MinnesotaNorthStar
Minding the gap
Re: WCHA 2010 Predictions Thread
Doesn't answer my question...The Kangas Kool-Aid is not in season.
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WCHA 2010 Predictions Thread
- Thread starter BeaverFan
- Start date
Re: WCHA 2010 Predictions Thread
Well, you're rather forgetful of my Arrogance if you have to ask that question in the first place.
Doesn't answer my question...
Well, you're rather forgetful of my Arrogance if you have to ask that question in the first place.
Re: WCHA 2010 Predictions Thread
Gopher fans say.
We don't rebuild, we don't reload, we pay to see them in the NHL.
That's what Gopher fans used to say...
Drinking tonight?
Gopher fans say.
We don't rebuild, we don't reload, we pay to see them in the NHL.
state of hockey
He fixes the cable?
Re: WCHA 2010 Predictions Thread
Oh, we are still reloading. We just happen to use Brown Bess flintlock muskets from the 1700's.
Oh, we are still reloading. We just happen to use Brown Bess flintlock muskets from the 1700's.
HoosierBBall_GopherHockey
New member
Re: WCHA 2010 Predictions Thread
And unfortunately, we've been shooting blanks the past couple seasons.
And unfortunately, we've been shooting blanks the past couple seasons.
Happy
Registered User
Re: WCHA 2010 Predictions Thread
and UND used to be able to win Championships.
That's what Gopher fans used to say...
and UND used to be able to win Championships.
Happy
Registered User
Re: WCHA 2010 Predictions Thread
Im surprised you have the Gophers in 4th. I think most people are picking them alot lower. It will be intresting to see where the coaches pick them. I havent seen anything in the offseason that gives me optomism for any improvment over the last couple of years but I can always hope
Im surprised you have the Gophers in 4th. I think most people are picking them alot lower. It will be intresting to see where the coaches pick them. I havent seen anything in the offseason that gives me optomism for any improvment over the last couple of years but I can always hope
Puck Swami
New member
Re: WCHA 2010 Predictions Thread
The Gophers are due for a better performance - and they have seven seniors and some good incoming talent. They also have some serious motivation for improvement, and Lucia is trying to hang on to his job. The key to the Gophers' is Kangas - if he can play at an elite level, I think Minnesota will restore some pride this year.
Im surprised you have the Gophers in 4th. I think most people are picking them alot lower. It will be intresting to see where the coaches pick them. I havent seen anything in the offseason that gives me optomism for any improvment over the last couple of years but I can always hope
The Gophers are due for a better performance - and they have seven seniors and some good incoming talent. They also have some serious motivation for improvement, and Lucia is trying to hang on to his job. The key to the Gophers' is Kangas - if he can play at an elite level, I think Minnesota will restore some pride this year.
HoosierBBall_GopherHockey
New member
Re: WCHA 2010 Predictions Thread
They are due I have to admit that. Maybe the underdog role will improve thier performance They havent offered much the past 3 seasons I hope you are right
Re: WCHA 2010 Predictions Thread
How so? With respect to picking UND 3rd?
Don't get me wrong. I think the Sioux could have a very good team this year, and I will be disappointed if by the end of the year they aren't one of a handful of teams sitting as favorite to win the national title.
But I don't think they'll win the regular season title in the WCHA for a couple of reasons.
First is the schedule. They have a really tough opening schedule. Next, it sounds to me like Hak is going to be doing some early experimenting up front with Gleason, and possibly Hill, getting some playing time at forward.
Finally, UND's strength at forward last year was up the middle. VV, Zajac and Malone were as good as anyone in the WCHA with their assignments and winning faceoffs. But if you'll recall, during crunch time it was either VV or Zajac that Hak called upon. Malone was always the third choice.
That strength has now become a question mark, and I think Hak will be experimenting to see who can best step into the departing center's roles.
Also, I really like UMD's scoring talent up front in a year in which the WCHA has a lot of offensive shoes to fill. SCSU returns most of a very good team.
For those reasons, I like a UMD, SCSU, UND finish in what should be a closely contested race.
Sandbagger.
How so? With respect to picking UND 3rd?
Don't get me wrong. I think the Sioux could have a very good team this year, and I will be disappointed if by the end of the year they aren't one of a handful of teams sitting as favorite to win the national title.
But I don't think they'll win the regular season title in the WCHA for a couple of reasons.
First is the schedule. They have a really tough opening schedule. Next, it sounds to me like Hak is going to be doing some early experimenting up front with Gleason, and possibly Hill, getting some playing time at forward.
Finally, UND's strength at forward last year was up the middle. VV, Zajac and Malone were as good as anyone in the WCHA with their assignments and winning faceoffs. But if you'll recall, during crunch time it was either VV or Zajac that Hak called upon. Malone was always the third choice.
That strength has now become a question mark, and I think Hak will be experimenting to see who can best step into the departing center's roles.
Also, I really like UMD's scoring talent up front in a year in which the WCHA has a lot of offensive shoes to fill. SCSU returns most of a very good team.
