2016-2017 College Hockey (Non UND Hockey)

[Goon]

3 hours ago, SJHovey said:

Minnesota isn't going to be that bad offensively, with or without Mittlestadt and Pitlick.  Between Kloos, Bristedt, Novak, Sheehy and the transfer Szmatula, they'll be able to put together two solid lines of offense.  The two freshman D they have coming in should provide some much improved puck moving skills by the time the second half of the season rolls around.

Their problem is going to be like last year.  No defense.  If they can figure that out, they should be a solid tournament team.

Mittlestadt is still a 17-year-old senior in high school. I don't know why they would be so upset with them.

[OshieRoll]

17 minutes ago, Goon said:

Mittlestadt is still a 17-year-old senior in high school. I don't know why they would be so upset with them.

I can explain it in one word: Desperation

 

[tho0505]

3 hours ago, SJHovey said:

Minnesota isn't going to be that bad offensively, with or without Mittlestadt and Pitlick.  Between Kloos, Bristedt, Novak, Sheehy and the transfer Szmatula, they'll be able to put together two solid lines of offense.  The two freshman D they have coming in should provide some much improved puck moving skills by the time the second half of the season rolls around.

Their problem is going to be like last year.  No defense.  If they can figure that out, they should be a solid tournament team.

Being in a weak defensive big ten league really masked a lot of Gopher issues.  Definitely agree that their defense was an issue, but they have some big holes to fill.  Like UND they were extremely young last year, so the depth will fill in in 2016-17.  Fasching is a huge lost going into next season though. Having Drake back for his Senior year made all the difference for us guiding a young team to a national title. 

[tho0505]

45 minutes ago, Goon said:

Mittlestadt is still a 17-year-old senior in high school. I don't know why they would be so upset with them.

I felt that the concern was where is the offense going to come from? Assuming Mittlestadt is a top 30 pick in the 2017 draft, having him for that extra year, like Toews, helps fill in holes and you get an extra year out of him.   UND has been lucky avoiding the one and done type players, but Toews would have been one and done as well had he not accelerated his schooling and came in at 17.   

The pressure on top 30 picks to sign early is immense considering college players can keep playing out their eligibility and sign anywhere.  If I were a GM, I would sign a top pick a year early, just to avoid a possibility of losing him to free agency (ie Jordan Schmaltz, Forbort, etc).   

[lawkota]

Conference tourney change - WCHA going to best of 3 series for quarters and semis at home of higher seed.  One game championship at home of higher seed.

WCHA Playoffs

Xcel Center is vacant next spring. 

[Siouxperfan7]

6 minutes ago, lawkota said:

Conference tourney change - WCHA going to best of 3 series for quarters and semis at home of higher seed.  One game championship at home of higher seed.

WCHA Playoffs

So you are telling me the 3rd weekend of March, there will be an empty arena with no tournament being played at it, meanwhile the NCHC is playing its conference tournament across the river in a basketball arena!! 

[Goon]

2 minutes ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

So you are telling me the 3rd weekend of March, there will be an empty arena with no tournament being played at it, meanwhile the NCHC is playing its conference tournament across the river in a basketball arena!! 

That's what they're saying.

 

[tnt]

21 minutes ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

So you are telling me the 3rd weekend of March, there will be an empty arena with no tournament being played at it, meanwhile the NCHC is playing its conference tournament across the river in a basketball arena!! 

That may change after their contract is up.  

[Siouxperfan7]

If the BTHC was smart, they would adopt the same type of post season.  They have shown that not even a conference Championship game 8 miles from U of M's campus when they are playing in the game can draw a crowd.  WCHA made a smart move.  We will see I guess ig the BTHC will learn anything from it.  Of course from a NCHC fan standpoint, obviously we all hope the BTHC adopts a similar conference playoff so the Frozen Faceoff can move to its rightful place back to St Paul.

[tnt]

5 minutes ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

If the BTHC was smart, they would adopt the same type of post season.  They have shown that not even a conference Championship game 8 miles from U of M's campus when they are playing in the game can draw a crowd.  WCHA made a smart move.  We will see I guess ig the BTHC will learn anything from it.  Of course from a NCHC fan standpoint, obviously we all hope the BTHC adopts a similar conference playoff so the Frozen Faceoff can move to its rightful place back to St Paul.

http://www.gopherpucklive.com/campus-sites-coming-to-big-ten-hockey-tournament/

 

[Siouxperfan7]

1 minute ago, tnt said:

http://www.gopherpucklive.com/campus-sites-coming-to-big-ten-hockey-tournament/

 

Well there you go!!  Get the NCHC back at the X!!

