The WCHA awards a Bye to the top seed as well as the Julianne Bye Cup, named for the longtime contributor to the University of Minnesota.  One could call it the Bye Bye.  The remaining six seeds will play one another in a best of three series at the site of the better seed.  The semifinals and finals will be single elimination and payed at the University of Minnesota’s Ridder Arena.  Not as a reward for the top seed, but just because.

Last Season

Last year’s WCHA tournament produced a strange, and yet familiar champion.  Minnesota took the crown after looking pretty okay for most of the season.  Outside of that, the only other upset was fifth seed Bemidji State taking down fourth seed Minnesota-Duluth

Historically

Since the 2000-2001 season, which is the earliest I have data for, only three teams have won the WCHA tournament and you have to go back to 2010 to find someone other than Minnesota or Wisconsin.  Both Minnesota and Wisconsin have seven titles to their name and Minnesota-Duluth follows with four.

The Field at a Glance

We basically got here via Minnesota and Wisconsin beating everyone except for occasionally the two teams below them, and Ohio State and Minnesota-Duluth blowing any shot at competing for a top seed by losing a bunch of games to the teams below them.  Only two teams finished with a positive goal differential, and had Wisconsin not blown the final weekend to Ohio State, only two teams would have finished above .500 in the conference.  Everyone west of Erie tells you this is a strong conference, but they’re lying.

#1 Minnesota vs. Bye

I dunno, scrimmage the Whitecaps or something.  They’ll probably get Duluth or Bemidji unless Ohio State falls really flat on their faces.  The Bulldogs and the Beavers aren’t the biggest challenges, but Minnesota-Duluth beat the Gophers once in the regular season, and Bemidji played them within a goal twice and had a lead in three of the four games.

#2 Wisconsin vs. #7 St. Cloud State

Tournament Meetings: 5

  • 2015: Wisconsin wins quarterfinals, 5-1, 4-1
  • 2013: Wisconsin wins quarterfinals, 5-0, 4-1
  • 2011: Wisconsin wins quarterfinals, 9-3, 5-1
  • 2006: Wisconsin wins semifinals, 9-0
  • 2005: Wisconsin wins quarterfinal, 3-1

Last Tournament:

  • Wisconsin loses 2019 finals to Minnesota, 1-3
  • St. Cloud State loses 2019 quarterfinals to Minnesota, 1-5, 1-4

Yikes.  After entering data for the first two games I was hoping Wisconsin would finish with a 100% power play, or at least above 50%.  Sadly, like their fans the last few years, they have disappointed me.

Wisconsin Keys to Victory:

Roll depth, get shots, score goals.

St. Cloud State Keys to Victory:

Get the performance(s) of a lifetime out of their goaltender(s).  Janine Alder, a junior, got 18 starts during the season while Emma Polusny, a sophomore, got 17.  Both had a solid save percentage with Alder getting taking the crown at .938 to .923.  Unfortunately, Wisconsin is one of the two teams bringing better goaltending so…good luck.

#3 Ohio State vs. #6 Minnesota State

Tournament Meetings: 4

  • 2018: Ohio State wins quarterfinals, 6-0, 5-2
  • 2007: Ohio State wins quarterfinals, 1-0, 5-4 (OT)
  • 2005: Ohio State wins quarterfinal, 4-1
  • 2004: Ohio State wins quarterfinal, 3-1

Last Tournament:

  • See above

Minnesota State scraped by St. Cloud State on the last day of the regular season so they get to play a team they actually beat in conference play instead of Wisconsin.  Minnesota State doesn’t have a half-bad chance considering Ohio State’s propensity to let their opponent pile up shots and blow games to teams below them in the standings.

Ohio State Keys to Victory:

Play with discipline and lock down the Mavericks outside of the MSU defensive zone.  Sure MSU won because they got a good goaltending performance, but the overtime game happened because the Buckeyes let them take a ton of shots.

Minnesota State Keys to Victory:

Convert on special teams.  Ohio State won the battle in the regular season, but just barely.  For all their faults, the Mavericks are a disciplined team, drawing the most penalties in conference play while tying Bemidji State and St. Cloud State for committing the fewest.  If they can pop in a few power play goals, they’ve got a chance.

#4 Minnesota-Duluth vs. #5 Bemidji State

Tournament Meetings: 6

  • 2018: Bemidji State wins quarterfinals, 2-1, 1-4, 3-0
  • 2016: Minnesota-Duluth wins quarterfinals, 5-1, 2-1 (OT)
  • 2015: Bemidji State wins quarterfinals, 3-2, 0-2, 2-1 (OT)
  • 2010: Minnesota-Duluth wins semifinal, 7-3
  • 2008: Minnesota-Duluth wins quarterfinals, 6-0, 5-1
  • 2006: Minnesota-Duluth wins quarterfinals, 7-2, 3-0

Last Tournament:

  • Again, see above.

If it feels like these teams have played each other a million times in the WCHA tournament, that’s because they basically have.

Minnesota-Duluth keys to victory:

I don’t know what happened in that one Bemidji State win.  The Beavers didn’t even score on the power play or anything.  So…don’t do that.  Otherwise, BSU brings weak goaltending into the tournament and the Bulldogs have to take advantage.

Bemidji State keys to victory:

Shoot and stop shots.  The Beavers bring the third-worst shooting percentage and second-worst save percentage to this series and if both of those things continue they won’t stand a chance.