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2014-2015 College Hockey (non UND hockey)


MafiaMan

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Minnesota's in a bit of a pickle now...with the B10 Tournament in Detroit, they may be in trouble.

 

But the Don looked so happy in the post interview game with Berenson.  Perhaps he is thinking that it is far better for his team to get their reality checks from Michigan instead of UND, so he doesn't get any froth in his hair from the GPL faithful.

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But the Don looked so happy in the post interview game with Berenson.  Perhaps he is thinking that it is far better for his team to get their reality checks from Michigan instead of UND, so he doesn't get any froth in his hair from the GPL faithful.

Trust me, the torches and pitchforks mob is forming over there...

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Plenty of time to go on a run, but it definitely hurts with the Big Ten OOC record. The games Minnesota plays in the Challenge Cup are going to be critical for them.

Minnesota will be fine.  10 of their 16 remaining conference games are at home, and the six road games are against Wisconsin, OSU and Penn St.  They've got a pretty soft schedule for the next month, except for the North Star Cup.  If they do anything but lay an egg in the North Star, they should easily be a top 10 PWR by the time it's all said and done.

 

But it is going to be an interesting year.  I could easily see where there are only 12 at large teams.  Wouldn't surprise me at all to see a team like DU or SCSU win the NCHC tournament, or someone other than Michigan or Minnesota win the Big 10.

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Minnesota will be fine.  10 of their 16 remaining conference games are at home, and the six road games are against Wisconsin, OSU and Penn St.  They've got a pretty soft schedule for the next month, except for the North Star Cup.  If they do anything but lay an egg in the North Star, they should easily be a top 10 PWR by the time it's all said and done.

 

But it is going to be an interesting year.  I could easily see where there are only 12 at large teams.  Wouldn't surprise me at all to see a team like DU or SCSU win the NCHC tournament, or someone other than Michigan or Minnesota win the Big 10.

 

Yeah but a soft schedule means one win probably doesn't move them very far up the PWR and a loss could be devastating.

 

I don't think it would be out of the question if Wisco takes a game from them next weekend which would drop them significantly.

 

So while they have a soft schedule, they can't afford a loss or two to those teams.

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Yeah but a soft schedule means one win probably doesn't move them very far up the PWR and a loss could be devastating.

I don't think it would be out of the question if Wisco takes a game from them next weekend which would drop them significantly.

So while they have a soft schedule, they can't afford a loss or two to those teams.

Minnesota has problems a soft schedule won't solve.

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Minnesota has problems a soft schedule won't solve.

True, but I still think they will be a team nobody wants to play if they make the tourney as an automatic berth or through the pairwise,  Wilcox isn't as bad as he has been playing, and no matter the reason they aren't performing now, the talent level is there.

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True, but I still think they will be a team nobody wants to play if they make the tourney as an automatic berth or through the pairwise,  Wilcox isn't as bad as he has been playing, and no matter the reason they aren't performing now, the talent level is there.

 

I'd prefer playing them right now vs. a Miami, UNO, or UMD but you're right, if they squeak into the tourney as a #4 seed they could be a tough out similar to UND last year.

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True, but I still think they will be a team nobody wants to play if they make the tourney as an automatic berth or through the pairwise,  Wilcox isn't as bad as he has been playing, and no matter the reason they aren't performing now, the talent level is there.

I am not so convinced that they'd be that hard to beat. They're really not competing at all right now. I watched them against Michigan and they were down right horrid.

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I am not so convinced that they'd be that hard to beat. They're really not competing at all right now. I watched them against Michigan and they were down right horrid.

Agreed, zero defense from both teams.  It looked like a men's league game.  I do think Michigan is better then their record though.

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http://www.uscho.com/rankings/pairwise-rankings/d-i-men/

 

If the season ended today Mankato, Bowling Green, and Michigan Tech would most likely be in the NCAA tournament.  As much as the leftover schools were ticked off at the Big 10 and the NCHC forming, it is deffinitely giving some of the schools that haven't had a sniff at the NCAA tournament a chance to make it. 

