Where will the chips fall?

[SiouxFanatic]

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.

After your post I might have to start sandbagging UND in hopes of no jinxing!

[johnsowe]

1.UND

2.UMD

3.UMN

4.MTU

5.DU

6.CC

7.UW

8.AA

9.SCSU

10.MSU

*NOTE SOMETIMES THE BEST TEAMS DONT ALWAYS WIN I HOPE THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN.

[AZSIOUX]

1.UND

2.UMD

3.UMN

4.MTU

5.DU

6.CC

7.UW

8.AA

9.SCSU

10.MSU

*NOTE SOMETIMES THE BEST TEAMS DONT ALWAYS WIN I HOPE THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN.

now theres a hell of a prediction!! nice...

[siouxpuckster]

I'm really not that concerned who thinks who willl finish 9th in the conference all I care about is the Sioux will finish 1st, take 2nd at the final five. be the number one overall seed in the tournament be placed in colorado springs. beat DU to go to the Frozen four and for the second straight year beat the goophs in overtime this time for #8. GO SIOUX!!!

[siouxguyinstpaul]

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

"their" prime scoring punch was lost when Hirsch was booted

The OT line will be fine with the additions.

Minn Tech will be 3rd in the league at best - perhaps win the consolation at the final 5 with the home town crowd (as always) but then again, that crowd doesn't show for those games - no home ice for the regionals again this year (amazing) - no trip to Denver

[hockey1]

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.

Siouxguyinstp,

Can you please explain all the advantages the Gophers receive compared to other teams.

[Sioux Hockey Fanatic]

Does anyone know who is still nursing injuries from last season? I thought Okposo had a surgery or something in the off season or late last season? I could be mixing him up with someone else.

My Predictions for this year---UND vs UM Robbie Bina scores a hat trick with Frazee in net!!!

[AZSIOUX]

Siouxguyinstp,

Can you please explain all the advantages the Gophers receive compared to other teams.

here we go again, lighten up.....take it with a grain please...........

[hockey1]

here we go again, lighten up.....take it with a grain please...........

Relax AZ, I just asked Siouxguy a question. No harm here.

[AZSIOUX]

Relax AZ, I just asked Siouxguy a question. No harm here.

im always relaxed relaxation is the key to life

[FIRE HELMET GUY #26]

Siouxguyinstp,

Can you please explain all the advantages the Gophers receive compared to other teams.

I can probably answer this one!

1. The refs are on the Gopher payroll, and always against the Sioux.

2. The regionals are at Mariucci way too often.

3. Having the Final Five at the "X" is all so the Gophers can have the home field advantage.

Point 3 has always been interesting too me. I would like to know from Soiux fans where they would like to have the Final Five other then the "X"?

[AZSIOUX]

I can probably answer this one!

1. The refs are on the Gopher payroll, and always against the Sioux.

2. The regionals are at Mariucci way too often.

3. Having the Final Five at the "X" is all so the Gophers can have the home field advantage.

Point 3 has always been interesting too me. I would like to know from Soiux fans where they would like to have the Final Five other then the "X"?

nicely done FHG

#1, nah, only a few games per year

#2, nope

#3 is halarious if anyone complains, perfect place for the final 5 and i hope it never moves, what a stupid argument if its out there

[Big A HG]

I think everyone is WAAAY too quick to put UND at the top.

We only have 2 proven scorers right now. Defense is VERY solid, most likely best in college hockey, but goaltending with Lammy is still up and down. He was VERY good down the stretch last year, and did struggle with the injury in the first half, but he still did have his moments.

We need much more scoring, Lee will be a bigger loss than people anticipate (he struggled with hanging onto the puck, but when he did have it, he made many good passes which is why he had a high assist count).

Let's not forget that b/c of our lack of depth offensively, if Duncan or Oshie goes down at all, we are done for...in my opinion. Vande is no Toews (offensively or defensively), nor is any incoming freshman.

Given all that, I think our 3rd and 4th lines are still better than most teams' 2nd lines, and I think Lammy is a proven vet now and will perform down the stretch. I just don't think it's a guarantee that it will be the Sioux at the top.

THEY STILL HAVE TO EARN EVERY SINGLE POINT ALL SEASON. LET'S HOPE HAK DOESN'T LET THEM FORGET THAT.

[AZSIOUX]

I think everyone is WAAAY too quick to put UND at the top.

We only have 2 proven scorers right now. Defense is VERY solid, most likely best in college hockey, but goaltending with Lammy is still up and down. He was VERY good down the stretch last year, and did struggle with the injury in the first half, but he still did have his moments.

We need much more scoring, Lee will be a bigger loss than people anticipate (he struggled with hanging onto the puck, but when he did have it, he made many good passes which is why he had a high assist count).

Let's not forget that b/c of our lack of depth offensively, if Duncan or Oshie goes down at all, we are done for...in my opinion. Vande is no Toews (offensively or defensively), nor is any incoming freshman.

Given all that, I think our 3rd and 4th lines are still better than most teams' 2nd lines, and I think Lammy is a proven vet now and will perform down the stretch. I just don't think it's a guarantee that it will be the Sioux at the top.

