PerkyforPrez
Registered User
Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris
Good job Ferris. Keep on rocking.
Good job Ferris. Keep on rocking.
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2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris
- Thread starter gfmorris
- Start date
Squarebanks
New member
Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris
Way to go FSU!!
I remember watching UAF play SCSU in the first game of the season and they absolutely steamrolled us. Your accomplishment tonight is nothing to sneeze at...congrats!
Way to go FSU!!
I remember watching UAF play SCSU in the first game of the season and they absolutely steamrolled us. Your accomplishment tonight is nothing to sneeze at...congrats!
mmf
Nanook Nation
Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris
Agreed. Good job FSU.
As I recall, the other 21 games where we got steamrolled the opponent didn’t look near as fast or good.
Agreed. Good job FSU.
As I recall, the other 21 games where we got steamrolled the opponent didn’t look near as fast or good.
manurespreader
Still upright
Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris
You know I'm sick to death of the fans of the NCHC and other conferences dissing the WCHA. Guys like Adam Woden and Chris Dilks should know better. And ryan Lambert is a terrible excuse for a journalist. How many times do coaches have to say there is a lot of parity, how many times do coaches in our league have to say we have a good league, with quality teams. I'm just totally disgusted that media guys seem to buy in to fan stupidness.I mean you can forgive tipsy, he's simply stupid, but the media is supposed to actually have a clue. Even Jim Connelly buys in and promotes HE over other leagues. It's not true.! So I wish the hell they would SHUT THE **** UP.
You know I'm sick to death of the fans of the NCHC and other conferences dissing the WCHA. Guys like Adam Woden and Chris Dilks should know better. And ryan Lambert is a terrible excuse for a journalist. How many times do coaches have to say there is a lot of parity, how many times do coaches in our league have to say we have a good league, with quality teams. I'm just totally disgusted that media guys seem to buy in to fan stupidness.I mean you can forgive tipsy, he's simply stupid, but the media is supposed to actually have a clue. Even Jim Connelly buys in and promotes HE over other leagues. It's not true.! So I wish the hell they would SHUT THE **** UP.
gfmorris
New member
Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris
Alternative option: dismiss them and pay them no mind.
#####
So I was just perusing UAH's recruits for 16-17, and man, we're getting small. I wonder if the days of chip and chase and pack it in are over. If the little guys can skate and give up the body, then I'll take it. We haven't had good offensive hockey at UAH for a decade —*2006-07 was the last time UAH score more than three a game, and 2005-06 was the last time that we outscored our opponents on average.
[****, I can't drink at work.]
Please, I'm tired of the losing.
GFM
Alternative option: dismiss them and pay them no mind.
#####
So I was just perusing UAH's recruits for 16-17, and man, we're getting small. I wonder if the days of chip and chase and pack it in are over. If the little guys can skate and give up the body, then I'll take it. We haven't had good offensive hockey at UAH for a decade —*2006-07 was the last time UAH score more than three a game, and 2005-06 was the last time that we outscored our opponents on average.
[****, I can't drink at work.]
Please, I'm tired of the losing.
GFM
Of course fan and media opinions that differ from ours are ridiculous. But let's face it, the lone team we have left alive was just a game over .500 for the regular season and that overall the WCHA's non-conference record was only better than Atlantic Hockey. I believe we do have a good league, a very exciting and competitive league. We're not very curvaceous. We're not that attractive. But we've got a great personality and terrific character. Until the WCHA proves, on a regular basis, that we're more that the 4th or 5th best league, we'll be viewed as the 4th or 5th best league. I know better. You know better. Our coaches, players and fans know better. But we've got only one way to show the rest of the college hockey world and that's more W's.
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manurespreader
Still upright
Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris
You'll start winning more games don't worry. So will Lake state, and some others.
a few years ago the small guy was anathema but it's becoming more the norm as there is less emphasis on the big physical hits. The small guy is more competitive now, though BC showed last night that a good big guy beats a good small guy most of the time.Alternative option: dismiss them and pay them no mind.
#####
So I was just perusing UAH's recruits for 16-17, and man, we're getting small. I wonder if the days of chip and chase and pack it in are over. If the little guys can skate and give up the body, then I'll take it. We haven't had good offensive hockey at UAH for a decade —*2006-07 was the last time UAH score more than three a game, and 2005-06 was the last time that we outscored our opponents on average.
[****, I can't drink at work.]
Please, I'm tired of the losing.
