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Michigan Tech Huskies 2024-25 - OK MacNaughton, Stop Ducking Us

BC/HE said:
I am curious about the CCHA autobid for the NCAA tournament. Is Augustana disqualified from receiving the bid this year? It appears that playoffstatus.com is making that assumption. If so, does that mean that if they play for the championship that the other participant automatically receives the autobid?
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Augustana is eligible for the autobid this year. St. Thomas is not eligible this year but is eligible next year.
 
There was a big AAA hockey youth tournament in Detroit this week. Teams from as far away as Las Vegas came to it.(I was flying to las vegas so i saw them) Teams in college hockey gave away swag. BC gave away hoodies which were worn by many afterwards and on the way home. CC, Minnesota, and a few others gave away those things that go around your neck and hold your ID. Didnt see any tech stuff.
 
Tough news for MTU commit Michael Cicek today. His season (and consequently, his WHL career) is over after getting cut by a skate in his left forearm Friday. Surgery was successful and he is beginning his recovery. Awful way to end your time with a team, and he was an important leader for them.
 
I would be very very careful with these overage CHL players, their stats are inflated as those league do not hit or play much defense. My concern is the attraction to the CHL as it is new candy in the store and top end BCHL/NAHL are players are being bypassed my certain teams. Mark my words with all the WHL players that BG has added for next year they will be bottom 2 in the CCHA. Yep I stand by it. Go watch a CHL game and watch these players and you will see what I see. The top end CHL players are going to the AHL or Europe.
 
Puckstopper467 said:
I would be very very careful with these overage CHL players, their stats are inflated as those league do not hit or play much defense. My concern is the attraction to the CHL as it is new candy in the store and top end BCHL/NAHL are players are being bypassed my certain teams. Mark my words with all the WHL players that BG has added for next year they will be bottom 2 in the CCHA. Yep I stand by it. Go watch a CHL game and watch these players and you will see what I see. The top end CHL players are going to the AHL or Europe.
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With the CHL now NCAA eligible top end players in the USHL/BCHL have been transferring in because they can get a stipend that the other leagues don't pay. Drafted players are most likely doing what their NHL team thinks is best for their development. Teams in the CCHA are probably getting the same level of players they always have but the league they come from is different.
 
Puckstopper467 said:
I would be very very careful with these overage CHL players, their stats are inflated as those league do not hit or play much defense. My concern is the attraction to the CHL as it is new candy in the store and top end BCHL/NAHL are players are being bypassed my certain teams. Mark my words with all the WHL players that BG has added for next year they will be bottom 2 in the CCHA. Yep I stand by it. Go watch a CHL game and watch these players and you will see what I see. The top end CHL players are going to the AHL or Europe.
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BG is going to finish 8th or 9th next year? Really? Connor Levis already has 2 games in the AHL (maintained his eligibility). Mazden Leslie may be drafted this next time around. If Sloan, Morneau, Crampton, Levis, Minville, Whynott, and Higgins produce at only 2/3 their current production, BG is still way ahead of where we are currently as we're in 4th place with zero natural goal scorers. Sure, nothing is guaranteed and I'm certainly not predicting the MacNaughton, but worse than Northern, Ferris, and/or Lakers? Really?
 
TalonsUpPuckDown said:
BG is going to finish 8th or 9th next year? Really? Connor Levis already has 2 games in the AHL (maintained his eligibility). Mazden Leslie may be drafted this next time around. If Sloan, Morneau, Crampton, Levis, Minville, Whynott, and Higgins produce at only 2/3 their current production, BG is still way ahead of where we are currently as we're in 4th place with zero natural goal scorers. Sure, nothing is guaranteed and I'm certainly not predicting the MacNaughton, but worse than Northern, Ferris, and/or Lakers? Really?
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Have you seen Connor Levis play? there is a reason only 2 games and this was an advisor thing for those 2 games.
 
Puckstopper467 said:
Have you seen Connor Levis play? there is a reason only 2 games and this was an advisor thing for those 2 games.
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I get it, but my point is this guy isn't the typical USHL/NAHL leftover the CCHA as a league is stuck recruiting and neither are any of the other CHL guys teams in this league have been recruiting. No one says they're first rounders. But I guess we'll see if the 10 CHL guys Willy has recruited are drastically worse than what Bob Daniels and Damon Whitten have been recently recruiting -- because that's what you mean when you say BG will finish 8th or 9th -- that these CHL guys are all worse than some mid-level NAHL guy.
 
