National Rankings

[siouxfan5]

Here are my picks for the National Ranks:

1. UND

2. Boston College

3. Wisconsin

4. Boston University

5. Minnesota

6. Maine

7. Denver

8. Miami

9. Michigan St.

10. Michigan

11. UMD

12. New Hampshire

13. St. Cloud

14. Cornell

15. Colorado College

16. Holy Cross

17. Dartmouth

18. Colgate

19. Northen Michigan

20. Nebraska - Omaha

[Sioux]

my top 10 (20 is too hard)

1. BC

2. UND

3. MINN

4. MIAMI

5. MICH ST.

6. BU

7. MAINE

8. HARVARD

9. WISCO

10. MICH

my picks for teams to miss playoffs... denver, cornell, CC, maybe wisco actually as well.

[redwing77]

I'll take a stab at it:

1. BC

2. UMN

3. Maine (surprise!)

4. UW

5. UND

6. BU

7. MSU

8. Miami

9. Harvard

10. Michigan

Unranked teams to watch: SCSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Princeton, Dartmouth, UNH

[Slap Shot]

Here are my picks for the National Ranks:

1. UND

This is what you think they should be ranked? Will be ranked? Both? imho I think you'll see UND higher ranked toward the end of the season rather than the beginning.

[redwing77]

This is what you think they should be ranked? Will be ranked? Both? imho I think you'll see UND higher ranked toward the end of the season rather than the beginning.

I was putting mine down for end of season...

[sioux7>5]

Here are my picks for the National Ranks:

1. UND

2. Boston College

3. Wisconsin

4. Boston University

5. Minnesota

6. Maine

7. Denver

8. Miami

9. Michigan St.

10. Michigan

11. UMD

12. New Hampshire

13. St. Cloud

14. Cornell

15. Colorado College

16. Holy Cross

17. Dartmouth

18. Colgate

19. Northen Michigan

20. Nebraska - Omaha

I do think UND will be the pre-season #1 but to me that can be a curse. I would rather have them around 3rd or so. I never understand why the east coast teams that no one has ever heard of get ranked so damn high.

[shep]

I just hope the final poll at the end of the season has the boys at #1.

shep

[redwing77]

I do think UND will be the pre-season #1 but to me that can be a curse. I would rather have them around 3rd or so. I never understand why the east coast teams that no one has ever heard of get ranked so damn high.

I don't. I think the preseason top 4 will be:

1. UW

2. BC

3. UND

4. Maine

The rest is a toss up. However, the preseason top 10 means nothing anyways so why not have Holy Cross as #1?

[Sioux]

I don't. I think the preseason top 4 will be:

1. UW

2. BC

3. UND

4. Maine

The rest is a toss up. However, the preseason top 10 means nothing anyways so why not have Holy Cross as #1?

[Goon]

i know that UW will be good, but they lost all top 5 scorers and the only thing that will hold them together will be elliot...mainly

i dont think uw or maine will be in the top 4 preseason...just my opinion

Wisconsin is going to lose a lot of close games 2-1, 3-1...

No one to score.

[Sioux_Hab-it]

For those who pick the Gophers to be in the top three at the start of the season I would like to hear where you think they will get their leadership and scoring from. Ogopogo is probably the only can't miss freshman but he can't carry the team's scoring by himself. Despite their talent the Sioux had a slow start last season with that many freshmen in their lineup too. UMTC will be fortunate to stick in the top 10 until after Christmas.

[redwing77]

To me, UW will be the #1 team in the preseason top 10 because they won the National Championship. I don't know how long they will hold on to the ranking, but when they drop the puck on opening night, I'd expect UW to be #1.

Ogopogo?

EDIT: Nevermind. Ogopogo is obviously Okposo.

[Sioux]

i would personally bet on bc being preseason number1, they are are going to be the team to beat this year with schneider in goal and boyle back, they didnt lose much besides collins...i would say UND will be 2nd for pre...but yes uw will be high because of the national championship and could be 1st.

on a similar note, umtc will be very good as well. in my opinion they have very close to the quality of goaltending that uw does(especially since they have a backup that they play) and they will be better on offense and defense.

[jk]

For those who pick the Gophers to be in the top three at the start of the season I would like to hear where you think they will get their leadership and scoring from. Ogopogo is probably the only can't miss freshman but he can't carry the team's scoring by himself. Despite their talent the Sioux had a slow start last season with that many freshmen in their lineup too. UMTC will be fortunate to stick in the top 10 until after Christmas.

Not to defend the enemy, but I think the strength of that team will be on defense. When they won all those games on the way to the league title, they were a good defensive team. Subtract Harrington and Atherton, and add in NHL #1 and #20, and maybe Hagemo. Not sure about the scoring, but that never seems to be a problem for those guys.

