2006-2007 WCHA Predictions

[Diggler]

1. UND or Minnesota

3. Denver (will still be good)

4. St. Cloud

5. Wisconsin

6. UMD

7. CC

8. MTU

9. (drumroll Please) AA

When did Mankato drop hockey?

[#1 Sioux Fan]

Why would you think Lucia has the heat on him to win a championship? I think the Sioux would feel more heat since the gophers have won two NC's since the Sioux championship in 2000. The close but no cigar scenario was Woog's downfall. No, I'm not comparing Hakstol to Woog. It just shows how hard it is to win a NC. If the Sioux get to the Frozen Four again, the pressure might just be on them, and in a one and done format, we know all too well that anything can happen.

Well according to sources, Lucia is upset with all of his underclassman leaving and is blaming that as the reason for no appearance in the Frozen Four. I don't know if you remember that UM lost to a team called Holly Cross, it may have been the biggest upset in college hockey - UM last year should have had a run in the frozen four. Lucia is in a state that wants hockey champions not failures, if you believe that there is no heat on for him to get together a Frozen Four appearence - time to wake up. UND's last two runs at the championships have been with teams that have been somewhat of a surprise, considering how much talent is lost year by year in coaching and players. #8 will come soon enough. As for Hak, having two runs in the frozen four in his first two years as a head coach is quite a accomplishment. To add to that he also has the McNaughten Cup, not to bad

[Slap Shot]

Well according to sources, Lucia is upset with all of his underclassman leaving and is blaming that as the reason for no appearance in the Frozen Four.

These 'sources' claim he's blaming the outflux of underclassmen this season for last season's failure to reach the FF? This doesn't make sense since the losses last summer were nothing like they were this summer, no different than what the majority of quality programs go throught year to year and doesn't sound like anything Lucia would say.

[MafiaMan]

Wait a second...I think two years ago, the Sioux were considered a major disappointment by many UNTIL the great Frozen Four run. As for last season, with GF hosting a regional, people EXPECTED the Sioux to at least make a second consecutive trip to the Frozen Four.

By the way, according to sources, it's spelled 'MacNaughton'. Don't be a homer. With the "best college hockey arena in the world" and the fact that UND's most-recent title is now seven years old, I'd say more pressure is on UND to win a title than Minnesota.

[Sioux-per Villain]

No question, the bulk of the pressure to perform will be on UND this year. Don't be surprised if we have the same number of underclassmen leave after this season as we did this year. (Oshie, Toews, Lee, Chorney, and Finley). What scares me is what we'll have left after that. The Gooofers have plenty coming in and blue chip recruits in the offing. No pressure on UW, DU, or CC. Denver and CC lost too much to put up much of a charge. Surprise teams this year will be UMD and potentially SCSU.

[PCM]

Wait a second...I think two years ago, the Sioux were considered a major disappointment by many UNTIL the great Frozen Four run. As for last season, with GF hosting a regional, people EXPECTED the Sioux to at least make a second consecutive trip to the Frozen Four.

I agree with your first sentence, but not the second one. I think the expectation was that IF the Sioux made the NCAA West Regional at the Ralph, they'd have a decent chance of getting to the Frozen Four. However, even when UND made the regional, many thought that having to play Michigan and then (it was assumed) Minnesota, the Sioux had one of the more difficult roads to Milwaukee.

While the 05-06 Sioux were a very talented and very young team, don't forget that the Sioux needed help from other WCHA teams to capture home ice for the playoffs and that on March 11, they were one game away from their season ending. Until Holy Cross beat Minnesota and UND beat Michigan, I don't recall expectations for UND being that high.

[jloos]

1. Minnesota - they lose a lot but look at what they have coming in

2. Wisconsin - will not score a lot, but should not get scored on much

3. UND - will take a while to figure out who is the #1 goalie, Towes/Oshie should put up some big numbers

4. St. Cloud - good goalie, decent recruits, good coaching

5. UMD - did not lose much from last season

6/7. Denver/CC - both lost way more than they are bringing in

8/9. MTU/MSU - MSU usually does better than they look on paper, MTU does not

10. AA - I almost feel sorry for them, almost.

[#1 Sioux Fan]

Wait a second...I think two years ago, the Sioux were considered a major disappointment by many UNTIL the great Frozen Four run.

By the way, according to sources, it's spelled 'MacNaughton'. Don't be a homer. With the "best college hockey arena in the world" and the fact that UND's most-recent title is now seven years old, I'd say more pressure is on UND to win a title than Minnesota.

Thanks spell check, I'm sure Hak will use "With the "best college hockey arena in the world" and the fact that UND's most-recent title is now seven years old, I'd say more pressure is on UND to win a title" as motivational tool to get his team going. Look - making the FF is the goal of every team, winning is another. If you consider the past two seasons as failures, better jump ship and change your tattoo to a gopher. " As for last season, with GF hosting a regional, people EXPECTED the Sioux to at least make a second consecutive trip to the Frozen Four" - who? you and the turd in your pants?? Should have put money on the Sioux to advance over the #1 seed of the country.

