diggerdan Posted March 20, 2002 Share Posted March 20, 2002 Since our season's over, its not to early to speculate on the league next year. Here's my take: Top two: Denver - lose Paradise and 2 solid defensemen but nothing else, have both goalies back and good young players. Recruiting class is solid, led by Gauthier. Favorite to repeat. Gophers - Losing Leopold will hurt but not nearly as much as losing Roche hurt the Sioux. Have plently of offense to offset loss of Pohl and can even withstand loss of Taffe, if he bolts. Have league's best recruiting class (provided Vanek enrolls). Goaltending a question mark. Will battle Denver. Solid Upper Division: St. Cloud - Not sure about this one. Lose DiCasmirro and, I assume, Hartigan (listed as a junior but I think is a Skarperud-type junior). Lose solid goalie. Dynamic freshmen class faded at the end. Have a decent class coming in but I wonder if they didn't overachieve this year, much like the Sioux last year. Upper division finish. Colorado College - lose 8 seniors including Sanger, Cullen and Kim. Defense should be solid but goaltending is a question mark. Still have an awful lot of talent and a good recruiting class. I don't think this team can afford to have any early departures (ala Priessing or Senja). Battling for 5th home ice spot: Mankato - don't lose anyone of consequence, pretty much the same team as this year. Incoming recruits are nothing special but they seem to get maximum potential from everyone. Overachieved this year, as in year's past, no reason to suspect this will change. My pick for the last home ice spot. UND - Prior to Bayda leaving, I would have said solid upper division but losing his leadership is devastating. While incoming class is good, thanks to presence of Parise, current freshmen class remains a question mark - but there's lots of talent there. Defense should be solid. My head says the Sioux stay in 6th but they have the best chance to surprise. Anchorage - Lose 3 of top 4 scorers and haven't recruited any. It helps that they don't score much anyway. Cygan finally leaves after 12 years in the league. Hill's first year showed big improvement but I wonder if talent is there for much more. Bottom: Duluth - Sandelin made huge advances with his club this year but they lose alot in Medak, Rierson & Nelson. I believe that they have a very good class coming in, including Caig. Could easily step up to battle for home ice. Second best chance of surprising. Wisconsin - Team that wasn't that good anyway loses 7 seniors, including 6 of top 10 scorers and key role players. Had no freshman contributors other than Leavitt and incoming class is nothing special. Unless Eaves works a miracle, the Badgers will fall hard next year. Michigan Tech - They don't lose anything but they didn't have anything either. Until their play shows differently, you can't justify moving them any higher than last. Author Note - this is the 3rd thread I've started in this forum and the previous two generated no responses (albeit they had no men's hockey content). Please don't leave me hanging again, my fragile psyche can't take it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted March 20, 2002 Share Posted March 20, 2002 Denver - lose Paradise and 2 solid defensemen but nothing else, have both goalies back and good young players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted March 20, 2002 Share Posted March 20, 2002 Author Note - this is the 3rd thread I've started in this forum and the previous two generated no responses (albeit they had no men's hockey content). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted March 20, 2002 Share Posted March 20, 2002 I agree with almost all of what you are saying Digger. i think the 3 hardest to predict are SCSU, WI and Duluth. The Duluth team is losing some very important players but Scotty is bringing in better players too, so they may step into those shoes over time. SCSU is due for a downfall I think, after the way they played the last half of this year. This is not a playoff swoon, this was a swoon over the last half the year. They are losing important pieces and I think they are fighting for home ice next year. Mankato actually has a couple of pretty strong recruits next year. However, I agree with your positioning of them. I think MN is reloading. They will suffer some serious losses and I hope Taffe leaves but they have plenty of talent returning to fill those shoes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jk Posted March 20, 2002 Share Posted March 20, 2002 Very nice, non-homer, analysis. I can't seem to keep the green glasses off when I look forward. Considering their losses, I see SCSU and CC in a big group behind the top teams, fighting with UND, Mankato and maybe Duluth to finish third and stay out of the play-in game. Denver: Head-to-head, the Sioux seemed to match up fine with Denver, but the Sioux now lose more from this year than they do. When you look at the year they had, though, and the players leaving and arriving, it's hard not to like their chances. SCSU: They could have the kind of year the Sioux had this year - UND lost Goren, Ulmer and Commie and surprised people by contending. Then they lost "the rest" of their stars, Panzer, Luhdbohm, Roche and Goehring, and slid pretty far. Well, SCSU lost Arnason, Westcott and