WCHA Announces 2011-12 Schedule
Aug 5, 2011 | Hockey
Full Release with Schedule
MADISON, Wis. – The Western Collegiate Hockey Association, marking it's 60th season of on-ice competition in 2011-12 and owning a record 37 NCAA Men's Frozen Four titles since it's founding in 1951, today (August 4) released it's men's composite schedule, highlighted by the highly-successful Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five March 15-17 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn.
The WCHA would also like to extend a special welcome to new Michigan Tech head coach Mel Pearson, a former Huskies' player who most recently enjoyed a long and successful tenure as an assistant coach at powerhouse Michigan.
“We couldn't be more pleased to have a quality individual like Mel joining the Association family,” said Commissioner Bruce M. McLeod. ”His track record of success, combined with Tech's unwavering commitment to a first-class program, will undoubtedly prove to be a winning combination.”
“As regards the 2011-12 season, we are all looking forward to another great year of WCHA Hockey,” said McLeod. “Coming off a tremendously competitive conference race a year ago, with North Dakota winning both the MacNaughton Cup and Broadmoor Trophy, having Alaska Anchorage and first-year member Bemidji State earn trips to the Red Baron WCHA Final Five (along with UND, DU, UMD and CC), having five teams gain NCAA tournament berths, and witnessing Minnesota Duluth capture it's first national championship last April, there was a tremendous amount of quality hockey played throughout the league.
“Our annual WCHA Final Five was another triumph as we debuted a new six-team, five-game format and averaged 14,443 per game to better the previous season despite the fact that three of the qualifying teams and their fans had to travel long distances on short notice,” added McLeod. “Our non-conference record was superb at 56-27-12 (a .653 winning percentage), our fan support was monumental, with more than 1.7 million in attendance over the course of the season, and we had seven players earn All-American honors, three Hobey Baker Memorial Award Top 10 Finalists, and 140 student-athletes earn All-WCHA Academic Team honors.”
Under the leadership of Commissioner McLeod, who has cultivated a thriving partnership between the WCHA, Xcel Energy Center and the NHL's Minnesota Wild, the annual Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five has developed into college hockey's most prosperous conference tournament.
The 2012 edition of the Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five will mark the event's 12th consecutive year at Xcel Energy Center, where the playoff championship has drawn 850,564 fans in 11 previous appearances for an average crowd of 15,751 per tournament game.
“This Association has been blessed to have such a wonderful working relationship with Xcel Energy Center, the Minnesota Wild and the City of Saint Paul,” said McLeod. “Through a lot of diligence and hard work over the past two decades, and the building of a fabulous partnership between all four entities, the annual Red Baron WCHA Final Five is without a doubt among the premier collegiate sporting events in the country. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Xcel Energy Center Vice-President and General Manager Jack Larson and his entire staff, Minnesota Wild Owner and Governor Craig Leipold and his entire staff, and former Minnesota Wild Owner Bob Naegele, Jr., who was a key player from day one.”
“Another essential part of our on-going success in marketing the Final Five has been our exclusive television partnership with Fox Sports North and our many corporate sponsors. We want to sincerely thank Mike Diamond and his staff at FS North and to also thank Red Baron® as our on-going title sponsor.”
Following a Sept. 30-Oct. 2 weekend of exhibition play, the first regular season action for 2011-12, all non-conference match ups, will occur Oct. 7-9. Alaska Anchorage will host St. Cloud State, Alaska Fairbanks and Clarkson in the Kendall Hockey Classic, Nebraska Omaha will entertain Colgate, Mercyhurst and Robert Morris in the Mutual of Omaha Stampede, and North Dakota will host Air Force, Boston College and Michigan State in the Ice Breaker tournament. Minnesota State will head east to take on Rensselaer, Bemidji State will play at Miami, Michigan Tech will host American International, Minnesota Duluth entertains Notre Dame, Minnesota hosts Sacred Heart, and Wisconsin welcomes Northern Michigan. In exhibition action, Denver and Colorado College will take turns hosting the U.S. Under-18 Team.
