Let the trumpets sounds, the horns blare. Hear yea, hear yea. ... The media (print and radio) has spoken.

The preseason WCHA poll is out, released at midnight, of course. Who else stays up that late.

Bruce Ciskie of 94X/Red Rock Radio in Duluth -- the radio voice of the UMD Bulldogs -- compiled it and somehow got 29 voters out of 30 he contacted. Hats off to him.

Oh, enough blarney, you want the results? Of course.

North Dakota, which was rolling at the end of the 2009-10 season -- beat Gophers two game to one in first round of WCHA playoffs, won the Final Five -- is the almost unanimous pick to win the conference title. The Sioux got 28 of 29 votes. Next is UMD and St. Cloud State.

That's how my ballot read, too. But I had the Gophers fourth after three ho-hum seasons of finishing seventh, fifth and seventh. That can't continue can it?

Other voters disagreed. Denver came out fourth, Wisconsin fifth and the Gophers sixth. The top six teams will have home ice for the first round of the playoffs this season as the WCHA expands from 10 to 12 teams.

Senior defenseman Chay Genoway of NoDak was picked Player of the Year. Genoway missed most of last season because of a concussion. The Rookie of the Year pick was Jaden Schwartz of CC. Gophers freshman Nick Bjugstad got two votes.

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Predicted Order of Finish 1. North Dakota (28 first-place votes) 347 points 2. Minnesota Duluth 300 3. St. Cloud State (1) 295 4. Denver 242 5. Wisconsin 218 6. Minnesota 203 7. Colorado College 182 8. Bemidji State 156 9. Nebraska-Omaha 125 10. Minnesota State 97 11. Alaska-Anchorage 51 12. Michigan Tech 46 Preseason WCHA Player of the Year Chay Genoway, North Dakota (10); Garrett Roe, St. Cloud State (5); Justin Fontaine, Minnesota Duluth (4); Jack Connolly, Minnesota Duluth (3); Jason Gregoire, North Dakota (2); Mike Connolly, Minnesota Duluth (1); Matt Read, Bemidji State (1); Evan Trupp, North Dakota (1) Preseason WCHA Rookie of the Year Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College (10); Derek Forbort, North Dakota (6); Beau Bennett, Denver (4); Nick Bjugstad, Minnesota (2); Tyler Barnes, Wisconsin (1); J.T. Brown, Minnesota Duluth (1); Rob Gunderson, Alaska-Anchorage (1); Radoslav Illo, Bemidji State (1); Jason Zucker, Denver (1) Voting panel Dave Ahlers, KKAR/University of Nebraska-Omaha; Roman Augustoviz, Minneapolis Star Tribune; Andy Baggot, Wisconsin State Journal; Mike Chambers, Denver Post; Bruce Ciskie, 94X/Red Rock Radio; Chris Dilks, Western College Hockey; Shane Frederick, Mankato Free Press; John Gilbert, WCHA.com; Kurt Haider, KENI Radio; Mick Hatten, St. Cloud Times; Dirk Hembroff, WKMJ Radio; Tim Hennessy, KQHT Radio; Ken Landau, 103.9 FM The Eagle; Don Lyons, KNSI Radio; Todd Milewski, USCHO.com; Dan Myers, College Hockey News; Jess Myers, Inside College Hockey; Joe Paisley, Colorado Springs Gazette; Kevin Pates, Duluth News Tribune; Brian Posick, WIBA/WTSO Radio; Chad Purcell, Omaha World Herald; Brad Elliott Schlossman, Grand Forks Herald; Brian Schultz, KKBJ Radio; Theresa Spisak, USCHO.com; Jay Stickney, 87.7 The Ticket; Eric Stromgren, Bemidji Pioneer; Mike Sullivan, KTOE Radio; Brandon Veale, Daily Mining Gazette; Doyle Woody, Anchorage Daily News