Where will the chips fall?

[AZSIOUX]

I know its early for sure as we have 54 days til the puck drops but lets get some good hockey talk going, predictions for the wcha standings and breakdowns if you got em, if not standing work as well. Also if there are fans of the other 9 teams with more insight to break a team down then go for it!!

1. SIOUX - d core will be the best in the nation, duncan and oshie returning, 3 juniors that we need for balance.... kozek,watkins,miller, lamoureux solid

2. GOPHERS - very young at D, may cost them a few here and there, frazee gets crack at everyday job, okposo, wheeler and barriball will light it up

3. SCSU - goalie is big ? maybe a 3rd place, losing gordan will hurt, can nodl get better, hes damn good! and 1 in done in the ncaa's right? thats the trend, bad one at that.. if they make it....

4. MTU - think they improve a bit this year get home ice for the wcha playoffs, hunch i guess, good goaltending

5. CC - battle for home ice, could go either way

6. WI - Elliot gone. fight for home ice how many games did he save them in 2-1 or 3-2 or 1-0, better start scoring unless elliot has a twin just as good

7. DU - Will still batle for home ice.Things dont seem to be going there way lately wit players bolting, they still have a few nice players that could light it up

8. MSU - Jutting shouldnt be coaching, but he is, 8th sounds good, maybe 9th

9. UMD - will battle to stay out of the cellar, losing the 2 they lost cant be good for sandy and crew

10. UAA - just dont see it, 8,9 or 10 really

EARLY DEPARTURES from brads blog

Denver -- 3

Jr. forward Ryan Dingle

Jr. forward Geoff Paukovich

Fr. defenseman Keith Seabrook (WHL)

Minnesota -- 3

Fr. defenseman Erik Johnson

Jr. defenseman Alex Goligoski

Fr. forward-defenseman Jim O'Brien

UND -- 2

So. forward Jonathan Toews

So. defenseman Brian Lee

Wisconsin -- 2

So. forward Jack Skille

Jr. defenseman Joe Piskula

Minnesota-Duluth -- 2

So. defenseman Matt Niskanen

So. forward Mason Raymond

Alaska-Anchorage -- 2

So. forward Jay Beagle (ECHL)

Jr. goaltender Nathan Lawson (destination unknown)

St. Cloud State -- 1

Jr. forward Andrew Gordon

MSU-Mankato -- 1

Jr. defenseman Steve Wagner

[Diggler]

1. SIOUX

2. GOPHERS

3. MTU

4. DU

5. CC

6. WI

7. SCSU

8. UMD

9. MSU

10. UAA

[cujo2]

1.) GOPHERS

2.) GOPHERS

3.) GOPHERS

4.) GOPHERS

5.) GOPHERS

6.) GOPHERS

7.) GOPHERS

8.) GOPHERS

9.) GOPHERS

10) mehhh nobody else measures up

Either that OR

1.) sue/GOPHERS can flip flop here. Both are odds on favorites to win the McNaugthon and Broadmoor

3) Tech

4) UW

5) SCSU

6) CC

7) DU

8) MSU

9) UMD

10) UAA

[HockeyMom]

1.) GOPHERS

2.) GOPHERS

3.) GOPHERS

4.) GOPHERS

5.) GOPHERS

6.) GOPHERS

7.) GOPHERS

8.) GOPHERS

9.) GOPHERS

10) mehhh nobody else measures up

*hears Aerosmith's Dream On playing in the background*

[Goon]

1.) Sioux or Gophers (flip and flop)

3) Tech

4) UW

5) SCSU

6) CC

7) DU

8) MSU

9) UMD

10) UAA

Does everyone think that MTU is going to be that good this season? In case I missed something during my spring and summer of golfing and other things didn't MTU's top recruit ruled inelgible and is not even playing until december at best...