GFM
You'll start winning more games don't worry. So will Lake state, and some others.
gfmorris
New member
Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris
My only concern is that the little guy will struggle in the clutch-and-grab WCHA. I look at a guy like Tyler Poulsen who admittedly was 1) jumping from the NAHL to the WCHA and 2) took a year off to work on academics but 3) really got man-handled a lot this year and ended up 3-3—6 after being 29-32—61 two years ago. I was hoping for something like 14-18 points. Instead, he's a tiny guy and he got held up at many turns. Part of this is style of play —*UAH just doesn't have enough guys with speed to play that game. Max McHugh, who I'll argue you is our best player, skates decently but generally plays in control and doesn't try to get on you quickly like, say, Matt Salhany.
But we can't all keep winning more games, not with a 28-game league schedule that makes this thing a near zero-sum game.
GFM
My only concern is that the little guy will struggle in the clutch-and-grab WCHA. I look at a guy like Tyler Poulsen who admittedly was 1) jumping from the NAHL to the WCHA and 2) took a year off to work on academics but 3) really got man-handled a lot this year and ended up 3-3—6 after being 29-32—61 two years ago. I was hoping for something like 14-18 points. Instead, he's a tiny guy and he got held up at many turns. Part of this is style of play —*UAH just doesn't have enough guys with speed to play that game. Max McHugh, who I'll argue you is our best player, skates decently but generally plays in control and doesn't try to get on you quickly like, say, Matt Salhany.
But we can't all keep winning more games, not with a 28-game league schedule that makes this thing a near zero-sum game.
GFM
manurespreader
Still upright
Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris
Similar to the NHL. We talk about how great Florida is but they have 95 points and the last team in has what 85. not a big difference.
So for Ferris who was what 33 in the pairwise, a bounce here and there and they are in.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of course, but it's not a good thing when College hockey is perpetuated as being vastly different when it's quite the opposite. Media guys who know that there is so much parity, should be above what the average fan thinks. Just my two cents though.
Similar to the NHL. We talk about how great Florida is but they have 95 points and the last team in has what 85. not a big difference.
So for Ferris who was what 33 in the pairwise, a bounce here and there and they are in.
FadeToBlack&Gold
Microlot Marxist
Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris
Well, Ryan Lambert is basically the average Boston sports fan blogger. I stopped reading his shiza over a year ago, and suggest everyone else do the same.
Well, Ryan Lambert is basically the average Boston sports fan blogger. I stopped reading his shiza over a year ago, and suggest everyone else do the same.
gfmorris
New member
Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris
I think that the biggest thing is that there's no one overarching media organization where there are people who undoubtedly know the entirety of the sport, from North Dakota and Boston College to American International and Alabama-Huntsville. I think that Dave Starman may come closest, but he does a lot of scouting work. (I saw him at a UAH game this year and asked him if he was here pre-scouting for broadcast or just here; he said the latter.) Do I really have any idea who's good out east? No. We played one Eastern team this year (UConn at home), and I wasn't terribly impressed, even with Letunov. (Seems like a feast-or-famine guy to me, but he's a freshman, etc.)
Otherwise, we played CC and NoDak. Hell, what can I even infer from those two games? We went 1-3-0: lost hard twice, won a one-goal game, lost a 1-0 match on the road in our first game at the Ralph.
Being a regional sport with teams that aren't names is just our fate. Who cares? Let all ten teams have it be a chip on their shoulders.
GFM
I think that the biggest thing is that there's no one overarching media organization where there are people who undoubtedly know the entirety of the sport, from North Dakota and Boston College to American International and Alabama-Huntsville. I think that Dave Starman may come closest, but he does a lot of scouting work. (I saw him at a UAH game this year and asked him if he was here pre-scouting for broadcast or just here; he said the latter.) Do I really have any idea who's good out east? No. We played one Eastern team this year (UConn at home), and I wasn't terribly impressed, even with Letunov. (Seems like a feast-or-famine guy to me, but he's a freshman, etc.)
Otherwise, we played CC and NoDak. Hell, what can I even infer from those two games? We went 1-3-0: lost hard twice, won a one-goal game, lost a 1-0 match on the road in our first game at the Ralph.
Being a regional sport with teams that aren't names is just our fate. Who cares? Let all ten teams have it be a chip on their shoulders.
GFM
Squarebanks
New member
Shoot, one of the best things (if not THE best thing) about college hockey prior to realignment was that an Alaska or Alabama Huntsville could go toe to toe with a Michigan.