The race for the 2012 WCHA regular season championship and MacNaughton Cup, a 168-game campaign which consists of 28 league games for each of the league's 12 member teams, commences Friday and Saturday, Oct. 14-15 with three two-game series. Colorado College will host Bemidji State, Michigan Tech will entertain Wisconsin and Minnesota Duluth hosts Minnesota. Other WCHA series openers, by member team, are: Alaska Anchorage (Oct. 21-22 at Nebraska Omaha), Denver (Oct. 21-22 vs Minnesota State), Minnesota State (Oct. 21-22 at Denver), Nebraska Omaha (Oct. 21-22 vs Alaska Anchorage), North Dakota (Oct. 21-22 at Wisconsin), and St. Cloud State (Oct. 28-29 at North Dakota).
During the course of the 168-game WCHA schedule there are eight weekends that featuring all league play – Nov. 11-12, Nov. 18-20, Jan. 13-14, Jan. 27-28, Feb. 3-4, Feb. 10-11, Feb. 17-18 and March 2-3.
WCHA teams will also be hosting or playing in a number of regular season tournaments and special events this season. Alaska Anchorage will host the Kendall Hockey Classic at Sullivan Arena on Oct. 7-8 with St. Cloud State, Alaska Fairbanks and Clarkson and will play in the Alaska Goal Rush in Fairbanks on Oct. 14 with Nebraska Omaha, Mercyhurst and Alaska Fairbanks. Denver will host the Denver Cup Classic on Nov. 25-26 at Magness Arena with Miami, Princeton and Providence. Michigan Tech will co-host the annual Great Lakes Invitational at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on Dec. 29-30 with Michigan, Michigan State and Boston College. The Minnesota Golden Gophers will welcome Niagara, Northeastern and Princeton to the annual Mariucci Classic on Dec. 30-31. Nebraska Omaha will host the Mutual of Omaha Stampede at CenturyLink Center Omaha on Oct. 7-8 with Colgate, Mercyhurst and Robert Morris before the Mavericks head to Fairbanks the following weekend of Oct. 14 to participate in the Alaska Goal Rush with host UAF, Alaska Anchorage, and Mercyhurst. North Dakota will host the Ice Breaker Tournament on Oct. 7-8 at Ralph Engelstad Arena with Air Force, Boston College and Michigan State. The St. Cloud State Huskies are set to play in the Kendall Hockey Classic in Anchorage on Oct. 7-8 with host UAA, Alaska Fairbanks and Clarkson.
Other non-tournament, non-conference match ups are: Alaska Anchorage (Feb. 24 vs Alaska Fairbanks, Feb. 25 @ Alaska Fairbanks); Bemidji State (Oct. 7-8 @ Miami, Nov. 4-5 @ Lake Superior State, Dec. 16-17 vs Alabama-Huntsville, Dec. 30-31 vs Bowling Green State); Colorado College (Oct. 28-29 @ Rensselaer, Dec. 30 vs Air Force, Dec. 31 vs Union College, Jan. 6-7 vs Cornell); Denver (Oct. 14 @ Boston College, Oct. 15 @ Boston University, Dec. 30 vs Union College, Dec. 31 @ Air Force, Jan. 6-7 vs Alabama-Huntsville); Michigan Tech (Oct. 7-8 vs American International, Nov. 25-26 @ St. Lawrence, Dec. 16 @ Northern Michigan, Jan. 21 vs Northern Michigan); Minnesota (Oct. 7-8 vs Sacred Heart, Oct. 21 & 23 vs Vermont, Nov. 25-26 @ Michigan State, Jan. 7 vs Notre Dame); Minnesota Duluth (Oct. 7-8 vs Notre Dame, Oct. 21-22 @ Providence, Jan. 6-7 @ Western Michigan, Jan. 20-21 vs Alabama-Huntsville); Minnesota State (Oct. 7-8 @ Rensselaer, Oct. 14-15 vs UMass-Lowell, Dec. 9-10 vs Alabama-Huntsville, Jan. 6-7 @ St. Lawrence); Nebraska Omaha (Dec. 2-3 vs Alabama-Huntsville @ Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 30-31 vs Quinnipiac); North Dakota (Oct. 14-15 vs Maine, Dec. 30-31 vs Harvard, Jan. 7 vs Clarkson at MTS Center in Winnipeg, Man.); St. Cloud State (Oct. 14-15 @ Northern Michigan, Oct. 21-22 vs New Hampshire, Dec. 29-30 vs Western Michigan); and Wisconsin (Oct. 7-8 vs Northern Michigan, Nov. 25-26 vs Mercyhurst, Jan. 6-7 vs RIT).
