Early prediction

[MinnesotaNorthStar]

Leavitt was at the center of a major controversy this season at Wisconsin.

In late February the the University of Wisconsin came down with a decision that head coach Mike Eaves would remain their head coach, even in light of relevations that alledged he used physical force in confrontation with Leavitt, after a a conditional agreement was reached by all parties.

More trouble in Buckyville...I think that this will hinder their ability to compete in the WCHA this year (besides other obvious factors )

[dagies]

That's pretty old news. And since then it appears Eaves is being successful in recruiting some very strong talent. My guess is this incident will be long forgotten in a year or so. Could be he and Leavitt did not get along and if one makes an assumption that Leavitt was a bit of a problem child maybe the issue isn't all Eaves.

[redwing77]

Well, I have never made a prediction before, but I'm going to try.

Once again, the WCHA will dominate all the conferences in overall W-L record, standings, and quality of players. I think the teams to watch next season are: Minnesota, Duluth, North Dakota, and Colorado College as far as leadership in the conference and national standings are concerned.

For most improved team, I'd watch the Badgers. However, I am still curious about their goaltending situation... Life without the problem child (Leavitt) and the dumb<expletive> criminal (Winchester) plus the addition of Suter and such will make them jump up to, I predict, the middle of the pack. I'd say watch out in 2004-2005.

UAA will improve, but, with the quality of everyone else in the WCHA being so high, I doubt it will show in the rankings at all. St. Cloud will be the least improved, in fact, they will fail to rank at all this season.

My WCHA Standings prediction next year are:

#1 Minnesota

#2 North Dakota (optimist)

#3 Duluth

#4T Colorado College

#4T Mankato

#5 Denver

#6 Wisconsin

#7T St. Cloud

#7T Michigan Tech

#8 Alaska - Anchorage

Note: Michigan Tech could pass St Cloud if they figure out a way to add ANYTHING to Elsworth. So far, Cam's the only player on that team that is worth anything. Duluth could end up in a Tie with UND if UND doesn't get their goaltending situation resolved. Reichmuth is possibly the best underclassman goaltender in the WCHA. Definitely one of the best, perhaps second only to Montoya in the NCAA.

One thing is for certain, my prediction is that there is going to nearly no daylight between #1 and #4. It's going to be tight, folks.

Since I'm so new to predictions, I am not going to try to predict national rankings other than to say that the top 3 or 4 teams in the WCHA will all be represented in the top 10 nationally.

[Superman0099]

Ok well I'll give it a shot too.

1. Minnesota - what can you say about a team that has that much success and doesn't lose a SINGLE key player. I'll tip my hat to Lucia.

2. North Dakota - UND has got a championship calibur team in the making. The talent will be there next season to get the the F4, no one is doubting that, but it takes more than talent to get there. UND will be able to play with anyone in the country, as they could last season, but they had a missing link, when the offense was producing, the goaltending wasn't, and when the goaltending started to improve, the offense dissapeared. Hopefully the goaltending improvment will carry on to this season, and the offensive gap we saw last year will be filled with the likes of murray and stafford, and the seasoning that the current roster will gain. Defense should be about as strong as last year, the team was getting used to not having Hale around, and with Smaby coming in, and Jones and Greene having a season under their belt, I think everyone will be looking towards Schneider for leadership in that department, now if they could only get that shot from the point off faster on the PP....

3. Minnesota Duluth - They made an impressive run last year, playing because they basically had nothing to lose. I haven't heard much about the recruiting class, but Reichmuth impressed me alot, and we all know that the Caig has been tapped. Stapelton will be good and I'm taking a guess at their first line - Francisco centering Caig and Lessard, that line will be able to score goals with the best of them. As for depth, they don't have what UND or Minnesota does, but I would guess that Sandelin will begin to bring sucess to that Duluth pretty soon.

4. Colorado College - Yes, they lost Preissing, Hobey (Sejna), Clarke, and Cullen, which is why they won't be as competetive as last year, but they had strong underclassmen and were a deep team last year. They will be in the race for home ice.

5. Mankato - with Stevenson going to play for the sharks, 'kato loses possibly the best player they have had in a long time. Joseph will probably return, but he will not be as effective without stevenson. Very few of his goals were assisted by someone other than Stevenson. Volp is solid in net, and they have a few returning 20+ point scorers, so I would expect them to have decent season.

6. Denver - Denver loses Dubie, Doell, and McKenzie. Ouch. Berkhoel is a great netminder but I still thought Dubie was possibly the best goaltender in the WCHA since... Karl? well maybe not but... It would be an argument. I haven't heard much about the DU recruits, but I'm about 100% sure they can't make up for losing their top scorer, one of the best defensmen in the WCHA, and arguable the best goaltender in the WCHA too. I think this would be an optimistic finish for Denver.

