University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Pegged Fourth in WCHA Preseason Men's Hockey Polls
10/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Media members and Western Collegiate Hockey Association coaches both agree that Minnesota and Wisconsin will tie for fourth place in the upcoming WCHA men’s hockey season in preseason polls released on Wednesday.
In fact, the media and coaches had identical final tallies in places one through 10 as both picked Colorado College to win the league with North Dakota picked second and Denver third. The media poll, which is conducted by the Capital Times (Madison) gave Minnesota and Wisconsin each 156 total points to tie for fourth. The coaches’ poll from the Grand Forks Herald gave the Gophers and Badgers each 53 points in their fourth place tie. The media poll was conducted this season for the first time among 25 radio broadcasters and newspaper and online beat reporters from throughout the league.
Minnesota is predicted to make the biggest improvement of any team in the preseason poll after its seventh place finish from 2007-08. The Gophers have 12 newcomers on the 2008-09 roster and also return sophomore goaltender Alex Kangas, who led the team to a surprising postseason run that culminated in a runner-up finish at the WCHA Final Five.
The sixth through 10th place spots are identical in each poll as well. St. Cloud State is picked for sixth, Minnesota State is tabbed seventh, Minnesota Duluth is pegged eighth, Michigan Tech is picked for ninth and Alaska Anchorage is predicted for 10th.
The media and coaches did not agree on their Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year selections. Aaron Ness and Jordan Schroeder from Minnesota each received five of the 25 media votes for Rookie of the Year with Denver’s Joe Colborne earning a league-high seven votes. Ness and Schroeder each received two votes from the coaches for Rookie of the Year, while North Dakota’s Jason Gregorie and Minnesota Duluth’s Jack Connolly each received three votes.
The media overwhelmingly chose Colorado College’s Chad Rau for preseason Player of the Year, while Tigers’ goaltender Richard Bachman took a league-high three votes in expectation to repeat as Player of the Year from the coaches.