[wakeboarding_crazed]

My predicted standings:

1) UND

2) UMN

3) SCSU

4) MTU

5) CC

6) UW

7) DU

8) MSU

9) UAA

10) UMD

[Diggler]

Casey Pierro-Zabotel is out for Tech until at least December, but other than Batovanja Tech didn't really lose that much from last years team. The have both Nolan and Teslak coming back in net and that will help them immensely.

[siouxnami]

1) Sioux - Best team in the nation, should be solid throughout, solid D / goaltending, depth in scoring will determine if this team is very good or great.

2) Gophs - Look for a season like the Sioux had the last 3 years. I expect them in 3-6 at the break.

3) DU - Come on, tales of their demise are greatly exaggerated. Some of the best Sophs in the country.

4) Wisco - I like their young players and their home ice (though they will still be boring).

5) MTU - A solid 2nd tier WCHA team

6) CC - I like their returning core of players.

7) SCSU - I am expecting a big drop off, you can't lose that many key players and not fall off.

8) MSU - F'n Jutting that cheap POS will do just well enough to keep his job. Big leads needed so your 4th liners can fight 'em.

9) UMD - I think Sandy is coaching for his life.

10) UAA - Good luck with the Governor's cup.

[richthorpe]

As still somewhat of a new UND fan, I'm just starting to catch up with all the other teams in the WCHA...I'm bias, but it's hard to disagree with the Und Pick at #1...Talent alone should lock up UMTC as #2...After that it's quite the guessing game...I mean has MTU ever finished top 3? It's very possible...

But Wisc is always a tough team...CC and DU will do there usual thing, then beat up on each other at the end...

But, I'd go...

#1 UND

#2 UMTC

#3 MTU

4/5/6 Wisc-CC-DU in no specific order

#7 SCSU- I just think they lost way too much, but we'll see...

#8 UMD

#9 MSU

#10 UAA

[SiouxTupa]

1. UND

2. UM

3. UW

4. MTU

5. CC

6. DU

7. SCSU

8. UMD

9. UAA

10. MSUM

I remember a lot of people saying that Wisc would drop off when Bernd Bruckler left. As it turned out Elliot led them to a championship and was stellar. Looking at who UW has coming in, I'd put them higher than last year.

I think Tech is slightly overrated, but it's fun to be proven wrong by a lower tier team. Maybe Tech will return to the prominence they once had?

CC and Denver will fight for home ice with each other. SCSU is also overrated, I think. Bobby G. was the anchor of the team, and I don't see them replacing him or Andrew Gordon.

This will be a really fun year, for sure. I really hope that Duluth is better. It's depressing watching them slip so much in recent years. Losing those two dynamic Sophs will hurt pretty bad, though. And the Bulldogs were bad enough with them in the lineup.

[Big A HG]

1) Minnesota - Young, but still solid all around - Frazee IS a veteran goalie. Lucia will have them ready.

2) North Dakota - Definitely can be the best in not only the conference, but the nation...offensively they don't stack up yet. Vets need to step up

3) Michigan Tech - Carry over from last seasons success

4) Wisconsin - Lots of good offensive recruits, but the wrong place with little D. New goalie I hear is pretty good though.

5) St. Cloud - Lost some guys, but they will recover.

6) Alaska - Anchorage - Surprise, surprise. This is my stretch of a pick.

7) Colorado College - Hard workers, good kids, not enough talent.

8) Denver - Fallout year for Denver, still the downward slide from recent championship years.

9) Mankato - Just good enough to beat Duluth

10) Duluth - What can I say....