Teams like North Dakota are college hockey powerhouses but pretty much irrelevant in other sports. It's a niche sport that is trying to become relevant nationally with mixed results. Sad fact is that until more big schools add hockey, it'll continue to be a niche sport that struggles nationally. Which might not be entirely bad.
gfmorris
New member
Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris
Well, yes and no. When we were in the CHA, we were a (considered-to-be) nothing league (which was often true, before and after our AQ), and we rarely got quality non-conference opponents at home even though we only played 20 league games and thus had lots of slots in the schedule.
The year that I covered the team (2002-03), we started the season on the road with three WCHA opponents (Wisconsin early in the Eaves years, Denver after they won the WCHA league title, Minnesota after winning an NC) on three consecutive weekends. 0-6-0. After that, it's two trips to Connecticut in December (Sacred Heart for a pay series, believe it or not, then UConn's tournament where we beat the really good FSU team helmed by Kunitz ... he was sooooooo mad), then a visit from Fairfield the weekend before they folded the program (8-1, 8-2), and ... yep, that was it. We played 34 games, yes, but just 12 were at home (and UAH went 10-1-1). Pull out that murderer's row to start the year and UAH was .500 on the road, too.
That was pretty much the standard. Since we've gone to Division I, nearly no one of significance has come to Huntsville. We had Denver lined up for the season after we were put on death row, but other than that, we got SCSU when they were ranked #3, but only because their coach promised Nic Dowd that he could play at home before he graduated.
So that's the fear that I have with the WCHA: that we're just going to be a conference that everyone overlooks until it's too late (apparently March is the Bulldogs' month; ask some Huskies that had a dog in the fight). I'm sure that's your point, too: the big schools are now all lumped together and the small schools are stuck without access to the big schools. But that's been UAH's reality since 1999. Back in those days, we were generally Mankato-strong at home and .500 on the road (and snake-bit in the playoffs).
But what frustrates me is that the WCHA / member schools can't get it together to reach out to the non-Ivy ECAC teams (and maybe the good AH teams) to stage some crossover challenges.
Say 2017-18 you have Qpac, Union, RPI, and SLU face off with (just as a straw man) MSU, MTU, UAH, and BSU — two series in each conference's home rinks — while Clarkson goes to one of the Alaska tournaments. Rotate an ECAC team through Alaska every year and give the team who goes to Alaska a home date against another WCHA school (say, Lake Superior). That gets half of the WCHA a date with a solid Eastern program every year, and every other year, it's going to be in your home rink. It's a thought. Is it a good thought? Hm.
GFM
Well, yes and no. When we were in the CHA, we were a (considered-to-be) nothing league (which was often true, before and after our AQ), and we rarely got quality non-conference opponents at home even though we only played 20 league games and thus had lots of slots in the schedule.
The year that I covered the team (2002-03), we started the season on the road with three WCHA opponents (Wisconsin early in the Eaves years, Denver after they won the WCHA league title, Minnesota after winning an NC) on three consecutive weekends. 0-6-0. After that, it's two trips to Connecticut in December (Sacred Heart for a pay series, believe it or not, then UConn's tournament where we beat the really good FSU team helmed by Kunitz ... he was sooooooo mad), then a visit from Fairfield the weekend before they folded the program (8-1, 8-2), and ... yep, that was it. We played 34 games, yes, but just 12 were at home (and UAH went 10-1-1). Pull out that murderer's row to start the year and UAH was .500 on the road, too.
That was pretty much the standard. Since we've gone to Division I, nearly no one of significance has come to Huntsville. We had Denver lined up for the season after we were put on death row, but other than that, we got SCSU when they were ranked #3, but only because their coach promised Nic Dowd that he could play at home before he graduated.
So that's the fear that I have with the WCHA: that we're just going to be a conference that everyone overlooks until it's too late (apparently March is the Bulldogs' month; ask some Huskies that had a dog in the fight). I'm sure that's your point, too: the big schools are now all lumped together and the small schools are stuck without access to the big schools. But that's been UAH's reality since 1999. Back in those days, we were generally Mankato-strong at home and .500 on the road (and snake-bit in the playoffs).
But what frustrates me is that the WCHA / member schools can't get it together to reach out to the non-Ivy ECAC teams (and maybe the good AH teams) to stage some crossover challenges.