[siouxforcefans]

23 minutes ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

Well there you go!!  Get the NCHC back at the X!!

Why not just follow suit and have the NCHC on campus?  Playing for the conference championship at the Ralph sure would be a nice advantage

 

[Cratter]

Which begs the question why did they all move to neutrals?

[Cratter]

Wonder how the new format will affect those teams PWR.

[tnt]

27 minutes ago, Cratter said:

Wonder how the new format will affect those teams PWR.

Yeah, I imagine playing on the road, even in the playoffs would boost your PWR by winning.  Likewise losing at home would hurt a little more. 

[SJHovey]

1 hour ago, Cratter said:

Which begs the question why did they all move to neutrals?

The ECAC, I believe, has had a hockey tournament dating back to at least the '60's if not before, iirc.  Hockey East started their conference in the mid-80's and immediately used the neutral site format for their tournament, which only made sense because those teams had pretty much all left the ECAC.

The CCHA was using a tournament before the WCHA ever went to it. Not sure of the reasons.

The WCHA made the switch beginning with the 1987-88 season.  This was after I had graduated from UND, but as I recall there were a number of considerations that went into it.

First, the eastern conferences and the CCHA seemed to draw nice crowds for their events.  This change by the WCHA also matched the expansion to a 12 team field in the NCAA's, and as I recall I think the feeling was that it would expand the opportunity for a team that finished back in the pack in the regular season to qualify for the expanded NCAA field.  It also gave fans a chance to see their team play.  I remember the difficulty trying to get tickets, on the road, for playoff series before the WCHA tournament was formed.  It was no fun sitting in the last row of the balcony at Williams arena where half the ice was obstructed view.

I was always a big fan of the neutral site tournament format, but having lived through the on campus playoff system while I was at UND, I was happy with that too, so long as we were hosting. 

[SJHovey]

The other problem the tournament solved for the WCHA was the issue about arena availability.  Not a huge deal for some schools, but the uncertainty of perhaps needing, or not needing, an arena for three straight weekends caused issues.  I remember in the mid-80's having to go to Williams Arena in Minneapolis for the championship playoffs between UND and UMD.  UMD was supposed to host, but the DECC had already been booked for that weekend because, candidly, who would ever think UMD would be playing in the championship round.  This was also an important consideration in the switch to the tournament.

[82SiouxGuy]

2 hours ago, SJHovey said:

The other problem the tournament solved for the WCHA was the issue about arena availability.  Not a huge deal for some schools, but the uncertainty of perhaps needing, or not needing, an arena for three straight weekends caused issues.  I remember in the mid-80's having to go to Williams Arena in Minneapolis for the championship playoffs between UND and UMD.  UMD was supposed to host, but the DECC had already been booked for that weekend because, candidly, who would ever think UMD would be playing in the championship round.  This was also an important consideration in the switch to the tournament.

The number of weekends needed to play the tournament with larger numbers of schools in the conference was also a factor. You could do at least 2 rounds of the tournament in 1 weekend, which helped with scheduling the rest of the year. Otherwise you would have to start the conference tournament a week earlier.

[sioux rube]

4 hours ago, tnt said:

That may change after their contract is up.  

When is that up?

[southpaw]

26 minutes ago, sioux rube said:

When is that up?

Two more seasons.

[nodakvindy]

 I wouldn't mind seeing nchc going to a similar format.  

Or maybe have the three western leagues combine and hold there championship games over a weekend at the X.  Hold one on Friday night at 7, one on Saturday at 2 an one at 6.  Would be fun to see three Champs crowned and also get a nice preview of the ncaas.  

[Fetch]

2 hours ago, southpaw said:

Two more seasons.

Man that SUCKS

[MafiaMan]

BUY OUT THE TARGET CENTER DEAL NOW!

[sioux rube]

3 hours ago, southpaw said:

Two more seasons.

I thought it was one. Damnit. 

[crb1]

5 hours ago, sioux rube said:

I thought it was one. Damnit. 

I believe the NCHC and Target center signed a 5 yr contract. So two yrs remaining sounds right.