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MIAC 2011-12 Thread
- Thread starter puckrfactor
- Start date
puckrfactor
New member
Re: MIAC 2011-12 Thread
Hamline's D unit is very young as a whole and has had trouble in positional play from what I am hearing and seeing. Beau has def struggled with consistency and has given up some very easy goals at very inopportune times. Hemingway is already seeing more time but D has to help out.
Rumblings are emerging that Steffen is having problems getting the respect from his upperclassmen and doesn't show the coaching and game management skills that were touted by his resume. There's way too much talent on this team to have the disappointing start thus far. Also hearing there are some chemistry issues as well with favoritism. Not good! Something needs to happen or the Pipers are in for a long season of disappointment.
Hamline's D unit is very young as a whole and has had trouble in positional play from what I am hearing and seeing. Beau has def struggled with consistency and has given up some very easy goals at very inopportune times. Hemingway is already seeing more time but D has to help out.
Rumblings are emerging that Steffen is having problems getting the respect from his upperclassmen and doesn't show the coaching and game management skills that were touted by his resume. There's way too much talent on this team to have the disappointing start thus far. Also hearing there are some chemistry issues as well with favoritism. Not good! Something needs to happen or the Pipers are in for a long season of disappointment.
bakdraft21
Well-known member
Re: MIAC 2011-12 Thread
Hamline is coming east to Oz in a few weeks, what do they have ?? Besides the NHL draftee
Hamline is coming east to Oz in a few weeks, what do they have ?? Besides the NHL draftee
puckrfactor
New member
Re: MIAC 2011-12 Thread
An All-American in Brian Arrigoni :0
Albeit a young team, they have quite a few Former USHL and NAHL players. Not to mention a returning core group of veterans with NCAA tournament experience from last year. Big question is which Hamline team will show up on Oz to play under the first year coach? This has been a hard team to figure out thus far in the season. I would say a very dangerous team none the less.
An All-American in Brian Arrigoni :0
Albeit a young team, they have quite a few Former USHL and NAHL players. Not to mention a returning core group of veterans with NCAA tournament experience from last year. Big question is which Hamline team will show up on Oz to play under the first year coach? This has been a hard team to figure out thus far in the season. I would say a very dangerous team none the less.
bakdraft21
Well-known member
Re: MIAC 2011-12 Thread
Ok then they have a hard game for sure in Neumann first, then perhaps Oz if the get by Conn College...should be fun..thnks for the info
puckrfactor
New member
Re: MIAC 2011-12 Thread
Nuemann should definitely be a good test for them. Will be fun!
Nuemann should definitely be a good test for them. Will be fun!
puckrfactor
New member
Re: MIAC 2011-12 Thread
Nice wins for Hamline and St. Mary's last nite. Pipers had to come from behind twice to close it out. They finally have found a way to win a game in the final period rather than to lose a close one.
Same thing can be said for The Cardinals in their upset of The Green Knights. Who IMO should not be ranked this year.
Nice wins for Hamline and St. Mary's last nite. Pipers had to come from behind twice to close it out. They finally have found a way to win a game in the final period rather than to lose a close one.
Same thing can be said for The Cardinals in their upset of The Green Knights. Who IMO should not be ranked this year.
puckrfactor
New member
Totally agree Sonny. The Tommies have proved to the most consistent winners thus far in a very competitive League. The next 6 weeks or so will be interesting to see who shakes out but I got to believe the Tommies sit in a great position. Could it be the Yoga!
puckrfactor
New member
Re: MIAC 2011-12 Thread
Nice article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune about the caliber of competition in the MIAC and DIII in general.
"Their individual dreams were once the same, of Division I hockey and large, rowdy crowds at places such as Minnesota, Wisconsin or North Dakota.
But the players who fill the rosters of MIAC men's hockey teams offer proof that the Division I dream is as elusive as it is widespread for Minnesota high school players.
The MIAC is comprised of relatively small, private schools that, as NCAA Division III members, can offer no athletic scholarships. Less than a decade ago, the MIAC recruited most of its players directly out of high school. This season 78 percent of the league's varsity players are products of the junior hockey ranks.
It is not an exaggeration, league coaches and players say, to conclude that almost 80 percent of the league's players still carried hopes of playing Division I when they finished high school.
"I don't think being in Minnesota high school hockey, as glorified as it is, that any kid's goal is to be playing Division III,'' said Brian Arrigoni, a former Hill-Murray star who is now a senior at Hamline. "Everyone hopes and wishes for the best, but it doesn't always happen."