I'm thinking of this Sioux team compared to the Line of Fire year in 2001. There were five elite players on that team (Panzer, Lundbohm, Bayda, Roche, Goehring), some very solid heart-and-soul players who came in well-seasoned (Spiewak, Notes, Lundbohm), and then a group of unspectacular players who came together as a team and managed to not get scored on.

This year, it looks like Oshie and Toews have a chance to be all-Americans, and together with Duncan they provide a top three that I think might surpass the Line of Fire in ability. (Of course they may not be on the same line, and for any of them to be better than Panzer as a senior will take some doing.) Heart-and-soul veterans, men, are present in Porter and Fabian. Then forwards 7-12 I think have a chance to be much more talented than in 2001. On defense, I don't know if any single defenseman will be the equal of Roche, but 1-6 they should be much better this year. Can Lammy impersonate Goehring? A big question of course. And will they collectively refuse to lose as that team did, in sometimes ridiculous fashion?

[redwing77]

Not to defend the enemy, but I think the strength of that team will be on defense. When they won all those games on the way to the league title, they were a good defensive team. Subtract Harrington and Atherton, and add in NHL #1 and #20, and maybe Hagemo. Not sure about the scoring, but that never seems to be a problem for those guys.

I'm thinking of this Sioux team compared to the Line of Fire year in 2001. There were five elite players on that team (Panzer, Lundbohm, Bayda, Roche, Goehring), some very solid heart-and-soul players who came in well-seasoned (Spiewak, Notes, Lundbohm), and then a group of unspectacular players who came together as a team and managed to not get scored on.

This year, it looks like Oshie and Toews have a chance to be all-Americans, and together with Duncan they provide a top three that I think might surpass the Line of Fire in ability. (Of course they may not be on the same line, and for any of them to be better than Panzer as a senior will take some doing.) Heart-and-soul veterans, men, are present in Porter and Fabian. Then forwards 7-12 I think have a chance to be much more talented than in 2001. On defense, I don't know if any single defenseman will be the equal of Roche, but 1-6 they should be much better this year. Can Lammy impersonate Goehring? A big question of course. And will they collectively refuse to lose as that team did, in sometimes ridiculous fashion?

They were saying over on USCHO that Hagemo's injury doesn't look to be healing properly. That being said, I agree with you jk. They finally seem to have a defense coming in that can play more than just on the offensive side of the rink. That being said, the Gopher's question mark isn't at forward or defense. It is at goaltending. Briggs just isn't a big game goaltender and Frazee hasn't shown that he can put his head into the game. Sure, Briggs has his share of victories, but he's no Hauser or Weber even. He is definitely beatable.

The Gophers aren't going to be patsies this year. Leadership is a question mark, but I guess Vannelli is their captain.

[HEXTALL]

? for ( SIOUXFAN5) How do you figue that Nort Dakota will be ranked # 1 in the national polls......

[AZSIOUX]

? for ( SIOUXFAN5) How do you figue that Nort Dakota will be ranked # 1 in the national polls......

they won't be.......then again maybe they will nah, i don't think so

[siouxnami]

I suspect that the first poll will be:

1) WI

2) BC

3/4) UND/Maine

Just because the first poll is almost always base on the final results last season.

Now here is a complete and detailed analysis of what this means:

[Siouxman]

These are preseason estimates:

1. BC - because they are out east, and WI has lost much of their scoring from last year.

2. UMN - Because of hype of recruits, unless there is a Holy Cross hangover. I expect them to falter early in the season, and then begin to rise. How far they rise by the end of the year is debatable. Depends on their goalies.

3. WI - Because they were the champs last year. I believe that they will go downhill from there.

4. Mich - Because the pollsters like Red Berenson, and they were hyped last year as a young skilled team.

5. UND - Because of respect for the program.

I disagree that the Gopher defense was key in their winning streak last year. They had the offense flying high, which kept other teams from mounting much of any offense. That took the pressure off their defense and their goaltending. It was when they started playing better teams in the playoffs that could shutdown some of their offense that the defensive and goaltending weaknesses reappeared. The best defense is a great offense, until that offense falters. When the Gophers were on their hot streak, they were skating and flying, with their defense pinching at every opportunity. They got away with it for a while. When they suddenly lost that offensive magic, their defense kept pinching and got burned. As a result, their play going into the playoffs was much more tentative and had lost its confidence. Prime example: giving up 8 goals to SCSU, a team with good goaltending and weak offense, in the WCHA tournament. This year, I believe that the Gophers will be better defensively (they had better be with that goaltending), but weaker offensively. Overall still a good team.

Overall, preseason means nothing but speculation. End of the season counts and I expect the Sioux to be up there.