The quest for the WCHA Playoff Championship and the Broadmoor Trophy gets underway the weekend of March 9-11 with six first round, best-of-three series. Those pairings will have the No. 12 seed at the No. 1 seed, No. 11 at No. 2, No. 10 at No. 3, No. 9 at No. 4, No. 8 at No. 5, and the No. 7 seed at the No. 6 seed.
The six-round playoff winners will then be re-seeded (according to their regular season finish) and advance to the 2012 Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five, set for March 15-17 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. North Dakota is the defending Broadmoor Trophy champion. There will be two Final Five games contested on Thursday as the No. 5 seed will play the No. 4 seed and the and No. 6 seed will play the No. 3 seed. The No. 1 and No. 2 Final Five seeds will receive byes on Thursday. On Friday, there will be two semi-final match ups at 2:07 pm and 7:07 pm (CT), followed by the Broadmoor Trophy championship game on Saturday at 7:07 pm CT.
“The Red Baron WCHA Final Five has become a perennial favorite in Saint Paul,” said Xcel Energy Center Vice President and General Manager Jack Larson. “We are, as always, very proud to host this tournament and honored to play a part in this premier collegiate sporting event.”
In 2010, the WCHA unveiled an all-new Broadmoor Trophy at the Final Five. The bronze cast trophy, created by Blue Ribbon Trophies & Awards of Colorado Springs, Colo., is a recreation of the famous Broadmoor Hotel, host to numerous past national championships and the former home of Colorado College hockey. There are a total of three Broadmoor Trophies. The largest is on display at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, one is a traveling trophy, and one is given to the winning team each year as a permanent addition to their display case.
Following the 2012 Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five, four NCAA Men's Division 1 Regionals will be contested the weekend of March 23-25. The NCAA Midwest Regional will be hosted by Michigan Tech at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis., and will be contested on Friday and Saturday. Also on Friday and Saturday will be the NCAA East Regional at Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Conn. On Saturday and Sunday, the NCAA West Regional will be held at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul and hosted by Minnesota while the NCAA Northeast Regional will be contested at DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. North Dakota was the Midwest Regional champion a season ago while Minnesota Duluth captured the East Regional title.
The four NCAA regional winners will then advance to the 2012 NCAA Men's Frozen Four, set for April 5-7 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla.
MADISON, Wis. – The Western Collegiate Hockey Association, marking it's 60th season of on-ice competition in 2011-12 and owning a record 37 NCAA Men's Frozen Four titles since it's founding in 1951, today (August 4) released it's men's composite schedule, highlighted by the highly-successful Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five March 15-17 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn.
The WCHA would also like to extend a special welcome to new Michigan Tech head coach Mel Pearson, a former Huskies' player who most recently enjoyed a long and successful tenure as an assistant coach at powerhouse Michigan.
“We couldn't be more pleased to have a quality individual like Mel joining the Association family,” said Commissioner Bruce M. McLeod. ”His track record of success, combined with Tech's unwavering commitment to a first-class program, will undoubtedly prove to be a winning combination.”
“As regards the 2011-12 season, we are all looking forward to another great year of WCHA Hockey,” said McLeod. “Coming off a tremendously competitive conference race a year ago, with North Dakota winning both the MacNaughton Cup and Broadmoor Trophy, having Alaska Anchorage and first-year member Bemidji State earn trips to the Red Baron WCHA Final Five (along with UND, DU, UMD and CC), having five teams gain NCAA tournament berths, and witnessing Minnesota Duluth capture it's first national championship last April, there was a tremendous amount of quality hockey played throughout the league.
“Our annual WCHA Final Five was another triumph as we debuted a new six-team, five-game format and averaged 14,443 per game to better the previous season despite the fact that three of the qualifying teams and their fans had to travel long distances on short notice,” added McLeod. “Our non-conference record was superb at 56-27-12 (a .653 winning percentage), our fan support was monumental, with more than 1.7 million in attendance over the course of the season, and we had seven players earn All-American honors, three Hobey Baker Memorial Award Top 10 Finalists, and 140 student-athletes earn All-WCHA Academic Team honors.”
Under the leadership of Commissioner McLeod, who has cultivated a thriving partnership between the WCHA, Xcel Energy Center and the NHL's Minnesota Wild, the annual Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five has developed into college hockey's most prosperous conference tournament.
The 2012 edition of the Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five will mark the event's 12th consecutive year at Xcel Energy Center, where the playoff championship has drawn 850,564 fans in 11 previous appearances for an average crowd of 15,751 per tournament game.
