WCHA Bloggers Preseason Poll and Awards

The North Dakota blog A Tradition of Excellence has been doing a preseason poll and some awards for a couple of years now, and for some reason I was entrusted with a ballot this year.

You can see the full results here, but my picks are below:

Standings Prediction

1. Minnesota

2. North Dakota

3. Wisconsin

4. Denver

5. St. Cloud

6. Omaha

7. Colorado College

8. Duluth

9. Michigan Tech

10. Bemidji State

11. Alaska Anchorage

12. Minnesota State

Awards

Player of the year: Mark Zengerle, F, Wisconsin

Rookie of the year: Rocco Grimaldi, F, North Dakota

Defenseman of the year: Joey LaLeggia, Denver

Breakout player of the year: Dillon Simpson, D, North Dakota

1st team all conference

F - Zengerle

F - Nick Bjugstad, Minnesota

F - Ben Hanowski, St. Cloud

D- LaLeggia

D - Nate Schmidt, Minnesota

G - Josh Thorimbert, Colorado College