And yet, the MIAC can hardly be called a league of broken dreams, although at first glance it might appear that way.
On a recent Friday night, Arrigoni and his Hamline teammates faced St. Thomas at Vadnais Heights Sports Complex, and the bright lights of Division I were in a different galaxy. The game was played in a high school-size arena that has eight rows of bleachers on one side of the rink, three rows on the other.
Plenty of good seats went unfilled.
But the level of hockey belied the surroundings, indicative of the MIAC's recent improvement, coaches say. As the percentage of former junior players has spiked in the past five years, there have been corresponding upgrades in physical traits that come with age, such as strength and speed. MIAC Executive Director Dan McKane said the "level of play is at an all-time high."
"People just aren't educated as to how good this league is," St. John's coach Doug Schueller said. "Every high school kid in the state thinks he can play Division III hockey. That's not the case anymore."
The road to juniors
Arrigoni, who might be the league's most skilled playmaker and a Division III All-America a year ago, is the classic example of the kid who dreamed -- legitimately -- of playing at the highest level. He was a standout at Hill-Murray, playing alongside future Gophers Mike Hoeffel and Nick Larson.
Arrigoni suffered a serious shoulder injury as a high school senior, and surgery at the end of the year required four anchors and eight pins to secure his shoulder in place. So much for his immediate hopes of following his high school teammates to Minnesota.
He moved on to Indiana in the United States Hockey League -- the top American junior league from which most Division I players come. He said he was in essence a role player, miscast in his mind, although at the end of the year he received a Division I offer from Mercyhurst.
"I was young, and I don't know if I was arrogant or what, but as a Minnesota kid I had always dreamed of playing WCHA hockey, so I turned it down," Arrigoni said. "To make a long story short, I struggled a bit the next year and didn't get another offer."
There are countless such stories in the conference, each one with a slightly different twist. The MIAC boasts a pair of NHL draft picks -- Hamline's Troy Hesketh, selected in the third round by Edmonton in 2009, and St. Thomas' Chris Hickey, a seventh-round Wild choice in 2006. There are about a dozen Division I transfers, several former players from Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault (Minnesota's equivalent of a hockey prep school), three Swedish teammates at St. John's and 11 Canadians and a Czech player at Concordia (Moorhead).
The reason for the MIAC's shift in recruiting base from high schools to juniors, and in some cases foreign players, is part of a national trend in college hockey. The MIAC, in fact, is a relative latecomer to recruiting juniors compared to many Eastern schools and rival Wisconsin state colleges such as UW-River Falls, Stevens Point and Eau Claire, which average about 90 percent former junior players on their rosters.
The MIAC has not had a team in either of the past two NCAA Division III Final Fours, and never has won an NCAA hockey title.
"If we want to keep up with all the other teams in Division III, and have success, we had to alter our direction and go toward junior kids," St. Thomas coach Jeff Boeser said.
The change in philosophy is not without challenges, McKane said. The varied backgrounds of the players has led to increased scrutiny to ensure eligibility.
McKane said the critical issue is making sure players received no payment that violated NCAA rules, and did not play in a league against professionals. That's especially challenging when reviewing résumés of foreign players, and McKane said he has at times had to rule against players seeking to enter the league.
"It's completely different than all our other sports," McKane said. "Hockey is the only sport right now having kids delay enrollment because they've pursued their hope of playing at the highest level, Division I."
Juniors required?
St. Mary's coach Bill Moore is a former high school coach and head of the state hockey coaches association. But he said he has not watched a high school game for almost two years.
"I love Minnesota high school hockey, but the fact is you can't win with 18-year-old kids playing against 24-year-old college seniors," Moore said. "You're looking at junior players who are 20-year-old freshmen, with 120 games more experience than high school kids. And some of those juniors are borderline Division I players."
Moore offers this caveat: His preference for juniors is based in part on being in the midst of a rebuilding project at St. Mary's, which he says makes it difficult to attract an elite high school player. He notes that the top conference programs, such as St. Thomas, still attract interest from such players.
An example is Riley Horgan, who jumped directly from Mound-Westonka to St. Thomas. The benefits of taking Horgan out of high school, St. Thomas' Boeser said, extend beyond his obvious talent level.
"If Riley would have played juniors, we'd have never gotten him," Boeser said. "He'd be playing Division I right now."
