Tigers #2 in WCHA Power Rankings, Bachman wins Rookie of the Week

The CC website takes a look at this weeks story lines including Freshman Goalie Richard Bachman and his amazing start to the season. He leads all WCHA goaltenders .962 save percentage and an unblemished 5-0 record. CC brings an undefeated home record into the weekend against a very tough Wisconsin team. The WCHA blog places the Tigers at number 2 in the WCHA power ranks behind DU, one week until that huuuge series.

New USCHO Polls

The Tigers move up two places to #7 in this week's USCHO poll. Wisconsin comes in at #9 after a weekend split with now #5 North Dakota. This week, the WCHA lands 7 of the top 20 teams in the nation. Not bad eh? Complete rankings here

NCAA Tournament Selection

With the NCAA Tournament ready to start in full force, it's always fun to look at the selection process and drama that some teams had to endure. There are a few things that I have found to be a little off about this tourney. Granted, I'm not a selection process expert and will never try to be, but I have to wonder why the WCHA was only give 3 spots since it is widely considered to be THE top conference in the country and had 5 teams finish the season strong. Based on late season play, Wisconsin should have gotten a bid and even Denver could have been given serious consideration. I know I've seen numerous articles talking about this topic. Hockey East has 5 teams from a conference that is almost universally considered a weaker conference than the WCHA. It just proves the point I have been mentioning since I started this thing; the media are fixated on the teams out east and pass over the stronger WCHA, just because it's not on the E-coast. Another thing that urked me was that two of the best teams in the tourney (North Dakota and Minnesota) are in the same bracket. Yes Denver's Pepsi Center is "WCHA Home Turf", but this bracket also ensures that at least 1 WCHA team will not make the Frozen Four. I can't help but think that is has something to do with the all WCHA Frozen Four a few years back. Seems to me we are getting the short end on this one!

Promote the games and opponent

While I was reading about the Tigers' OT win against Wisconsin last night, I came up with a few ideas to help the team out and gain more fans. This may sound like I'm rooting against the home team but I'm not, but what about promoting the opponet? Not saying that people should come just to watch, say, Wisconsin, but what about the fact that UW, DU, Minnesota and North Dakota have all won the national title in recent years and they are top tier teams. We could say, come see the #15 nationally ranked Tigers take on 2 time DU Pioneers this weekend in the I25 rivalry. Something that lets people know that a) we are good and b) the opposition in our conference is the toughest and best in the entire country. Another idea is regarding DU, what if we came up with a marketable name for the game, such as The I25 Rivalry? Actually having a name for it, like many rivalries in college football, may increase people's interest and help those games have more of a long standing tradition feel. Any ideas and comments about this (and all) ideas are greatly appreciated!