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The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

So we haven't had any prognosticators prognosticate yet this year. before this get's going too much, how about a summary from someone at each school on the team they have. Losses from last year, goaltending, incoming freshmen, ( and not just, oh we are high on so and so,.... everyone is high on so and so), the strength of schedule, the non con schedule etc..

I know NMU is thinking they will be much better, as is Anchorage, etc.
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

The Alaska Nanooks, after a third place finish in their inaugural season in the WCHA and first round playoff loss to UAA, look to fill some holes this season.

Gone are leading scorer, team MVP and WCHA Player of the Year Cody Kunyk, his line mate Colten Beck and team top defenseman Michael Quinn.

Goaltending will be an all out battle with Sean Cahill, John Keeney and Davis Jones all in the mix.

Newcomers include Fairbanks Ice Dog and local Tayler Munson.

The schedule includes the Brice Alaska Goal Rush that will feature former coach Guy Gadowsky and his Penn State Nittany Lions. Gadz will be inducted into the Alaska Nanook Hall of Fame at the end of the month.

Maine and Wisconsin will be the opponents at the Kendall Classic in Anchorage.

The team’s annual two week road trip, normally in January, is in October at non -conference Western Michigan and the league opener at Bemidji State. The team will also travel to Alabama Huntsville in February.

Dallas Ferguson returns for his seventh season as head coach.

The team will host Fan Fest on Saturday September 13th, play their blue/gold game on September 27th and open at the Carlson Center with an exhibition on October 3rd against Western Ontario.
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

Three games separated 3rd and 9th places last year and it could be a very tight race again. I see Minnesota State at the top, UAH at the bottom. What happens in between is anybody's guess. I do think NMU will be improved, despite the loss of leading scorer Stephane Vigier. Five newcomers topped 15 points a year ago, with John Siemer putting up 18 despite not joining the team until the semester break. Rookie Sami Salminen added 10 and Gerard Hanson 8 in a half season. Soph Darren Nowick chipped in 10 pts and should put up more this year. The duo of Shane Sooth and Dom Shine has tremendous potential. This may be as deep a group of forwards as NMU has had in quite some time and Sr. Reed Seckel will be a key for NMU. The defense suffered a crushing blow, losing CJ Ludwig 13 games into the season where he was one of the top defenders along with having a breakout offensive year. The loss of Ludwig allowed Fr Brock Maschmeyer and transfer Barrett Kaib to log a lot of minutes they may otherwise not have gotten and both will be looked upon to lead the D along with Luke Eibler and Mitch Jones. G Matthias Dahlstrom had a solid Freshman year and if he can take a step forward could really be a game changer. Among the newcomers, Forwards Robbie Payne and Zach Diamantoni should add some scoring depth while blueliners Marshal Donald and Jordan Klimek will see plenty of ice time as well. There's no reason for this team to not be in the home ice playoff group at the end of the regular season. An overall total of 20+ wins is a very reasonable goal.
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

Yes, I know this isn't really WCHA related, but:

I predict that before the mid-season break our "friends" at Miami will be under the NCAA microscope for some sort of recruiting/improper benefits violation.

***DISCLAIMER***
I have ZERO first hand information on which to base this belief, only a gut feeling that something down there doesn't smell right.
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

For Bemidji State, gone are the three seniors, Jeff Jubinville, Radoslav Illo and Matt Hartmann. Also not showing up on the roster from last year are D.J Jones, Danny Mattson and Brad Robbins.

Also gone is assistant coach Bert Gilling who took a college head coaching job at Mount Royal University in Calgary. Up until that departure, the BSU coaching staff had the longest tenure of that in NCAA Hockey, something like 10 or 11 years together.

Showing up as the incoming freshmen class are Michael Bitzer (G), Kyle Bauman (F), Jordan Heller (F), Leo Fitzgerald (F), Gerry Fitzgerald (F), Myles Fitzgerald (F), Brett Beauvais (D) and Jay Dickman (F).

Not sure what to make of this year's team as of yet. The top four scorers are back this year (Ward, Gerbrandt, Prapavessis, Harms) so that should bode well as they all will be a year older. The Beavers started out more wide open offensively last year, putting up decent numbers early on. That offense then declined in the second half of the year.

I think if I had to pick one area where I was disappointed last year was goaltending. Not very often you can say that about a BSU team. The job was Andrew Walsh's to run with last year, but there were times it seemed like his focus was someplace else. That opened the door for Jesse Wilkins to make an impact as a freshman, and he did well in his early starts and then struggled some at the end. Those two, along with Reid Mimmick and Michael Bitzer are going to be battling for time as I don't think Walsh really did anything last year to solidify himself as the go to guy (even if he is a senior).

As for the incoming freshmen, everyone in Bemidji is looking forward to the Fitzgerald triplets and seeing if their production in the BCHL will continue over to NCAA play. I think most fans realize that it is a huge jump from Juniors to NCAA Hockey and that defense tends to be a lot stiffer in the NCAA ranks. Jay Dickman is generating some buzz as well, being 6'6" and 225 pounds. He put up good numbers in the NAHL with Austin this past year.

Schedule wise, the Beavers don't get a break early on. They start off with a home and home with North Dakota and then play at Minnesota. They then have Fairbanks at home to open up WCHA play. Rounding out non-conference play is St. Cloud State in Bemidji, and then the North Star Cup, taking on Duluth in the first game and then either Minnesota or Mankato. In conference play, they will have Mankato, Michigan Tech, Bowling Green, Anchorage and Northern Michigan for four games, play Huntsville, Fairbanks and in Bemidji, and will be on the road at Ferris and Lake Superior.