THEY STILL HAVE TO EARN EVERY SINGLE POINT ALL SEASON. LET'S HOPE HAK DOESN'T LET THEM FORGET THAT.

what did you expect? they do have a solid core coming back all over, forwards and d men. phil has proven to be a solid everynight goalie, he was hurt a bit. if any teams top players get hurt it will sink them to a degree, it doesnt matter who it is, oshie, okposo or whomever...there isnt another toews, not possible, but it does open it up for a player or 2 or 3 to step it up, big year for watkins and kozek, we need them to produce!! vande will have a big year and frattin will be a 25 point scorer and to cap it i wouldnt worry about HAK and points as im sure they know what they are doing

the big thing will we have a good first half?? or i should say when we play at home as those records have been bad, are overall records in the 1st half arent bad at all, 13-8 or 14-8 in all 3 years... the trend under coach hak has been so so first half and then turn it on big time and land in the frozen 4, cant wait

[Diggler]

Damn, I really thought this was the year the points were just going to be given to the Sioux.

[fargosioux]

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...

College Hockey News has Michigan Tech at #10 in their national preseason rankings.

[USA Hockey]

Here are my predictions

1. Sioux - The biggest reason is because they return Lammy and five of six d-men along with Lapoint as the new addition. As talked about before, the main causes for concern are finding someone to center Duncan and Oshie and having a solid second scoring line. It's hard to win a national title with one scoring line.

2. Gophers - In my opinion they will win the scoring title because they return all their fowards and two very good incoming freshmen. Their blue line is talented, but young and as Sioux fans we have seen the last two years some of the problems with young d-men. There are some questions with the consistancy but I think he will fair well and Kangas will probably also see some time.

Big seperation - I feel the rest of the conference isn't near as talented as the first two teams.

3. Colorado College - They return their top four scorers, four of six d-men, and no losses to early signings. The biggest question with CC becomes the goaltending situation. They lost Zaba and bring in Bachman from Cedar Rapids of the USHL. Bachman was a pretty highly touted player and was drafted. He played part of the season for a terrible Chicago Steel team before going to Cedar Rapids. Him and Shane O'Connell will probably split the playing time. It also helps that they have a decent d-men core in front of them.

4. Minnesota Duluth - Little bit of a surprise. I was going to put Denver here but with the recent defections I feel they move down a little. I picked UMD pretty high last year and that didn't pan out but I feel this year will be different. Despite losing Niskanen, Raymond, and three seniors I still feel they are a pretty talented team. They return 8 juniors, 7 sophmores, and a year more experience with Stalock. I feel some of their returning junior fowards (Carroll, Gergen, and MacGregor) will step it up.

5. Wisconsin - Very talented but young. The biggest problem with Wisconsin is lack of experience on the blue line and in goal. They're going to rely some of these young d-men to come in right away and make an immediate impact with what I would assume will be Connelly in goal. With the dump and chase style, they heavily rely on good d-men and goaltending and without the experience they just won't be as strong as in years past. I think they will start off really slow and they could be a pretty good team by the end of the year.

6. Denver - They bring three very good sophmore fowards back but where they really lack is depth at foward. They lost seven seniors plus three early defections which is half the lineup. They bring Manino back and five of their six d-men so they're pretty good on the blueline but they will have problems scoring.

7. St. Cloud State - I don't like to put SCSU down to much because I think Motzko has done a great job there but they lost the heart of the team. Aside from Goepfert, they also lost their top three blueliners with Borer, Clafton, and Fletcher gone which will be tough for Weslosky. They will have some good scoring lines with Nodl, Lasch, Cunti, Dey, and Marvin. Besides the seniors, if they can keep everyone on this team together for 08 they could a top ten nationally ranked team again.

8. Michigan Tech - I think they were hoping for a solid first line with Pierro-Zabotel, Rouleaul, and Shelast but now that Pierro-Zabotel is delayed until the second half of the year they will probably struggle in the first half. I wouldn't rule them out because along with good goaltending and a solid scoring line in the second half you could see them in St. Paul come March.

Big seperation - I think 3-7 could go anyway and maybe a very close race between all of them.

9 & 10 - Minnesota State and Alaska Achorage - All I know is that MSU returns a decent amount of players and could be competitive night in night out. I don't know much about UAA.

[USA Hockey]

I think everyone is WAAAY too quick to put UND at the top.

We only have 2 proven scorers right now. Defense is VERY solid, most likely best in college hockey, but goaltending with Lammy is still up and down. He was VERY good down the stretch last year, and did struggle with the injury in the first half, but he still did have his moments.

We need much more scoring, Lee will be a bigger loss than people anticipate (he struggled with hanging onto the puck, but when he did have it, he made many good passes which is why he had a high assist count).

Let's not forget that b/c of our lack of depth offensively, if Duncan or Oshie goes down at all, we are done for...in my opinion. Vande is no Toews (offensively or defensively), nor is any incoming freshman.

