We’ll get to the present-WCHA in a minute, but the lead for Saturday is the future-WCHA, the Bemidji State Beavers, who join the league next season. There was a time in 1982-83 (well, some 27 years ago), that Minnesota Duluth hit the big time for the first time. The Bulldogs started off 13-2-1 and caught the attention of — everyone. Yet, they were newcomers and weren’t taken too seriously. Wisconsin coach Bob Johnson, if I remember, said he liked the way UMD was playing, for a team playing on emotion. Well the Bulldogs played well enough to be chosen for the Division I tournament for the first time, in a controversial choice by the Ice Hockey Rules Committee.
Now, Bemidji State isn’t really a newcomer. The Beavers were in the 2009 Frozen Four, but despite their record in 2009-10, No. 6-ranked Bemidji State may not have been taken too seriously until — Friday’s 3-2 win over No. 1 Miami of Ohio. Here’s part of Saturday’s story by John McRae in the Bemidji Pioneer.
More WCHA from Friday follows further down:
GRAND FORKS — The Bemidji State men’s hockey team was looking to make a major statement to the college hockey world in its game Friday against Miami, the nation’s top ranked team.
Statement made.
A goal by senior captain Chris McKelvie propelled the Beavers to a 3-2 win over Miami in the opening game of the Subway Holiday Classic at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks Friday afternoon.
The Beavers built a 2-0 lead after two periods, only to have Miami come roaring with a pair of goals in the opening nine minutes of the third period to tie the game at 2-2.
It was a major win for the Beavers who improved to 11-1-1 on the season. It marked the first time the Beavers defeated a No. 1-ranked team in the program’s Division I era.
“It was a great game and a monumental win for us,” said Bemidji State head coach Tom Serratore. “It was a playoff-like atmosphere; there was no easy ice out there. Every goal scored was earned – it was tough, old-fashioned hockey.”
Miami (9-2-5 overall), which saw an eight-game unbeaten streak broken, led 22-15 in shots on goal.
“I think they did a great job taking care of the front of the net,” said Miami head coach Enrico Blasi. “They made sure we didn’t get many second chances. We expected a tough, close game and it was. In the end they got an opportunity and converted. That was it.”
Bemidji’s Matt Read said the Beavers talked a lot about the fact Miami was the top ranked team in the country in the week leading up to the game.
“We all said we needed to play our best game of the year and show the rest of the country we are for real,” he said. “We also talked how this game could give us a bit of redemption for the loss we had against them in the Frozen Four. I thought we played really well.”
Serratore stressed he wanted to keep the game and the team’s fast start in perspective.
“There was no gloating in our locker room after the game,” Serratore reported. “We all get beaten up in life at times and we’ve been on the other side plenty."
No. 5-ranked Colorado College and No. 2 Denver each won at home Friday to move ahead of UMD in the league standings, tied for first place.
Colorado College scored two power-play goals (and has a man-advantage goal in 10 straight games) and earned a shorthanded score in smacking Alaska Anchorage 5-0.
Denver scored its most goals since the season opener in stopping St. Cloud State 5-3 in Denver. Jesse Martin had two goals for the Pioneer and goalie Marc Cheverie remained unbeaten. After games Saturday, Denver and Colorado College will look forward to facing each other next weekend.
No. 15 Wisconsin also made something of a statement – facing its first ranked opponent this season, the Badgers smacked No. 8 Michigan State 7-3 in Lansing, Mich. Badger star defenseman Brendan Smith had two goals and sophomore center Derek Stepan had a goal and four assists.
Not so much of a statement, was Minnesota’s 6-0 loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. It was the most one-sided loss in coach Don Lucia’s 10 seasons with the Gophers and the program’s worst loss since 1998. It was also Minnesota’s fourth straight loss and fourth time it has been shut out this season.
"I’m disappointed," Lucia told the Minneapolis Star Tribune said. "We didn’t give ourselves a chance to win tonight. We looked like we had a plate full of turkey in our bellies the way we played. We were sluggish, and we’re not a good enough team to come out and play sluggish."
Minnesota State-Mankato players told the Mankato Free Press they played one of their best games of the season in beating Michigan Tech 5-2 in Mankato. Zach Harrison had a goal and three assists for the Mavericks and Geoff Irwin had two goals. Mankato led in shots on goal 41-29.
Oh, and the second game in Grand Forks, N.D., the No. 4 Fighting Sioux took care of Ohio State 4-1. That meant North Dakota broke a three-game losing streak and now faces Miami of Ohio on Saturday. How about an interesting obscure stat? North Dakota goalie Brad Eidsness gave up his first even-strength goal in 226 minutes, 12 seconds, more than three full games and two periods. North Dakota is at the DECC next weekend when UMD resumes play. Here are the WCHA standings courtesy of College Hockey Stats.net.
Conference Only Overall
Pts GP Record Win% GF- GA GP Record Win% GF- GA
1 Colorado College 15 9 7- 1- 1 .833 34- 17 13 10- 2- 1 .808 49- 27
Denver 15 9 7- 1- 1 .833 29- 21 13 9- 3- 1 .731 40- 35
3 Minnesota Duluth 13 10 6- 3- 1 .650 36- 29 14 9- 4- 1 .679 49- 38
4 North Dakota 11 10 5- 4- 1 .550 29- 17 13 8- 4- 1 .654 41- 22
Wisconsin 11 10 5- 4- 1 .550 33- 22 13 8- 4- 1 .654 50- 27
6 St. Cloud State 9 9 4- 4- 1 .500 24- 25 13 5- 6- 2 .462 32- 34
7 Minnesota 7 10 3- 6- 1 .350 24- 28 13 4- 8- 1 .346 30- 41
Minnesota State 7 11 3- 7- 1 .318 30- 36 13 5- 7- 1 .423 37- 39
9 Alaska Anchorage 6 11 3- 8- 0 .273 22- 46 15 5-10- 0 .333 34- 60
10 Michigan Tech 4 9 2- 7- 0 .222 19- 39 11 3- 8- 0 .273 25- 45