Say 2017-18 you have Qpac, Union, RPI, and SLU face off with (just as a straw man) MSU, MTU, UAH, and BSU — two series in each conference's home rinks — while Clarkson goes to one of the Alaska tournaments. Rotate an ECAC team through Alaska every year and give the team who goes to Alaska a home date against another WCHA school (say, Lake Superior). That gets half of the WCHA a date with a solid Eastern program every year, and every other year, it's going to be in your home rink. It's a thought. Is it a good thought? Hm.
GFM
Superfly100
New member
Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris
Agree with this.
Don't confuse parity with competitiveness.
Is the WCHA competitive? Yes, and getting better. We can win on any given night.
Is there parity? IMO, no. No Dak has been to the Frozen Four something like 7 out of 11 years. BC has similar numbers. There are a handful of schools that are in the top of the PWR year in and year out, and there are two conferences that send the most teams to the NCAA year in and year out. So, until we start putting up winning records in NC play, and have 3+ teams making it to the NCAA, we will continue to be referred to as a bottom tier conference, and rightly so. Doesn't mean we aren't competitive, but we don't have parity. Getting closer, but not there yet.
Agree with this.
Don't confuse parity with competitiveness.
Is the WCHA competitive? Yes, and getting better. We can win on any given night.
Is there parity? IMO, no. No Dak has been to the Frozen Four something like 7 out of 11 years. BC has similar numbers. There are a handful of schools that are in the top of the PWR year in and year out, and there are two conferences that send the most teams to the NCAA year in and year out. So, until we start putting up winning records in NC play, and have 3+ teams making it to the NCAA, we will continue to be referred to as a bottom tier conference, and rightly so. Doesn't mean we aren't competitive, but we don't have parity. Getting closer, but not there yet.
In theory, it's a great idea. Now add 25 plane tickets, non-subsidized. It's highly unlikely that the WCHA will ever drop below 28 conference games. The Minnesota schools will continue to play a couple of their nearby NCHC rivals plus the North Star Cup. The Techs & NMUs will hope to get one of the NCHCs on even deals and maybe continue playing non-con series with LSSU in the years they don't play 4x plus Tech to the GLI and NMU has holiday tourneys scheduled over the next few seasons. BG will have their series with the other Ohio schools and everyone will do their best to not get stuck with multiple 2-for-1 deals from those "elite" schools that Tech, Ferris & LSSU have to deal with now.
gfmorris
New member
Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris
Yes, the tickets are unsubsidized, but they're going both ways. I hope that the league would consider something like it, though. It's great that the non Al*a schools are going to get that kind of consideration, and it helps the league, but we don't have those ties.
Why do you think that we're locked in to 28 WCHA games?
GFM
Yes, the tickets are unsubsidized, but they're going both ways. I hope that the league would consider something like it, though. It's great that the non Al*a schools are going to get that kind of consideration, and it helps the league, but we don't have those ties.
Why do you think that we're locked in to 28 WCHA games?
GFM
i realize that they are going both ways, but it doesn't make those tickets any less expensive. There was, at one point, an interlocking schedule agreement with the WCHA & Hockey East playing each other on an equal agreement and those games counted in each league's standings. One of the main reasons the agreement ceased was the cost of the travel.
As for being locked into 28 games, you pretty much defined that when you spoke of only getting 12 home games per year. As far as implementing a league wide scheduling policy with the AHA, Minnesota State's non-league schedule showed Omaha, St Cloud, Minnesota & the North Star Cup. What are the chances you can sell them on a flight to Boston over a bus trip to St Cloud?
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Hammer
We'll be back.
Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris
Thank you. That was an incredible amount of fun.
Thank you. That was an incredible amount of fun.
blackswampboy
New member
Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris
understand your fear, and generalized perceptions of the conference are no doubt true. but these perceptions clearly aren't affecting members' OOC scheduling evenly.
I suspect a limiter for BG's scheduling is the need to contain non-league travel costs. fortunately we don't have to go very far to find quality opponents (big or small). don't think we'll be playing the Weasels or Sparty again (absurd, but that's another rant), but they can bugger off.
understand your fear, and generalized perceptions of the conference are no doubt true. but these perceptions clearly aren't affecting members' OOC scheduling evenly.
I suspect a limiter for BG's scheduling is the need to contain non-league travel costs. fortunately we don't have to go very far to find quality opponents (big or small). don't think we'll be playing the Weasels or Sparty again (absurd, but that's another rant), but they can bugger off.