Godsmack

5-1, CC over Alaska-Anchorage midway through the second period. Chris Wilkie with a short-handed goal.

https://letsgodu.com/2018/10/01/u-s-news-rankings-pose-serious-challenge-to-du/#comments DU fretting over their precious ranking....first world problems.

https://denverpioneers.com/news/2018/10/1/mens-ice-hockey-filip-larsson-out-indefinitely-with-lower-body-injury.aspx Stud DU goalie out indefinitely with injury.

First UND football game for me since they went to Laramie and beat the Pokes. Had a good time, great crowd, the band came as did the new mascot.

Nice UND contingent at Nottingham Field.

Here’s the DU season preview https://letsgodu.com/2018/09/28/2018-19-university-of-denver-hockey-season-preview/

Here is my season preview of the CC Tigers that I posted on the Colorado College Hockey Discussion page on FB if any of you care to read it. 2018-2019 Tiger Hockey Preview by Dan Maddock, (no expert by any means, just a passionate fan who loves this program) The CC Tigers look to build on the improvement they made last season, finishing with the second highest in-conference point improvement from the season before last. There were many achievements not seen in quite some time and while having their season come to a disappointing end against rival DU last March, the team had a lot to be proud of and could skate off the ice with their heads held high knowing they had pushed the defending national champs to three games in the quarter finals while earning a couple of regulation victories and ties during the regular season against the team up north on I-25. Most importantly, earning the respect of their rival opponents. CC returns two Hobey Baker candidates as part of the top scoring line in All-American Nick Halloran (19G, 26A), Mason Bergh (18G, 22A), and Trey Bradley (7G, 24A). Halloran made NCHC history becoming the conference’s first player ever to win back-to-back player of the month recognition. Halloran returns as the leading returning scorer of the NCHC and was recently named to the preseason all-conference team. This season, the Tigers will have their entire top line returning, a line that accounted for over 43% of the team’s point production. What they lacked last year was more balanced scoring depth down the lineup. That could change this season through a combination of the addition of some highly-skilled incoming freshmen, an eligible transfer with NCAA experience who lit it up in the USHL and has a shoot first mentality, and a lineup that sees all of its key pieces from last season returning. Indeed, there are several players who can hopefully build on solid seasons from last year; Westin Michaud (11G, 13A), Christiano Versich (5G, 16A), Trevor Gooch (11G, 8A), and Troy Conzo (5G, 9A). What Coach Haviland should have this season regarding his line pairings is options. In the next segment, I will talk about some of the incoming freshmen who will be expected to get major minutes and could help lighten the scoring burden placed on the top line. This added skill depth should help ward off any attempts opposing teams may take with their top defenders zeroing in on the Halloran, Bergh, Bradley line. What doesn’t seem to get as much ink is what CC is returning on the blue line and between the pipes. Alex Leclerc returns for his junior season as the team’s starting goaltender. Last season’s statistics don’t do justice to how well he played in some very tough games against some very potent offenses. His performance in the NCHC playoffs was one of the primary reasons why CC took DU to the brink in their 3-game series. The guy was peppered with high quality shots and stood on his head. Expect to see a little more consistency in his game this coming season. Also, having a capable back up in Alec Calvaruso pushing Leclerc should help but the net clearly belongs to Leclerc. I think CC will have one of the most experienced and responsible blue lines in the conference. Led by seniors and co-captains Andrew Farny and Cole McCaskill, the team also boasts Kristian Blumenschein (Jr), Zach Berzolla (So), and my personal favorite, Ben Israel (Sr). To me, Israel represents what every team should want in a defenseman-a guy who’s trustworthy in his own zone both positionally as well as with the puck. He can play effectively on the PK and on the PP and he has great vision. You won’t see his name on the score sheet all that often but that in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing; a defenseman who goes unnoticed usually means he’s doing his job on the ice and not making costly mistakes. I am really excited to see our defensive corps go up against some of the conference’s best offenses (yes, I’m talking about you Duluth and St. Cloud). While CC’s non-conference schedule won’t win any beauty contests, it’s one that looks very winnable. Only one of CC’s seven non-conference opponents made last year’s national tournament and only two upcoming foes had records over .500 (Air Force and Maine). The combined record of CC’s upcoming non-conference opponents was 97-162-37 (.390). While their opponents weren’t exactly world beaters, the schedule is what it is and the team must go out there and execute. Given their non-conference schedule, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Tigers winning at least 75% (9 out of 12) games. 4 of their first 6 games are at home with a road trip to start the season at Alaska-Anchorage-the last place team in the WCHA a season ago. Expect the Tigers to jump off the hop with a 5-1 or even a 6-0 record before their first true test at home against St. Cloud in November. AF will be the best team CC faces in October and I have an inclination that our upperclassmen are savoring the opportunity to beat the Cadets. Some other games I have circled as critical for a variety of reasons include, a tough road series at defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth the second week of November. Also circled are the two series against Denver, which don’t happen until the second half of the season. It’s a bummer that we don’t get our opportunity against the Pios until 2019 because DU will have quite a different looking team in terms of leadership and personnel both on the ice and behind the bench. It would’ve been nice to catch them in an early season series given all their fresh new faces going up against our returning depth and experience. That said, the second half of the season is shaping up to be a great opportunity to not only capture conference points but also get some quality wins against what should be some highly ranked opponents; success could serve the team well in the Pairwise rankings. Series of note in the second half include, North Dakota (twice), as mentioned, Denver twice, Duluth, and a road trip to St. Cloud. If our non-conference schedule does not impress, our in-conference schedule would scare virtually any other team in the nation. My season objectives for the team are as follows: 1) Win at least 2/3rds of our non-conference schedule. This is very achievable given our talent and depth relative to that of our opponents.’ 2) Beat Air Force and bring home the Pikes Peak Trophy. AF has beaten CC 4 out of the last 5 matchups and has captured the traveling trophy in each of the 4 seasons of its existence. It’s time to change that and bring the hardware back to the CC campus. 3) The Battle for the Gold Pan...Bring that trophy back to Colorado Springs. The Pios have held the Gold Pan for 4 consecutive seasons. DU has a 13-12 advantage since the trophy was introduced in 1993. Let’s even that mark this season. 4) Finish over .500 in conference play. 5) Finish in the top 4 in-conference and earn home ice for the first time since the formation of the NCHC. CC came ever-so-close last season, finishing just 2 points outside of fourth place. Down the stretch, CC was in a 3-way tie for the final home ice slot with both UND and UNO. 6) Get to St. Paul for the NCHC Frozen Faceoff for the first time in program history. My wife and I attend the Frozen Faceoff every year and we would kill to cheer on the Tigers in St. Paul! 7) Earn a bid into the national tournament for the first time since 2011. Yes, the last two goals might seem a bit lofty right now but having a winning attitude and an expectation of success typically results in a winning program and I firmly believe that should be the mindset of the players, coaching staff, and fans. I see a swagger and confidence in this year’s team that I don’t think we’ve seen in quite a while. Not a cockiness but a high degree of confidence that these guys know they have the goods to compete with the very best. I believe these are all achievable goals and while teams like Duluth and St. Cloud may deservedly be the odds-on favorites to contend for the Penrose Cup, let’s see if the Tigers can disrupt conventional wisdom and make an an interesting run. Buckle up, it’s going to be a fun ride! *I will be posting a multi-part series between now and the start of the season. Be watching for a post on new faces-a look at some of our incoming new players. I will also give my predictions for the league standings as well as a 30,000 ft. overview of each of the other seven teams and the reasons why they could be successful as well as the reasons why they might not be successful. Pre-season rankings and polls typically aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on but they’re fun to do and should give everyone on this board some fun discussion. Go Tigers!