Given all that, I think our 3rd and 4th lines are still better than most teams' 2nd lines, and I think Lammy is a proven vet now and will perform down the stretch. I just don't think it's a guarantee that it will be the Sioux at the top.

THEY STILL HAVE TO EARN EVERY SINGLE POINT ALL SEASON. LET'S HOPE HAK DOESN'T LET THEM FORGET THAT.

I think you under-estimate what another year of experience does for most of these guys, especially at defense. Also, Lammy was a very solid goaltender the second half of the year after recovering from the injury. I agree though, there are some questions with the depth at foward but I think most of these guys will improve greatly with another year of experience.

[Big A HG]

I think you under-estimate what another year of experience does for most of these guys, especially at defense. Also, Lammy was a very solid goaltender the second half of the year after recovering from the injury. I agree though, there are some questions with the depth at foward but I think most of these guys will improve greatly with another year of experience.

I agree with what you said completely...in fact I basically said the same exact thing. I'm just not going to assume someone steps up and takes a scoring role. Porter is another that will sorely be missed. He could put the puck in the net. Toews could put the puck in the net. That's 2 out of our best scorers gone. I'm not going to say that anyone will step up for sure...b/c they haven't proved it before. So, right now, I only see 2 scorers, and with the way Minnesota will score, I'm not sure our D will keep up with their O as much as their D will keep up with our offense. Lammy and Frazee are a push...both are veteran WCHA goalies.

[sioux7>5]

I obviously think the Sioux will win the WCHA. I think that the Goofs do not break the top three. Because if I am not mistaken, did they not lose over 100 points in scoring due to either graduation or to the nhl. The rest of the top 5 can be in any order.

[redwing77]

Top 3 will be UND, UMN, and SCSU/Tech

3 and 4 will be closely contended.

UW will get 5th

DU 6th

CC 7th

UMD 8th

MSUM 9th

UAA 10th.

I don't think MTU will start in the top 3. I also agree that they will have a rough first half.

I think the teams that could vary the most are UW, UMD, and DU. Reasons:

UW -- COnnelly is a Jekyl/Hyde type goaltender. He started out flat out awful. He got better but was largely in games against weaker opponents or games that didn't matter. There may have been a few meaningful games in there (especially during Elliott's injury) but it is hard to say how a full season as #1 could affect him. If it affects him like it affected Elliott, they could beat MTU into the top 3.

UMD - They lost two top scorers, for sure, but I think they have a solid goaltender if he learns to play a little less aggressively. They are relatively unknown and could be taken for granted. I think Sandy is a good coach and he may be able to surprise a few this year.

DU -- They were stacked before defections and I'm not altogether convinced that they are depleted. They play a similar game to UW so they don't need all world style talent in order to win. They just need to stay awake themselves until the other team falls asleep due to sheer boredom that the trap brings to the game. Mannino/Cheverie goaltending tandem (plus that wildcard Norwiegian goaltender Ppaallggaarrdd) should be very good.

CC could go up or down, but O'Connell has been worse than Connelly when Connelly has a bad day. I still don't see the scoring depth and defensive depth might be a problem. They could fluctuate for sure. Definitely not a bad team. Just a lot of unknowns.

[Sioux_Hab-it]

1. UND - If Lammy is both healthy and consistent start to finish.

After that positions 2 through 7 should be really interesting but here is my best WAG at it:

2. UMTC - We at UND have recently witnessed that a young D can dash all expectations

3. MTU - Or was Lars Helminen really the heart and soul of last years team

4. CC- They have the lineup and experience to get it done, goaltending could be the one issue.

5. SCSU - No Bobby, but a decent lineup.

6. UW - Elliot is gone so let's see if their top recruits can have an immediate impact

7. DU - Still have some great talent but to many unexpected hits in the off season.

8. MSU- As long as the Gophers don't take out their goaltenders.

9. UMD - I wish I could pick a different outcome for this team but they do not have anything close to a replacement for the two players they lost early to the Pros. I still look forward to them killing the Gophers at the end of the season.

10. AA- Nothing further needs to be said. A bunch of overage players will make them dangerous competitors on any given night. Note to Gophers, the overage players seem to have their best games against an inexperienced D.

[Goon]

3. MTU - Or was Lars Helminen really the heart and soul of last years team

I am going to say that they are a tad bit over rated. They are a decent defensive team but that is about it.

No offense.

[Frontroguy]

It will be a major upset if any team not wearing Green wins the WCHA this year.

1 UND Too much talent

2 SCSU Another year of not raising a banner

3 U of MN Will stuggle early, but play well late in season

4 DU - lost some key players but George never stays down for to long

5 Sconny Its the SYSTEM dangit! (boring, too)

6 MT Hooray for relavancy!

7 CC Sliding down the slope

8 UAA Will play like they did in 1st half of 2006/2007 longer this season

9 MSU too bad this does not mean they will get a better draft choice....

10 UMD Sany looks for new job.

[Blackheart]

1. Huskies

2. Gofs

3. CC

4. Sioux

5. DU

6. Tech

7. Wisco

8. UMD

9. Kato

10. UAA

Sioux catch fire second half and skate for 8!