Re: Ncha 2010-2011
For the Western teams the NCHA is the toughest and most competitive league hands down. There may be the perennial power however even they can be beat any given night and most teams keep up with them.
Nationally I think we could keep up but is a different story entirely. I think we could keep up and be very competitive however there are not enough crossovers until tournament time.
Not to do cartwheels on the "which conference is best" third rail again, but the key with the NCHA is the depth.
While the league might not have a team in a given year that is capable of running roughshod to the national title, the teams down in the 4-7 range are awfully good. Without being biased, I've seen enough to firmly believe that if you put the 4-7th NCHA teams in a given year up against the equivalent from another league, the NCHA would fare extremely well in the long run.
This is why we've seen the NCHA dominate the MIAC in recent years. I believe most people's perception of the MIAC is misguided - it's a better league than most give it credit for - but a lot of that stems from its poor record against the NCHA as of late. The NCHA doesn't roll up that record against the top three teams in the MIAC...but rather, it's because the rest of the MIAC has been getting hammered by those 3/4-7 NCHA teams.
Look at the predictions in this thread alone. SNC is a clear frontrunner, but 2-7 are literally wide open, which speaks to the depth. Things are so tight there it's the little things that make a giant difference when all is said and done (and let's assume Stout plays):
Stout: Will be younger, but the recruits are solid, especially the last four announced. Can it recapture the lightning of 07-08 and 08-09?
Point: Has the talent, but can they stay out of the box and put it all together? If so, could easily make a run.
Falls: Resurgent last year to the surprise of some. Lose a bit but likely aren't going to be any worse.
Eau Claire: A year older and wiser. Can they find a bit of scoring?
Superior: Lose some scoring, but some nice recruits including a NAHL workhorse in net. If someone steps up in net and others pick up the Wilson, Isley, etc. scoring slack...lookout.
Scholastica: Also lost some key pieces, but they execute extremely well and appearto have reloaded. Don't sleep on Dawes as a bonafide potential NCHA POTY.
That's quite general, but when you look at something like Stout gelling (again), Point finding some magic mix of grit and discipline, Scholastica's newcomers quickly adapting to a proven system, Superior finding just a few more pieces, Eau Claire maybe getting a few big wins early and believing...the margin for error is so tight. Those are such small and unpredictable things in a way. Any could finish 2nd...or 7th, and someone could rise up and unseat SNC. It's happened before. And again, the predictions here from people who know what they are talking about reflect that.
It's not the top team or two that makes the NCHA as tough as it is...it's the rest of them.