“This Association has been blessed to have such a wonderful working relationship with Xcel Energy Center, the Minnesota Wild and the City of Saint Paul,” said McLeod. “Through a lot of diligence and hard work over the past two decades, and the building of a fabulous partnership between all four entities, the annual Red Baron WCHA Final Five is without a doubt among the premier collegiate sporting events in the country. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Xcel Energy Center Vice-President and General Manager Jack Larson and his entire staff, Minnesota Wild Owner and Governor Craig Leipold and his entire staff, and former Minnesota Wild Owner Bob Naegele, Jr., who was a key player from day one.”
“Another essential part of our on-going success in marketing the Final Five has been our exclusive television partnership with Fox Sports North and our many corporate sponsors. We want to sincerely thank Mike Diamond and his staff at FS North and to also thank Red Baron® as our on-going title sponsor.”
Following a Sept. 30-Oct. 2 weekend of exhibition play, the first regular season action for 2011-12, all non-conference match ups, will occur Oct. 7-9. Alaska Anchorage will host St. Cloud State, Alaska Fairbanks and Clarkson in the Kendall Hockey Classic, Nebraska Omaha will entertain Colgate, Mercyhurst and Robert Morris in the Mutual of Omaha Stampede, and North Dakota will host Air Force, Boston College and Michigan State in the Ice Breaker tournament. Minnesota State will head east to take on Rensselaer, Bemidji State will play at Miami, Michigan Tech will host American International, Minnesota Duluth entertains Notre Dame, Minnesota hosts Sacred Heart, and Wisconsin welcomes Northern Michigan. In exhibition action, Denver and Colorado College will take turns hosting the U.S. Under-18 Team.
The race for the 2012 WCHA regular season championship and MacNaughton Cup, a 168-game campaign which consists of 28 league games for each of the league's 12 member teams, commences Friday and Saturday, Oct. 14-15 with three two-game series. Colorado College will host Bemidji State, Michigan Tech will entertain Wisconsin and Minnesota Duluth hosts Minnesota. Other WCHA series openers, by member team, are: Alaska Anchorage (Oct. 21-22 at Nebraska Omaha), Denver (Oct. 21-22 vs Minnesota State), Minnesota State (Oct. 21-22 at Denver), Nebraska Omaha (Oct. 21-22 vs Alaska Anchorage), North Dakota (Oct. 21-22 at Wisconsin), and St. Cloud State (Oct. 28-29 at North Dakota).
During the course of the 168-game WCHA schedule there are eight weekends that featuring all league play – Nov. 11-12, Nov. 18-20, Jan. 13-14, Jan. 27-28, Feb. 3-4, Feb. 10-11, Feb. 17-18 and March 2-3.
WCHA teams will also be hosting or playing in a number of regular season tournaments and special events this season. Alaska Anchorage will host the Kendall Hockey Classic at Sullivan Arena on Oct. 7-8 with St. Cloud State, Alaska Fairbanks and Clarkson and will play in the Alaska Goal Rush in Fairbanks on Oct. 14 with Nebraska Omaha, Mercyhurst and Alaska Fairbanks. Denver will host the Denver Cup Classic on Nov. 25-26 at Magness Arena with Miami, Princeton and Providence. Michigan Tech will co-host the annual Great Lakes Invitational at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on Dec. 29-30 with Michigan, Michigan State and Boston College. The Minnesota Golden Gophers will welcome Niagara, Northeastern and Princeton to the annual Mariucci Classic on Dec. 30-31. Nebraska Omaha will host the Mutual of Omaha Stampede at CenturyLink Center Omaha on Oct. 7-8 with Colgate, Mercyhurst and Robert Morris before the Mavericks head to Fairbanks the following weekend of Oct. 14 to participate in the Alaska Goal Rush with host UAF, Alaska Anchorage, and Mercyhurst. North Dakota will host the Ice Breaker Tournament on Oct. 7-8 at Ralph Engelstad Arena with Air Force, Boston College and Michigan State. The St. Cloud State Huskies are set to play in the Kendall Hockey Classic in Anchorage on Oct. 7-8 with host UAA, Alaska Fairbanks and Clarkson.
