In his book " The signal and the Noise" Nate Silver talks about why most people who prognosticate are totally wrong. Especially those who prognosticate on TV.
So with that in mind maybe it would be better to elucidate about our respective teams a bit since most Wcha fans know little about the ccha teams and vica versa.
I don't know much myself but I do know a little so here's my little and i'd invite other fans to expound on it.
Mankato- Best goalie in the Wcha as a freshman, went over to an up tempo game when Hastings was hired as coach at the end of last year. Have a lot of talent. I don't know how much they are losing, but being Where they are, and with who is coach they will be able to recruit high end players and will be very competitive. they Skate on an olympic rink. Rink seats around 5500 if i'm not mistaken.
MTU- also has gone over to an up tempo game. Has two freshman goalies this year, sophomores next year, both got a good bit of time this year. Also quite a number of skill players, especially underclassmen, with more coming in next year. losing a couple of defensemen but picking up some good ones as well. Will be a better team next year than this year. Tech Skates on an NHL rink, capacity is around 4000 and though the rink has been around, it is in very good shape and is a really good place to watch hockey. Other hockey facilities( weight room, etc) are also very high end and compete with anyone's.
Bemidji- Very good goaltending, and a defensive game, Bemidji has a number of seniors and losing them will hurt to some degree. Bemidji likes to throw the puck up the rink and chase it down hoping to get behind a sleepy defense. Facilities are among the best in the nWcha. Fantastic nhl rink which is almost brand new, seating around 5500 also.They will be tough for any team.
AA- I think they will end up changing coaches this year. Play a defensive style on an olympic sheet. A number of positives going into next year but not as many scorers as they might want. Some good recruits coming in. The jury is out on how well they will do depending on the coaching situation and the amount of money they are willing to spend.
NMU- always in games they do better at home, also have an olympic sheet and swept st cloud in st cloud this year as well as wisconsin. I have no idea why they do poorly away or why they seemingly can't quite put it together.
Ferris- liked their team last year but know very little about this years team. NHL rink, which is quite small. Don't know much about the other facilities. I know they play a defensive style and have been fairly successful in doing so.
LSSU- seems like a jeckyl and hyde team but again I don't follow them closely at all. I believe they are getting some significant upgrades to the rink this year, which is an nhl size sheet. Even though we played them early in the year I don't remember much about the style of play or what they will lose or have coming in.
BGSU- older nhl rink which did get some upgrades recently, fairly new coach and a new positive attitude. losing a senior goalie and the top defenseman. I don't know that much about the incoming class, or the style of play. I was able to watch several of their games on TV and they were quite competitive with the big name schools. They did have some very good wins this year before seeming to fade at the end.
Hunstville- know very little except he rink is pretty big and it's warm there.
Alaska Fairbanks- Once again, don't know much, they had a number of good wins mid season and were very close to making the tourney but faded at the end. I suspect they will be a dark horse next year.
One other thing. all these olympic rinks. I think it's an advantage during the regular season, but come ncaa time I think it hurts a team. Things happen a lot faster on an nhl sheet and there is not the time that olympic sheets have. So I think teams with big sheets struggle more in the playoffs because of it. Especially st cloud.
