Western Collegiate Hockey Association

HEADLINES

Laura Fast of St. Cloud State, Andrew Thomas of Denver Named Recipients of WCHA Post-Graduate Scholarships for 2008-09

2007-08 Season Another Successful One for Men's WCHA and 10 Member Teams

Halpern, Stuart and Parise Named Captains for U.S. Men's Nat'l Team

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Six WCHA Teams Preparing for Upcoming 2008 NCAA Div. 1 Men's Ice Hockey Championship

Record-Setting Group of Qualifiers include MacNaughton Cup Champion Colorado College, Broadmoor Trophy Champion Denver, North Dakota, St. Cloud State, Minnesota, Wisconsin ... Teams to Engage in Regional Play March 28-30; Four Regional Winners to Advance to NCAA Frozen Four at Pepsi Center in Denver; Seven WCHA Teams Ranked in Latest National Polls

March 24, 2008

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MADISON, Wisc. - With a record six teams earning berths in the 2008 NCAA Division 1 Men's Ice Hockey Championship, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association will send at least one member team to all four regional tournaments this weekend, March 28-30. Regular season and MacNaughton Cup champion Colorado College and Red Baron^TM WCHA Final Five and Broadmoor Trophy champion University of Denver are joined by University of North Dakota, St. Cloud State University, University of Minnesota and University of Wisconsin as conference representatives. Together, the Pioneers (7), Fighting Sioux (7), Badgers (6), Golden Gophers (5) and Tigers (2) have won 27 national championships.

Colorado College (28-11-1), hosts of the West Regional at Colorado Springs World Arena, are the No. 2 seed on their home ice. The Tigers, making their 19th appearance in the national tournament overall, will face-off against defending national champion and No. 3 regional seed Michigan State at 8:00 pm MT on Friday night. CC is 17-18-0 in NCAA tourney play. The opening game of the West Regional will match No. 1 seed New Hampshire (25-9-3) against No. 4 seed Notre Dame (24-15-4) at 4:30 pm MT. The West Regional championship will be played on Saturday at 8:00 pm MT.

Three WCHA-member teams - North Dakota, Denver and host Wisconsin - have been slotted in the Midwest Regional at the Kohl Center in Madison, which will be contested March 29-30. The top-seeded Fighting Sioux (26-10-4), marking their 23rd national tournament appearance overall and sixth straight, will face-off against No. 4 seed Princeton (21-13-0) this Saturday at at 2:00 pm CT. UND is 38-17-0 in NCAA tourney play. The Pioneers (26-13-1), making their 18th NCAA tournament appearance overall, will go up against the Badgers (15-16-7) at 5:30 pm CT. Wisconsin marks its 22nd national tournament appearance overall. DU is 25-13-0 in previous NCAA tournament games while the UW is 33-18-0. The championship game of the Midwest Regional will then be played on Sunday at 6:00 pm CT.

St. Cloud State (19-15-5) has been sent to the East Regional at Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y., where the No. 2-seeded Huskies will take on No. 3 seeded Clarkson (21-12-4) in the opening game at 4:00 pm ET on Friday. St. Cloud State marks the program's seventh NCAA tourney appearance and the Huskies are 0-7 in previous games. In the second semi-final at the East Regional, top-seeded Michigan (31-5-4) will go up against No. 4 seed Niagara (22-10-4) at 7:30 pm ET. The East Regional title game is then set for 7:00 pm ET on Saturday night.

And Minnesota (19-16-9), who finished second in last weekend's 2008 Red Baron^TM WCHA Final Five, is the No. 3 seed at the Northeast Regional, to be contested March 29-30 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. The Golden Gophers, who are marking a record 32nd appearance in the national tournament, including their eighth straight, will face-off against No. 2 seeded Boston College (21-11-8) at 7:30 pm ET on Saturday. Minnesota is 50-32-0 in previous NCAA tourney play. The first semi-final there will match No. 1 regional seed Miami (32-7-1) against No. 4 seed Air Force Academy (21-11-6) at 4:00 pm ET. The Northeast Regional championship game will be played on Sunday at 4:30 pm ET.

The four regional winners will then earn a trip to the 2008 NCAA Men's Frozen Four, set for Thursday, April 10 through Saturday, April 12 at Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo. The host institution for this season's Frozen Four is the University of Denver. The WCHA is home to a record 36 national championship teams since the league's founding in 1951, including five of the past six.

Through games of March 23, the WCHA's 2007-08 non-conference mark stands at 48-18-10 for a .697 winning percentage.

This Week in the WCHA • WCHA Teams at NCAA Regionals

Games for Friday, March 28: *Clarkson vs St. Cloud State, 4:00 pm ET; #Michigan State at Colorado College, 8:00 pm MT. (*East Regional Semifinal @ Albany, NY; #West Regional Semifinal @ Colorado Springs, CO).

Games for Saturday, March 29: *Princeton vs North Dakota, 2:00 pm CTA; *Wisconsin vs Denver, 5:30 pm CT; #Niagara vs St. Cloud State, 7:00 pm ET; #St. Cloud State vs Michigan, 7:00 pm ET; &Minnesota vs Boston College, 7:30 pm ET; %Notre Dame at Colorado College, 8:00 pm MT; %Colorado College vs New Hampshire, 8:00 pm MT. (*Midwest Regional Semifinal @ Madison, WI; #East Regional Final @ Albany, NY; &Northeast Regional Semifinal @ Worcester, MA; %West Regional Final @ Colorado Springs, CO.)

Games for Sunday, March 30: *Air Force vs Minnesota, 4:30 pm ET; *Minnesota vs Miami, 4:30 pm ET; #Princeton at Wisconsin, 6:00 pm CT; #Princeton vs Denver, 6:00 pm CT; #Wisconsin vs North Dakota, 6:00 pm CT; #Denver vs North Dakota, 6:00 pm CT. (*Northeast Regional Final @ Worcester, MA; #NCAA Midwest Regional Final @ Madison, WI).