Still, players such as Horgan are more and more becoming the exception, largely because juniors are generally bigger and stronger. That, Moore said, was highlighted for him in fall tryouts, when four of his players suffered concussions. All four were straight out of high school.
Talent upswing
The MIAC's caliber of competition is such that Hesketh doesn't believe his prospects of playing in the NHL will be diminished by his college choice. Hesketh initially went to juniors after graduating from Minnetonka, then suffered a serious concussion that sidelined him almost four months. His perspective of hockey changed, he said, and he opted to decommit from Wisconsin and enroll at Hamline.
Edmonton has effectively cut its ties with Hesketh, but the player remains optimistic another NHL team will give him a look.
"In juniors, you're more of a number than a name; it's run as a business," Hesketh said. "I heard about the Hamline program, how well they were doing, and I wanted to get a good education, so I went with it. It doesn't matter where you play, it's how you play.
"I still have everything in place for me. I'm chasing my [NHL] dream. But I'm going to be further along [with an education] than most kids who start out in pro hockey."
Several MIAC players, including Arrigoni, hope to continue chasing a pro hockey career after they leave school, as former Hamline star Chris Berenguer did this season with Trenton in the East Coast Hockey League.
"You go through an adjustment period after you realize you're not going to Division I or going to the Gophers, wherever it may be," Arrigoni said. "But there's still opportunities to go out and play professionally [out of the MIAC]."
Not everyone views the MIAC as a steppingstone for more hockey. Rob Philipp, a St. Thomas senior, played two years of juniors, got a Division I offer at Air Force and, after weeks of deliberation, opted to decommit and enroll at St. Thomas.
"It's weird, everyone goes to juniors because they want a Division I scholarship," Philipp said. "That was my goal for a long time. But now, after a few years in the MIAC, I'm really happy with my decision."
Philipp has a job offer from Honeywell and has July 11 -- his start date -- circled on his calendar.
Until then, he'll try to help the Tommies chase a conference title in a league that has changed dramatically from the one he entered four seasons ago.
"It's almost necessary now to have played juniors to crack the lineup in Division III," he said. "It's gotten that competitive."
Nice article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune about the caliber of competition in the MIAC and DIII in general.
"Their individual dreams were once the same, of Division I hockey and large, rowdy crowds at places such as Minnesota, Wisconsin or North Dakota.
But the players who fill the rosters of MIAC men's hockey teams offer proof that the Division I dream is as elusive as it is widespread for Minnesota high school players.
The MIAC is comprised of relatively small, private schools that, as NCAA Division III members, can offer no athletic scholarships. Less than a decade ago, the MIAC recruited most of its players directly out of high school. This season 78 percent of the league's varsity players are products of the junior hockey ranks.
It is not an exaggeration, league coaches and players say, to conclude that almost 80 percent of the league's players still carried hopes of playing Division I when they finished high school.
"I don't think being in Minnesota high school hockey, as glorified as it is, that any kid's goal is to be playing Division III,'' said Brian Arrigoni, a former Hill-Murray star who is now a senior at Hamline. "Everyone hopes and wishes for the best, but it doesn't always happen."
And yet, the MIAC can hardly be called a league of broken dreams, although at first glance it might appear that way.
On a recent Friday night, Arrigoni and his Hamline teammates faced St. Thomas at Vadnais Heights Sports Complex, and the bright lights of Division I were in a different galaxy. The game was played in a high school-size arena that has eight rows of bleachers on one side of the rink, three rows on the other.
Plenty of good seats went unfilled.
But the level of hockey belied the surroundings, indicative of the MIAC's recent improvement, coaches say. As the percentage of former junior players has spiked in the past five years, there have been corresponding upgrades in physical traits that come with age, such as strength and speed. MIAC Executive Director Dan McKane said the "level of play is at an all-time high."
"People just aren't educated as to how good this league is," St. John's coach Doug Schueller said. "Every high school kid in the state thinks he can play Division III hockey. That's not the case anymore."
The road to juniors
Arrigoni, who might be the league's most skilled playmaker and a Division III All-America a year ago, is the classic example of the kid who dreamed -- legitimately -- of playing at the highest level. He was a standout at Hill-Murray, playing alongside future Gophers Mike Hoeffel and Nick Larson.
