Minnesota Duluth heads on its first Western Collegiate Hockey Association road trip of 2011 for a Friday-Saturday series versus Michigan Tech in Houghton, Mich.

The Huskies, last in the league, saw the return of injured center Brett Olson of Superior last weekend, for a non-league series against St. Lawrence. But coach Jamie Russell said Tuesday he also lost three players to injuries in Saturday’s 6-0 loss. Michigan Tech’s numbers are so thin, Russell recruited freshman forward, Alan L’Esperance of Brighton, Mich., from campus, who has played in one game, at Northern Michigan last month, and will likely be in the lineup this weekend.

A weekly NCAA Bracketology projection from Sixty Minutes. No Alibis. No Regrets. shows Minnesota Duluth taking a trip East. That post is here.

The Without a Peer blog also has Bracketology here

Bridgestone Arena is Nashville, Tenn., will make a bid for the NCAA Frozen Four in 2015 according to a report in the Tennessean here.

U.S. College Hockey Online looks back on last weekend’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association games here.

Brad Elliott Schossman reports that Virg Foss, the Grand Forks Herald college hockey beat writer for 36 years before retiring, has earned the 2011 Jim Fullerton Award for contributions to the sport. The award from the American Hockey Coaches Association will be presented in April in Naples, Fla. Foss continues to contribute columns to the Grand Forks Herald during the hockey season.

Cloquet’s Jamie Langenbrunner celebrated his 1,000th NHL game Monday night by scoring the game winner as Dallas beat Los Angeles 2-1 in Dallas. He’s the 260th player to reach 1,000 games in NHL history and the 37th American. He has 233 goals and 388 assists for 621 points. He’s played in the most league games of any player from Northeastern Minnesota. Duluth defenseman Sean Hill played in 876 games in 15 seasons through 2008.

Langenbrunner told the Dallas Morning News:

“It really is something that’s important to me, and something I honestly never even though about reaching. I mean you have to play 15 years in this league to his that kind of numbers, and you just never think that’s going to happen to you.”

Video of his game-winning power-play goal is here.