WCHA commish Bruce McLeod said recently that he hoped a 12-team schedule for 2010-11 might be released sometime late this week.

Turns out, that might not happen.

“It’s a hard process to make 12 teams happy,” said Doug Spencer, WCHA associate commissioner for public relations.

Spencer said the league is working on it, though, and proposals are being sent back and forth between the WCHA and the 12 schools.

A hockey coaches teleconference with the media is tenatively set for 10 a.m. on Tues., Oct. 6. My guess is a schedule will be done by then at the latest.

Deciding on a new format for the Final Five is probably a much easier, but that has not been announced yet either. Again, my guess is, the WCHA will make both announcements at the same time. Issues with the Final Five are, what to call it when it has six teams, should a third-place game be dropped? That’s about it. Rest seems pretty clear cut.

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College Hockey News has its preseason top 10 out. Denver is rated No. 1. The only other WCHA team on the list is Minnesota at No. 6.

The top 10:

1. Denver

2. Miami (Ohio)

3. Boston Univ.

4. Cornell

5. Michigan

6. Minnesota

7. Princeton

8. Notre Dame

9. Mass.-Lowell

10. Yale

CHN comments on the Gophers:

6. Minnesota: A usual NCAA postseason staple, the Gophers fell short of expectations last season, but if their late-season run showed anything, it was that they’d be back with a vengeance in 2009-10.

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The Western College Hockey blog recently make predictions on WCHA award winners. 

Gophers sophomore center Jordan Schroeder was WCH’s choice for Player of the Year. The complete list: 

2009-10 WCHA

Player of the Year: Jordan Schroeder, Minnesota

Goalie of the Year: Brad Eidsness, North Dakota

Rookie of the Year: Dylan Olsen, Minnesota Duluth

Defenseman of the Year: Chay Genoway, North Dakota

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The Western College Hockey blog has come out with its preseason WCHA predictions.

The Gophers are picked to finish fourth. The complete list:

 1. North Dakota

2. Denver

3. Wisconsin

4. Minnesota

5. Minnesota-Duluth

6. St. Cloud

7. Colorado College

8. Minnesota State

9. Alaska-Anchorage

10. Michigan Tech

So what’s the rationale for the U being fourth. Here is what the WCH says:

4. Minnesota

Last year I picked Minnesota to finish pretty high in the league, hedging that they’d been too good too long for the previous season to be anything other than a fluke. But after another down year by their standards, maybe there’s something more to it.

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The under-17 national development team, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., will open its season on Wednesday competing in the North American Hockey league Showcase at the Super Rink in Blaine. The showcase is a four-day event which draws pro scouts and college coaches from everywhere.

The U17 national team will compete in the East Divison of the USHL this season and also play in three international tournaments.

It has four players from Minnesota. Michigan and Ohio are the states which have the next most, three apiece.

The Minnesotans on the team are:

* D Matt VanVoorhis, Edina

* F Travis Boyd, Hopkins … he has committed to the U

* F Dan Carlson, Corcoran … he played for Maple Grove H.S. 

* G Matt McNeeley, Burnsville … he played for St. Thomas Academy.

Ron Rolston will coach the team for the sixth year.

Gophers men’s hockey coaches were on the ice for the first time on Tuesday with their players.

Under NCAA rules, coaches can start working with their players three weeks before regular preseason workouts begin. But they can only be on the ice  for one-hour two times per week.

Tony Lucia and Ryan Flynn, the team co-captains, also continue to lead captains’ practices four, five times a week. 

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Last week FSN announced it would carry 28 Gophers men’s hockey games this season.

Today, the Big Ten Network announced it will carry three more games.

All are home games on Friday nights — Saturday is probably reserved for football, football, football.

 BTN will air the Gophers against North Dakota on Jan. 15, vs. Colorado College on Feb. 19, both at Mariucci, and vs. Wisconsin on Mar. 5 at Target Center.

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Of the 26 players on the Gophers’  2009-10 roster, 20 have been taken in the past five NHL entry drafts.

So some NHL team at one time thought each of those 20 players had pro potential.  One hockey blog recently stated that was a record for a college team.

Not sure how to check that. It certainly seems like a lot. For example Denver, almost everybody’s WCHA favorite this season, has a school-record 13 NHL draftees on its roster.

Many of the Gophers’ 20 drafted players were taken early.

There are four first-rounders: fr. D Nick Leddy, jr. F Patrick White, so. C Jordan Schroeder and sr. D David Fischer.

There are four second-rounders, too:

so. D Aaron Ness, jr. F Mike Hoeffel, so. F Nico Sacchetti and fr. F Zach Budish. 

The San Jose Sharks are probably watching the Gophers the most. They have draft rights to three players:

Seniors Tony Lucia and Jay Barriball and White, whose rights the Sharks acquired from Vancouver in a trade this summer.

FSN will carry 28 of the Gophers’ 36 hockey games this season, including the first 13.

The Big Ten Network, which hasn’t announced its hockey schedule, is expected to carry a few others, too. It did four games last season.

Here are the eight games not on FSN:

Nov. 28, at Michigan State

Dec. 11-12, at Michigan Tech

Jan. 15, North Dakota

Jan. 29-30, at Alaska Anchorage

Feb. 19, Colorado College

March 5, Wisconsin at Target Center

Got to think the Big Ten network will carry several of those Friday games at Mariucci not at FSN, like the North Dakota and Colorado College games and the Wisconsin game at Target Center.

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Three Gophers will be on the WCHA women’s all-star team which will play the U.S. women’s national team on Sept. 25 at the Xcel.

Sophomore defenseman Anne Schleper, a second team all-WCHA pick, sophomore goalie Alyssa Grogan and junior forward Emily West will represent the U on the WCHA all-star team.

Head coach of the WCHA all-stars is St. Cloud State coach Jeff Giesen.