I do think the Beavers will improve on their 10-21-7 (10-14-3 WCHA) record. I think a .500 record in league play is doable, .500 overall would be a great season, but a stretch looking at the non-conference schedule.

Hey, its the beginning of the year and everyone has hopes of grandeur!
 
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Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

Freddie said:
Yes, I know this isn't really WCHA related, but:

I predict that before the mid-season break our "friends" at Miami will be under the NCAA microscope for some sort of recruiting/improper benefits violation.

***DISCLAIMER***
I have ZERO first hand information on which to base this belief, only a gut feeling that something down there doesn't smell right.
Click to expand...

Kind of a bizarre thing to have a "gut feeling about". Care to elaborate?
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

Geof will probably add to this, but here's what I have for UAH:

As one might expect from a squad that went 2-35-1, there is a bit of turnover on the roster. Gone are four graduates (Alex Allan, Brice Geoffrion, Mat Hagen, and CJ Groh) and six more cut.

Sixteen players return, including our goaltending tandem of Matt Larose and Carmine Guerriero, each of whom showed signs of brightness in their freshmen campaigns as well as growing pains. They were easily our co-MVPs last season. You may recall that Guerriero made a school D-I record 61 saves at Minnesota State back in February.

UAH's offense was almost nonexistent, to put it mildly, scoring only 41 goals in 38 games. Only four players had double-digit points on the season, led by Jack Prince (8-5-13), Matt Salhany (5-7-12), and Chad Brears (6-4-10). Salhany was impressive with his speed as a freshman. The other 10-point scorer was defenseman Steve Koshey, who was one of those cut.

Eight freshmen join the Chargers, along with junior Alex Carpenter, who sat out a year after transferring from Western Michigan. The newcomer I'm particularly most interested in is Max McHugh, who signed with UAH during the early period and scored 21 goals for Dubuque of the USHL last season.

This is the first time in four years or so that the entire staff has stayed intact, which is crucial if this program is to find the stability and growth it desperately needs.

We play 36 regular season games plus two home exhibitions against the U.S. Under-18 squad. All 14 regular-season home games are WCHA contests. Our non-conference series are at Colorado College to open the season, at Northern Michigan (we had a contract with them before joining the WCHA), at Air Force (Coach Corbett's homecoming), and at Nebraska-Omaha.

Geof and I are hoping for about eight wins this season, which sounds silly without context but for us represents actual growth, and we'll take anything we can get at this point. Last year's experience, however painful, was necessary for the returning players to realize what it takes to be a true Division I program again.

LET'S GO CHARGERS!!!
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

UAHStatman said:
Geof will probably add to this, but here's what I have for UAH:

As one might expect from a squad that went 2-35-1, there is a bit of turnover on the roster. Gone are four graduates (Alex Allan, Brice Geoffrion, Mat Hagen, and CJ Groh) and six more cut.

Sixteen players return, including our goaltending tandem of Matt Larose and Carmine Guerriero, each of whom showed signs of brightness in their freshmen campaigns as well as growing pains. They were easily our co-MVPs last season. You may recall that Guerriero made a school D-I record 61 saves at Minnesota State back in February.

UAH's offense was almost nonexistent, to put it mildly, scoring only 41 goals in 38 games. Only four players had double-digit points on the season, led by Jack Prince (8-5-13), Matt Salhany (5-7-12), and Chad Brears (6-4-10). Salhany was impressive with his speed as a freshman. The other 10-point scorer was defenseman Steve Koshey, who was one of those cut.

Eight freshmen join the Chargers, along with junior Alex Carpenter, who sat out a year after transferring from Western Michigan. The newcomer I'm particularly most interested in is Max McHugh, who signed with UAH during the early period and scored 21 goals for Dubuque of the USHL last season.

This is the first time in four years or so that the entire staff has stayed intact, which is crucial if this program is to find the stability and growth it desperately needs.

We play 36 regular season games plus two home exhibitions against the U.S. Under-18 squad. All 14 regular-season home games are WCHA contests. Our non-conference series are at Colorado College to open the season, at Northern Michigan (we had a contract with them before joining the WCHA), at Air Force (Coach Corbett's homecoming), and at Nebraska-Omaha.

Geof and I are hoping for about eight wins this season, which sounds silly without context but for us represents actual growth, and we'll take anything we can get at this point. Last year's experience, however painful, was necessary for the returning players to realize what it takes to be a true Division I program again.

LET'S GO CHARGERS!!!
Click to expand...

Call the series at NMU a homecoming for Corbett as well. He played Midget AAA for the Marquette Electricians, his wife is a Marquette native and his son was born there too.
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

UAHStatman said:
Our non-conference series are at Colorado College to open the season, at Northern Michigan (we had a contract with them before joining the WCHA), at Air Force (Coach Corbett's homecoming), and at Nebraska-Omaha.
Click to expand...
I just went and looked at the dates - @ CC Oct 10/11 and then @ AF Nov 07/08. The Chargers are going to have some bus legs that month. Of course for the kids on the roster that lived through the "Independent Era" I'm sure they are just glad to have a very solid D-I schedule with good teams every weekend. That's a very solid non-conference schedule.
Ryan J
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

WCHA makes it official, Edina is the new home of the WCHA.

http://wcha.com/men/wcha/contact.php

Western Collegiate Hockey Association
Suite C
Minnesota State University, Mankato at Edina
7700 France Avenue South, Suite 360
Edina, MN 55431
Click to expand...

Mankato is the host school for the league office. Cue rumors of them leaving the WCHA causing the league to look for a new home office soon. :p :D
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

aparch said:
Mankato is the host school for the league office. Cue rumors of them leaving the WCHA causing the league to look for a new home office soon. :p :D
Click to expand...

So that's why there's WCHA officials walking around our campus right now.
 
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