Mike Connolly of UMD was named the WCHA's offensive player of the week. No surprise there. He had six goals, including five in one game, as the Bulldogs tied the Gophers 2-2 and beat them 6-4 at the Amsoil Arena.

The 5-9, 180-pound left wing had eight shots on goal Friday, when he had the game-tying goal, and seven more on Saturday. he was a plus-4 for the weekend.

He moved up from 10th to a tie for fourth in the WCHA scoring race with his big weekend. He now has 19 goals and 16 assists for 45 points.

GOALIE, D-MAN HONORED

The co-defensive players of the week in the WCHA, like Connolly, are from Calgary, Alberta. Junior goalie Dan Bakala of Bemidji State stopped a career-high 41 shots as the Beavers lost 2-1 in overtime to Minnesota State of Mankato on Friday and had 40 saves in BSU's 4-1 victory the next night.

The Gophers will see Bakala the last weekend of the regular season when they play at Bemidji State.

Junior defenseman Curtis Leinweber of Alaska Anchorage shared the defensive player of the week honor with Bakala. Leinweber had two goals, including one shorthanded, as the Seawolves beat Michigan Tech 4-1 in the first game of their series then added an assist in UAA's 4-2 victory for the sweep.

Michigan Tech, which will play at Mariucci in three weekends, has tied the WCHA record for consecutive conference losses with 18. Tech was 0 for 10 on the power play, which had been a team strength earlier in the season.

DU ROOKIE HOT

Nick Shore, a 6-0, 185-pound freshman for Denver, has been named the WCHA's rookie of the week. He had two goals as DU beat Colorado College 5-3 Saturday for a split in their series and the Gold Pan Trophy.

Shore, who is from Denver, also had one assist in the Pioneers' 3-2 loss to CC on Friday.

He has three goals and five assists in a five-game scoring streak. The Pioneers, tied for first with UMD in the WCHA standings, play the Gophers at Mariucci this weekend.