For those reasons, I like a UMD, SCSU, UND finish in what should be a closely contested race.
HoosierBBall_GopherHockey
New member
Re: WCHA 2010 Predictions Thread
Terrific analysis, but it was just a joke. You didn't need to defend your reasoning for picking UND 3rd so well. Thus the.
Terrific analysis, but it was just a joke. You didn't need to defend your reasoning for picking UND 3rd so well. Thus the
. Re: WCHA 2010 Predictions Thread
This is mostly a cut and paste from what I wrote on a CC board:
1 UND
The Sioux will be a top 5 team in the pre-season national rankings. They were better than their 5th place league finish last year and lost less than any other team in the league. They also have some great recruits.
2/3 UMD
Duluth is another team that finished in the top half of the standings last year and they only lose 3 significant contributors from that team.
2/3 SCSU
Ditto for SCSU – they finished in the top half and only lose 3 significant contributors. They should pick up where they left off last season.
4/5 CC
While they lost a significant number of contributors from last year’s team, they have quite a bit of talent that will be able to make more substantial contributions. I think their top line will be one of the best in the league, and their 2nd and third lines will have players who are proven scorers at this level. The PP should be very good, but it may take time to replace all of the penalty killers and the large number of shutdown defensive minutes Fredheim and Prosser played. McDermott and Schwartz should make an immediate impact, while Krushelnyski and Eveland should be fully ready to step in as needed.
4/5 DU
Ditto for what I wrote for CC. They lost even more than the Tigers did (4 of their top 5 scorers and their #1 goalie), but they have guys on the roster who can step into larger roles and contribute. They also have some very dynamic forwards coming in who will give the Tigers fits over the next few years. Some may predict a rough year for Denver, but all 5 teams below them have much larger issues to resolve.
6 Minnesota
The Gophers have a bunch of players who were highly touted recruits who haven’t made as much of an impact as expected. That worries me – if guys like Patrick White get anywhere close to the level that was anticipated, they’ll be a tough team to play. Then again, other than Jacob Cepis (who is incredibly fun to watch!) they really don’t have a lot of proven talent at the WCHA level. If the Gophers are able to pull it together and win all 8 games against weak clustermates UW and MTU, then they’ll challenge for home ice in the standings and will be tough to beat in the playoffs. EDIT – after writing this two more players left – Birkholz and Leddy. Leddy was a highly regarded freshman, and Birkholz was a 3/4th liner as a freshman, so neither should be a huge loss. However, they were regular players who will be difficult to replace this late in the off-season.
7 MSU-Mankato
A mediocre team last year, they lost a lot of their top players. Only 3 of their top 8 scorers return – and a defenseman (Ben Youds) was their leading scorer last year! With only a few dangerous scorers, I have a hard time seeing how they’ll improve significantly.
8/9/10 UW
Yes, they played in the National Championship game last year – but look at what they lost! They lost 7 of their 8 top scorers, including the top 4! They return only 4 of their top 14 scorers - #5, #9, #10, and #13. They lost 3 of their 6 regular defensemen. They lost 8 of their regular 12 forwards. They’ll basically be playing 3 defensemen with WCHA experience, and 4 regular forwards from last year plus 2 who couldn’t regularly crack the lineup. Even with quite a few very talented players coming in, it’s tough to win in the WCHA with half your lineup as freshmen.
8/9/10 UAA
Kevin Clark scored 23 goals and 37 points as a senior – the next highest totals were 9g and 26 points. The Seawolves also lost both of their goaltenders from last year. With not much scoring coming back and a freshman goalie behind modest talent at best, it’ll be another very long season in Anchorage.
8/9/10 MTU
MTU was by far the worst team in the league last year with a 4-24 record in league play. They lost their games by an average score of 4-2. They only return 2 forwards who can be expected to score regularly – all of the remaining forwards COMBINED scored 16 goals in 36 games. That’s just appallingly bad. I can’t see how they’ll find a way to improve.
I don’t know much about the two new teams in the league – Bemidji State University and the University of Nebraska-Omaha. BSU has made the NCAAs 3 years in the last 5 and won a few games there. They also return their top 5 scorers, both goalies, and lose only 2 F and 2 D. UNO finished 6th of 12 teams in the CCHA, and return quite a bit from that team. They have depth in their scoring and bring in some high scoring USHL forwards. Dean Blais returns to the WCHA as their coach, and we know what he did at UND. I place both teams somewhere in with the 2-5 teams, most likely with CC and DU. Both UNO and BSU are in the killer cluster with SCSU and UND, which should hurt their league records a bit. So, here’s a cut at the final standings, which don’t match the team strengths I listed above due to the difference in cluster strength – UMD benefits and BSU, SCSU, UNO, and UND all take a hit:
1. UMD
2. UND
3. SCSU
4. CC
5. DU
6. BSU
7. UNO
8. MN
9. MSU-M
10. UW
11. MTU
12. UAA
This is mostly a cut and paste from what I wrote on a CC board:
1 UND
The Sioux will be a top 5 team in the pre-season national rankings. They were better than their 5th place league finish last year and lost less than any other team in the league. They also have some great recruits.
