Monday, December 17, 2007

Good Times in Colorado

Denver completed a sweep of Alaska-Anchorage last weekend, while Colorado College split with St. Cloud, ending the first half of the WCHA regular season for each team, and so far, the WCHA's two Colorado teams are running away with the league. They've opened up a 9-point lead over third place Minnesota-Duluth(North Dakota has games in hand and could climb to within 6 points). It's even more impressive when you look at how they've done it.

CC and Denver are first and second respectively in the league in scoring offense. The Tigers score 3.29 goals per WCHA game, while the Pioneers average 3.21 goals per game. There's a slight drop-off to third place with North Dakota at 3.08 and St. Cloud at 2.92, and then the rest of the league is under 2.50 goals per game.

The numbers are similar when it comes to scoring defense as well. Denver and Colorado College are tied for first in the league with only 1.86 goals allowed per game. North Dakota is the next best defense, giving up 2.42 goals per game.

They're also at the top of the league in Special Teams Net(PP goals for + SH goals for - (PP goals against + SH goals against)). Colorado College is a +8 and Denver is a + 6. St. Cloud at +4 and UMD at +1 are the only two other teams in the league with a positive figure.

What's even more surprising is that Colorado College and Denver are the only two teams in the league with a winning record in conference. In a year where everyone else is so equal, it's amazing how much Denver and CC are standing out from the pack.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Plus, it was only 3 years ago that DU and cc tied for first in the WCHA. Also, when you consider the success that Serratore has been having at AFA, college hockey in Colorado has never been at a higher level.