WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

[gfmorris]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

I still have UAH in last, even below Anchorage.

Okay, you can doubt us if you want, but 1) we didn't pick up stride until halfway through the season and still made the playoffs 2) CARMINE GUERRIERO (a Tech fan should know this) 3) it's probably Carmine's last season, so he's going to be looking to impress the scouts 4) we lost next to nothing offensively while getting some guys in from juniors that can perform. Note that our freshmen, like most, got better and productive as the season went on, especially because our minimal depth got them plenty of ice. This is our second full class of guys recruited by this staff against the WCHA, and our third overall after the program's demise was no longer imminent.

Doubt us if you will, though.

GFM

 

[AKSWF]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

Wait, SIX players left the team in the off season?

I think that might be enough to swing UAA over at least LSSU. If our coach is good, we will bounce back up to around .500. That would be following the trend of recent coaching success stories (MTU, and somebody else that escapes me right now). Our starting goalie got better and the season progressed and kept us in games, if he has a super sophomore year instead of teams figuring him out we should be around .400. We brought in a lot of guys this off-season, and if one or two mesh well with NCAA hockey our PP and PK will pick up.

 

[Squarebanks]

I think that might be enough to swing UAA over at least LSSU. If our coach is good, we will bounce back up to around .500. That would be following the trend of recent coaching success stories (MTU, and somebody else that escapes me right now). Our starting goalie got better and the season progressed and kept us in games, if he has a super sophomore year instead of teams figuring him out we should be around .400. We brought in a lot of guys this off-season, and if one or two mesh well with NCAA hockey our PP and PK will pick up.

If Mantha hits a sophomore slump you guys are in for a bumpy ride...dude put up some fantastic save numbers but still let in about 3 per game because he didn't have much help in front of him. Unless the defense shows a lot of improvement there's going to be a lot of pressure on the kid.

 

[RapidsCity]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

1 Bowling Green
2 Tech
3 Minnesota St
4 NMU
5 Bemidji
6 UAF
7 Ferris
8 UAH
9 UAA
10 LSSU

 

[true2BSU]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

1. Tech
2. Mn State
3. BSU
4. BG
5. Ferris
6. Alaska F
7.NMU
8. Alaska A
9. LSSU
10. Huntsville

Roo from BSU is the player I am excited to see this year.

 

[jsmithe]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

1. Tech
2. Bowling Green
3. Mankato
4. Bemidji
5. _airbanks
6. Northern
7. Huntsville
8. Ferris
9. Lake State
10. Anchorage

 

[uaafanblog]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

1. Kato
2. Tech
3. Paul Bunyan U
4. Toledo U
5. UAA/Northern
7. UA_
8. Lake State
9. Huntsville
10. Ferris Wheel

1 and 2 clustered. 3,4,5/6 in a cluster. Then 7,8,9,10 in a very tight cluster.

 

[davyd83]

NMU (Dahlstrom + Maschmeyer + a large crop of freshman forwards that Walt Kyle will squeeze every last drop of blood out of puts them in the top half)

Shine, Sooth, Siemer, Nowick, Handon, Payne, Diamantoni & Salminen all return at Forward for the Cats and should occupy spots among the top 3 lines for NMU. Adair, Rose & Purpur are returnees who should see plenty of ice time. Newcomers Loggins and Starzynski are the first year Cats expected to see the most ice time. However, if the injury bug hits NMU like it did last year, others will need to be ready. But as the roster stands now, there won't be a ton of minutes for the freshmen.

 

[LSSULaker889294]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

1. Bowling Green
2. Mankato
3. Tech
4. Bemidji
5. NMU
6. Alaska
7. Ferris
8. UAH
9. LSSU
10. UAA

 

[Critical Thinker]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

1. MTU (Jamie Philips, probably most consistent scoring team)
2. BGSU (looses very little from a great team from last year, but goaltending will still be kind of shaky with the Burke/Nell/Sholl 3 ring circus; schedule gives slight advantage over MSU)
3. MSU (always tough to beat, Senior losses will mean very little if the underclassmen step it up like they always do, but I don't see Cole Huggins stepping up to the level he needs to be at)

4. UAF (comes off post-sanctions hangover, will be interesting to see what they do with motivation)
5. BSU (Bitzer, but not enough offense to get into Tier 1))
6. NMU (same as Bemidji; Dahlstrom, not enough offense)

7. UAH (system is set up, players are coming in, but still not enough there to compete in the middle of the pack yet; edge over FSU based solely on Guerrerio)
8. FSU (Bob Daniels, but looses Motte, had almost no scoring last year, likely will not find any this year)
9. LSSU (Team is in total rebuild mode, Defiel keeps them one step above last)
10. UAA (nothing I've seen this offseason convinces me UAA will be any better)

I'll pick BG to win in Grand Rapids, as the team usually catches fire in the playoffs under Bergeron, with MTU & MSU going to NCAAs at-large.

 

[Suze]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

I believe it was more a case of being asked not to return by the new coach.

Wow. He better not burn too many bridges.