[fee_0405]

1. Sioux (Greatest Hockey program in the country)

2. Goofs (Who has a rodent as their mascot)

3. Wisconsin (I think they reloaded and with their boring style of play alot of teams still won't be able to score)

4. DU (Pretty boring, but they got goaltending and decent talent, prolly should be number 3)

5. Michigan Tech (I have to see it to believe it, scoring comes to hard for these guys to make a run in the top 3 in the WCHA)

6. SCSU (The difference between CC and SCSU is that SC has a Nodl and CC doesn't)

7. MSU (They're gritty and last year they gave everyone fits but the Fighting Sioux)

8. CC (No Zaba)

9. UMD (I thought this team was extremely tough when they came to the Ralph, but their record doesn't seem to reflect it and it's prolly gonna get worse)

10. Anchorage- I would like to put them ahead of UMD, they're gritty and were fun to watch the Sioux beat their dick in the dirt, but they do suck

[AZSIOUX]

1) Minnesota - Young, but still solid all around - Frazee IS a veteran goalie. Lucia will have them ready.

2) North Dakota - Definitely can be the best in not only the conference, but the nation...offensively they don't stack up yet. Vets need to step up

3) Michigan Tech - Carry over from last seasons success

4) Wisconsin - Lots of good offensive recruits, but the wrong place with little D. New goalie I hear is pretty good though.

5) St. Cloud - Lost some guys, but they will recover.

6) Alaska - Anchorage - Surprise, surprise. This is my stretch of a pick.

7) Colorado College - Hard workers, good kids, not enough talent.

8) Denver - Fallout year for Denver, still the downward slide from recent championship years.

9) Mankato - Just good enough to beat Duluth

10) Duluth - What can I say....

gophs to young on D, losing 3 d men, that hurts, they will still light it up though

nice try with the gophs im calling for a sioux sweep for wcha regular season, wcha final 5, ncaa title and a hobey!! its our year! and this isnt even being homer, just reality my peeps

[Sioux-per Villain]

My predicted standings:

1) UND (Hak hangs his first banner and gets his contract extended)

2) SCSU

3) DU

4) MTU

5) CC

6) UW

7) MSU

8) UMD

9) UAA

10) UM (Goofers looking to get an at large bid to an AAU tournament)

[stickboy1956]

1 UND - best F's/best D = MCup

2 UW - best recruiting class/they just reload with goalies

3 MN - with their D problems, look for the trap at the Maroosh

4 CC - will be solid, not flashy

5 UMD - will surprise

6 DU - Gwoz needs to go

7 MTU - overrated

8 SCSU - the end of year slide will continue this year

9 UAA - bad

10 MSU - worse

[nodak hockey fanatic]

1. UND - very good chance to hang #8

2. UW - my "surprise" pick, lots of young talent, goaltending??

3. UMtc - some major losses, but always deep enough to compete

4. DU - some big losses that will hurt the next few seasons, but may be borderline this season

5. MTU - very impressive last season, ride the momentum

6. SCSU - lose a hobey candidate and their best skater and scoring threat

7. UMD - two early defections too much to overcome

8. CC - don't know why I have them this low, a hunch

9. UAA - the CCHA is waiting

10. MSUM - at least the purple cows are good for a fight or two

[siouxguyinstpaul]

1.) GOPHERS

2.) GOPHERS

3.) GOPHERS

4.) GOPHERS

5.) GOPHERS

6.) GOPHERS

7.) GOPHERS

8.) GOPHERS

9.) GOPHERS

10) mehhh nobody else measures up

Either that OR

1.) sue/GOPHERS can flip flop here. Both are odds on favorites to win the McNaugthon and Broadmoor

3) Tech

4) UW

5) SCSU

6) CC

7) DU

8) MSU

9) UMD

10) UAA

Gophs are the best - how can anybody else even compete with such an advantaged program.

The organization on a whole seems somewhat flawed however, they should still go damn near undefeated. Although most folks on GPL don't see it that way - just the goofs that write on this board. BTW - how can two teams be odds on favorites for the same thing? Just wondering.

Honestly - the Sioux are heavy favorites (odds on or not) and I see the gophs finishing no better than 3rd - even with all the advantages that the New York Yankees of college hockey receive.

[siouxnami]

7 MTU - overrated

On a positive note for Tech, this is the first time this has been a relevant statement for 25 years...

