The official MCH'AQ' season thread

[seaturtle]

One MCHA team will be the first to represent the league in the NCAA tournament...the qualifying game will be at Arrington Ice Arena in Adrian Michigan with the MCHA Championship game.

Lake Forest is on a Canadian recruiting tear...
Lawrence is looking to continue to be an impact team.
Finlandia looking to rebuild
MSOE....
Marian should be in contention
Adrian supporters will chime in..
and the rest......

[AVFC]

Re: The official MCH'AQ' season thread

You need to give credit where credit is due and acknowledge Adrian as the clear front runner at this point. I can only see them losing if they roll through the MCHA all season long and decide to take the Harris Cup off. It certainly is possible, but I still don't think that is where the smart money would be played. The rest of the MCHA will be much better this season, but still not on par with Adrian just yet.

Who will be playing Adrian in the finals? I think it is nearly impossible to predict at this point.

MSOE and Finlandia: we haven't heard much about what these guys have been doing this offseason. This seems to be the mo for MSOE.
Marian: recruiting picked up late and it now appears that they certainly have some talent coming in. The jury may still be out on their goaltending situation. It will be interesting to see how their freshmen defensemen hold up as well.
Lawrence: not a massive recruiting class, but then again this young bunch didn't have all that much to replace.
Lake Forest: I have no idea what to make of LF with this massive recruiting class. There must be more to this story than typical graduation and attrition.

In the end I expect MSOE, Marian, Lawrence and LF to be very, very competitive with one another all season long. I would reserve judgment on Finlandia until more is known.

[davinchi]

Re: The official MCH'AQ' season thread

this is my guess about LFC:
their coach is ready to retire within a few years so he loads up to try and win the league and get to the n-c-2-a's before he rides off into the sunset. winning the mcha is actually a possibility whereas the ncha was not. you have to worry about beating one above average team in adrian instead of 4 national contenders.

after a thousand or so years being loyal to the college they open up some "need based" monies to repay him for his service. maybe some extra help to get some players before he calls it a day. I could be wrong (not the first time) but that is my educated guess.

[NorthernLite]

Re: The official MCH'AQ' season thread

. you have to worry about beating one above average team in adrian instead of 4 national contenders.

. I could be wrong (not the first time) but that is my educated guess.

.......you're only wrong in differentiating the 4 NCHA teams as "national contenders" and Adrian as "above average". ...

[davinchi]

Re: The official MCH'AQ' season thread

The NCHA is the ECAC West but with ethical standards (if that was too harsh -allow me to be more politically correct by saying they are more in line with the NCAA DIII Philosophy than the ECAC West's members). I am not saying Adrian isn't good but they are not St. Norberts. Adrian would actually be a great fit for the ECAC West philosophically.

[elbojpb]

Re: The official MCH'AQ' season thread

The NCHA is the ECAC West but with ethical standards

Wow ... you paint with a fairly broad brush.

[NorthernLite]

Re: The official MCH'AQ' season thread

The NCHA is the ECAC West but with ethical standards (if that was too harsh -allow me to be more politically correct by saying they are more in line with the NCAA DIII Philosophy than the ECAC West's members). I am not saying Adrian isn't good but they are not St. Norberts. Adrian would actually be a great fit for the ECAC West philosophically.

...this is really rich .....and political too, .....so good for you !!
With this kind of insight you should apply for a spot on the DIII selection committee.

If you aren't sure ...I can tell you that Adrian is very good, and I can agree with you that they aren't St. NorbertS. To be honest .....I didn't know there was a St. NorbertS

[davinchi]

Re: The official MCH'AQ' season thread

you got me. St. Norbert it is.

all i meant with my broad stroke/mini rant was that from a distance it seems like the Ecac west is so ultra competitive that they get the maximum flex out of the rules like players do from their composite sticks. also, unless I stand corrected, State schools do not have the ability to get creative with their financial aid like the private institutions.