I'm sorry I guess I am just sticking up for or a proponent of all these BCHL/NAHL players who are just as good or better than the CHL players and now will be forced into D3 as they will be bypassed over! This is a Tech thread and I need to take this to another thread.
 
To be honest I trust our coaches to pick out guys, from whatever league, that are the best fit and have the most talent. If a player from the NAHL is it, then great and good for him. I think players from those leagues will still be looked at. Personally, I'd like it if we picked up a few younger guys and left off the 21-year-olds from losing teams. I wasn't a swankler fan and more swanklers i'm not interested in.
 
The only way anyone from the ccha is getting top players is by working harder than the big ten teams. Everyone is in the same boat and everyone needs to do better. There are some advantages we can sell, and some of those players could be sold, but it's going to take some serious work. In Michigan U of M and MS get their pick pretty much. After that it's a dog fight and the eastern teams are here as well. You have to work extra hard. I'm ok with MJ players but I want the quality of play to improve and I think ccha teams need to be willing to recruit 17 yr old MJ players.
 
manurespreader said:
The only way anyone from the ccha is getting top players is by working harder than the big ten teams. Everyone is in the same boat and everyone needs to do better. There are some advantages we can sell, and some of those players could be sold, but it's going to take some serious work. In Michigan U of M and MS get their pick pretty much. After that it's a dog fight and the eastern teams are here as well. You have to work extra hard. I'm ok with MJ players but I want the quality of play to improve and I think ccha teams need to be willing to recruit 17 yr old MJ players.
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Completely agree with this. No team should shy from recruiting a player if they think that player will fit their program. They may not win a lot, but with the transfer portal, they may be available again down the line.
 
IMO, if we want to start competing with the big dogs, we need to leverage every advantage we can. Right now the CCHA gets the recruiting leftovers. Agents are actively steering top talent to the B1G, Nachos, and HE. Right now an NTDP kid or potential 1st/2nd round pick won't bother picking up the phone when a CCHA coach calls. If we, as a league, can raise our profile by leveraging CHL talent and start competing for NTDP-level kids, then I'm all for it. I like the CHL guys Joe has picked up. Same with Serratore.

Of course it would also help if the CCHA executive leadership would instruct the refereeing department to call a more NHL-style, free flowing game instead of allowing clutch-and-grab on every play, but that's another matter.
 
manurespreader said:
To be honest I trust our coaches to pick out guys, from whatever league, that are the best fit and have the most talent. If a player from the NAHL is it, then great and good for him. I think players from those leagues will still be looked at. Personally, I'd like it if we picked up a few younger guys and left off the 21-year-olds from losing teams.
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I think the overwhelming amount of overage players we are seeing right now is an immediate balancing act but we are going to see more and more CHL commits for younger players. There's some broader league context/politics behind this–most notably worry over players leaving before their 19-year-old year. CHL teams/league announcements of a player commitment usually has some line about "at the completion of their CHL eligibility" to emphasize this. It's more a concern for the super high end younger players who would make enough money NIL wise that forfeiting their CHL scholarship package would not make a difference, but still a touchy subject.

Overage players are usually a good bet to take, because they are a finite resource and them being on a team means they're considered very valuable. CHL teams are limited to 3 20 y/o max and basically up until the trade deadline they are in danger of becoming obsolete and traded for an upgrade or even released. I'd imagine scouts also have more reports on them and plenty of NCAA teams are tapping into outside scouts with more major junior viewings as well as their own viewings.

I've said earlier my opinions on Birnie and Boehm, both are very solid pickups for this team. Not as familiar with Cicek but his brother was on the Sharks, great kid with a good work ethic and Michael seems to be the same. Kelowna is devastated to lose him since he's so important to their leadership group. In general, if you trust in your own teams scouting abilities like manurespreader, you are probably going to get solid players who love hockey and are stoked for this opportunity.

I'm considering making a thread for these sorts of info or questions for a more general look at the CHL landscape rather than randomly chiming in on team specific threads about certain players I'm familiar with. If that would be of interest, maybe look out for that.
 
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