[choyt3]

somebody get the popcorn, we're in for a show in this thread...

[dagies]

somebody get the popcorn, we're in for a show in this thread...

[cavedurtis]

1. Minnesota - they lose a lot but look at what they have coming in

2. Wisconsin - will not score a lot, but should not get scored on much

3. UND - will take a while to figure out who is the #1 goalie, Towes/Oshie should put up some big numbers

4. St. Cloud - good goalie, decent recruits, good coaching

5. UMD - did not lose much from last season

6/7. Denver/CC - both lost way more than they are bringing in

8/9. MTU/MSU - MSU usually does better than they look on paper, MTU does not

10. AA - I almost feel sorry for them, almost.

I think these picks look about right as far as which teams have the best odds to be in the NCAA tournament. The top three will be very good. This could be a year that JBSU and the U of M (duluth) make it in the NCAA tourney. I like Wisco with their senior backstop to win the regular season as long as he stays healthy.

[siouxforeverbaby]

1. UND

2-10. There are other teams?

Ditto, Diggler! The only one I am sure, sure about is UAA and 10th spot. I do feel sorry for them. They remind of a team I knew once that got the Spirit Award every year cause that was the only thing they ever won. It was sad cause everyone knew it too.

[DLW4GOPHERS]

I am going to wait until the first week of class. Still plenty of time for Elliott, Skille, Toews and Oshie to sign on the dotted line.

[Greyeagle]

When did Mankato drop hockey?

They have (had?) hockey?

[Diggler]

I am going to wait until the first week of class. Still plenty of time for Elliott, Skille, Toews and Oshie to sign on the dotted line.

Toews and Oshie aren't signing.

[siouxfan5]

1. UND

2. Wisconsin

3. Minnesota

4. Denver

5. UMD

6. St. Cloud

7. Colorado College

8. Michigan Tech

9. Minnesota st.

10. Alaska Anchorage

Top scorer:

T.J Oshie

Hobey Baker:

Oshie, Toews, Johnson(minn)

[tnt]

1. Minnesota - they lose a lot but look at what they have coming in

2. Wisconsin - will not score a lot, but should not get scored on much

3. UND - will take a while to figure out who is the #1 goalie, Towes/Oshie should put up some big numbers

4. St. Cloud - good goalie, decent recruits, good coaching

5. UMD - did not lose much from last season

6/7. Denver/CC - both lost way more than they are bringing in

8/9. MTU/MSU - MSU usually does better than they look on paper, MTU does not

10. AA - I almost feel sorry for them, almost.

Minnesota has a lot of goals to replace. I don't recall many games where the scoresheet for them wasn't heavily weighted with Potulny and Irmen. They do have great talent coming in, but you can't count on freshmen making a major impact. That said, I would suspect Okposo and Johnson will do quite well, but is it enough to offset the go-to guys they lost. Here's to hoping that Johnson runs into the same kind of officiating that put Commodore, Greene, and Smaby in the box a lot -- you know of what I speak, the philosophy that he's so big it must be a penalty, even on a clean check. I personally wouldn't be surprised if four or five teams won the league. I'm talking UND, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Denver or Duluth. I know Denver and Duluth seem like longshots, but Duluth played pretty well in taking out a very good Denver team in the playoffs with a huge number of freshmen in the lineup. I assume Denver will be getting back that good little player that was lost for the season early on against the Sioux, and also have good talent coming in. It will be interesting to see who the coaches and media pick to win the league.

[sagard]

1. UW - It will still be a race to two goals in games vs. UW this season.

2. UND - Phil steps up and could get them the McNaughton.

3. UM - The Gophs will very talented and with so many returning from last seasons team they should be very coachable this season.

4. DU - Gwoz cancels the offense and DU tries to get back to their systematic strategy.

5. SCSU - Goaltending and a continual improvent.

6. UMD - A nice improvement, but still a year away from being a NCAA threat.

7. CC - Last time I put them in the bottom half, they won the league.

8. MSU

9. MTU

10. AA

[skateshattrick]

1. UND--this would have been UM until Kessel left. UND lost a lot, but has most of its D-corps back, Phil Lamoreaux, who is just as good as Jordan Parise, and Toews, Oshie, Duncan, Porter, Kozek, Fabian,etc. They also have some good freshmen, and expect Vandevelde and Zajac to make immediate contributions. If Forney is healthy, he may as well.

2. Minnesota--tons of young talent, but lost too much scoring. They will get better as the year goes on and have a very solid D-corps with Goligoski, Hagemo (is he healthy?), Peltier and the young guys (Johnson and Fischer). Goaltending continues to be a question mark.

3. Wisconsin--top goalie in Elliott and a very good defensive team that is very well coached. I would also assume a very good recruiting class. With Earl, Pavelski, Burish and Gilbert gone, may have trouble scoring.