I started caring about Ohio State when they beat DU in the regionals this past season! That was sweet!

And yet we can’t have a women’s team.

Sean Reemts and Eddie Trunk

QB Conor Martin and Ellen DeGeneres

Well, I guess things could be worse... https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/gritty-flyers-mascot-terror-1.4836604

https://paisleyhockey.wordpress.com/2018/09/24/colorado-college-hockey-picked-sixth-in-nchc-preseason-poll/

https://letsgodu.com/2018/09/24/north-dakota-launches-new-fighting-hawk-mascot/

I have a feeling Wilke could get paired up with Mason Bergh, Trey Bradley, and/or Nick Halloran. Depending on how all Four compliment one another.

I’m doing a write up on the CC Tiger season preview with some comments about the incoming freshmen along with transfer Chris Wilke. I’m reaching out to the Siouxsports group to get some thoughts/commentary/feedback on Wilke. Any thoughts about his game, skating ability, shot, etc would be most helpful. Thanks!

Well, it goes without saying that any poll by our good friends at letsgodu isn’t exactly scientific!

https://letsgodu.com/2018/09/22/letsgodu-super-poll-picks-pioneers-once-again/ UND picked to finish 8th in the nation in the latest letsgodu poll.

What could potentially hold Western back is their reliable lack of discipline; year in and year out, they take a lot of penalties. What could potentially hurt CC, is their coaching. Haviland makes a lot of head scratching moves. So if he stays out of the way, they should be fine.

https://thehockeywriters.com/ncaa-predictions-nchc/ Sorry to waste everyone’s time reading this but wanted to point out the fallacies and just all-around lack of effort taken in the writers’ “research.” And I don’t say this because of where they’re predicting my two teams-UND and CC-to finish but the factual inaccuracies (i.e., CC not having a 30 point scorer on their roster....hello? Nick Halloran???) or their analysis of UND playing a dump and chase system (yes, they played a slower style last season but that was a function of the team’s lack of skill players and finishers) and their analysis of them versus St. Cloud.

LB Ruger Jennings and Matt Damon

LB Sam Funkhouser and former Fighting Sioux hockey great TJ Oshie

https://www.uscho.com/2018/09/16/air-force-grad-demers-fighting-brain-cancer-gofundme-helping-family-with-medical-travel-bills/

Sorry-I meant to post this on the Non-UND Hockey thread but I’ll leave this posted here as well as post something over there as well.

https://www.uscho.com/2018/09/16/air-force-grad-demers-fighting-brain-cancer-gofundme-helping-family-with-medical-travel-bills/ Chad Demers is a local kid from Grafton-Park River who went on to have a very successful career at the Air Force Academy. A go fund me page has been set up.