*Official* NCAA Hockey Thread

A thread was probably going to happen at some point, figured now was as good as time as any. I suppose the best way to get it started is to show the College Hockey News preseason top 10:

http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2009/09/16_chn2009-10.php

Quote :

CHN 2009-10 Preseason Top 10
by Joseph Edwards/CHN Writer


It's time for CHN's pre-season Top 10 prognostication, one that, if history shows, will look a lot different at year's end. But, you never know.

1. Denver: The Pioneers' offensive game will be reminiscent of last year's NCAA Champion Boston University. Rhett Rakhshani, Tyler Ruegsegger, Joe Colborne, Anthony Maini, and Patrick Wiercioch form a returning nucleus that lose only 15 goals from last season's 132, good for second in the WCHA. Freshmen Drew Shore and Chris Ostrow should pick up some of the scoring slack along with sophomore Luke Salazer. Incoming defenseman William Wrenn will help to solidify a seemingly questionable defensive corps in front of netminder Marc Chevrie, who led the way for the 14th-best defensive team in the country, despite playing more games than eight teams in front of them.

2. Miami: There's no reason that college hockey's winningest program over the last four years won't continue its trend. Four of the team's top-five scorers return, including Hobey Baker candidate Carter Camper, as well as postseason performer Tommy Wingels. Having Chris Wideman continue to quarterback the power play won't hurt, either, nor will his strong defensive play in front of the sophomore goaltending tandem of Connor Knapp and Cody Reichard.

3. Boston University: They say defense wins championships, and this is a team that returns five of last year's starting six. While Matt Gilroy takes his game to Broadway, Kevin Shattenkirk and Colby Cohen return to anchor the blueline, and Kieran Millan is back to tend the crease. That's a good thing, as the loss of Colin Wilson, Jason Lawrence, Chris Higgins and John McArthy on the offensive side means the team won't necessarily be able to score at will this season, though Nick Bonino showed why he's ready to be the featured weapon on Jack Parker's 2009-10 Terrier squad.

4. Cornell: The Big Red's string of big-time goaltenders continued last season with Hobey Baker candidate Ben Scrivens, who's back for more. Last season, he was fifth in the country in wins, third in GAA, fourth in save percentage, and second in shutouts with seven. Those are some pretty big numbers, and with Brendon Nash leading the defense in front of him and Riley Nash and Colin Greening returning to the frontlines, there's no reason Cornell shouldn't be better across the boards this season.

5. Michigan: Sure, the Wolverines lost Mark Mitera and Aaron Palushaj, but they also spent the majority of the season without the big defenseman, and you can bet Red Berenson already has plans to replace Palushaj's 50 points. They almost certainly include Louie Caporusso, who scored 24 goals and 49 points last season. Freshmen Kevin Lynch and Chris Brown will provide an extra big physical presence, as well as contribute some good numbers up front. Junior Bryan Hogan, coming off a campaign in which he put up some all-time single season numbers for the Maize-and-Blue, should continue to wall off the nets.

6. Minnesota: A usual NCAA postseason staple, the Gophers fell short of expectations last season, but if their late-season run showed anything, it was that they'd be back with a vengeance in 2009-10. They lose top scorer Ryan Stoa to the pro ranks, but return Jordan Schroeder, who excelled as a freshman, and Jay Bariball on a deep offense that will be complemented by a defense led by Cade Fairchild and Aaron Ness, both of whom matured nicely as the roller coaster season continued. The biggest piece of the puzzle will be seeing which Alex Kangas shows up in net -- the one who gave up 42 goals in a 12 game mid-season stretch, or the one who allowed just 19 over the final nine matches of the season.

7. Princeton: Despite an agonizing, heartbreaking loss in the NCAA, the Tigers have a lot to build on with two straight seasons of school-record win totals and back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances. Stalwart Zane Kalmeba returns to the crease for the Tigers, and Dan Bartlett and Mark Magnowski will lead a strong offense that will benefit from a full season from sparkplug Cam MacIntyre -- if you can call a 6-foot-1, 215-pound body-banger a "sparkplug." Jody Pederson will be an integral piece of the defensive corps that adds freshman Michael Sdao, an Ottawa draft pick in the 2009 draft.

8. Notre Dame: Despite some big losses in Erik Condra and Christian Hanson, Kevin Deeth and Ryan Thang will lead an incredibly deep bunch of forwards that ranked eighth in the NCAA last year with 135 goals. Teddy Ruth and Ian Cole are among five blueliners back in the fold that provide plenty on both sides of the puck. The Irish skaters will have to be strong at each end of the ice, as Jordan Pearce's graduation leaves a trio of goalies who have a combined seven collegiate games played under their belts.

9. Mass.-Lowell: Could this be the year for the River Hawks? They've flirted with taking the leap, bouncing from mediocre to good, and now to the elite class. Led by Junior-to-be defenseman Maury Edwards, Lowell's special teams found a sweet spot towards the end of last season that took them all the way to the TD Banknorth Garden for the Hockey East Final against a juggernaut BU team. The goaltending duo of Nevin Hamilton and Carter Hutton has proven to be a solid base for the team that has a huge upside, and plenty to gain in a league that lost a number of high-scoring marquee stars.

