Moments after answering the telephone Tuesday afternoon, Denver hockey coach George Gwozdecky had to excuse himself for a minute.
One of Gwozdecky’s assistants — who happens to be friends with an assistant coach for last year’s Stanley Cup winning Colorado Avalanche — had brought his friend’s championship ring in for a little show and tell.
Overwhelmed by the size and significance of the hardware, the DU head coach put his caller on hold and attempted to regain his composure.
“That is one big ring,” he said after returning to his call.
But as big as the Stanley Cup ring was, Gwozdecky’s focus quickly shifted back to another piece of jewelry on his mind: A WCHA championship ring.
After finishing in a tie for second place two years ago, and in third place last season, the Pioneers are aiming for the top this year.
Denver is being mentioned with Colorado College and Minnesota as the teams to beat this year.
“I think (Minnesota and Colorado College) will come back to the pack a little more,” Gwozdecky said.
But will that be enough to upset the balance of power in the WCHA?
The following is a preview of every team in the league, in order of their predicted finish.
Tigers head coach Don Lucia had one of the best offenses in college hockey last season, a year in which his team was NCAA runner-up.
Undoubtedly, the three-time defending WCHA champs will be hurt by the losses of Peter Geronazzo, Colin Schmidt and Jay McNeill, who respectively finished first, second and fourth on the team in scoring last year. The team will also miss Ryan Bach, who formed one-half of a stellar goaltending duo with returning No. 1 goalie Judd Lambert.
Lucia will turn the team over to Lambert and a veteran defense this season. Colorado College was third in the NCAA in scoring last year, but the team also allowed the fourth fewest goals per game in the nation.
The Tigers will not win many 7-1 games, but 3-1 victories look the same in the win column.
Despite Lucia’s assertion that Denver will win the league this year, his team should prevail.
Fast fact: Colorado College was not swept in a series in either of the past two seasons.
The Tigers will win the WCHA if … Lambert can come close to putting up the same type of numbers from a year ago (16-1-2, 2.14 goals against average) as a full-time starter this year.
The Gophers are young and talented, much like their rivals at Colorado College.
The difference between the two teams is that Minnesota is young at defense, while the Tigers are young at forward.
Minnesota’s inexperienced defensive unit will grow throughout the season, but it will also commit its share of mistakes. Those miscues could be the difference in close games and consequently the difference between first and second place in the league.
Despite the fact that the Gophers lost Hobey Baker Award winner Brian Bonin, they still have a potent offense. Erik Rasmussen and Ryan Kraft are poised to have big years, along with a host of potential 15-goal scorers.
Minnesota is in a similar position as Colorado College when it comes to goaltending. After relying on the combination of Jeff Moen and Steve DeBus last season, the team will count on DeBus to play almost every night.
Fast fact: Minnesota was 26-0-2 when allowing three or fewer goals last season.
The Gophers will win the WCHA if … DeBus and the young defensive crew can withstand the barrage of elite WCHA forwards.
Of the three teams expected to compete for the WCHA title, Denver is the most experienced.
The Pioneers return four of their top five scorers from last season, several key defensemen, and a capable goaltender in Jim Mullin.
“I think Denver is the only team capable of being dominant this year,” said CC’s Lucia.
So why aren’t they picked to win?
Denver looked very good on paper last year and played well early in the season. But the Pioneers faltered down the stretch, losing in the first round of the WCHA playoffs to St. Cloud State and missing an opportunity to qualify for the NCAA tournament.
And Mullin, though steady as a backup for the now-departed crowd favorite Sinuhe Wallinheimo, was inconsistent at times. Of Mullin, DeBus and Lambert, Mullin is probably the least proven over the course of a season.
Still, Gwozdecky is correct in thinking that his team can make a run at the league title. With Colorado College and Minnesota coming down a notch, this could be Denver’s year.
Fast fact: Denver had the best penalty-killing percentage (83.6%) of any WCHA team last season.
The Pioneers will win the WCHA if … their experience proves invaluable, and they can avoid a late-season collapse.
The Huskies had a woefully young team last year, and they suffered during the first half of the season because of that fact.
St. Cloud finished strong and shocked Denver in the WCHA playoffs. Overall, the team was just 13-22-4 last year, but it should be much better this season.
The Huskies will rely on their strong group of young forwards, led by Matt Cullen, one of last season’s top WCHA freshmen. If teams were made on offense alone, St. Cloud could win the league.
But things don’t work that way.
As coach Craig Dahl put it, “Our forwards are very good, our goaltending is adequate and our defense is questionable.”
