If the University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team surprised some folks last winter, it will be a lot harder for the Maroon and Gold to do that again during the 2008-09 season .

The Bulldogs will play the favorite to finish first in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association after a league coaches pre-season poll appointed UMD to the top of the conference heap.  The Bulldogs are the defending NCAA national champion, as well as WCHA regular season and WCHA Final Face-Off title holders.

UMD's rookie forward Pernilla Winberg, a native of Malmo, Sweden, was voted the league's pre-season Rookie of the Year.  Winberg's teammate from the 2006 silver medalist Swedish Olympic team, junior goaltender Kim Martin, was one of two Bulldogs two receive votes for the conference's  pre-season MVP.  Sophomore forward Haley Irwin, who was the WCHA scoring champion as a rookie a season ago by notching 60 points in 37 contests, was the other Maroon and Gold member to garner votes.

The defending national champions will begin their quest to protect their title when they travel to Niagara Falls, New York on Oct. 3-4 as they open up the season against Niagara University.