The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#32 – St. Cloud State Huskies
Points: 29.4656 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: -0.0024 (Rank: 46)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 15.6497 (Rank: 12)
Last Season Ranking: #31

The Huskies had a tough season, due in large part to graduation and early departures, going 16-19-1, finishing 5th in the NCHC and missed the national tournament for the first time since ’11-’12. It would have been difficult to duplicate the previous season’s success when they had a program-best record of 31-9-1. A couple of numbers tell the story: gpg was 2.92 vs 4.27 the season before, and their record in OT games was 2-6. The Huskies should return to form next season when their 16 top point scorers return. – Siouxfaninseattle

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#31 – Northeastern Huskies
Points: 30.3272 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 0.9875 (Rank: 15)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 5.2832 (Rank: 24)
Last Season Ranking: #32

In case there is ever any wonder as to whether the Hobey Baker voters care about team success, Zach Aston-Reese’s 2016-17 campaign will be the story we point to as reminder that team success is held in some esteem to the decisionmakers.

Coming off their most successful campaign since 2009 (and arguably much further back) Northeastern entered the 2016 season hoping to cement their place amongst the top teams in Hockey East and the country with a more consistent performance, a top four finish in Hockey East, and an NCAA tournament bid. Instead, they finished 8th in HEA, with only 18 wins unable to bottle up the late season magic they had the previous season. Injuries to top returning players John and Nolan Stevens led to substantial line shuffling throughout the year. Junior Dylan Sikura and Sophomore Adam Gaudette each took massive steps forward scoring >50 pts a piece, but the Huskies were led by Aston-Reese’s 31-32-63 scoring line. The Huskies were tortured by poor goaltending performances by Ryan Ruck (0.897 sv%) throughout the season, and coach Madigan did not seem to be willing to give junior Jake Theut a real chance to step into Ruck’s struggling position. The Huskies losses of ZAR and Nolan Stevens should be offset by the performances of Gaudette, Sikura, and J. Stevens, but if they cannot find consistent goaltending from Ruck or incoming freshman Cayden Primeau they will remain a middling team in Hockey East. The question remains, how much blame should be placed on goaltending and how much on the feast or famine defensive system NU employs. – UML Puck Hawk

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#30 – Colgate Raiders
Points: 32.2629 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: -0.0178 (Rank: 48)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 3.3086 (Rank: 29)
Last Season Ranking: #30

The Raiders celebrated the completion of the new Class of 1965 Arena at the start of the 2016-17 season; unfortunately, the new rink was the season's highlight. Colgate finished 10th in the ECAC regular season, and lost in the first round at Princeton, winning Friday, losing Saturday on a last-second goal followed by an overtime goal, and losing Sunday.

3 of Colgate's top 5 scorers on the season were seniors, and starting goaltender Charlie Finn also graduated. Freshman goaltender Colton Point played in 10 games last year, though, and his GAA was under 2.5. If the Raiders can find more scoring next year and get solid play from Point, they may be able to host some playoff games in the new barn. – drshoen

[NU_Husky]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#31 – Northeastern Huskies
Points: 30.3272 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 0.9875 (Rank: 15)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 5.2832 (Rank: 24)
Last Season Ranking: #32

In case there is ever any wonder as to whether the Hobey Baker voters care about team success, Zach Aston-Reese’s 2016-17 campaign will be the story we point to as reminder that team success is held in some esteem to the decisionmakers.

Coming off their most successful campaign since 2009 (and arguably much further back) Northeastern entered the 2016 season hoping to cement their place amongst the top teams in Hockey East and the country with a more consistent performance, a top four finish in Hockey East, and an NCAA tournament bid. Instead, they finished 8th in HEA, with only 18 wins unable to bottle up the late season magic they had the previous season. Injuries to top returning players John and Nolan Stevens led to substantial line shuffling throughout the year. Junior Dylan Sikura and Sophomore Adam Gaudette each took massive steps forward scoring >50 pts a piece, but the Huskies were led by Aston-Reese’s 31-32-63 scoring line. The Huskies were tortured by poor goaltending performances by Ryan Ruck (0.897 sv%) throughout the season, and coach Madigan did not seem to be willing to give junior Jake Theut a real chance to step into Ruck’s struggling position. The Huskies losses of ZAR and Nolan Stevens should be offset by the performances of Gaudette, Sikura, and J. Stevens, but if they cannot find consistent goaltending from Ruck or incoming freshman Cayden Primeau they will remain a middling team in Hockey East. The question remains, how much blame should be placed on goaltending and how much on the feast or famine defensive system NU employs. – UML Puck Hawk

John Stevens is the brother who graduated. He was much more of a pass-first, defensive-minded player than his brother Nolan. Nolan is returning, and was injured for most of last season, yet still averaged >1 ppg when healthy. Nolan is expected to reassume his spot in the top line and contribute mightily. The struggles of Ruck cannot be understated, but I feel that has far more to his poor abilities/positioning/rebound control than a "feast-or-famine" defensive system. To be honest, I'm not even sure NU employs a truly systematic approach, good or bad. But they do return all six starters from last season, which one assumes means good things for a rookie goaltender like Primeau.

[UML Puck Hawk]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

John Stevens is the brother who graduated. He was much more of a pass-first, defensive-minded player than his brother Nolan. Nolan is returning, and was injured for most of last season, yet still averaged >1 ppg when healthy. Nolan is expected to reassume his spot in the top line and contribute mightily. The struggles of Ruck cannot be understated, but I feel that has far more to his poor abilities/positioning/rebound control than a "feast-or-famine" defensive system. To be honest, I'm not even sure NU employs a truly systematic approach, good or bad. But they do return all six starters from last season, which one assumes means good things for a rookie goaltender like Primeau.

My bad on the Nolan typo...