7. St. Cloud - Well... they ARE bringing in Minnesota's Mr. Hockey, but they did wave goodbye to Motzko and Cullen, their top 2 scorers, and of course Grand Forks Central's own Jake Moreland is done, They could do some more damage than 7th, but this is (to me, anyway) a probable finish.

8. Wisconsin - Word has it that Eaves has brought in the #1 recruiting class. Leavitt is gone, and my guess is this team is going to be starting mostly freshman and sophomores on their top lines. We all know how that goes.

9. Michigan Tech - Coach Russel will be in his first season, and the only thing I saw from them that had any promise was Cam Ellsworth. Anyone know of any good recruits?

10. Alaska Anchorage - I'm sorry, they didn't win a single game last season, and I don't see them doing much more. Hopefully their players can stay off the suspended list this season, its kind of tough to win games when 16 players can't play.

Please feel free to rip me apart now

[MinnesotaNorthStar]

Well I'll go ahead and give her the ole college try.

1) Minnesota

2) North Dakota

3) Duluth

Mankato

5) CC

6)JBSU

Denver

8) Wisco

9) Tech

10) Anchorage

[Slap Shot]

2. North Dakota - UND has got a championship calibur team in the making. The talent will be there next season to get the the F4, no one is doubting that...

Well....oh never mind.

[yellowdog]

P.S. Using a scoring system of 1=freshman & 4=senior, the regular 20 players on UND for the past several seasons have averaged about:

'99-00 = 2.7

'00-01 = 2.5

'01-02 = 1.9

'02-03 = 2.2

and my expected rosters for the next two:

'03-04 = 2.4

'04-05 = 2.8

I don't think it is any coincidence that UND's last Championship was the year they were the most seasoned. Things are looking up for the next few years, I believe.

[WPoS]

Why does everyone pick UAA to be dead last?!?!?

1. Gophers

2. Duluth

3. UND

4. CC

5. Denver

6. 'Kato

7. JBSU

8. Tech

9. UAA

10. Red Menace

Actually went up to UAA last year for the Gopher games, on their home ice, not actually ALL that bad of a team (too bad they have NOTHING called a student section, much less ANY students at a game, heck I was the loudest in the whole area!). Give them a few breaks, and I think they can beat the BADgers for second to last place!

WPoS

[skateshattrick]

1. UND

2. Minnesota

3. Denver

4. CC

5. UMD

6. Mankato

7. St. Cloud/Wisconsin

9. Michigan Tech

10. Alaska-Anchorage

Minnesota has not won the league title the last 2 years, so I do not expect that this year. The Sioux are going to be very good. Denver has talent and every other year competes. CC loses a lot, but had good freshmen last year and a good recruiting class. UMD has some good young talent, but not great depth and may be a bit overrated. The wild cards are Mankato and Wisconsin. Was Mankato a fluke that took everyone by surprise? Can they replace Stevenson? Is Backes an impact freshman? Does Wisconsin's great freshman class produce this year?

[Hammy]

Minnesota has not won the league title the last 2 years, so I do not expect that this year.

What does that have to do with next year? Its one thing if your logic is that another team will be better than them, etc. but what does the last two years have to do with potentially winning the league next year?

The Sioux didn't win the league the last two years either.... does that mean they won't next year either?

[skateshattrick]

Let me clarify Hammy. I think the Sioux will win the league because I believe they will be better than the Gophers next year, at least during the regular season. Satisfied?

The fact that the Gophers did not win the league title only tells me that they were not a dominant team the past 2 years. That is not to say that the Gophers were not the best team at the end or that they did not deserve to win. The Gophers were a good team the past 2 years that got stronger as the season went on and got some lucky breaks along the way (not having to go to Michigan like Denver and CC, winning OT games than could have gone either way, and playing on its home ice). Last year's Gophers team was not the most talented team in the league, CC was. The Gophers also split with Mankato, UND, and I believe St. Cloud. The bottom line is the Gophers won the last 2 years and deserved to win. I do not buy into, however, that they are the dominant team in the WCHA and the league title should be handed to them.

[dagies]

What does that have to do with next year? Its one thing if your logic is that another team will be better than them, etc. but what does the last two years have to do with potentially winning the league next year?

The Sioux didn't win the league the last two years either.... does that mean they won't next year either?

I think there is another way to look at it as well.

Neither of the last couple years if my memory is correct (often isn't) the Gophers did not play as well early as they did late, as stated. One could argue that Lucia is less focused on gaining conference points early on as he is in preparing individual players and the team to be at their best later in the season.

Whether it is Lucia's plan to do this, or the above happened due to the coincidential circumstances of a team maturing or possibly just working through injuries I can't say for certain.

But if one wants to argue that it is Lucia's plan to not focus so much on the immediate win early on and worry more about developing and strengthening the play of certain individual players at that time, then one could argue skates point in that manner.

