Was the WCHA down this Year?

[CMSioux]

I felt all year that this was a down year for the WCHA, expecially when a soft team like the gophers walked away with the conference title. Boston College lost 10 games this year so it's not like they were unbeatable - but they sure made our conference champs look weak.

Thoughts on the next year's top tier teams?

[108498]

The Sioux were lead by Blood Kristo and Nelson all season and with them all leaving I do not see much success next year for the Sioux. Du or Minn Dul. on top

[Bison06]

I am sorry if this is in the wrong thread, but I have always wanted to ask college hockey fans this question and this year seems to be as good a year to ask it as any.

With lesser known teams playing for the national title and some years winning it. eg. MN-Duluth, Ferris, Union. Is that a good thing for the sport in your guys' eyes or does that only fuel the naysayers fire that hockey is a DI sport played by alot of DII and DIII teams?

I hope this isn't taken as me trolling, because it is a sincere question.

[sagard]

I thought the WCHA was a bit down because the Gophers really stunk in non-conference play, but still managed to win the league. At the end though, I'm pretty sure the Gophers, UND, and UMD were as good as any non-BC team in the country. The Gophers actually played pretty well for 35 minutes last night, but the guys couldn't snipe when they had their looks. Lots of glorious chances on the sticks of guys who aren't finishers.

[Vegas_Sioux]

I am sorry if this is in the wrong thread, but I have always wanted to ask college hockey fans this question and this year seems to be as good a year to ask it as any.

With lesser known teams playing for the national title and some years winning it. eg. MN-Duluth, Ferris, Union. Is that a good thing for the sport in your guys' eyes or does that only fuel the naysayers fire that hockey is a DI sport played by alot of DII and DIII teams?

I hope this isn't taken as me trolling, because it is a sincere question.

I actually like it, it shows unlike basketball and football everyone has a shot. Remember one of our biggest rivals CC is a D3 school that has competed as a competive school since the beginning of the wcha.

[Bison06]

I actually like it, it shows unlike basketball and football everyone has a shot. Remember one of our biggest rivals CC is a D3 school that has competed as a competive school since the beginning of the wcha.

Interesting, I agree, the parity in college hockey seems more prevalent than every other sport. Thanks for your take.

[tnt]

The Sioux were lead by Blood Kristo and Nelson all season and with them all leaving I do not see much success next year for the Sioux. Du or Minn Dul. on top

Define success! If they could make it to the National tourney this year with all of the circumstances, I see no reason they can't expand on that next year. By the way, Duluth has lost Jack Connolly, J.T. Brown, Travis Oleksuk, Brady Lamb and Denver Jason Zucker, Drew Shore and John Lee, among others.

[Hayduke]

I kind of agree. Down year. Of course, I remember the era when the WCHA dominated NCAA hockey so much, that any year that a WCHA team didn't win the National Championship was considered a down year.

[MafiaMan]

I felt all year that this was a down year for the WCHA, expecially when a soft team like the gophers walked away with the conference title. Boston College lost 10 games this year so it's not like they were unbeatable - but they sure made our conference champs look weak.

Any more down than the 2008 Frozen Four when BC put a 6-1 smack-down on the Sioux in the semi-finals and then beat Notre Dame 4-1 in the title game?

Or maybe more than the 2010 Frozen Four when BC beat RIT 8-1 in the semi-finals and crushed Wisconsin 5-0 in the championship?

Maybe it's just that BC is THAT good.

[MafiaMan]

I kind of agree. Down year. Of course, I remember the era when the WCHA dominated NCAA hockey so much, that any year that a WCHA team didn't win the National Championship was considered a down year.

I hope you're talking about the 1970's because every era since then has had a pretty good mix of conferences winning championships. The 2000 - 2006 stretch was a great run for the WCHA (titles for four different schools in 00, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06) but Hockey East is looking at having won 4 of the last 5 NCAA titles should Boston College win on Saturday night.

[jodcon]

I felt all year that this was a down year for the WCHA, expecially when a soft team like the gophers walked away with the conference title. Boston College lost 10 games this year so it's not like they were unbeatable - but they sure made our conference champs look weak.

Thoughts on the next year's top tier teams?

I was thinking last night that college hockey as a whole was down this year, once you get past BC the level really seems to drop off. Usually you have a half-dozen teams who you feel could legitimately win it all, this year it didn't seem like anybody was head and shoulders above the rest...until BC got cranked up late in the year. I think the Minnesota game last night pretty much drove that home.

Looking at our situation this year being one game from making the Frozen Four is a good indicator, most years we would have been very longshots to make the tournament with all the problems the team had to endure, but this year we had a chance to actually make a decent run.

I think all 4 of last years FF teams could have gave BC a run, this year I think they walk to the title.

[nodakvindy]

Any more down than the 2008 Frozen Four when BC put a 6-1 smack-down on the Sioux in the semi-finals and then beat Notre Dame 4-1 in the title game?

Or maybe more than the 2010 Frozen Four when BC beat RIT 8-1 in the semi-finals and crushed Wisconsin 5-0 in the championship?

Maybe it's just that BC is THAT good.

BC teams that good - maybe

Jerry York that good - definitely - his teams have now played in five of the last seven NCAA title games. I can't imagine that's happened since Michigan back in the 50s. He's been in the title game 8 of the 18 years he has been at BC, and also has a title from Bowling Green.

It will be interesting to see if BC can sustain that after he retires, likewise with Michigan and Berenson. That is one of the unique things about UND. The success have been able to be maintained despite coaching changes.