2/3 UMD
Duluth is another team that finished in the top half of the standings last year and they only lose 3 significant contributors from that team.
2/3 SCSU
Ditto for SCSU – they finished in the top half and only lose 3 significant contributors. They should pick up where they left off last season.
4/5 CC
While they lost a significant number of contributors from last year’s team, they have quite a bit of talent that will be able to make more substantial contributions. I think their top line will be one of the best in the league, and their 2nd and third lines will have players who are proven scorers at this level. The PP should be very good, but it may take time to replace all of the penalty killers and the large number of shutdown defensive minutes Fredheim and Prosser played. McDermott and Schwartz should make an immediate impact, while Krushelnyski and Eveland should be fully ready to step in as needed.
4/5 DU
Ditto for what I wrote for CC. They lost even more than the Tigers did (4 of their top 5 scorers and their #1 goalie), but they have guys on the roster who can step into larger roles and contribute. They also have some very dynamic forwards coming in who will give the Tigers fits over the next few years. Some may predict a rough year for Denver, but all 5 teams below them have much larger issues to resolve.
6 Minnesota
The Gophers have a bunch of players who were highly touted recruits who haven’t made as much of an impact as expected. That worries me – if guys like Patrick White get anywhere close to the level that was anticipated, they’ll be a tough team to play. Then again, other than Jacob Cepis (who is incredibly fun to watch!) they really don’t have a lot of proven talent at the WCHA level. If the Gophers are able to pull it together and win all 8 games against weak clustermates UW and MTU, then they’ll challenge for home ice in the standings and will be tough to beat in the playoffs. EDIT – after writing this two more players left – Birkholz and Leddy. Leddy was a highly regarded freshman, and Birkholz was a 3/4th liner as a freshman, so neither should be a huge loss. However, they were regular players who will be difficult to replace this late in the off-season.
7 MSU-Mankato
A mediocre team last year, they lost a lot of their top players. Only 3 of their top 8 scorers return – and a defenseman (Ben Youds) was their leading scorer last year! With only a few dangerous scorers, I have a hard time seeing how they’ll improve significantly.
8/9/10 UW
Yes, they played in the National Championship game last year – but look at what they lost! They lost 7 of their 8 top scorers, including the top 4! They return only 4 of their top 14 scorers - #5, #9, #10, and #13. They lost 3 of their 6 regular defensemen. They lost 8 of their regular 12 forwards. They’ll basically be playing 3 defensemen with WCHA experience, and 4 regular forwards from last year plus 2 who couldn’t regularly crack the lineup. Even with quite a few very talented players coming in, it’s tough to win in the WCHA with half your lineup as freshmen.
8/9/10 UAA
Kevin Clark scored 23 goals and 37 points as a senior – the next highest totals were 9g and 26 points. The Seawolves also lost both of their goaltenders from last year. With not much scoring coming back and a freshman goalie behind modest talent at best, it’ll be another very long season in Anchorage.
8/9/10 MTU
MTU was by far the worst team in the league last year with a 4-24 record in league play. They lost their games by an average score of 4-2. They only return 2 forwards who can be expected to score regularly – all of the remaining forwards COMBINED scored 16 goals in 36 games. That’s just appallingly bad. I can’t see how they’ll find a way to improve.
I don’t know much about the two new teams in the league – Bemidji State University and the University of Nebraska-Omaha. BSU has made the NCAAs 3 years in the last 5 and won a few games there. They also return their top 5 scorers, both goalies, and lose only 2 F and 2 D. UNO finished 6th of 12 teams in the CCHA, and return quite a bit from that team. They have depth in their scoring and bring in some high scoring USHL forwards. Dean Blais returns to the WCHA as their coach, and we know what he did at UND. I place both teams somewhere in with the 2-5 teams, most likely with CC and DU. Both UNO and BSU are in the killer cluster with SCSU and UND, which should hurt their league records a bit. So, here’s a cut at the final standings, which don’t match the team strengths I listed above due to the difference in cluster strength – UMD benefits and BSU, SCSU, UNO, and UND all take a hit:
1. UMD
2. UND
3. SCSU
4. CC
5. DU
6. BSU
7. UNO
8. MN
9. MSU-M
10. UW
11. MTU
12. UAA
SCSU Euro
New member
Re: WCHA 2010 Predictions Thread
Holy hell are you tough on Wisconsin. I think you had MSU-M way too high at 7, and probably still too high at 9. And SCSU lost 3 people? Don't you mean two and a half? Unless you could Raboin as two guys, yeah... that sounds about right.
Holy hell are you tough on Wisconsin. I think you had MSU-M way too high at 7, and probably still too high at 9. And SCSU lost 3 people? Don't you mean two and a half? Unless you could Raboin as two guys, yeah... that sounds about right.