jr Bonnyville, AB 173
F Ryan Lasch St. Cloud State 5-7 175 Sr Lake Forest, CA 140
F Tyler Ruegsegger Denver 6-0 185 Sr Lakewood, CO 138
D Ryan McDonagh Wisconsin 6-1 216 Jr Arden Hills, MN 149
D Nate Prosser Colorado College 6-2 210 Sr Elk River, MN 144
G Brad Eidsness North Dakota 6-0 175 So Chestermere, AB 143

All-WCHA Third Team
Pos Name Team Ht Wt Yr Hometown Pts
F Michael Davies Wisconsin 5-8 175 Sr St. Louis, MO 109
F Joe Colborne Denver 6-5 195 So Calgary, AB 100
F Garrett Roe St. Cloud State 5-9 175 Jr Vienna, VA 78
D Garrett Raboin St. Cloud State 5-11 175 Sr Detroit Lakes, MN 111
D Chay Genoway North Dakota 5-9 175 Sr Morden, MB 83
G Dan Dunn St. Cloud State 6-5 200 Jr Oshawa, ON 88

All-WCHA Rookie Team
Pos Name Team Ht Wt Yr Hometown Votes
F Danny Kristo North Dakota 5-11 180 Fr Eden Prairie, MN 77
F Craig Smith Wisconsin 6-0 195 Fr Madison, WI 52
F Rylan Schwartz Colorado College 5-10 182 Fr Wilcox, SK 50
D Matt Donovan Denver 6-0 190 Fr Edmond, OK 65
D Justin Schultz Wisconsin 6-1 185 Fr West Kelowna, BC 29
G Joe Howe Colorado College 5-11 190 Fr Plymouth, MN 55

Interesting stuff. Congrats to all.

Final Final Five Preps

UMD battles North Dakota tonight at 7 P.M. in the WCHA Final Five at XCel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Live coverage can be found locally on The Fan 1490 and fan1490.com starting at 6:30. The game can be seen on Fox Sports North.

We'll be at the rink tonight, posting the final lineups as usual around 6:00, and we'll also try to post the All-WCHA announcement once it is released sometime after 4:00. It's expected that UMD's Jack Connolly will make the first team, and Justin Fontaine will likely be on the second team.

If UMD wins, they play Friday at 7:00, and we'll be staying in St. Paul to provide more coverage. If the Bulldogs lose, they will have to wait and see the results of other conference tournaments to see if they can squeeze into the at-large field (not likely), and we'll be heading home Friday morning.

The Final 'Final Five'

The WCHA Final Five has quite a history. Since the league expanded to ten teams and went to this playoff format in 1993, the tournament has grown into the biggest -- outside of the Frozen Four -- in college hockey.

The format -- five teams, five games over three days -- is unique to the sport. It's necessitated by the league's decision to admit all ten member schools to the postseason tournament, instead of cutting out the bottom two like Hockey East does.

(Argue this all you want, but the league had no inclination to leave teams out of the playoffs, and they aren't going to do it when the new format is announced for next year.)

Forcing the bottom two seeds in a five-team event to play (and win) three games in three days for a shot at the title was asking too much for 15 years, before UMD did the "improbable" last year. The Bulldogs beat Minnesota 2-1, North Dakota 3-0, and Denver 4-0 en route to the most surprising championship in the tournament's history.

While this won't be the last year of the Final Five, it's the last year of the Final Five as we know it.

When the WCHA goes to 12 teams for next season, the five-team Final Five will cease to exist forever.

The WCHA has yet to announce a new playoff format, but there is a press conference set for Saturday -- between the third-place and championship games of the Final Five -- where the league will make it official. When they do, it's expected they will announce a five-game, three-day event known as the WCHA Final Five.

However, there will be six teams in the tournament, and the event will no longer include (thank goodness!) a third-place game.

That -- at least according to league sources over the last two months -- is the plan. There was some push to create a three-week tournament similar to what the CCHA and ECAC have now, but that would cut the St. Paul portion of the event down to two days and either three or four games, depending on the status of the third-place game. The league seems to like the value with the "Final Five" brand, and they want to keep it alive.

So as an era ends, what can fans expect this weekend?

Four teams -- Denver, Wisconsin, St. Cloud State, and North Dakota -- have sealed up spots in the NCAA Tournament. This doesn't mean they won't play hard, because this title means a lot to the coaches and players of all four teams.

The fifth seed is UMD. The Bulldogs are 11th in the current Pairwise standings, but can finish anywhere from fifth to 19th, depending on this weekend's results. They are a classic bubble team, and they can count on nothing going their way if they don't win at least twice.

Denver is especially motivated, because while George Gwozdecky was seemingly unending in his praise for UMD's title run last year, he was also clearly bitter that his Pioneers lost the title game to the Bulldogs.

