College Hockey Preview WCHA once again with another big series

I keep saying this every week it seems like and I am getting a little bit tired of it. The WCHA once again has another big game series this weekend when Minnesota travels to Denver for 2.

So far the teams have not played to their potential as Denver (pre-season #1 in most polls) and Minnesota (pre-season #2) are both barely over .500. So both teams will look to breakout out of their slump.

There has been some bright spots for both teams. For Minnesota Junior Foward Ryan Potulny, and Superstar Freshman Phil Kessel are tied for the team lead with 15 points. The goaltending has been a little suspect at times for the Gophers. Junior Kellen Briggs is 3-3-1 with a pretty good goals against average at 2.26, while Freshman Jeff Frazee is 2-0-1 but with a little higher gaa at 2.81 and a lower than average save percentage at .897.

Denver has Senior captain and Hobey Baker contender Gabe Gauthier who has 12 points so far but has not lived up to the hype. Paul Stansy has picked up where he left off Freshman year leading the team in assists with 13 and points with 16. Ryan Dingle leads the team in goals with 9 and Matt Carle has also played well with 10 points. The goaltending however has not been the strong point like it was last season. Glenn Fisher and Peter Mannino have both been suspect at times as they both have a gaa over 2.7 (Fisher 2.77, Mannino 3.20) and have a lower than .90 save percentage (Fisher .891, Mannino .872).

Something has gotta give in this series. Will Kessel continue to shine for Minnesota? Or will the Goaltending and the Defense step up for Denver?

In other college hockey action this weekend

Boston College will look to rebound from a 5-3 loss to Harvard in which they almost came back (down 4-0) as they face Northeastern who they tied earlier in the season at Matthews Arena, game will be played in Conte Fourm.

UMASS-Lowell will look for anything to beat New Hampshire as the River Hawks who had the week off last week will face the Wildcats in a home-and-home series.

A key game in Hockey East as Boston University will travel to Providence to face the Friars. Will BU get on the right track in their up-and-down season so far, or will the Friars continue to surprise Hockey East.

And some key two game series in the CCHA will round up the weekend including Lake Superior and Ohio State who is probably the biggest dissapointment early this year. Also Western Michigan and Michigan State will have a home and home series this weekend.

Who will prevail this weekend? Find out in the Weekly Report next week.