4. St. Cloud---had a great year last year without much talent. Can you imagine what Motzko will do with an infusion of more talent? Also have Goepfert returning.

5. Denver--Still very well coached and some returning talent, especially Mannino. However, it is very difficult to absorb losses like Gauthier, Carle and Stastny.

6. CC--They don't seem to have much returning, but Scott Owens seems to rebuild well and they never seem to be out of the running for the top 5.

6. UMD (tie)--a lot of returning young talent and a good goalie recruit. I would not be surprised to see them sneak into the top 1/2 of the league. However, based upon how they have underachieved in past years, I would't be surprised to see them finish 9th or 10th either.

8. MSUM--lost a lot from a not very deep team (Peto, Backes, etc.). However, they always work hard, compete and overachieve.

9. and 10. MTU and AAU--nothing really to say, other than this is the traditional spot that they are fighting for.

[yzerman19]

UMD has 3 highly skilled freshmen forwards coming back who all scored double digit goals in their inaugural campaigns. Niskanen is a first rounder who will only get better each year he plays college.

Wisconsin returns 3 double digit goal scorers (2 freshmen-skille and street) and Elliot. Carlson and Dowell are decent, but not great.

MN returns 4 10+ goal scorers and adds the best incoming class. Weak in the net.

I still must stick to the fact that UND is returning two 20 goal scoring first rounders, Duncan added 16, Porter's scored double digits before. The D-men are mostly highly touted top draft picks. decent incoming class, watkins and kozek should elevate their game too. Fabian and Kaip will keep the pressure on.

Dingle's the only double digit scorer coming back to Denver.

[Slap Shot]

MN returns 4 10+ goal scorers and adds the best incoming class. Weak in the net.

2005-2006 Statistics.........Overall...................Conference

Name, Yr...................GP W-L-T GAA SH SV% GP W-L-T GAA SH SV%

Philippe Lamoureux, So 14 5-7-0 2.61 1 .911 10 3-5-0 3.14 1 .896

Kellen Briggs, Jr ..........32 21-6-3 2.55 2 .904 22 15-3-3 2.19 1 .918

No, I'm not saying UND will be weak in net, I'm just saying.

[yzerman19]

I like the wink! I was thinking more about the Gophs other goalie...Briggs is ok.

[skateshattrick]

2005-2006 Statistics.........Overall...................Conference

Name, Yr...................GP W-L-T GAA SH SV% GP W-L-T GAA SH SV%

Philippe Lamoureux, So 14 5-7-0 2.61 1 .911 10 3-5-0 3.14 1 .896

Kellen Briggs, Jr ..........32 21-6-3 2.55 2 .904 22 15-3-3 2.19 1 .918

No, I'm not saying UND will be weak in net, I'm just saying.

Point taken. However, don't get too caught up in numbers. Briggs was good most of the year, but faltered down the stretch. Do SCSU and Holy Cross jog your memory? That is also 2 years in a row for Briggs where he did not play well at the end of the year. Frazee was even worse down the stretch. I agree that Briggs has talent, but he does not seem to play well in big games. Frazee is also talented, but has not shown that he can play at this level. I would call Minnesota a big ? in goal for the year. I'm sure that most of the other teams in the league and at least the objective fans would say the same thing. If they get above average goaltending, UM will be a very good team by the end of the year.

[Cardinal]

Point taken. However, don't get too caught up in numbers. Briggs was good most of the year, but faltered down the stretch. Do SCSU and Holy Cross jog your memory? That is also 2 years in a row for Briggs where he did not play well at the end of the year. Frazee was even worse down the stretch. I agree that Briggs has talent, but he does not seem to play well in big games. Frazee is also talented, but has not shown that he can play at this level. I would call Minnesota a big ? in goal for the year. I'm sure that most of the other teams in the league and at least the objective fans would say the same thing. If they get above average goaltending, UM will be a very good team by the end of the year.

Briggs played pretty well in 2005 in the regional (yeah, I know it was at Mariucci), posting a .976 save percentage in the regional and being named MVP of the regional. He played okay against UND at the Final Five, but remember that was his first game back after a long layoff after he broke his thumb. UM was overmatched in the Frozen Four and it showed for about 50 minutes of that game - Briggs wasn't great but certainly wasn't to blame for the loss or anything like that.

[Slap Shot]

skateshattrick - I agree and disagree. I'm not saying Briggs will be the Gophers' savior this year, but Sioux fans shouldn't be any more confident with Lammy going into 2006-07 than we should be with Briggs. If you look back at those two games the entire team in front of Briggs let down against SCSU and HC as much so, if not more so, than Briggs himself. Yes sure, perhaps if he had stolen another goal or two it would have made a difference, but the SCSU loss isn't why they lost to HC and the OT goal against HC was a fluke. Plus Briggs has had more experience - positive or not - in those types of games.