There is no coasting in this tournament. Nothing will be easy. No one is out of the running.

For UMD, everything could be on the line. They're playing a team that already won the season series 3-1, and one that dominated them in a two-game series sweep in February. That was in Grand Forks, however, where North Dakota has owned UMD over the years. This game is in St. Paul, a place where UMD has confidence. The Bulldogs are 7-3 at the XCel Energy Center, including 2-0 against North Dakota. They beat the Sioux 3-0 in the semifinals last year, a game no one gave them a chance in.

Similarly, people are counting them out Thursday, and that isn't wise.

This UMD team can score. As Colorado College found out, they also have pretty good goaltending and aren't afraid to bang the bodies around. These are the bigger keys to Thursday than goal-scoring.

This is a North Dakota team without catalyst Matt Frattin and top young defenseman Joe Gleason. They could be prone to the same kind of hard-nosed, in-your-face attack they usually employ. Of course, the Sioux are deep, so these losses might not mean much in the end. It just looks like it will possibly attack their depth a little bit, leaving them perhaps vulnerable to a desperate team playing for (most likely) their season.

And this isn't Minnesota. UMD knows how to play desperate hockey. They did it all through their five-game WCHA playoff run last year, and the guys on this year's team are fully aware of what that taught them. They're prepared, ready, motivated, and more than good enough to do it again.

While no one had ever won three games in three days at the Final Five before last year, this year represents the last chance for the Bulldogs -- or any team -- to do it under the current format. After this year, it just won't be the same again.

Frattin Receives Suspension

As noted Monday, North Dakota forward Matt Frattin had a suspension coming to him. His flying hit to the head of Minnesota's Kevin Wehrs was illegal in every sense of the word, and it's still amazing it wasn't worthy of a game disqualification at the time.

However, the WCHA felt differently.

He received that suspension Monday evening.

Here is the information from the league.

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association today (March 15, 2010) announced a one-game suspension to University of North Dakota hockey player Matt Frattin as a result of his actions in the March 13 game vs the University of Minnesota.

Frattin’s suspension was determined as a result of a review of the incident under the WCHA’s Supplementary Discipline Policy and Procedures.

Frattin will be required to serve this one-game suspension in his team’s next regularly scheduled game on Thursday, March 18 vs the University of Minnesota Duluth.

There is no excusing what Frattin did. He left his feet and delivered a violent blow to an opponent's head.

While he shouldn't have been allowed to continue in the game, it was good to see a five-minute major penalty handed out at the time, and the league is taking the right action. Playoff games are more valuable than regular-season games, and sitting an important North Dakota player for the Final Five play-in game should not be a message taken lightly by fans.

Frattin has nine goals and 12 points over the last ten games, where the Fighting Sioux are 9-1. He is a talented, fast, tenacious player who drives his team with his speed and ability to make the big hits. Unfortunately for him and the Sioux, his desire to make a big hit went too far Sunday night.

It's not the three-game ban Aaron Marvin got, but it's a reasonable decision given Frattin's lack of history and the fact that we are firmly in the playoffs now.

UMD Home-Ice Scenarios

The UMD men's hockey team has a number of goals this season. However, one of those goals cannot be met without another. They're sort of married in a way.

The Bulldogs are striving to win the WCHA regular season championship for the first time since 1993. To accomplish that, they first have to do something they haven't done since 2004:

Earn home-ice advantage in the first round of the league playoffs.

UMD is very close to accomplishing this feat, giving the home fans playoff hockey for the first time in six seasons.

Heading into this weekend's two-game series at North Dakota, the Bulldogs have an eight-point lead over the sixth-place Fighting Sioux. Each team has six league games left, for a total of 12 available points.

That means UMD's "magic number" for home-ice advantage in the WCHA playoffs is six points. Any combination of six points accumulated by UMD or lost by North Dakota will give the Bulldogs a coveted home-ice position.

This could happen this weekend. UMD getting a win and a tie in Grand Forks would give them a ten-point lead on the Sioux with four games to go. It would be impossible for North Dakota to catch UMD, as they could only pick up eight points over the rest of the season.

If the Bulldogs just get a split, they would only need one win or two ties in their last four games to clinch home ice.

It's not time to buy your playoff tickets yet, UMD fans, but we're getting real close.

While it will be tough -- if not virtually impossible -- to win the league given the remaining schedules of the contending teams, the Bulldogs are in a good position to play at the DECC the weekend of March 12-13. Not only that, but they're still in a good position to finish third or better, which would guarantee that the Bulldogs will avoid the play-in game at the Final Five, should they advance that far.

These are attainable goals, as is everything else at this point. Not many teams can say this, so UMD fans should take heart and enjoy the stretch run.