Bemidji State is the one and only school that has applied for membership in the WCHA - and while that may seem like at least they aren’t up against anyone else, it actually could hurt the Beavers’ chances.

We’re tempted to pass this off as real in the hopes that it may somehow come true, but don’t want anyone thinking they can slip an April Fool’s Joke past us.

One of INCH’s founders, Nate Ewell, has penned two recent pieces for the Washington Capitals’ web site to help local fans get ready for the arrival of the Frozen Four. The first, last week, was a look at two D.C. area natives who have helped put Northeastern in position to make a run, while today’s looks at former Capitals’ assistant coach Keith Allain and the work he has done at Yale.

Lots of good reads in advance of this weekend’s conference tournaments:

• Friend of INCH George Sipple has had a couple pieces in the Detroit Free Press this week — one on the strong goaltending in the CCHA, and one on the return of Michigan defenseman Mark Mitera.
• Goaltending is also the talk in Hockey East, where John Connolly of the Boston Herald explores John Muse’s role in BC’s late-season run.
• More goaltending, this from the Ithaca Journal’s Brandon Thomas, discussing the standout netminders in the upcoming ECAC Hockey semifinals. He also chronicles the second-half surge of Cornell defenseman Brendon Nash.

There are all sorts of new faces in this weekend’s Division III Frozen Four, including a Hobart roster that’s all over the map. Neumann’s team isn’t made up entirely of former Pembroke Lumber Kings, it just might seem that way. Out west, Gustavus Adolphus returns to the national semifinals for the first time in 27 years, and the journey to Lake Placid is sort of a trip home for Gusties goalie Matt Lopes.

As promised in the INCH Podcast, we’ve gathered some good women’s hockey stories heading into this weekend’s Frozen Four at BU:

• Two participants will be returning to Boston: Minnesota Duluth goalie Johanna Ellison, whose college career started at Boston College, and Danvers, Mass., native Meghan Duggan of Wisconsin
• In another type of homecoming story, Jen Schoullis will be facing off against her hometown team of Mercyhurst as she helps lead Minnesota into Boston
• It’s a little unfortunate that the tournament visits Boston without any Eastern teams in the field, but perhaps they can count on visitors from Ste. Anne, Manitoba
• Mark Johnson has his Badger team ready for two more wins, led by the impressive performances of Hilary Knight

The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper, has a compelling four-part series on the state of major junior hockey that’s a worthwhile read for NCAA fans. The fourth part of the series looks at the scholarship system in juniors, along with a sidebar featuring some pointed comments from Michigan’s Red Berenson.

The Bowling Green hockey program, which appeared to be on life support in the face of university-wide budget cuts, will be back for at least the 2009-10 season. The Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune’s Kevin Gordon has the latest on the Falcons’ program.

News items from around the nation:

• Bowling Green is hemorrhaging money. Is one of the solutions shedding the school’s hockey program? It’s a possibility, the Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune’s Kevin Gordon reports.
• Preaching to the choir here, but the Denver-Colorado College rivalry is one of the best in any sport. Denver Post columnist Mark Kiszla took in the latest meeting between the Tigers and Pios.
• Speaking of the Pioneers, the Denver Post’s Mike Chambers reports that DU forward Tyler Bozak should be back in the lineup for the WCHA Final Five – if the Pios advance, that is.
• Rachel Lenzi of the Portland Press Herald (via the Kennebec Journal) has a profile of Maine freshman Will O’Neill.

A few articles to keep you plugging through a Friday afternoon:

• Bemidji State has already clinched the CHA regular-season championship, but the Beavers’ final series of the year against Robert Morris isn’t meaningless … so says the Bemdji Pioneer.
• New Hampshire also plays its last regular-season series when it faces Vermont. Allen Lessels of the Manchester Union-Leader tells us that UNH is getting into a playoff frame of mind. Make your own Wildcat joke if you’d like.
• Staying in Durham, Bob Snow of NHL.com reports that sophomore forward James vanRiemsdyk is enjoying college life at UNH. Probably because he knows when he signs with the Flyers he’ll be asked to score 40 points and take 250 PIMs.
• A lengthy article chronicling the rebirth of hockey at all levels in the Boston area is set to appear in the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine. Readers may disagree with author Charles Pierce regarding the claim that the Bruins haven’t been relevant in the Hub in nearly four decades, but it’s still a good read.
• This website has preached about the, uhh, scenery in Oxford, Ohio, at length. Here’s proof. SI.com, in its Cheerleader of the Week slideshow, presents Miami cheerleader Jenna. You’re welcome.