Around the WCHA Jan 30 & 31

WCHA pts are at a premium right now, and its only going to get more intense down the stretch. Denver had a chance to take a big leap forward last weekend in the standings, but barely moved ahead of the field. The Denver/North Dakota series included a funny moment when Gwoz was ejected by Todd Anderson for arguing an obvious call, and then made a little scene on the ice. Bad officiating is the one constant in the WCHA; something even hated rivals can agree on. Last week's results:

Duluth swept Mankato
St. Cloud went to the Springs (CC) and returned w/ 3 pts
Michigan Tech and UAA tied twice
Denver salvaged one point from North Dakota

While Denver remains on top the WCHA, 8th place is only 8 pts behind them right now. A rough breakdown:

1 - Denver - 18 games - 24 pts
2 - North Dakota - 18 games - 23 pts
3 - Wisconsin - 18 games - 22 pts
4 - minnesota - 16 games - 21 pts
4 - CC - 20 games - 21 pts
6 - Duluth - 18 games - 19 pts
7 - St. Cloud - 18 games - 17 pts
8 - Mankato - 20 games - 16 pts
9 - UAA - 18 games - 14 pts
10 - Tech - 20 games - 7 pts

The MacNaughton is still anyone's Cup to win, and home ice is far, far from decided. Mankato and CC are in the worst position w/ 2 extra games played and kinda spiraling down the tubes lately. Thanks to the Western College Hockey Blog for posting this article from playoffstatus.com. They give a breakdown of what every teams chances are at the MacNaughton and home ice. Wisconsin is given a 9% chance at 1st, but 79% chance at home ice.

This week's games will fill in some more pieces of the puzzle. I'm sure there will be a surprise somewhere.

Duluth @ Wisconsin - Badgers SWEEP
North Dakota @ St. Cloud - both teams are playing well, I say split
minnesota home & home w/ Mankato - home teams each win
UAA @ Denver - Denver takes three points