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I am not so convinced that they'd be that hard to beat. They're really not competing at all right now. I watched them against Michigan and they were down right horrid.

I saw them play live vs Merrimack and as soon as they went down 3-1 I said game was over. They don't have that resiliency, fight in them. They could make the tournament but until there's something in their play that signals something has changed I'm not sure they'd be all that tough of an out either. No compete, terrible defensive awareness and a goalie lacking confidence. So many problems.

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I saw them play live vs Merrimack and as soon as they went down 3-1 I said game was over. They don't have that resiliency, fight in them. They could make the tournament but until there's something in their play that signals something has changed I'm not sure they'd be all that tough of an out either. No compete, terrible defensive awareness and a goalie lacking confidence. So many problems.

 

I truly believe Wilcox bailed them out a lot last year.  

 

He's come back down to earth this year so far. That, combined with unispired play has them sitting where they currently are.

 

Even if they are out of the top 15 come year end, I'd still think they'd have a good shot to win the Big 10 championship.  What's the toughest team they'd play? Michigan? Penn State?

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I am not so convinced that they'd be that hard to beat. They're really not competing at all right now. I watched them against Michigan and they were down right horrid.

Kind of the same thing that people say about the Sioux the first half of the year almost annually.  The Sioux changed that this year, the gophers might end up changing it up this year as well.  Post season play is about goaltending and special teams.  If Wilcox gets back to form, the gophers do have one of the best powerplays in the country.  That would be a dangerous combination if they have a change of desire come playoff time. 

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I have a long list of things I don't care for regarding Lucia but being considered for termination is not one of them. His body of work and accomplishments as an NCAA coach is almost second to none. I suppose Gopher fans have short memories and those back-to-back titles seem like ancient history but I guess my question to those who wish to fire him would be, who do you have in mind who can do better?

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I have a long list of things I don't care for regarding Lucia but being considered for termination is not one of them. His body of work and accomplishments as an NCAA coach is almost second to none. I suppose Gopher fans have short memories and those back-to-back titles seem like ancient history but I guess my question to those who wish to fire him would be, who do you have in mind who can do better?

Lots of those thinking it is time for Lucia to go are in the Mike Guentzel camp.

Personally, I think Grant Potulny is a good candidate for a head coaching job somewhere. Too green for Minnesota, but if a job opens up at a smaller school, he should get a look.

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Arizona State will play next year at Oceanside Arena their current home. Oceanside Arena will under go massive renovations and capacity will quadruple, current capacity is around 600. There is talk of NCAA home games being played Jobing.com Arena next year.

 

http://www.houseofsparky.com/2015/1/12/7532745/asu-hockey-arizona-state-oceanside-ice-arena-ncaa-division-i-next-season

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BTW, congrats to Minnesota State-Mankato for being #1 in the USCHO poll for the first time in the program's history. Very cool!

Agreed, but how does UND fall to #3 with a split against one of the top teams in the entire country?  Confused by that one.

 

Not a big deal however, we moved up one in the pairwise which is the only one that counts.

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Agreed, but how does UND fall to #3 with a split against one of the top teams in the entire country?  Confused by that one.

 

Not a big deal however, we moved up one in the pairwise which is the only one that counts.

Agreed especially when the team at #2 BU tied Wisconsin this past weekend.

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Agreed, but how does UND fall to #3 with a split against one of the top teams in the entire country?  Confused by that one.

 

Not a big deal however, we moved up one in the pairwise which is the only one that counts.

 

I had been wondering how we had moved up into the #1 spot when we hadn't play a regulation game.

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Agreed, but how does UND fall to #3 with a split against one of the top teams in the entire country?  Confused by that one.

 

Not a big deal however, we moved up one in the pairwise which is the only one that counts.

 

The eastern voters don't know MSU-Mankow from UM-Dull? ;):D

 

You second sentence is the key. 

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