Meyer and surprised (me anyway) by contending. Next year they lose the rest, Hartigan and DiCas. Plus the jury's not out on Dahl. MN: I think Taffe leaves. If Vanek arrives, MN should be very good. If he bolts, I think MN falls into the mass of mid-level competetive teams. CC: Good talent, but lose a lot. How they adjust to the loss of their best players just isn't known. The jury's still out on Owens. Wisconsin: Eaves will be good for them, but the biggest problem for Sconny is Sauer left a year too late. This is their year for a big recruiting class, and it's probably not what it could be had a promising new coach been reeling them in. I would be shocked by an upper division finish. Mankato: I don't know why they don't stink. Brose/Jutting must know how to coach. UAA: I think they fade, as they lose much more than they bring in. UND: Suddenly lose a lot. They really need the sophomore bump across-the-board. Duluth: Despite their losses, they are getting a taste of success. I think they'll continue to come on. Tech: What dan said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted March 20, 2002 Share Posted March 20, 2002 Here is who the Gophers Lose. I broke it down a little further because they are actually losing a few players, and what their leaving means to the team. I am not saying Minnesota is not going to be good next season they will be good team, but I think the difference between the Sioux and UofM will not be as unequal as it was this season. 1 Goalie Hauser, Adam, Sr 20W-6L-4T and .910 save % 2 Defense Nenovich, Mark, Sr (left the team or was injured) 3 Defense Leopold, Jordan, Sr 20 G 26A 46 Points Good D-Man 9 Forward Pohl, John, Sr 25G 48A 73Points Good points total 11 Forward Wendel, Erik, Sr 8G 9A 17 Pts 25 Forward Oleary, Pat Sr, 4G 2A 6 Pts 26 Defense Angell, Nick Sr 3G 9A 12 Pts If Taffe Goes, it will be a devastating loss. 22 Foward Taffe, Jeff Jr, 32G 23A 55 Pts So your looking at Goals 77 Assits 97 = 174 Points 174/487=36 Percent of the team offense. Just something to think about... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted March 20, 2002 Share Posted March 20, 2002 Denver? My sheet shows them losing Paradise and David Neale at forward. That's 28 goals, and that's 20% of their goals this season. My sheet shows DU losing Cook, Adams, Vines, and Armstrong, four senior defensemen who played 38, 37, 35, and 18 games respectively so far. Those four only kicked in two goals so that's not an issue. They return MacKensie, Caldwell, Grahame, and Halme (36, 37, 18, 9 games respectively). Sounds like probably three freshman defensemen each night to me. Playing the system DU plays, smart, know-the-system defensemen are a must. Teams that catch DU before Christmas will probably have some success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sioux_hockey Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 Losing Bayda hurts A LOT! Still, I don't see the Sioux finishing below 5. I will predict between 2 and 4 too! The Sioux even with the loss of Bayda only lose 2 forwards, yes they were there best, but with Parise I don't see them finishing below 5th! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sioux_hockey Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 Colorado College - lose 8 seniors including Sanger, Cullen and Kim. Defense should be solid but goaltending is a question mark. Still have an awful lot of talent and a good recruiting class. I don't think this team can afford to have any early departures (ala Priessing or Senja). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diggerdan Posted March 21, 2002 Author Share Posted March 21, 2002 Thanks to all for your heartfelt responses. I agree that the positions of St. Cloud and CC are tenuous. Does anyone know for certain if this is Hartigan's last year? Because if he does come back, the Huskies will be tough to beat, swoon or not. Sicatoka - losing 20% of your scoring in a year is nothing. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that Denver returns more of its scoring than any other team in the league with the exception of Tech and Mankato. Plus, they add Gauthier - who is just as highly touted as Parise, Vanek or Guyer. As for the defensemen, I forgot about Vines but I would argue that the system Denver plays makes it easier to insert freshmen defensemen. The whole team plays defense and their solid backcheck and neutral zone play means the d-men are rarely left hanging. Their goaltending is pretty good as well. Of course, in the end, I hope you're right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 Yes, Hartigan is done after this year. He only had 3 yrs eligibility. Prop 48 thing or something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 Yes, Hartigan is done after this year. He only had 3 yrs eligibility. Prop 48 thing or something like that. As for Hartigan I was under the impression that he will be given a contract after SCCC is done in Michigan this weekend. Anyone else heard this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sioux_hockey Posted March 24, 2002 Share Posted March 24, 2002 It will be interesting to see how leaves early from the WCHA! Will Senja or Taffe go? Who else may leave their team? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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