LetsGoDU

St. Cloud Series Looms Large This Weekend

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From: USCHO.com
by Eric Schmoldt/WCHA Correspondent

So the Denver Pioneers are taking on a ranked opponent? Tell me something new.

That's pretty much all they've done since the calendar changed over to the year 2007. They opened the year against Wisconsin, which is only receiving votes, but have since faced off with Niagara and Minnesota, and now have a date with St. Cloud State.

Denver coach George Gwozdecky puts his team's schedule into pretty good perspective.

"It almost seems like once you finish one tough opponent, the following weekend you've got another tough assignment," Gwozdecky told the Rocky Mountain News this week. "I think it's what makes this league so difficult. And yet, if you are able to survive this regular season in decent physical and positional shape, it makes you really ready for the postseason. That's the benefit, but while you're doing it, it's extremely difficult and challenging."

It's a challenge that the Pioneers seem to be embracing to its fullest. After sweeping away upstart Niagara, they took an attitude with them to the Twin Cities this past weekend and came away with a split — a pretty good outcome considering the top-ranked Gophers had lost just twice all season and were riding a school-record home unbeaten streak.

And they've passed those tests thanks to the power play, or as I like to compare, after the teacher tells you that you are allowed a cheatsheet.

Eight of the Pioneers' 12 goals in their last two series combined have come on the man-advantage, and they are a solid 33.3 percent in that span. Furthermore, all three DU goals scored against Wisconsin came on the power play, and the game it lost, the Pioneers were 0-for-7.

Translation: Stay out of the box against Denver.

But of course it will not be that simple for St. Cloud State this weekend, where there are huge implications on the line.

Not only is this a battle for second place in the WCHA, but if all goes right for both teams down the stretch, this could be the series that decides which team winds up with a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

St. Cloud is tied for first in the latest edition of the PairWise Rankings and Denver sits at fifth.
Oh, and by the way, while Denver will get a bit of a vacation from ranked opponents after this, the third straight weekend against them, it's not all downhill from here. The Pioneers still have to close out the season with North Dakota and Colorado College.