Friday-morning reading (playoff edition)

Getting ready to hit the highway toward Madison, Wis., but have to check the papers first.

The Mavericks are hoping to clinch their first trip to the Final Five since 2003. For defenseman Brian Kilburg, playing at "The X" would almost be like playing at home. ... Wisconsin, meanwhile, has found an emerging star in freshman Derek Stepan. Here is the Wisconsin State Journal's series preview.

In Minneapolis, the Gophers got home ice (barely) and will host St. Cloud State. The Star Tribune recalls last year's epic series in Mankato by featuring Minnesota's Tony Lucia, who scored the double-overtime, series clinching goal against the Mavericks and checks in with Tom Pohl, who suffered a horrible head injury after losing his helmet on a hit by Jason Wiley. Another key for the Gophers that weekend was goalie Alex Kangas, and the Pioneer Press focuses on his play. ... As for the Huskies, freshman forward Jared Festler enjoys the Twin Cities, whether it's playing at Mariucci Arena or the Xcel Energy Center.

In Grand Forks, McNaughton Cup-winning North Dakota will host Michigan Tech. These will be the last home games for the Sioux's huge senior class. There were 13 of them as freshmen, although four have since signed NHL contracts. The Grand Forks Herald also gives its playoff predictions. ... For the Huskies, they may have won only two games but they split with the Gopher last week and actually like this weekend's matchup.

In Colorado Springs, Colorado College is ramping things up for the playoffs, while Minnesota Duluth needs to break the five-game winless streak it ended the regular season with if it wants to get to the Final Five.

In Denver, the hope was that Tyler Bozak would be back this weekend against Alaska-Anchorage but he might not return until the NCAA tournament. Bozak, one of the WCHA's best players over the first half of the season, suffered a knee injury in Mankato last December. The Denver Post takes a look at all of Colorado's home playoff teams, including DU, CC and Air Force. ... As for the Seawolves, they've won four games in a row, have had a lot of success on the road this season and are feeling good.

Here are weekend previews from INCH, USCHO and This is the WCHA.