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A pair of former No. 1-ranked teams square off this Saturday and Sunday when Colorado College and the University of Minnesota meet in a regional televised two-game series at Mariucci Arena on the UM campus in Minneapolis.
Only one point separates the second-place Gophers and fourth-place Tigers in the unusually tight WCHA standings. While league-leading Wisconsin takes the weekend off, CC and Minnesota are among five teams with a shot at catching or surpassing the Badgers in the WCHA standings.
This is the last weekend of conference play until January.
Still in the thick of the upper division despite winning just two of their last six league outings, the Tigers are 9-5-4 overall and 6-4-2 in WCHA play after tying (1-1) and losing (7-4) to Minnesota Duluth at the World Arena last weekend. Only two points out of first place, they currently are ranked No. 9 and 10 in the two national polls. Minnesota is No. 2 in both.
This weekend's series in Minneapolis will feature four of the WCHA's top 11 point producers. Colorado College's
Chad Rau (10g,14a) and
Eric Walsky (9g,13a) rank second and in a tie for third, respectively, with 24 and 22 points overall, while Gopher standouts Ryan Stoa (11g,9a) and Jordan Schroeder (7g,12a) are eighth and tied for 10th with 20 and 19.