[Snively65]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

Just over half way through, and here is where we are.

Penn State leap-frogged UConn, Canisius, Army, Rob Mo, and Huntsville, going from 56th to 51th, with the leapfrogged teams maintaining last year's order.

Air Force switched places with Niagara, going from 44th to 42nd.

Western Michigan switched places with Minnesota State, going from 41st to 40th.

UML switched places with Brown, going from 34th to 33rd.

Northeastern switched places with St. Cloud, going from 32nd to 31st.

In sum, Penn State and Air Force the big winners so far.

[D2D]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

Easy prediction: Penn State will continue to move up in the next few years.

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

Easy prediction: Penn State will continue to move up in the next few years.

You're probably right but its going to get tougher as they go. They had 2.5057 pts last year and 2.8328 pts total. Expecting them to have a similar seasons is unrealistic. They're almost 1.2 pts behind 50th. Another 2.5 pt season gets them to 47th if no one else earns any points. A third 2.5 pt season gets them to 43rd...

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

You're probably right but its going to get tougher as they go. They had 2.5057 pts last year and 2.8328 pts total. Expecting them to have a similar seasons is unrealistic. They're almost 1.2 pts behind 50th. Another 2.5 pt season gets them to 47th if no one else earns any points. A third 2.5 pt season gets them to 43rd...

This is spot on. If Penn State continues to make Regional Final appearances and win hardware, they will continue to move up. A Frozen Four run would really help push them up the list, and likely crack to the Top 40. Of course, a National Championship would almost certainly move Penn State up into the top half of this list.

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#29 – Ferris State Bulldogs
Points: 36.3791 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 0.2522 (Rank: 27)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 8.9993 (Rank: 15)
Last Season Ranking: #29

In many ways, it was a dismal season in Big Rapids. Ferris State had been a stalwart of home ice in the new WCHA, but in 2017, they went on the road to Ohio to face Bowling Green, where they were swept. The Falcons and Bulldogs shared a similar start to the season, with the Bulldogs losing six straight to start the year and not winning in regulation until October 29th in their ninth contest of the year. FSU had just two sweeps on the year, both at home against Lake Superior and Alaska-Anchorage.

The Bulldogs graduated three of their top-five scorers, including Gerry Mayhew, perhaps the most electric scorer in the WCHA this last season. Another question is in net, where Justin Kapelmaster has solid numbers and the better record while Darren Smith had a bit of a sophomore setback but does have a proven track record of being a reliable goaltender. The Bulldogs will need to answer a lot of questions if they want to get home ice back, return to the national postseason, and take another run at a Frozen Four or more — all of which will boost them in these rankings. – gfmorris

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#28 – Dartmouth Big Green
Points: 40.5544 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 0.1282 (Rank: 31)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 5.2312 (Rank: 25)
Last Season Ranking: #28

The Big Green slipped in 2016-17, finishing below .500 for the first time in the last three years. Dartmouth finished in 9th in the ECAC, and lost in two games to Yale in the first round of the ECAC playoffs. The non-conference highlight was a win over Michigan in late October.

Dartmouth only graduates 4 seniors this year, but 3 of them were in the top 5 in scoring for the season. Junior goaltender Devin Buffalo played most of the season, and figures to get the majority of the playing time again in 2017-18. The Big Green will hope to return to an above .500 finish and home playoff games next year. – drshoen

[Dmann]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

Where can we find a recap, #60-#28?

[mookie1995]

Where can we find a recap, #60-#28?

Page down

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#27 – Quinnipiac Bobcats
Points: 45.0865 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 0.2796 (Rank: 26)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 40.9317 (Rank: 6)
Last Season Ranking: #26

The Bobcats finished their 18th season as a Division I program, and have still not finished below .500 overall. Quinnipiac finished 5th in the ECAC this season, beat Brown at home in a sweep, then beat St. Lawrence in the second round in three games. The season ended in Lake Placid against ECAC champs Harvard. For the first time in 5 seasons, however, the Bobcats did not qualify for the NCAA tournament.

Quinnipiac has 8 graduating seniors, including 1 of their goaltenders; however the top 4 scorers return, and freshman Andrew Shortridge finished with a 2.08 GAA and .920 SV%. The Bobcats will look to have a 19th season above .500, a return to Lake Placid, and a return to the national tourney in 2017-18. – drshoen

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#26 – Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Points: 45.6753 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 4.4902 (Rank: 5)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 8.3792 (Rank: 17)
Last Season Ranking: #27

They’re gone!!! Notre Dame has officially joined the BI7 conference as an associate member and left Hockey East with no hardware to show. With that said Notre Dame had an incredibly successful season in their final year in Hockey East, finishing 1 point behind the three way tie for first (some may wonder what would have happened if the Zamboni did not break down at Matthews Arena in December, many Hockey East fans will point to it as an act of the Hockey Gods). While Notre Dame had an incredibly successful season by any standards, in the end this season may be looked back on as one where they always finished one (or two) step(s) away from the real hardware. A midseason loss to UMass served as the difference between Notre Dame winning Hockey East outright in their last season, or finishing in the fourth place spot that lined them up at the Garden with Lowell. A successful sweep of NCAA tournament team Providence in the Hockey East Quarterfinals was a highlight for the season, but the 5-1 drubbing at the hands of the River Hawks ended their chance at any conference hardware in the East. In the NCAA tournament an OT comeback win over Lowell sent the Irish to Chicago and the Frozen Four, where they were taken to the woodshed by eventual National Champs Denver. Notre Dame now moves to the Big Ten (7) where they will hope to recover from the huge losses of Anders Bjork (Hobey top 10 member) and Cal Peterson (Richter nominee). With these losses, along with joining a new conference ND will be fighting for a bid in the NCAAs next season. – UML Puck Hawk