Here's the preview article from today's Daily on the WCHA. Enjoy!
Headline: WCHA puck drops Frida
Publish Date: 10/21/1993
By David Jackson
<W0I>Staff Reporter
The WCHA's 34th season opens Friday with a new team, a new rink, a
new coach and a new postseason tournament site. Nothing new is the
parity the league should see in 1993-94. As many as eight teams are
contenders for the Final Five on March 17-19 at Milwaukee's Bradley
Center.
Here's a look at how this writer sees an exciting race:
1. Michigan Tech Huskies -- Goalies win titles in hockey, and the
Huskies have one of the nation's best in senior Jamie Ram. Coach Bob
Mancini calls Ram ``the first legitimate Hobey Baker Award candidate
Michigan Tech has ever had.''
And the team's two best offensive players, Pat Mikesch and Brent
Peterson, have brought their brothers to school. Jeff Mikesch and
Kyle Peterson will help an offense that loses John Young to
graduation and Jim Storm to the U.S. Olympic tryouts. If Storm
returns after the Olympics, watch out.
2. Wisconsin Badgers -- Some teams only have 24 players come out for
practice. The Badgers have 24 returning lettermen. Coach Jeff Sauer
has terrific depth at forward -- led by Andrew Shier, Jason Zent and
Blaine Moore -- and five speedy defensemen who play offense as well.
Two questions: Can goalie Jim Carey, last year's freshman of the year
and a marvelous talent, avoid the sophomore jinx knowing that he's
the man this year? And can the team overcome the loss of would-be
captain Dan Plante, who unexpectedly signed with the New York
Islanders after being cut by the Olympic team?
3. Minnesota Gophers -- The new Mariucci Arena has made its debut,
and it will make its mark as the season wears on. Only St. Cloud
State and Alaska-Anchorage have rinks as wide as the Gophers' home.
Coach Doug Woog said the main concern on such a big surface is ``the
puck is in play all the time. You're more reliant on defensemen.''
Which brings us to the Gophers' key area -- defense. Sophomores Dan
Trebil, Greg Zwakman and Charlie Wasley started from day one last
year, but Travis Richards is no longer around to teach them.
The Gophers will score goals, led by Jeff Nielsen, Brian Bonin and
Chris McAlpine. And both Jeff Moen and Jeff Callinan are solid
athletes and should be tough goalies. It's the defensemen who must
make sure the goalies don't have to spend too much time keeping track
of rebounds.
4. Northern Michigan Wildcats -- Two years ago, Northern Michigan had
an offense but no defense. Last year was the reverse. But Coach Rick
Comley's team always peaks for the WCHA tournament. Last year the
fifth-place Wildcats lost 5-3 to the Gophers in the finals.
This year Comley hopes his offense and defense will be equally
balanced. That's a good bet, with key players returning in each area.
The challenge will fall to sophomore goalie Paul Taylor. Taylor was
effective in the second half of the season after hardly playing at
all in the first half. With Corwin Saurdiff gone, he will play right
away.
5. Denver Pioneers -- Last year the Pioneers broke out quickly with
seven wins in their first eight games before a rash of injuries
decimated the team. By February, Denver came to Mariucci Arena and
lost two games to the Gophers by a combined score of 13-3.
This year, Coach Frank Serratore has so much depth at forward that
injuries will not be so costly. Angelo Ricci is one of the league's
top scorers, and Erik Andersson leads the best freshman class in the
WCHA. ``Our freshmen can finally be freshmen, because our
upperclassmen finally are men,'' Serratore said.
6. Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs -- Losing league MVP Derek Plante will
not hurt the Bulldogs as much as people expect. Losing three physical
defensemen will. Coach Mike Sertich returns the league's best
goaltending tandem in Taras Lendzyk and Jerome Butler, who will get
used to seeing 40-50 shots a game.
UMD also has Chris Marinucci, the WCHA's top returning scorer. While
much of that was a credit to Plante, Marinucci can do it on his own
-- as he proved last year when Plante was injured for two weeks.
7. North Dakota Fighting Sioux -- No one player was more valuable to
his team last season than Greg Johnson. The three-time all-WCHA
center is irreplaceable.
But Coach Gino Gasparini does have two outstanding defensemen in Nick
Naumenko and Brad Bombardir and the favorite for rookie of the year
in Eden Prairie's Landon Wilson, a first-round draft pick of the
Toronto Maple Leafs. Now the Sioux must find a goalie to improve on a
woeful 5-12 mark in one-goal games.
8. Colorado College Tigers -- It's the final season at the ancient
Broadmoor World Arena, and the first season at Colorado College for
Coach Don Lucia, who comes from Alaska-Fairbanks to replace the
controversial Brad Buetow.
Last year's expectations were high, and turmoil ruined the Tigers'
chances. This year, most pick them in the second division, so Lucia
can relax a bit while Tiger defensemen Shawn Reid and Kent Fearns
punish the league's goalies with slapshots.
9. St. Cloud State Huskies -- It will be tough for the Huskies to
pass any of the teams ahead of them, but Coach Craig Dahl will try to
do so with a veteran defense led by Kelly Hultgren and Gino Santerre.
The offense may hinge on the return of Wayzata's Brett Lievers, who
scored 32 points in his freshman year but missed most of the past two
years with two serious concussions. Dahl said he has met with
Lievers' family and all are aware of the risks. ``Another concussion
will knock him out of hockey forever,'' Dahl said.
10. Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves -- The WCHA's newest member is also
its best reason for jet lag. A bigger concern for Coach Brush
Christiansen is preparing his team for its tough league competition
on a regular basis.
``We're looking at a learning experience,'' he said. ``But we don't
want to think of our team as a doormat.''
The return of forwards Keith Morris and Mitch Kean will help, but not
enough.
Carol S. White BITNET: c-whit@uminn1
University of Minnesota internet:[log in to unmask]
Office of the Registrar
(612) 625-8517 GO Gophers!!!
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