 

[GoNanooks]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

1. Bowling Green
2. Minnesota State
3. Alaska
4. Michigan Tech

5. Ferris State
6. Bemidji State
7. Northern Michigan

8. Alabama-Huntsville
9. Alaska-Anchorage
10. Lake Superior


First Team:
F Tyler Morley- UAF
F Alex Petan- MTU
F Bryce Gervais- MSU
D Casey Nelson- MSU
D Mark Friedman- BGSU
G Carmine Guerrero- UAH

Second Team:
F Brandon Hawkins- BGSU
F Malcolm Gould- MTU
F Matt Robertson- FSU
D Josh Atkinson- UAF
D Sean Walker- BGSU
G Michael Bitzer- BSU

 

[John J. MacInnes]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

1. Huskies
2. Mavericks
3. Falcons
4. Beavers
5. Nanooks
6. Wildcats
t-7. Bulldogs
t-7. Chargers
9. Lakers
10. Seawolves

F- Petan (MT)
F- Morley (AF)
F- Gervais (MS)
D- Friedman (BG)
D- Hanna (MT)
G- Phillips (MT)

F- Gould (MT)
F- Steman (MT)
F- McHugh (AH)
D- Watson (MT)
D- Nelson (MS)
G- Dahlstrom (NM)

I think this will be the year that Tech separates from the peloton. Three 1st team AND three 2nd team picks is more than optimistic, but we'll see how it plays out.

 

[mmf]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

...The non con schedule is more important than ever, and especially if you lose to a non con team with a losing record,( I'm looking at you NMU vs Wisconsin, or Tech vs UCONN, or BGSU vs OSU) it will be tough to overcome that.

I think this is what our non-conf schedule looks like.
Wisconson x6. And depending on tournaments, Arizona St x6/7, North Dakota x5, Mich St x5/6
Looks like BGSU & LSSU each have 10 non-conf games. Must not be many off-weekends in their schedules.

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[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

Wow. He better not burn too many bridges.

I suspect it's been made clear to Whitten that he's on a shorter leash and tighter timeline to right the ship than Roque was. I don't see where cutting players one year into your rebuilding effort burns all that many bridges. This same thing happens all the time in other college sports. New coach gets hired, he gets rid of the previous coach's dead weight that he feels lacks the necessary skills to fit his offensive and defensive schemes. I don't believe Whitten recruited or made promises to the guys he cut this offseason. It's freshman and sophomores that got the axe - guys with fewer credit hours and plenty of eligibility left to transfer.

Now, if he had cut half the to-be senior class, that would be another story.

 

[blackswampboy]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

Looks like BGSU & LSSU each have 10 non-conf games. Must not be many off-weekends in their schedules.

yep, no bye weeks after Xmas for BGSU.
reckon that pretty much cancels out the "BG has an easier schedule" logic.

 

[BGFan]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

I suspect it's been made clear to Whitten that he's on a shorter leash and tighter timeline to right the ship than Roque was. I don't see where cutting players one year into your rebuilding effort burns all that many bridges. This same thing happens all the time in other college sports. New coach gets hired, he gets rid of the previous coach's dead weight that he feels lacks the necessary skills to fit his offensive and defensive schemes. I don't believe Whitten recruited or made promises to the guys he cut this offseason. It's freshman and sophomores that got the axe - guys with fewer credit hours and plenty of eligibility left to transfer.

Now, if he had cut half the to-be senior class, that would be another story.

I have to say that Bergeron did not do that, although several left of their on volition when the underclassmen started getting the majority of the ice time. Perhaps it took longer to turn the program around as a result, but he would not take scholarships away after they had been granted. It isn't in his nature to do that and he gained a lot of respect from the players as a result of it.

 

[Bill]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

I suspect it's been made clear to Whitten that he's on a shorter leash and tighter timeline to right the ship than Roque was. I don't see where cutting players one year into your rebuilding effort burns all that many bridges. This same thing happens all the time in other college sports. New coach gets hired, he gets rid of the previous coach's dead weight that he feels lacks the necessary skills to fit his offensive and defensive schemes. I don't believe Whitten recruited or made promises to the guys he cut this offseason. It's freshman and sophomores that got the axe - guys with fewer credit hours and plenty of eligibility left to transfer.

Now, if he had cut half the to-be senior class, that would be another story.

I think that's pretty accurate. Additionally, he met with all of Roque's players right after he was hired and went over with them what he expected in terms of conditioning. It's no secret that when the players returned to school at the start of last season, Whitten and his assistants weren't happy with some of the players' conditioning efforts over last Summer. Although conditioning did show improvement over the course of last season, there's no doubt that at least some of the guys that were cut were ones that still weren't making the necessary effort to get into top playing condition.

 

[sm2pk]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

I think that's pretty accurate. Additionally, he met with all of Roque's players right after he was hired and went over with them what he expected in terms of conditioning. It's no secret that when the players returned to school at the start of last season, Whitten and his assistants weren't happy with some of the players' conditioning efforts over last Summer. Although conditioning did show improvement over the course of last season, there's no doubt that at least some of the guys that were cut were ones that still weren't making the necessary effort to get into top playing condition.

Anzalone did same his second time around. He met with the players and soon many of them were gone and he pretty much started rebuilding from scratch. Shame of it is you could see the team getting better and conditioning improving all the way around and we all know what happened next.

 

[manurespreader]

Re: WCHA 2015-16: So here's what we think that we know...

Looking at that non con schedule, it's tough. There aren't many games you could say are gimmes with the exception of arizona state. But having said that, games against the NCHC or HE I would think are particularly important. FSU has a tough schedule out of conference and for BG beating Clarkson is tough. At the same time, if Huntsville can find a way past CC and UND, or at least a split, it would be huge for everyone.