Fifth-place still within reach for Gophers if they get hot

Before the Gophers trekked to Alaska Anchroage, coach Don Lucia was talking about the Seawolves' left wing lock -- whatever that is -- and their penchant for always dropping three players back on defense.

He also worried about the Alaska meltdown. Every WCHA team that goes up there seems to play one bad game and loses.

Four of the five WCHA teams that traveled north had lost their second game to AA:

North Dakota won first game 5-0, lost second 2-1

Denver won first game 3-2, lost second 7-3

MSU Mankato won first game 8-2, lost second 4-1

Colorado College won first game 6-1, lost second 2-1

Only St. Cloud State has managed to sweep in the 49th state, winning 3-1 and 3-2. Only one WCHA team has series left up there, UMD visits Sullivan Arena March 5-6, the last weekend of the regular season. For the Bulldogs' sake, that last game better not mean much. If it does, UMD may be in trouble.

SCHEDULE-WATCHING

The Gophers have this week to regroup and relax a bit after the trip to Alaska. Since they are off next week, coach Don Lucia said everyone will have 3-4 days off and Jordan Schroeder maybe the whole week because he did not get a holiday break. Schroeder played in the World Junior Championships.

Mike Hoeffel, out with mono, is expected to be back for series at Denver in two weeks. That is actually shaping up as pretty huge for the Gophers. If they can somehow get three, four points, They will be in a positon to climb over fifth-place Colorado College, which now has a six-point lead over the U but does not play any WCHA games the next two weeks.

Working against Gophers is their tough reamining schedule. They play four of the top five teams, two on the road. No other WCHA has a schedule that tough:

Minnesota 47-24-11 .636

Michigan Tech 44-25-11 .619

MSU, Mankato 43-29-10 .585

Alaska Anchorage 31-25-4 .550

Colorado College 28-23-9 .542

St. Cloud State 33-41-8 .451

Wisconsin 29-46-5 .394

Denver 28-48-6 .378

UMD 27-49-6 .366

The Gophers have a great chance to play spoiler in the WCHA. Let's look at every team, starting with the U:

Denver: non conf, Minny, Mich Tech, @ MSU Mankato, home and home with CC ... with 5 of last 8 games at home, Pios could easily go 5-3, maybe 6-2 to finish with 38, 40 pts. ... Win WCHA title with 40

UMD: @ Mich Tech, idle, @ NoDak, Minny, @ Alaska Anchorage ... Easist schedule but six of eight on road is pesky. Looking at 5-3 finish, which would give Dogs 37 points, and third place.

St. Cloud State: Alaska Anchorage, NoDak, @ Wis, idle, @ MSU Mankato ... a 6-2 finish for 38 points and second in WCHA

Wisconsin: Mich outdoors on Sat.; MSU Mankato, St. Cloud State, @ Mich Tech, @ Minny .... a 6-2 finish for 35 points and fourth

Colorado College: non conf. games, idle, @ Minny, NoDak, home and home with DU ... a 3-3 finish for 31 points and fifth

Alaska Anchorage: @ St. Cloud State, idle, @ MSU Mankato, non conf, UMD ... 3-3 finish for 23 pts.

MSU Mankato: idle, @ Wis, Alaska Anchorage, Denver, St. Cloud State ... Mavs finish with six home games, but last two foes will be fighting for title

Michigan Tech: UMD, idle, @ Denver, Wis, @ NoDak ... Huskies have only three WCHA wins, they might not get another

My projected finish:

1. Denver

3. UMD

4. Wisconsin

5. Colorado College

6. Minnesota

7. North Dakota

9. MSU, Mankato

10. Michigan Tech

So if these predictions are correct, first-round WCHA would be:

Michigan Tech at Denver

MSU, Mankato at St. Cloud State

North Dakota at Wisconsin