When you think about what CC has accomplished with who are they are (a tiny private liberal arts school), and and where they were in the early 90s (almost lost the program altogether) it's really kind of a miracle that that they consistently fall into the top 15-20 programs nationally every year, and ocassionally break into the top 5-10. Owens wins 55-60% of his games year in and year out which compares favorably to other WCHA coaches. His only real problem has been getting over the hump in the post season.
My take on CC is that they have good talent, but they wear down in the second half playing in the WCHA meatgrinder, which does this to a lot of teams. Why this happens more often with CC is something of mystery. It used to be that CC had a smaller team, which could explain some of it, but lately, they've recruited some larger players. It could be the weight room/training aspect. Or it could be the players tire of the coaching message or get worn down by the rigorous academics. The reality is that CC, as a school, is probably very happy with the highly competitive program they have. They draw very well, they graduate players, they make money and they beat schools 20 times larger they are each year. Some CC fans may not think that's enough, but in the broad scheme of things, CC has it much better than most programs. CC fans may want more post season success, but is that realistic when you are playing so many schools with the serious ambition and larger resources?