A glance at the WCHA composite schedule will tell you that officially the league’s first-round playoff series start in two weeks. But don’t let the schedule fool you. For all intents and purposes, when North Dakota takes to the ice of Colorado Springs World Arena to face Colorado College this weekend, the playoffs will have begun in earnest.
And if you’re a Tiger fan, or more importantly, a Tiger, that may or may not be a good thing. CC was the unexpected feel-good story of the season’s first half, and closed out 2009 with a trip to Florida and a 12-5-3 record heading into the new decade. But as they return home for a make-or-break weekend series, there’s suddenly an air of desperation in C-Springs.
The Tigers have gone a pedestrian 5-7-0 since Jan. 1 and where once they seemed a lock for home ice and a trip to the NCAA playoffs, today they find themselves tied with the Fighting Sioux for that final home ice slot. Those who study the computer rankings also tell us that if one team or the other gets a sweep this weekend, it could effectively knock the other team out of the national playoff picture. It’s a situation of which the Tigers are fully aware.
“We’ve got home ice on the line. We’ve got NCAA tournament bids on the line, and it’s coming down to the wire,” said CC forward Mike Testwuide, who leads the Tigers with 18 goals. “It’s big time right now. We’ve got to put some games together, get some wins and have a playoff mentality right now.”
If the sense of desperation was lacking before, last weekend’s troubles at Minnesota brought the Tigers immediate situation into much sharper focus. Coming off a free weekend where they were, in theory, able to get healthy and energized, CC instead fell flat in Minneapolis, losing 3-0 and 7-4. Those results, combined with NoDak’s home sweep of Minnesota Duluth, allowed the Fighting Sioux to close the gap.
“It looked like we were skating in sand,” said Tigers coach Scott Owens after the Friday night loss. “We feel we’re definitely a better team than this.”
Some things haven’t changed despite the general reversal of fortunes for the Tigers in 2010. Testwuide and Billy Sweatt are still the consistent sources of offense, and freshman goalie Joe Howe is still one of the league’s stronger netminders. For some, his rookie performance is reminiscent of what another CC freshman, Richard Bachman, did two years ago. You’ll recall that Bachman backstopped the Tigers to the WCHA title, earning league MVP and rookie of the year honors in the process.
“He comes up with big saves at key times and that sparks us and we’ll come down and usually get a couple goals,” Testwuide said of Howe. “Richard consistently did it and we’ve seen Joe do it numerous times, so we know he can step up too.”
Where there’s been less stepping up is in the overall offensive performance. It’s one thing to score less. It’s another when cracking 20 shots on goal becomes a challenge. But Owens admits that since Christmas, his team usually gets into the “high teens” in shots on goal in a game, and that second shots have been harder and harder to find.
Add to that a tough schedule, or at least one tougher than that of the teams CC is battling for the playoffs, and there’s work to be done if the Tigers are to wear their white sweaters in the opening round.
“These last six games – anytime you go to Minnesota, host North Dakota and then have Denver left,” Owens said during the series in Minneapolis. “North Dakota finishes up with (Michigan) Tech at home, so there’s a lot of pressure on us.”
Still, while acknowledging that things have been harder to come by lately and the Tigers seem to be riding a roller coaster, Testwuide, for one, seems delighted to be closing out his final regular season of college hockey with games that matter, for now and for two weeks from now.
“We’ve got a great set of guys in the locker room with great character, and we can always bounce back,” Testwuide said. “It’s awesome. Doesn’t get better than this.”
BIG GAMES IN THE BIGGEST STATE
While Alaska Anchorage’s place in the lower echelon of the WCHA standings is secured, there are Alaskan bragging rights, a trophy and a winning streak on the line during the Seawolves’ final non-conference series this weekend. Dave Shyiak and company play archrival Alaska in Anchorage on Friday and in Fairbanks on Saturday with the Governor’s Cup on the line.
While the Nanooks have been fiercely competitive in the CCHA and have hosted league playoff series of late (something the Seawolves have still not done since joining the WCHA in 1993) Alaska Anchorage owns the rivalry of late. The Seawolves last loss to Alaska (still referred to as “UAF” in the materials put out in Anchorage) came on Dec. 31, 2005, and the Seawolves have not lost a home game to the Nanooks since two months earlier, on Oct. 22, 2005.
TWO MORE FOR THE CUP
Denver needs either two wins, or a win and a Wisconsin loss (at Michigan Tech) this weekend to clinch the MacNaughton Cup, which would be George Gwozdecky’s third in the past decade (the Pioneers won the Cup outright in 2002 and shared it with Colorado College in 2005).
Of course, wins have rarely come easily for the Pioneers at Minnesota State, and the schedule Gods have them visiting Mankato this weekend. DU fans can take some heart in knowing that after years of struggles, Denver is actually on a two-game winning streak in Mankato, and is undefeated (3-0-1) in its last four meetings with the Mavericks.
INSTANT NOSTALGIA IN MADISON
If you were unable to make it to the Camp Randall Classic hosted by Wisconsin earlier this month, or if you were there and want to re-live the action, check out the video serial at www.uwbadgers.com. They’ve been recently adding new episodes to a 10-part web video series on the event.
The first segment, with current Badger Patrick Johnson and a childhood friend skating on the frozen pond behind their old neighborhood in Verona, Wis., made for great hockey nostalgia. While trading dekes and shots on a recently-shoveled patch of ice, the friends shared stories about childhood, about Patrick’s impossible task of living up to his father Mark’s heroics for the Badgers and the 1980 Miracle on Ice team, and about the magic of playing hockey outdoors.
Keep the good stuff coming, Bucky.