[SiouxFanatic]

1. UND - May be biased but I do know we are returning the best D-corp in the conference plus we'll finally have a 'veteran' offense of upperclassmen.

2. UMTC - They may have lost 3 defenseman but they'll return a good offense. And from what I saw towards the end of the season Frazee was stepping into his role as being the #1 goalie on the team so I think he'll be bailing the defense out in a couple of games this season for the gophers.

3. MTU - I'm not to sure whether or not there overrated but they are returning a lot of key players plus there goalie Teslak is really good. I think with solid goaltending plus consistent scoring from the offense will place MTU in the top 3. Plus they'll be getting a solid recruit that'll join the team sometime this season. I underestimated them this past season when they swept the Sioux and this year I'm definitely not.

4. SCSU - There returning a pretty good offense with Lasch and Nodl. Goaltending will be suspect this season but if the new goalie steps up they'll have another good season.

5. UW - Even though there boring to watch they will have a very good freshman class. Despite the fact they lost Elliot the goalie to take his spot(Connelly) will be ready to fill the spot. UW has probably the best goalie coach in all of college hockey. I just don't see how the new starting goalie won't have a good season.

6. DU - They've had some defection woes and I think will have a slow start of the season. However, I'm not going to be surprised if they pick up steam in the second half of the season. Even though Mannino hasn't had a overly superb season numbers as he did in his freshman year when he won a championship he's still a veteran goalie.

7. CC - Don't really know much about this team. All I do remember about the tigers was how good of a goalie Matt Zaba was. Not sure how good there offense is this year but I think they are going to struggle.

8. UMD - May have lost Raymond and Niskanen but the Bulldogs always seem to play hard every year. They won't be basement dwellers.

9. MSU - Known to have a bunch of thugs. It's sure fun to watch them when they play the Sioux since things always seem to heat up between the two I just don't think there gonna be good. No Morin, I just don't think they'll be scoring a lot. They do have alright goalies though in Zacharias and Tormey.

10. UAA - They are gonna take wins from the upper teams I just don't see them improving this year though. Plus they lost Lawson in net so I'm not to sure how good there new starting goalie is going to be.

[Goon]

On a positive note for Tech, this is the first time this has been a relevant statement for 25 years...

You know I was excited for Tech for making the Final Five last year but once they got their they looked god awfull. They are going to have to skate and cycle the puck a lot better than they did against Wisconsin. Also, sure they have good goal tending but they are going to have to do more than hook, hold and trap. You have to score to win games. I see them as top 5-6 team but not as prolific as some are predicting.

[Sioux]

1. und- not much of a question to me

2. um- i dont think they will get past und this year. but is definitely possible.

3. uw- people underestimate connoly at goal. and dont forget turris and other great recruits.

4. du- lost a lot, but will have a very tough top line and championship goaltending to boot.

5. mtu- tech would be my fav for 4th if casey was playing to start.

6. scsu- no apefart or gordon, but nodl and laasch will keep them in contention for home ice.

7. cc

8. msu

9. umd

10. uaa

[brianvf]

1. UND - defense and the return of Duncan and Oshie are their strong points. Lammy should be solid, as will the new recruits. Just need a few more forwards to step it up from last year, and this team will be dominant.

2. UMN - yes they lose lots of dmen, but they also return all their forwards. They will win some shootouts, and will get better as the season progresses and their young dmen get used to the WCHA.

3. DU - they have lost alot of players as well, but they also return a very formidable offense. I'm really not sure what to expect from this team.

4. UW - I could honestly see UW finishing 2-3 places lower than this because of losing Elliott and a strong group of seniors, but I will put them here because of their great incoming class.

5. MTU - they could be higher or lower, but I see them right in the middle somewhere. They return a lot, and gain some good recruits, but they certainly won't surprise any teams this year after their finish last year.