[bayliner2555]

Re: The official MCH'AQ' season thread

you got me. St. Norbert it is.

all i meant with my broad stroke/mini rant was that from a distance it seems like the Ecac west is so ultra competitive that they get the maximum flex out of the rules like players do from their composite sticks. also, unless I stand corrected, State schools do not have the ability to get creative with their financial aid like the private institutions.

Are you , by some stretch of the imagination, talking about a team of young men playing ice hockey?

[norm1909]

Re: The official MCH'AQ' season thread

..., unless I stand corrected, State schools do not have the ability to get creative with their financial aid like the private institutions.

Note, NCAA (and ACHA) rules are very clear in that athletes can NOT be given any preferential treatment merely because they are athletes and no even half competent school (public or private) official would try to directly circumvent those rules.

That said, there is nothing wrong with athletic departments "getting creative" with their recruiting, that is to say, making maximum utilization of the schools financial aid packages that are available to every student.

A couple of examples:

As evidenced on many threads on this forum, under the official guise of creating "diversity, inclusion and pluralism" of their student bodies, many institutions offer "international scholarships", (includes Canada) and there is nothing in the rules that prevent athletic departments from utilizing these scholarships to lure potential athletes.

Also, most institutions offer financial aid to targeted groups that add to that institutions mission, one that comes to mind, is the State University of New York's Educational Opportunity Program (EOP). Quoting from their website, "provides access, academic support, and financial aid to students who show promise for mastering college-level work, but who may otherwise not be admitted. Offered primarily to full-time students who are New York State residents, EOP accepts students who qualify, academically and economically, for the program" and " EOP is designed for students who need special academic assistance as well as financial aid."
Additionally - "Income Guidelines Also Do Not Apply If...
•The student’s family is the recipient of Family Assistance or Safety Net payments through the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance; or through a county Department of Social Services; or Family Day Care payments through the New York State Office of Children and Family Assistance;
•The student lives with foster parents who do not provide support for college and the student’s natural parents provide no such support;
•The student is a ward of the state or county."

As is evidenced by the above, this program inherently (though NOT exclusively) targets New York's inner-city youth, and is widely used by SUNY's basketball programs to entice (and get accepted) potential athletes, as well as any other athlete who meets the programs guidelines.

[PSUChamps2001]

Re: The official MCH'AQ' season thread

If you aren't sure ...I can tell you that Adrian is very good, and I can agree with you that they aren't St. NorbertS. To be honest .....I didn't know there was a St. NorbertS

Maybe they are as good as Plattsburg....... I hear that team is pretty good.

[Hammer]

Re: The official MCH'AQ' season thread

Yeah, Plattsburgs isn't too bad.

[elbojpb]

Re: The official MCH'AQ' season thread

... the Ecac west is so ultra competitive that they get the maximum flex out of the rules like players do from their composite sticks ...

Please consider that the recent success of the 'ultra competitive' could possibly be due to the college's committment to ice hockey and the quality of coaching, and not to your inferred bending of ethical standards. Additionally, the tuition rate and endowments at privates, compared to SUNY, allows them to offer proportionally more aid.

Most SUNY schools {especially lately} are hamstrung with budgets, and what can be offered as salaries, while private institutions can invest what they deem appropriate to be competitive. Many (private) institutions use the success of a sports program to "sell' their school to non athletes and invest accordingly.

[NorthernLite]

Re: The official MCH'AQ' season thread

Maybe they are as good as Plattsburg....... I hear that team is pretty good.

Would be fun to watch and find out !

[altazo]

Re: The official MCH'AQ' season thread

this is my guess about LFC:
their coach is ready to retire within a few years so he loads up to try and win the league and get to the n-c-2-a's before he rides off into the sunset.

Coach Tony Fritz and LFC have been in the NCAA tournament before. In the late eighties early nineties at least once, perhaps more than that. Could just be before you knew what hockey was.

LFC switched to the MCHA to play against schools more similar academically and size wise (the NCHA exceptions being SNC and CSS). Most of the MCHA schools are also closer geographically.