Wisconsin was picked to finish third, followed by Minnesota and St. Cloud State. UND is trying to become the first team in the 48-year history of the league to win four straight titles. In individual voting, UND junior goalie Karl Goehring was selected as preseason most valuable player, and Wisconsin's Dany Heatley as preseason rookie of the year. The choice of UND as No. 1 surprised Sioux coach Dean Blais. I think they look at us returning our top two goalies and all but one defensemen.
Coaches see the race breaking into tiers of two.
While predicting UND and CC to battle for first, they separate Wisconsin from No. 4 Minnesota by just one point and rank St. Cloud State No. 5 by just three points over Denver. The projected scramble for positions continues down the standings. Usually, if you get 20 wins, you win the league. And Blais doesn't exactly relish being No. 1 again. I was looking forward to the pressure being off.