Three years after turning the 2005 Frozen Four into an all-Western Collegiate Hockey Association affair, the Denver-based league has grown in unprecedented strength — with eight of its 10 teams in position to qualify for this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Division I hockey has six conferences, but the WCHA is threatening to produce half of the 16-team national field.
“And a ninth WCHA team is still under consideration, and that’s (Michigan) Tech,” University of Denver coach George Gwozdecky said. “There’s not much else anybody needs to say about how difficult this league is. All you have to do is look at the PairWise Rankings, and that tells the entire story.”
Currently, the top 14 PairWise teams, which include eight WCHA squads, could qualify for the NCAA Tournament, with the last two spots taken by the College Hockey America and Atlantic Hockey Association tournament champions.
The NCAA Tournament field won’t be set until after the conference tournaments March 22, and any “Big Four” conference team outside the top 14 in the PairWise could get an automatic berth by winning its conference crown.
For now, the only WCHA team not eligible to make the NCAA Tournament is last-place Alaska-Anchorage. And that’s why winning the WCHA regular-season championship is so important for the two remaining contenders, Colorado College and North Dakota.
The WCHA’s No. 1 playoff seed is guaranteed to begin the league tournament against the Seawolves, while the No. 2 seed will open a best-of-three series against a team that still has plenty to play for.
Footnotes.
DU sophomore wing-defenseman Julian Mariucci sustained his second concussion in three weeks Friday and is doubtful for the CC series. . . . This weekend’s Gold Pan series at Magness Arena (Friday) and the Colorado Springs World Arena (Saturday) is sold out.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
