When Colorado College enters Magness Arena Saturday night 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, is assured of playing No. 9-seed Alaska-Anchorage or No. 10 Michigan Tech to begin next weekend’s best-of-three WCHA playoff series. CC can finish anywhere from third to seventh, with a top-five ending giving it home-ice advantage 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. We obviously want to finish with the highest possible seed we can.”
DU also wants to solve its curse against CC. DU is on a five-game winless drought (0-3-2) against CC and 1-6-3 in the past 10 meetings.
“Playing our archrival, whether it’s March or October, is always special,” Gwozdecky said. “We battle harder than any other game we play. You may not see a lot of fodder in the newspapers, or radio or TV, but the intensity is very high. Its huge.”
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 probably won’t be at full strength, but he said there has been no discussion about delaying his return for the 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