Arrigoni suffered a serious shoulder injury as a high school senior, and surgery at the end of the year required four anchors and eight pins to secure his shoulder in place. So much for his immediate hopes of following his high school teammates to Minnesota.
He moved on to Indiana in the United States Hockey League -- the top American junior league from which most Division I players come. He said he was in essence a role player, miscast in his mind, although at the end of the year he received a Division I offer from Mercyhurst.
"I was young, and I don't know if I was arrogant or what, but as a Minnesota kid I had always dreamed of playing WCHA hockey, so I turned it down," Arrigoni said. "To make a long story short, I struggled a bit the next year and didn't get another offer."
There are countless such stories in the conference, each one with a slightly different twist. The MIAC boasts a pair of NHL draft picks -- Hamline's Troy Hesketh, selected in the third round by Edmonton in 2009, and St. Thomas' Chris Hickey, a seventh-round Wild choice in 2006. There are about a dozen Division I transfers, several former players from Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault (Minnesota's equivalent of a hockey prep school), three Swedish teammates at St. John's and 11 Canadians and a Czech player at Concordia (Moorhead).
The reason for the MIAC's shift in recruiting base from high schools to juniors, and in some cases foreign players, is part of a national trend in college hockey. The MIAC, in fact, is a relative latecomer to recruiting juniors compared to many Eastern schools and rival Wisconsin state colleges such as UW-River Falls, Stevens Point and Eau Claire, which average about 90 percent former junior players on their rosters.
The MIAC has not had a team in either of the past two NCAA Division III Final Fours, and never has won an NCAA hockey title.
"If we want to keep up with all the other teams in Division III, and have success, we had to alter our direction and go toward junior kids," St. Thomas coach Jeff Boeser said.
The change in philosophy is not without challenges, McKane said. The varied backgrounds of the players has led to increased scrutiny to ensure eligibility.
McKane said the critical issue is making sure players received no payment that violated NCAA rules, and did not play in a league against professionals. That's especially challenging when reviewing résumés of foreign players, and McKane said he has at times had to rule against players seeking to enter the league.
"It's completely different than all our other sports," McKane said. "Hockey is the only sport right now having kids delay enrollment because they've pursued their hope of playing at the highest level, Division I."
Juniors required?
St. Mary's coach Bill Moore is a former high school coach and head of the state hockey coaches association. But he said he has not watched a high school game for almost two years.
"I love Minnesota high school hockey, but the fact is you can't win with 18-year-old kids playing against 24-year-old college seniors," Moore said. "You're looking at junior players who are 20-year-old freshmen, with 120 games more experience than high school kids. And some of those juniors are borderline Division I players."
Moore offers this caveat: His preference for juniors is based in part on being in the midst of a rebuilding project at St. Mary's, which he says makes it difficult to attract an elite high school player. He notes that the top conference programs, such as St. Thomas, still attract interest from such players.
An example is Riley Horgan, who jumped directly from Mound-Westonka to St. Thomas. The benefits of taking Horgan out of high school, St. Thomas' Boeser said, extend beyond his obvious talent level.
"If Riley would have played juniors, we'd have never gotten him," Boeser said. "He'd be playing Division I right now."
Still, players such as Horgan are more and more becoming the exception, largely because juniors are generally bigger and stronger. That, Moore said, was highlighted for him in fall tryouts, when four of his players suffered concussions. All four were straight out of high school.
Talent upswing
The MIAC's caliber of competition is such that Hesketh doesn't believe his prospects of playing in the NHL will be diminished by his college choice. Hesketh initially went to juniors after graduating from Minnetonka, then suffered a serious concussion that sidelined him almost four months. His perspective of hockey changed, he said, and he opted to decommit from Wisconsin and enroll at Hamline.
Edmonton has effectively cut its ties with Hesketh, but the player remains optimistic another NHL team will give him a look.
"In juniors, you're more of a number than a name; it's run as a business," Hesketh said. "I heard about the Hamline program, how well they were doing, and I wanted to get a good education, so I went with it. It doesn't matter where you play, it's how you play.
"I still have everything in place for me. I'm chasing my [NHL] dream. But I'm going to be further along [with an education] than most kids who start out in pro hockey."
Several MIAC players, including Arrigoni, hope to continue chasing a pro hockey career after they leave school, as former Hamline star Chris Berenguer did this season with Trenton in the East Coast Hockey League.
"You go through an adjustment period after you realize you're not going to Division I or going to the Gophers, wherever it may be," Arrigoni said. "But there's still opportunities to go out and play professionally [out of the MIAC]."
