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Tournament Predictions #4 CCHA

S

StateofHockey78

New member
3 games left to determine who's most likely going to get paired up against BC. I think we'll finally see a changing of the guard with the CCHA representative this year. I'm feeling a big upset in one of these games. Add your predictions and opinions!

Semi's

Lake St. wins vs. Bemidji State - I wanted to pick Bemidji for a lot of reasons here. Being from MN for one. They played really well down the stretch, and I've watched several of their guys come up through high school and now having success in college. One of my favorite things about hockey is seeing kids grow up through the ranks. I love how college players are finding success in the NHL now, more than ever before. I think Lake State would be a nice story and for whatever reason I've always thought it would be cool to see them back in the tourney after those powerhouse teams of yesteryear. I'm going to say Lake State slips by Bemidji in an 3-2 OT thriller.

Mich Tech wins vs Minn State - I don't have a great pulse on these two teams as I haven't watched them play. The results throughout the year tell me neither has been dominant at any point. I'll say Pietila is the difference in a 2-1 regulation win.

Finals

Lake State comes oh so close, but Michigan Tech finds it's way back to the NCAA tourney. 3-1 with a late ENG.
 
It's anybody's tourney bid in a wide open league. The Bemidji-Lake State series is very intriguing. The Lakers and Beavers have played 4 times this season and 3 have been blowouts with Lake State beating them 5-1 and 6-1 and Bemidji having their own blowout winning 7-1. The other game was a Lakers OT victory. So it's also a weird matchup where the low seed has won 3 of the 4 games, but Bemidji has been really consistent and tough over the last month. I think the Lakers take it in an offensive-minded game.

LSSU 5 BSU 3

I expect to see a lower scoring game in the Minnesota State vs Michigan Tech series. I like the Mavs to upset MTU 2-1.

For the championship, I hate to say it but I think the Mavs win it. The Lakers youth shows up and Minnesota State wins 3-1.
 
Minnesota State over Tech, The Tech D gives up too many odd man rushes and that will be the difference. Lake State with the upset over Bemidji, I like Bemidji however their PP does not convert enough and Lake State is getting scoring from all 4 lines. will be great hockey to watch
 
Puckstopper467 said:
Minnesota State over Tech, The Tech D gives up too many odd man rushes and that will be the difference.
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Statistically that's not really true. Tech only gave up 26 goals on the rush in the regular season while scoring 28 that way themselves. And in 4 games against Mankato, the Huskies only surrendered one goal in transition. The place that Tech has really struggled this season is in established zone play, where they went from 32 goals against that way last season to 49.

I think that game is a true toss-up. But I agree with many that Bemidji is ripe for the picking by Lake State.
 
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John J. MacInnes said:
Statistically that's not really true. Tech only gave up 26 goals on the rush in the regular season while scoring 28 that way themselves. And in 4 games against Mankato, the Huskies only surrendered one goal in transition. The place that Tech has really struggled this season is in established zone play, where they went from 32 goals against that way last season to 49.

I think that game is a true toss-up. But I agree with many that Bemidji is ripe for the picking by Lake State.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the insight on Tech's defense. I'm curious to get your opinion on whether you think they are currently playing at a level similar to last year's team. Seems like I haven't heard nearly as much praise/attention to how Pietila has played this year compared to last year. However, it's not how you start, it's how you finish and wondering if Tech's game is headed the right direction down the stretch.
 
StateofHockey78 said:
Thanks for the insight on Tech's defense. I'm curious to get your opinion on whether you think they are currently playing at a level similar to last year's team. Seems like I haven't heard nearly as much praise/attention to how Pietila has played this year compared to last year. However, it's not how you start, it's how you finish and wondering if Tech's game is headed the right direction down the stretch.
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The D was very inexperienced to start the season. Both transfers (Getz and Campbell) were low minute players with their former teams, Russell and Vaharautio were injured for half of and all of last year respective, and Chase Pietila & Williams were true freshmen. Evan Orr had limited time last year and had to play forward for a while, so your most experienced D was former walk-in Jed Pietila. That's a major difference from the recent past.

There's been marked improvement on the back end late in the season. Blake Pietila hasn't been the world beater he was before, but his nasty habit of giving up bad goals seems to have abated.

I also think the forwards have by necessity made back checking more of a priority. Seeing Caderoth as the low guy in +/- is strange considering how much they talk him up as a defender. If they are healthy enough, this team is playing their best hockey of the season right now.
 
I'm going with the favorites. Bemidji is playing awfully well. Tech seems to be getting to the level we thought they'd reach. Kato has shown more offense than I thought they would this year, but the D have struggled to get it out of their end. Lake State is a good story, but maybe too reliant on one line, even though it's a very good line.
 
moose97 said:
The line I quoted came across like you didn't think they had been in the NCAA's sine the '90's. They were just there 3 years ago. In fact, none of the remaining CCHA teams have a long drought in making the playoffs.
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You are correct, what I wrote doesn't translate to the way I was thinking about it, nor does it make sense given the past appearance you reminded me of. Probably just rushed it a bit going through all 6 conferences and well my memory just isn't what it used to be. My viewpoint is more accurately stated like this...I enjoy seeing teams like Lake State or Maine out east (as another example) being competitive during the playoffs. In many cases it's very difficult for programs to sustain year in and year out so when they do have opportunities for upsets or even better to have a couple year run with maybe a chance at making noise in the NCAA, I root for them (assuming they don't play MN). Seems like Lake State has some decent young talent and perhaps can be in position to build off a late season push. If I'm not mistaken Lake State has a pretty high number of underclassmen in the lineup, some of whom have made pretty big contributions this year.
 
purpleinnebraska said:
I'm going with the favorites. Bemidji is playing awfully well. Tech seems to be getting to the level we thought they'd reach. Kato has shown more offense than I thought they would this year, but the D have struggled to get it out of their end. Lake State is a good story, but maybe too reliant on one line, even though it's a very good line.
Click to expand...

Lake State showed me something by winning the St. Thomas series when Westcott got the boarding major. I did not expect them to win after he got booted, but they scored right away on the PK and showed a lot of heart winning that game.
 
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