Colgate 21-22

[Timothy A]

Although in this case, you're just making it up. A Gopher fan two posts before your post predicted a Colgate sweep. Everyone, must be a Wisconsin fan who also picked BSU to sweep Clarkson. Colgate is the clear favorite heading into this weekend, and Minnesota's spotty play to date is a big reason for that.

My name is.....TIM.....I hate Clarkson, I will never pick them and I want the wwcha to destroy the eastern teams, hence my purely illogical predictions this week.

[Timothy A]

Everyone on the UM is predicting a UM sweep.

All the UM posters on this site are all downers on their team, let's not create a fake news situation here. I'm probably their most positive thinking poster and yet I am their sworn enemy.

Personally I feel there is a clear Eastern bias in women's hockey, just like you feel there is a clear Western bias. I think the list of PK winners backs up my position.

[D2D]

Although in this case, you're just making it up. A Gopher fan two posts before your post predicted a Colgate sweep. Everyone, must be a Wisconsin fan who also picked BSU to sweep Clarkson. Colgate is the clear favorite heading into this weekend, and Minnesota's spotty play to date is a big reason for that.

I think both games will be closely contested, mainly because Minnesota - after a rather shaky start - has been playing better as of late. But realistically I have to agree that Colgate is the "clear favorite" in this series. They do, after all, essentially have their entire lineup (and ALL of their scoring back from last season. Meanwhile Minnesota is without their two top scorers from a year ago due to centralization which leaves them not as dangerous offensively as last year.

If the Gophers can come away with a split I don't think they'll be disappointed.

[Offsides Guy]

A Gopher fan two posts before your post predicted a Colgate sweep. Everyone, must be a Wisconsin fan who also picked BSU to sweep Clarkson. Colgate is the clear favorite heading into this weekend, and Minnesota's spotty play to date is a big reason for that.

I was one of the people predicting a Gopher sweep but I’m not a major Gopher fan. I just think the Gophers first 4 games were against tougher teams than Colgate might play all year and, though the Gophers went 1-3, they won’t be at all intimated by Colgate. And, yes, the WCHA is the toughest conference in America.

[Oldtimer]

Good to see this thread finally get simmering. No question UM has had the tougher early season schedule wise but we all thought Mercyhurst and UVM would be decent tests and 'Cuse tied Clarkson so who knew? I honestly have no idea how we'll match up other than we beat Wisco 2 years ago in the semis (you recall that Tim?) with a similar team and played UMD tough into OT last year with not as many offensive weapons as this year. Nobody's scored on our PK yet this year and we are as physical as anyone in the WCHA which I used to worry about but no longer, so I expect some fun hockey...We've got to stay out of the sin bin though, that's a weakness...

As for the ECAC v the WCHA, Gate, Clarkson, Princeton with Fillier, Cornell if they got their team back, Qpack, Harvard again soon, St Lawrence with Gosling all can play with you guys..

[ARM]

As for the ECAC v the WCHA, Gate, Clarkson, Princeton with Fillier, Cornell if they got their team back, Qpack, Harvard again soon, St Lawrence with Gosling all can play with you guys..

I hear your point on Fillier and Gosling -- fine players -- but the top WCHA teams have players that are doing the Olympic practice thing, too (UW - Eden, Curl, Buchbinder; OSU - Maltais; UM - G. Zumwinkle, Murphy; UMD - Bell). In the end, you have who you have, and you can't waste time worrying about who is gone. Don't know what to expect out of the Ivies. Most of the impact players for Cornell graduated in 2020, and they haven't played since, so who knows what they'll look like. Princeton will be much different than the team that won the ECAC tourney. I can't quantify Harvard at all. In 2008, they arrive at the Frozen Four with a 32-1 record as the top seed, having swept the ECAC, and then fell rather meekly to UW. Since then, they've made it to one FF in the 11 years where the Crimson played and the NCAA Tournament took place. The name Harvard sounds more imposing than the team has been for quite a while now. I'll give you the others, although Q struggles to score against good competition. Overall, the ECAC looks to be there for the taking for the Raiders.

[Timothy A]

I honestly have no idea how we'll match up other than we beat Wisco 2 years ago in the semis (you recall that Tim?)

Sure I do, but UW was gutted by the Olympics and I was thrilled to make the Frozen 4 in spite of that, but they were the underdogs and were a bit over-rated all year and I said that many times that year.

[Oldtimer]

Agreed all the Ivys are question marks with last year's COVID sabbatical but the top 3 (C,P and H) are "programs" that many want to experience along with getting a great education so should be back soon. That said, Wisco, OSU, UM, UMD and select others are all scary as hell to us in the East due primarily to speed and depth. The better teams in the East now have speed and depth is improving so outsiders assuming they can make hay against our 3rd and 4th lines as in the past may find their hands full. We will see...

[Timothy A]

I do hope Greig has a nice series for Colgate.

[Offsides Guy]

As for the ECAC v the WCHA, Gate, Clarkson, Princeton with Fillier, Cornell if they got their team back, Qpack, Harvard again soon, St Lawrence with Gosling all can play with you guys..

Much easier schedule in the ECAC where teams play each other only twice. MN has to play 12 games total against OSU, WI and UMD alone. Toughest conference in the country.

[ARM]

The better teams in the East now have speed and depth is improving so outsiders assuming they can make hay against our 3rd and 4th lines as in the past may find their hands full.

Overall, I agree with you that there isn't much difference between the top of the ECAC and top of the WCHA. Wisconsin is a tough matchup for everyone; it isn't like the rest of the WCHA is at the Badgers' level right now.

Where I think that the WCHA has an advantage these days is the bottom 25% of each conference. The ECAC always seems to have two or three teams that have hit rock bottom pretty hard. A couple of years ago it was RPI, but Brown and Union have been there most of the time for the last decade plus. St. Cloud occupies the same territory in the WCHA, but the Huskies win more than the bottom ECAC teams when they play outside the league. Even when SCSU, Mankato, or Bemidji are bad, they can usually skate, so playing them is a decent test for the other WCHA opponents. The scoreboard might get out of hand, but the shifts aren't like watching a bottom ECAC team where the whole second period is one long battle to get lines changed.

With St. Thomas being new, the WCHA is going to be weaker for a couple of seasons (compare it to how the league looked with UND as the 8th team instead), but I think that they'll at least be a solid, middle-of-the-pack team in another couple of years.

As far as Colgate goes, I expect that Fargo will be able to establish them as a team that is always in the top half of the league and usually has home ice for the ECAC quarters. Maybe more of a perennial contender and less cyclical then they've been thus far in his tenure.

[Rightnut]

Much easier schedule in the ECAC where teams play each other only twice. MN has to play 12 games total against OSU, WI and UMD alone. Toughest conference in the country.

This is true. Several cupcakes in ECAC. But I think Colgate is built like a top WCHA team with speed and depth. Not many teams have a career 100 point player on the 4th line.

[Timothy A]

This is true. Several cupcakes in ECAC. But I think Colgate is built like a top WCHA team with speed and depth. Not many teams have a career 100 point player on the 4th line.

Watts are you talking about? That's crazy talk.

[Rightnut]

Watts are you talking about? That's crazy talk.

Schneider

[KTDC]

Welcome to the ECAC, huh? What this game needs is some more penalties!