Preseason Poll: 2010-2011

[redwing77]

Re: Preseason Poll: 2010-2011

Holy cow - you missed the WCHA by a mile, IMHO. Minnesota may end up there at the end, but based on their results last year I think it's a stretch to put them in the top 16 in the pre-season. And have you seen how many losses UW has had this off-season? They only return one of their top 8 scorers, and only 4 of their top 14. They lost 122 of their 163 goals from last year. They also lost 8 of their regular forwards and 3 of their top 6 defensemen. They have a lot of talent coming in, but holy crap they lost almost their whole team!

It looks to me like a reputation rating to me rather than anything based upon watching the WCHA play.

No offense to Federal League, but he's a Boston hockey fan. There's not a lot of chances to watch WCHA hockey on the east coast.

As for preseason polls, here are my top 5:

1. AIC
2. Bentley
3. WMU
4. LSSU
5. UAA

Scoff if you will, but my rankings are just as meaningful as the analysts.

[HoosierBBall_GopherHockey]

Re: Preseason Poll: 2010-2011

I haven't followed the national scene this off-season, but in the WCHA I think UND is going to be hard to beat - I'd expect them to be in the top 5 somewhere. UMD and SCSU should also both have very strong teams, and I'd expect both to be somewhere in the top 10. CC and DU both have question marks but enough returning players that I think they'll be somewhere in the 10-20 range. I don't know enough about Bemidji and UNO to make a well supported guess, but I do think both have a good shot at finishing in the top half of the league, which should mean that they'll either be in the rankings or at least getting votes.
I think UMD won the lottery with their cluster (UW, MTU, MN) and will do very well in the league standings. That won't impact the pre-season standings, but I do think it will help them remain high in the rankings as the year progresses. The UND/SCSU/UNO/BSU cluster looks really tough. Welcome to the WCHA, UNO and BSU!

Hard to believe that the bolded statement above is actually correct.

Yeah, I could take out Wisconsin and put Notre Dame in there. I do think Minnesota will be there, though.

I do not think so. Minnesota should be markedly improved from last year (assuming no surprise departures before the season starts), but not preseason top 16 material.

[RaceBoarder]

Re: Preseason Poll: 2010-2011

#26 Union

[Slap Shot]

Minnesota is hypothetically too high.

[Federal League]

Re: Preseason Poll: 2010-2011

Hard to believe that the bolded statement above is actually correct.



I do not think so. Minnesota should be markedly improved from last year (assuming no surprise departures before the season starts), but not preseason top 16 material.

So who do you WCHAers think will make the top 16 from your conference? If you list any fewer than 5 or 6 teams, you're sandbagging. HE will again not be very strong, and ECAC will be lucky to get two in the top 16.

[brianvf]

Re: Preseason Poll: 2010-2011

So who do you WCHAers think will make the top 16 from your conference? If you list any fewer than 5 or 6 teams, you're sandbagging.

UND, SCSU, UMD for sure

UMN, CC, UNO, BSU are wildcards...I have no clue

DU, UW both lost a ton, they could go way down, but wouldn't be surprised if they had a good season and rebounded from their offseason losses

UAA, MSUM, MTU probably not

[HoosierBBall_GopherHockey]

Re: Preseason Poll: 2010-2011

So who do you WCHAers think will make the top 16 from your conference? If you list any fewer than 5 or 6 teams, you're sandbagging. HE will again not be very strong, and ECAC will be lucky to get two in the top 16.

UND
SCSU
UMD
---massive drop-off---
UW, Denver, UMN, BSU possibly, but UW/DU lost the most out of the WCHA talentwise, the Gophers and BSU are both wildcards seeing as BSU will have their first year in the grind of the WCHA and Minnesota clearly has been a shell of its former self the past few years.

Edit: Exactly what brianvf said.

[bottomdweller]

Re: Preseason Poll: 2010-2011

I think I know the teams I'd put in the top 16. Just not sure about the order. Going by league (teams within leagues aren't ranked, they're alphabetical):

HE
BC
BU
Maine
UNH

I think the issues in net for both of these teams is enough to cause alarm. With that said, I think Maine has a better overall team and would leave them in the top 16 and I think you'd have to put UVM over UNH. Madore may not be a Fallon or the almighty Tim Thomas, but you know what you're going to get with him, unlike UNH.

[Rich]

Re: Preseason Poll: 2010-2011

So who do you WCHAers think will make the top 16 from your conference? If you list any fewer than 5 or 6 teams, you're sandbagging. HE will again not be very strong, and ECAC will be lucky to get two in the top 16.

UND, SCSU, and UMD should all be very good. I expect each of those teams to stay in the top 10 all year.
I think CC and DU will both be good, despite significant losses for each team. Both lost star players, but both bring in some of the top recruits in the country. There are some seriously good players coming into both programs. I think they're going to be strong again, but certainly a step behind the top 3.
Minnesota is going to be better than people think, and I think they'll squeak into the tournament this year.

I think UW, Mankato, MTU, and UAA are going to struggle. The Badgers will have more talent than the other three, but they're just going to be so young. I wouldn't be surprised to see them dress 8 or 9 underclassmen forwards. Even if they're very talented players, they'll take a while to adjust to playing D-I hockey.

UNO and BSU are unknowns. I doubt they'll jump in immediately at the level of SCSU, UMD and UND, but based on what they did last year and what they return I bet they'll finish ahead of the bottom 4. They're in the killer cluster as I mentioned before, so they'll take their lumps.

My very early guess:
Top 3 - UND, UMD, SCSU
Middle 5 - CC, DU, MN, UNO, BSU
Bottom 4 - UW, Mankato, MTU, UAA

If you want 5 or 6 for the pre-season top 16 I'd guess that the top 3 plus BSU and DU will be ranked, UNO and MN will not be, and CC is the question mark.

Wisconsin may be ranked on their results from last season and their reputation, but I think it'll be January before they really pull it together.

[Rich]

Re: Preseason Poll: 2010-2011

DU, UW both lost a ton, they could go way down, but wouldn't be surprised if they had a good season and rebounded from their offseason losses

You're correct, but Denver lost about 1/3 of their regular skaters (7 players who played 36 or more games), while UW lost almost 2/3 (11 players who played more htan 39 games). I'm betting on DU absorbing their losses a lot easier than UW will. You could be right though - both bring in some great recruits that could have them bouncing back more than expected.

[sterlippo1]

Re: Preseason Poll: 2010-2011

After BC does it matter? They are by far the best team once again.

i think that NoDak,Mich,BC and Miami are a cut above. throw 'em in a hat and pick one

[Onion Man]

Re: Preseason Poll: 2010-2011

1.) North Dakota
2.) Brown
3.) Michigan
4.) BC
5.) Maine

[komey1]

Re: Preseason Poll: 2010-2011

I'd like to see it - not saying it could or SHOULD happen, but RIT being in the top preseason poll would be nice since they made the Frozen Four.

[moose97]

Re: Preseason Poll: 2010-2011

As for preseason polls, here are my top 5:

1. AIC
2. Bentley
3. WMU
4. LSSU
5. UAA

Scoff if you will, but my rankings are just as meaningful as the analysts.

Darn it - you stole my idea (so I'm stealing yours for my sig )

[Dirty]

Re: Preseason Poll: 2010-2011

Speaking of AIC, WHERE THE **** IS MY JERSEY?