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Ncha 2021-22

T

Tom Coughlin

5x NCAA Champ/2x Super Bowl Champ
NCHA conference play kicks off this weekend. A new format this year, with a 3/2/1 point structure, 3-3 overtime with a shootout if still tied after 5 minutes.

Adrian is the heavy favorite to repeat as regular season champs based on the coaches poll, but the conference looks to be as competitive as ever.
 
It will be interesting to see how the NCHA approaches the rescheduling of the Lawrence @ Adrian series (Jan. 7-8), which has been postponed due to Covid protocol.
Both teams have weekend series with other opponents lined up through Feb. 11 - 12...and the NCHA conference playoffs start the following weekend.
 
pete99race said:
It will be interesting to see how the NCHA approaches the rescheduling of the Lawrence @ Adrian series (Jan. 7-8), which has been postponed due to Covid protocol.
Both teams have weekend series with other opponents lined up through Feb. 11 - 12...and the NCHA conference playoffs start the following weekend.
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That will be tough to squeeze in, especially given the travel time from Appleton to Adrian.
 
Tom Coughlin said:
That will be tough to squeeze in, especially given the travel time from Appleton to Adrian.
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Could give the teams a third game during a future week...Adrian has two game road series versus both Concordia and Aurora yet to play and Lawrence has a two game road series @ LFC...
 
St. Norbert with a good rebound today against Adrian. SNC may be down a little from past years but much of the NCHA has really improved. SNC has beaten both Adrian and Trine this year, while perennial national power Utica went 0-2-1 against those two teams. Makes me wonder what Utica's record would be in the NCHA as opposed to the league of cripples they're in presently.
 
Fishman trolling aside...MSOE has a 5-2 lead over Aurora after 2. If the current result holds, or the game goes to OT, SNC will grab the 2 seed.
 
Although I have to agree that the NCHA has become incredibly competitive. 1-4 will be separated by at most 4 points in the standings pending the final in Aurora.
 
Tom Coughlin said:
Although I have to agree that the NCHA has become incredibly competitive. 1-4 will be separated by at most 4 points in the standings pending the final in Aurora.
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Which means a lot of teams have gotten better. It's not just the Adrian and St. Norbert show anymore.

Based on what I've seen this year, Utica would be lucky to get home ice for the quarterfinals in the NCHA. If a perennial national power such as Utica would be fifth at best, then the NCHA is competitive as heck.
 
Unbelievable. Aurora comes all the way back to win 7-6 in regulation and steal the 2 seed. SNC will be 3 and Trine 4. Top 4 finish with 40, 39, 39, and 37 points.
 
Tom Coughlin said:
Fishman trolling aside...MSOE has a 5-2 lead over Aurora after 2. If the current result holds, or the game goes to OT, SNC will grab the 2 seed.
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I'm glad SNC is the 3 seed because I want to see them get another crack at Marian on the regulation sheet. Only bummer about being #3 is the potential trip to Aurora (whom I also want to see them have another crack at!) where they, no doubt, will be scheduled in the Pee Wee time slot around lunchtime because Aurora is not the primary tenant at their home rink and has to schedule around a Junior team.
 
It's so hard not to think about what could have been with this year's SNC squad. I realize that the season isn't over yet, but if they could have closed out just one of three games in January where they had a 2 goal lead in the third period (two of those with less than 3 minutes to play), they'd be regular season conference champs.
 
Having the national player of the year in Peter Bates last season helped push this issue off by a year, but I think taking the covid season off is really coming back to bite SNC.
 
Tom Coughlin said:
Having the national player of the year in Peter Bates last season helped push this issue off by a year, but I think taking the covid season off is really coming back to bite SNC.
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Not being able to close out games has nothing to do with the covid season. Being in the middle of the pack offensively and not putting teams away is likely the issue. More scoring and those late goals allowed aren't even a factor.
 
Sir Nubs said:
Not being able to close out games has nothing to do with the covid season. Being in the middle of the pack offensively and not putting teams away is likely the issue. More scoring and those late goals allowed aren't even a factor.
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I'm thinking about it from a lack of experience perspective. In terms of games played, SNC is a team full of Freshmen and Sophomores, plus a few Juniors.

Experience usually doesn't turn a 2 goal output into a 4 goal output, but it goes a long way towards closing out at least one of those games where they had a late lead.
 
Tom Coughlin said:
I'm thinking about it from a lack of experience perspective. In terms of games played, SNC is a team full of Freshmen and Sophomores, plus a few Juniors.

Experience usually doesn't turn a 2 goal output into a 4 goal output, but it goes a long way towards closing out at least one of those games where they had a late lead.
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Absolutely.
 
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