[geaux_sioux]

Any more down than the 2008 Frozen Four when BC put a 6-1 smack-down on the Sioux in the semi-finals and then beat Notre Dame 4-1 in the title game?

Or maybe more than the 2010 Frozen Four when BC beat RIT 8-1 in the semi-finals and crushed Wisconsin 5-0 in the championship?

Maybe it's just that BC is THAT good.

BC is winning for the same reason that the SEC can't be touched in football. Team speed. Much like the SEC elite they are just faster than everyone else.

[MafiaMan]

I can't imagine that's happened since Michigan back in the 50s. He's been in the title game 8 of the 18 years he has been at BC, and also has a title from Bowling Green.

Actually, it was Denver in the late 50's and 60's who had a run comparable to Michigan and BC...From 1958 to 1969, Denver was in 7 championship games (58, 60, 61, 63, 64, 68, 69) and won 5 of them (losing in 63 and 64).

[brianvf]

The Sioux were lead by Blood Kristo and Nelson all season and with them all leaving I do not see much success next year for the Sioux.

Haha. Nice job writing off a team 7 months before the season begins...and before we even know all the early departures (for our team and opposing) and incoming players.

Remember how much talent the Sioux lost last season with graduating players and early departures? This year will pale in comparison to that, and yet even with all that talent gone the Sioux still managed to make a good push at the end. Funny how that works.

[jodcon]

Haha. Nice job writing off a team 7 months before the season begins...and before we even know all the early departures (for our team and opposing) and incoming players.

Remember how much talent the Sioux lost last season with graduating players and early departures? This year will pale in comparison to that, and yet even with all that talent gone the Sioux still managed to make a good push at the end. Funny how that works.

And I think I heard somewhere that we might have some injured guys coming back too. That could help.

[MafiaMan]

The Sioux were lead by Blood Kristo and Nelson all season and with them all leaving I do not see much success next year for the Sioux. Du or Minn Dul. on top

[Siouxman]

BC is winning for the same reason that the SEC can't be touched in football. Team speed. Much like the SEC elite they are just faster than everyone else.

Team speed is a big factor but it is much more than that. BC just plain won the battles with MN all over the ice. Even along the boards in situations where MN had BC out-manned 3-2 or 2-1 on the puck, BC was the one that came away with the puck more often than not. BC seemed to be a level above MN in their hand-eye coordination and stick skills.

[dagies]

BC just took advantage and converted on their chances. They made their shots count. Perhaps they are more skilled, more patient with the puck. I don't know, but they did make their chances count. And I think that was the big difference.

[ScottM]

I am sorry if this is in the wrong thread, but I have always wanted to ask college hockey fans this question and this year seems to be as good a year to ask it as any. With lesser known teams playing for the national title and some years winning it. eg. MN-Duluth, Ferris, Union. Is that a good thing for the sport in your guys' eyes or does that only fuel the naysayers fire that hockey is a DI sport played by alot of DII and DIII teams? I hope this isn't taken as me trolling, because it is a sincere question.

I tend to like the fact that a team like Union, or Ferris, or even Sacred Heart, has a legitimate chance most seasons of making it into the tourney and the FF. I think it broadens the appeal of what is generally a niche sport, and many Americans tend to like underdog stories. The fact the men's hockey tourney is only second to men's bouncyball in tourney revenue must excite the bean counters at the NC$$ too when a "no-name" team beats somebody like UND, BC, Minnesota, Michigan. etc. this time of year.

[MafiaMan]

With lesser known teams playing for the national title and some years winning it. eg. MN-Duluth, Ferris, Union. Is that a good thing for the sport in your guys' eyes or does that only fuel the naysayers fire that hockey is a DI sport played by alot of DII and DIII teams?

I know that schools like Union College and RIT are small in numbers but I don't think it is any less exciting seeing someone new in the Frozen Four. Did you see the Ferris State players yesterday after the empty net goal? I personally think that the more exposure that college hockey gets, the better.

[burd]

The Sioux were lead by Blood Kristo and Nelson all season and with them all leaving I do not see much success next year for the Sioux. Du or Minn Dul. on top

I love Blood, and he was a horse this year. But man, he coughed up a lot of pucks.

[82SiouxGuy]

I know that schools like Union College and RIT are small in numbers but I don't think it is any less exciting seeing someone new in the Frozen Four. Did you see the Ferris State players yesterday after the empty net goal? I personally think that the more exposure that college hockey gets, the better.

Some people put too much stock in the labels of Division I or Division III. RIT is actually a little bigger than UND. They have more than 14,000 undergrads and almost 3,000 graduate students. Union has more than 2,000 students. That's bigger than some of the smaller Division I schools.

The division a school plays in is more about how much they want to spend on the athletic program than how big the school is. Some of the Division III schools that move up to DI in hockey or other sports just choose to limit overall spending and spend a bigger percentage on the single sport. It's interesting that some of the Division III schools playing up also have some sizable endowments, most of them bigger than a lot of Division I schools.

[hrkac]

I actually don't think this year's BC teams was a very good skating team compared to years prior. Didn't seem to matter tho.

[Fetch]

I thought it was a good year - I like all teams getting better - & more players getting a chance - I thought I saw many so-so average players grow into really good players - I like a bunch of average guys coming together & being very competitive

I love the potential super stars but many have not performed up to their hype or leave too soon

I was impressed by Union & Ferris State & the old rule - If you have a hot goalie at this time of year anyone can win it

Kinda like the miracle on ice team

I thought BC looked great & would love to see them play the true top ten teams

Parity is good for sports overall

What are guesses of tomorrow nights score 1-0 2-1 or 10-2 - I know which game I'd like to see

Ferris better stay out of the box