Other non-tournament, non-conference match ups are: Alaska Anchorage (Feb. 24 vs Alaska Fairbanks, Feb. 25 @ Alaska Fairbanks); Bemidji State (Oct. 7-8 @ Miami, Nov. 4-5 @ Lake Superior State, Dec. 16-17 vs Alabama-Huntsville, Dec. 30-31 vs Bowling Green State); Colorado College (Oct. 28-29 @ Rensselaer, Dec. 30 vs Air Force, Dec. 31 vs Union College, Jan. 6-7 vs Cornell); Denver (Oct. 14 @ Boston College, Oct. 15 @ Boston University, Dec. 30 vs Union College, Dec. 31 @ Air Force, Jan. 6-7 vs Alabama-Huntsville); Michigan Tech (Oct. 7-8 vs American International, Nov. 25-26 @ St. Lawrence, Dec. 16 @ Northern Michigan, Jan. 21 vs Northern Michigan); Minnesota (Oct. 7-8 vs Sacred Heart, Oct. 21 & 23 vs Vermont, Nov. 25-26 @ Michigan State, Jan. 7 vs Notre Dame); Minnesota Duluth (Oct. 7-8 vs Notre Dame, Oct. 21-22 @ Providence, Jan. 6-7 @ Western Michigan, Jan. 20-21 vs Alabama-Huntsville); Minnesota State (Oct. 7-8 @ Rensselaer, Oct. 14-15 vs UMass-Lowell, Dec. 9-10 vs Alabama-Huntsville, Jan. 6-7 @ St. Lawrence); Nebraska Omaha (Dec. 2-3 vs Alabama-Huntsville @ Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 30-31 vs Quinnipiac); North Dakota (Oct. 14-15 vs Maine, Dec. 30-31 vs Harvard, Jan. 7 vs Clarkson at MTS Center in Winnipeg, Man.); St. Cloud State (Oct. 14-15 @ Northern Michigan, Oct. 21-22 vs New Hampshire, Dec. 29-30 vs Western Michigan); and Wisconsin (Oct. 7-8 vs Northern Michigan, Nov. 25-26 vs Mercyhurst, Jan. 6-7 vs RIT).
The quest for the WCHA Playoff Championship and the Broadmoor Trophy gets underway the weekend of March 9-11 with six first round, best-of-three series. Those pairings will have the No. 12 seed at the No. 1 seed, No. 11 at No. 2, No. 10 at No. 3, No. 9 at No. 4, No. 8 at No. 5, and the No. 7 seed at the No. 6 seed.
The six-round playoff winners will then be re-seeded (according to their regular season finish) and advance to the 2012 Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five, set for March 15-17 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. North Dakota is the defending Broadmoor Trophy champion. There will be two Final Five games contested on Thursday as the No. 5 seed will play the No. 4 seed and the and No. 6 seed will play the No. 3 seed. The No. 1 and No. 2 Final Five seeds will receive byes on Thursday. On Friday, there will be two semi-final match ups at 2:07 pm and 7:07 pm (CT), followed by the Broadmoor Trophy championship game on Saturday at 7:07 pm CT.
“The Red Baron WCHA Final Five has become a perennial favorite in Saint Paul,” said Xcel Energy Center Vice President and General Manager Jack Larson. “We are, as always, very proud to host this tournament and honored to play a part in this premier collegiate sporting event.”
In 2010, the WCHA unveiled an all-new Broadmoor Trophy at the Final Five. The bronze cast trophy, created by Blue Ribbon Trophies & Awards of Colorado Springs, Colo., is a recreation of the famous Broadmoor Hotel, host to numerous past national championships and the former home of Colorado College hockey. There are a total of three Broadmoor Trophies. The largest is on display at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, one is a traveling trophy, and one is given to the winning team each year as a permanent addition to their display case.
Following the 2012 Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five, four NCAA Men's Division 1 Regionals will be contested the weekend of March 23-25. The NCAA Midwest Regional will be hosted by Michigan Tech at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis., and will be contested on Friday and Saturday. Also on Friday and Saturday will be the NCAA East Regional at Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Conn. On Saturday and Sunday, the NCAA West Regional will be held at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul and hosted by Minnesota while the NCAA Northeast Regional will be contested at DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. North Dakota was the Midwest Regional champion a season ago while Minnesota Duluth captured the East Regional title.
The four NCAA regional winners will then advance to the 2012 NCAA Men's Frozen Four, set for April 5-7 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla.
Tuesday, September 01
Wednesday, August 26
Friday, August 21
Tuesday, April 21