For that reason, Dahl is focusing on his young defense (three freshmen, two sophomores) and letting the scoring take care of itself.
Goaltender Brian Leitza, who started 35 of the team’s 39 games last year, probably won’t face as many pucks this year, Dahl said. Instead, backups Scott Meyer and Tim Lideen will see regular action as part of an early season rotation.
Fast fact: St. Cloud State is one of only three teams in the WCHA that plays on an Olympic-sized ice sheet, giving its speedy forwards plenty of room to roam.
St. Cloud State could win the WCHA if … Dahl can upgrade his team’s defense to “adequate” and goaltending to “good” early in the season.
No one seems to be talking about Michigan Tech as a top five team, so let the discussion begin here.
The Huskies return five players who had double figures in goals and a pair of solid goaltenders.
Although they aren’t flashy, the Huskies are hard-hitting.
This is the type of team that should beat cellar-dwellers and play competitively against upper-division teams. Michigan Tech has been on the edge of cracking the top half of the league standings for the past few years. This could be their best chance to make a move.
Fast fact: Despite finishing seventh in the league last year, Michigan Tech advanced to the WCHA Final Five title game before losing to the Gophers.
Michigan Tech could win the WCHA if … Colorado College and Minnesota fall a little further than expected, and the Huskies win half of their road games.
North Dakota, unlike Michigan Tech, has received a heap of hype this season.
The question: Why?
The Sioux lost Teeder Wynne (73 points last season) and defensive stalwart Nick Naumenko, who were both All-WCHA first teamers last year.
UND returns both of it’s goaltenders, but that isn’t as much of a bonus as one might think. Toby Kvalevog, a senior, had the lowest save percentage of any WCHA starting goalie last year. Aaron Vickar, now a sophomore, was impressive at times but has only nine games of college experience.
The Sioux are adequate offensively and defensively, but goaltending will once again be their unraveling.
Fast fact: UND ended Minnesota’s 19-game unbeaten streak last season with a flourish, sweeping the Gophers in Grand Forks.
The Sioux could finish in the top three if … Kvalevog fulfills his potential, and the offense can fill the void left by Wynne’s departure.
Goaltending.
One word says it all, and the Bulldog’s don’t have the word yet.
Taras Lendzyk logged more than 2,000 minutes in goal last season, amassing the third-highest total in the league.
But he’s gone and the starting job is now in the hands of last year’s backup Jim Moellman. Although Moellman may prove to be a solid backstop, he has played in just seven college hockey games (only three of those were starts).
The Bulldogs have several forwards and defensemen back, but, like UND, they will go only as far as their goalie takes them.
Fast fact: Duluth allowed the third-fewest goals in the league last year behind champion Colorado College and runner-up Minnesota.
The Bulldogs could finish in the top three if … Moellman makes fans forget about four-year starter Lendzyk.
The Badgers are an interesting team. They were atrocious during the first part of last year but rode the hot goaltending of Kirk Daubenspeck to a strong finish.
Despite having Daubenspeck back, Wisconsin will struggle. The team simply lost too much offense. The Badgers’ top four scorers, who accounted for 70 goals and 97 assists, are gone.
Wisconsin has always been a dangerous team, though, even in its down years. Look for the Badgers to pull some upsets, but also look for them near the bottom of the standings.
Fast fact: Wisconsin was one of three teams — Michigan Tech and St. Cloud are the others — to finish in the bottom half of the league last season but still advance to the WCHA Final Five.
Wisconsin could finish in the top half if … Daubenspeck can stop 40 shots per night and the offense finds a couple of scorers.

The Seawolves return four of their top six scorers and both of their starting goaltenders from last season.
They should be better than last year, but it may not make a difference in their finish in the league.
With several middle-of-the-pack teams improving this season, Anchorage is destined for the bottom.
Fast fact: Anchorage’s sweep of state rival Alaska-Fairbanks last weekend gave the team its first 2-0 start in four years.
The Seawolves might finish in the top half if … the teams above them don’t improve as much as they’re supposed to.
This is the Wildcats’ last year in the WCHA and it will probably be an unhappy one.
Northern Michigan has room to improve (7-30-2 last season) before it moves back to the CCHA next season.
The team is probably a year or two away from respectability.
Fast fact: Northern Michigan is the last WCHA team (1991) to win an NCAA title.
The Wildcats might finish in the top half if … snowfall in Michigan’s upper peninsula is so severe that opposing teams are forced to forfeit Wildcats’ home games.