When Colorado College enters Magness Arena tonight to face the University of Denver in the regular-season finale for both teams, the Tigers will be the team in must-win mode. But the Pioneers, despite being in excellent position to make the 16-team NCAA Tournament, might have more to lose.
DU is tied for third in the PairWise Rankings (PWR) and contending for a No. 1 regional seed in the national tournament, which CC isn’t likely to reach. The Tigers are tied for 16th in the PWR, as many as five spots on the negative side of the at-large bubble.
The Front Range rivals have more in common when it comes to league play, in which both can produce a top-three finish. DU, which will finish second to North Dakota in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings, will play No. 9-seed Alaska-Anchorage in next weekend’s best-of-three WCHA playoff series.
CC can’t finish any lower than fourth place in the WCHA, which guarantees it home ice in a WCHA playoff series next weekend.
The Tigers, however, might have to win the WCHA Tournament, which continues March 19-21 in St. Paul, Minn., to get an automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament.
“For us, whether (tonight) means a shot at the WCHA title or not, it’s still going to have major ramifications for postseason play, including the national tournament,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said before Friday, when North Dakota beat Wisconsin 2-1 to clinch the league title. “Nationally, we’ve put ourselves in pretty good position, and if everything goes according to plan, we’ve got five games left before the national tournament.”
DU also wants to solve its curse against CC. The Pioneers are on a five-game winless drought (0-3-2) against CC and 1-6-3 in the past 10 meetings.
DU expects to have junior wing Rhett Rakhshani available to play tonight. The forward suffered a “lower body” injury early in the Feb. 27 game against St. Cloud State.
Rakhshani won’t be at full strength, but he said there has been no discussion about delaying his return for playoffs.
“I’ll be ready to go,” he said. “It’s not the type of injury that’s going to get worse. It just takes some time to get back to full strength, and with this kind of game, I want to be in there.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