Not everyone views the MIAC as a steppingstone for more hockey. Rob Philipp, a St. Thomas senior, played two years of juniors, got a Division I offer at Air Force and, after weeks of deliberation, opted to decommit and enroll at St. Thomas.
"It's weird, everyone goes to juniors because they want a Division I scholarship," Philipp said. "That was my goal for a long time. But now, after a few years in the MIAC, I'm really happy with my decision."
Philipp has a job offer from Honeywell and has July 11 -- his start date -- circled on his calendar.
Until then, he'll try to help the Tommies chase a conference title in a league that has changed dramatically from the one he entered four seasons ago.
"It's almost necessary now to have played juniors to crack the lineup in Division III," he said. "It's gotten that competitive."
Re: MIAC 2011-12 Thread
St Thomas has proven again this weekend that they deserve to be in the top 10. They dominated again and if wasn't for Hamline's excellent goal tending, the scores would have been wider. The MIAC proves again that it has parity and is the toughest conference in the country right now. No disrespect to Norwich, SUNY or ECAC West. There are no weekends off in the MIAC. USCHO poll might be starting to get it but that D3hockey site as no clue at this point. Although their "computer ranking" were pretty close. Just a thought. Good job boys....YOGA, YOGA, YOGA!
St Thomas has proven again this weekend that they deserve to be in the top 10. They dominated again and if wasn't for Hamline's excellent goal tending, the scores would have been wider. The MIAC proves again that it has parity and is the toughest conference in the country right now. No disrespect to Norwich, SUNY or ECAC West. There are no weekends off in the MIAC. USCHO poll might be starting to get it but that D3hockey site as no clue at this point. Although their "computer ranking" were pretty close. Just a thought. Good job boys....YOGA, YOGA, YOGA!
... followed by the NCHA ...
Re: MIAC 2011-12 Thread
St Thomas again. As predicted in pre-season, St Thomas on top of the MIAC and Nationally ranked. They should and deserve to move up more this week. Hope the pollsters were watching!!
As for ECAC West, there are some good teams but they are not in a real division, they need a few more teams to be recognized.
St Thomas again. As predicted in pre-season, St Thomas on top of the MIAC and Nationally ranked. They should and deserve to move up more this week. Hope the pollsters were watching!!
As for ECAC West, there are some good teams but they are not in a real division, they need a few more teams to be recognized.
PSUChamps2001
Member of the REAL Zoo Crew
I may not like the ECAC West but thats one of the dumbest statements of all time....
bakdraft21
Well-known member
Re: MIAC 2011-12 Thread
WOW dont know how that 1 got by me, or everone else besides Remy.....I think this guy has missed a lot of hockey....ECACWest is probably in the top 3 or 4 as far as competion is concerned, remind me who plays in the MIAC??? and I am Not taking anything away from St T.
Re: MIAC 2011-12 Thread
ECAC-West is hands down the hardest conference in all of division III. All of the ECAC West schools are above .500
Elmira 13-6-2 .667
Manhattanville 11-5-3 .658
Utica 14-5-1 .725
Neumann 12-6-0 .667
Hobart 10-9-0 .526
Hobart which is the lowest rated of the 5 has beaten the likes of Buff State, Geneseo, Amherst, and Curry to name a few. If you compare that with the MIAC who you claim is the hardest conference you've only got 3 teams above .500 out of 9.
Again I don't mean to take anything away from St Thomas, but your claims that ECAC-W isn't a real "division"(conference) are nuts.
ECAC-West is hands down the hardest conference in all of division III. All of the ECAC West schools are above .500
Elmira 13-6-2 .667
Manhattanville 11-5-3 .658
Utica 14-5-1 .725
Neumann 12-6-0 .667
Hobart 10-9-0 .526
Hobart which is the lowest rated of the 5 has beaten the likes of Buff State, Geneseo, Amherst, and Curry to name a few. If you compare that with the MIAC who you claim is the hardest conference you've only got 3 teams above .500 out of 9.
Again I don't mean to take anything away from St Thomas, but your claims that ECAC-W isn't a real "division"(conference) are nuts.
bakdraft21
Well-known member
Re: MIAC 2011-12 Thread
, I just knew that its a kick*** division
thnks I was to lazy to do all that work on the info for the ECAC West
, I just knew that its a kick*** division