[Hammy]

Last year's Gophers team was not the most talented team in the league, CC was.

As was pointed out to Gopher fans for MANY years (often by Sioux and Badger fans), "best talent" doesn't necessarily equate to the best team. I can't tell you how many times that was stuffed in our face prior to the last two years.....

When all is said and done, the "best" team is who takes the title at the end. Otherwise, we'd be crowning a different champ than NJ and we'd be crowning a different champ than the Gophers. When people think of the best team in the NHL, they don't think of the Presidents' Cup winner.... they think of the Stanley Cup champ. Same goes for NCAA hockey.

I do not buy into, however, that they are the dominant team in the WCHA and the league title should be handed to them.

I don't recall any Gopher fans saying the title is going to be handed to the team. In fact, I would say I have seen those types of comments coming more from fans of other teams than anything else.

I would say when you look at what they did last year and, at this point, what they return (and add) to the team next fall (only guy lost at this stage is DeMarchi).... you'd be hard pressed right now to argue another team that is clearly better than them.

[Hammy]

Neither of the last couple years if my memory is correct (often isn't) the Gophers did not play as well early as they did late, as stated. One could argue that Lucia is less focused on gaining conference points early on as he is in preparing individual players and the team to be at their best later in the season.

Whether it is Lucia's plan to do this, or the above happened due to the coincidential circumstances of a team maturing or possibly just working through injuries I can't say for certain.

But if one wants to argue that it is Lucia's plan to not focus so much on the immediate win early on and worry more about developing and strengthening the play of certain individual players at that time, then one could argue skates point in that manner.

They started off 11-0-2 two years ago. That's not too shabby is it?

Last season, they were way too banged up in the early months that we had very little shot at catching CC for the league title.

I do understand your point and I think every coach tries to emphasize playing their best hockey in March and (hopefully) April. However, they only lost 8 games each season the last two years so obviously Lucia doesn't overlook the importance of regular season play either. Otherwise, they wouldn't have earned a bye and a #2 seed two years ago nor a #1 seed this past season.

When all is said and done though, I wouldn't trade spots with either Denver or CC from the past two years. If winning the WCHA next year means not winning the national title, let somebody else have it. I'd rather win three in a row.

[airmail]

When all is said and done, the "best" team is who takes the title at the end.

I think this was clarified in this post...

The bottom line is the Gophers won the last 2 years and deserved to win.

Since I'm in a quoting mood...

I don't recall any Gopher fans saying the title is going to be handed to the team.

Isn't that what you're basically saying here?...

I would say when you look at what they did last year and, at this point, what they return (and add) to the team next fall (only guy lost at this stage is DeMarchi).... you'd be hard pressed to right now to argue another team that is clearly better than them.

Wait... I'm sure I took you out of context and put words in your mouth. Please ignore my mindless banter.

[Hammy]

Wait... I'm sure I took you out of context and put words in your mouth.

[DamStrait]

Spammy,

Go away. Don't feel the need to come back. You add nothing to a Sioux board. If one wishes to hear the UMN company line, one can always go to Parise On Ice.

[Hammy]

Spammy,

Go away. Don't feel the need to come back. You add nothing to a Sioux board. If one wishes to hear the UMN company line, one can always go to Parise On Ice.

A little touchy?

[sprig]

[Hammy]

[skateshattrick]

Thank you DamStrait and Sprig for saying what every Sioux fan feels about Hammy and his posts. To ensure that there is no ambiguity or doubt, Hammy please go troll and spout the company line elsewhere. You turn every post on USCHO into a Gopher Love Fest and are the topper of every conversation. We don't want you here.

[airmail]

We don't want you here.

Agreed.

Greyeagle & WPoS can stay, though.

After all, who can say "no" to Bullwinkle & beerdarts?

[jk]

It's getting just a little harsh in here. Of course Hammy is part of the "axis of evil" and I recognize that, but if he wants to come in here in the offseason and show a little bit of his Gopher-love, it doesn't seem to warrant too much ill-will. JMO.

[Hammy]

I stuck to the thread topic and made no derogatory remarks toward the Sioux at all (I think the Sioux will be a top team in their own right). I would hardly call that trolling.

I may think the Gophers are looking awfully tough and are a legit contender to win it all again but that doesn't mean I am ripping the Sioux in saying that. I think a few people are being far too sensitive here and need to lighten up.

[sprig]

I stuck to the thread topic

The thread topic is early predictions. Several have picked the Gophers to win. You choose to argue a Sioux fans post that picked the Sioux to beat the Gophs (seems that you were comfortable until that happened). Go ahead and make your predictions (which would be sticking to the thread). Just don't expect everyone here will pick the Gophers. Not that predictions mean anything anyway.