Michigan Tech ready for CC, WCHA playoffs

Michigan Tech heads west to take on Colorado College in a best-of-three series with the Tigers. The Huskies' task is very difficult as they have never beaten CC at their new arena. In fact, the last game the Tigers played at their old rink was the last time the Huskies won, in the 1994 playoffs.

Michigan Tech head coach Jamie Russell said, "We have a quiet confidence about ourselves. We feel that we can beat any team in the country on any given night, in any arena."

The Huskies will need that confidence if it is to do what it hasn't done since the 1994-95 season and that's advance to the WCHA final five.

Looking back at the season, MTU has had one of its best in a long time. The team is ranked in the top ten in scoring defense and in penalty killing. They have finished above .500 for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Tech has played the best at home this season, going undefeated in 2007. Tech has also played their best against the best, posting a 14-8-3 record against teams ranked in the top 20.

Also on the line in the series is a possible bid for the NCAA tournament. Both teams are sitting around the 16 rank in the PairWise (ranking system used to determine the 16 team field in NCAA tournament). A series win will most likely put that team into the NCAA tournament.

The other WCHA pairings for the first round of the playoffs are:

(10) Alaska-Anchorage vs. (1) Minnesota
(9) Minnesota-Duluth vs. (2) St. Cloud State
(8) Minnesota State vs. (3) North Dakota
(7) Wisconsin vs. (4) Denver
(6) Michigan Tech vs. (5) Colorado College