6. CC - they lost Zaba, but bring back alot from the rest of their starters last year.

7. SCSU - they will battle with CC and MTU for home ice, but they lost their team MVP from the past 2 years in Goepfert. They'll need more than just Lasch and Nodl if they want to move up higher.

8. UAA - could be switched with Duluth.

9. UMD - could be switched with Anchorage.

10. MSUM - I don't see them being very good this year.

[FIRE HELMET GUY #26]

1. Minnesota- "D" took a hit but they get their prime scoring punch back.

2. UND- Will be interesting to see how the loss of Toews affects the "OT" line.

The top two could go either way, but I had to go with the homer pick.

3. MTU- This will be the real surprise team this year!

4. DU- Still have some seasoned tending.

5. CC- Not sure what to think of this squad yet.

6. SCSU- Bobby's gone.....but I've been reading they have some somewhat promising recruits coming in?

7. UW- Elliots gone, their offense is going to be pretty horrid. Their suffocating "D" is what keeps them this high even.

8. UMD- Stalock I think is going to step up this year, but with no scoring punch it won't matter much.

9. MSU- Not much to say, Jutting will suffocate this team.

10. AA- As someone else said, if this team does not win some games early, those guys are going to give up

[mikejm]

As much as I'd like to jump on the bandwagon here, I see too many unanswered questions on this Fighting Sioux team to make them the overwhelming favorite to win the WCHA. Where is the scoring going to come from? Who is going to step into JToews' position who can feed Duncan and TJ? And beyond that, who is the go-to guy?

Similarly, I don't see UofM dropping outside the top three. There is simply too much talent left. And I'm not about to overlook either Denver or CC. St. Cloud finally has a competent coach and some legitimate talent. I see the top five from last year simply swapping a position or two in the final standings:

1 UND

St Cloud (tie)

3 UofM

4 CC

5 Denver

6 Wisconsin

7 Tech

8 Duluth

9 Mankato

10 Anchorage

[Stack]

Hey I'm going to predict even a little more. I sent this to a friend this morning after I told her to book her hotel in Denver since I got 4 extra tickets to the Frozen Four. She stated the last time she planned a trip to the Frozen Four the Sioux didn't make the NCAA tourney. Here was my response.

Don't worry they will not only make the tournament but be a Number 1 seed and go to Colorado Springs for the regional. Where we will overcome the debacle in 2003-2004 when Denver beat us 1-0. We will sweep through the regional and then play Clarkson in the first semi final game in Denver. We will beat Clarkson handily and then meet the winner of the prior semifinal between Boston College and Minnesota. Either way we dominate the final game and win 6-3. TJ Oshie is named tournament MVP barely nipping out Taylor Chorney. Lamoureux plays decently but the Sioux basically outscore the opponents and with a veteran defense allow few shots. (Hey it could happen)

Now for the WCHA:

1. North Dakota: Solid from top to bottom. Need upper class forwards to score more and solid goaltending

2. Minnesota: Will try to outscore everyone with all forwards back but have to rely on 3 freshmen defensmen and Frazee

3. St. Cloud: Only real question is goaltending. I think they can overcome Bobby's loss

4. Colorado College: Will have a solid team. Lost no underclassmen and have a nice class coming in

5. Wisconsin: Lost a lot but probably have the highest touted incoming class.

6. Denver: Peter Mannino and sophmore forwards

7 Michigan Tech: I'd like to see them do well and I expect they will but not in the top 6.

8. Mankato: Could finish higher but I don't know who they beat out

9. Minnesota Duluth: Lost too much but will upset some people.

10. UAA: Back to the old ways of not being that competitive.

I think the WCHA will put North Dakota, Minnesota, St. Cloud, Colorado College, and Denver in the NCAAs. Even though Wisconsin finishes ahead of Denver in the league Denver ends up ahead of them in the pairwise. Minensota and North Dakota will be Number 1 seeds. Minnesota goes to Madison to play and North Dakota goes to Colorado Springs.