10. Yale: Offense isn't a question for the Bulldogs/Elis, a team that won the ECACs last season, as their top-10 scorers from 2008-09 return, including four-double-digit goal scorers. Defensively, Yale has all the answers as well, with all six full-time blueliners back for another season. The biggest punctuation mark -- whether it be exclamation point or question mark -- is in the net, where Alec Richards graduated and gave the crease back to Billy Blase, who hopes to hold off the relatively untested Ryan Rondeau for the starting position.

The Gophers could go either way this year...

Their blue line should be solid. Good group of young fowards. Can Kangas regain his form of two years ago?

Does Kangas have the confidence needed after last year?

TaLoN wrote:

Does Kangas have the confidence needed after last year?

Depends on which part of last year he reflects on most.

If there is one thing that I'll complain about with the Gophers is their goalie coaches (Robb Stauber & Co.) They could take Patrick Roy, Brodeur, Sawchuck and any other great goalie and turn them into Cloutier pt 2! Seriously, have you ever noticed how these goalies come in and look really good early on... only to then fall apart the longer they stay with the team? And from what I've heard (from HS coaches, former players, etc.) more and more people are taking notice of this trend.. and not liking it at all.

zamboni14 wrote:

If there is one thing that I'll complain about with the Gophers is their goalie coaches (Robb Stauber & Co.) They could take Patrick Roy, Brodeur, Sawchuck and any other great goalie and turn them into Cloutier pt 2! Seriously, have you ever noticed how these goalies come in and look really good early on... only to then fall apart the longer they stay with the team? And from what I've heard (from HS coaches, former players, etc.) more and more people are taking notice of this trend.. and not liking it at all.

I think that's more of a product of Minnesota Hockey than it is the Gophers. Minnesota, and the rest of the USA for that matter, don't invest enough coaching for the goalies at the youth hockey level as they do in Canada. It seems that, even going back to my hockey playing days as a youth, goalies were only there to stop shots in practice...coaches RARELY worked with them on angles and technique...at least not as much as they worked with the skaters. So, as kids, the good goalies are generally the most athletic ones who can react and flop to stop the puck...well, as they get older and the competition stronger, they have to rely on technique more and more...unfortunately, many haven't been schooled nearly enough in technique.. Just my opinion.

And further what both of you were saying then; perhaps the Gophers need find another body to help invest time working on techniques with their goalies?

Can't say I disagree with the feelings that the Gopher goalies seem to get worse with time...

I think they over rated them. They have such a deep offense that they listed two guys... who will be complemented by two sophomore defensemen.

Did anyone buy the Final Four/West Regional package the Wild was offering up to ticketholders?

MuckandGrind wrote:

zamboni14 wrote:

If there is one thing that I'll complain about with the Gophers is their goalie coaches (Robb Stauber & Co.) They could take Patrick Roy, Brodeur, Sawchuck and any other great goalie and turn them into Cloutier pt 2! Seriously, have you ever noticed how these goalies come in and look really good early on... only to then fall apart the longer they stay with the team? And from what I've heard (from HS coaches, former players, etc.) more and more people are taking notice of this trend.. and not liking it at all.

I think that's more of a product of Minnesota Hockey than it is the Gophers. Minnesota, and the rest of the USA for that matter, don't invest enough coaching for the goalies at the youth hockey level as they do in Canada. It seems that, even going back to my hockey playing days as a youth, goalies were only there to stop shots in practice...coaches RARELY worked with them on angles and technique...at least not as much as they worked with the skaters. So, as kids, the good goalies are generally the most athletic ones who can react and flop to stop the puck...well, as they get older and the competition stronger, they have to rely on technique more and more...unfortunately, many haven't been schooled nearly enough in technique.. Just my opinion.

actually I find the whole "technique" thing one of the issues. Yes, I agree that goalies were always thrown to the net for practice and we were left to "figure it out on your own... as long as you stay standing up" while growing up (go figure, I can remember getting screamed at for dropping in the late 80's... and now you get shot for NOT dropping *lol*) The issue I have with technique is that there are too many coaches teaching ONE type. And that's part of the reason why I think you see so many goalies fail at the U... they start off having a lot more instinct and less technique, and then are forced into a technique that doesn't fit their abilities and are relying less in instinct (which is what made them good to begin with.)

I'll use one of my favorite saves as an example...

if I am on the left post (my left,) and a player is going to drive in from the side.. goalies do the "one up/one down" type drop (their left leg is on the post and the right is laying on the ice.) I actually do the opposite! When they go to cut across, 9 out of 10 times they are going to shoot back to the left side. Well I drag my left pad while the right stays up, my stick blocks my 5-hole and my glove is a few inches above my left pad... shot.. glove save almost every time. If I don't catch it, it goes off my left pad or misses the net completely.

Now if I did that with an experienced coach watching me... I'd be shot!

Another save that is almost NEVER used now because goalies are taught technique is the "decking" of the pads. I did that during a 2 on 0 during a game (with former Breck girls hockey coach Rob Little coaching the other team,) and even he said that was the perfect save for the situation and that goalies should never totally abandon it because players today never expect it now.

Even from talking to players at various levels in the AHA tell me how a goalie that doesn't do "the expected" messes them up more then anything else. Now I know that AHA players aren't exactly at the same level as Div-1 college hockey players... but it still holds true. Look at Brodeur, after reading his book the one thing I took away from it was goalies and their coaches should NEVER get into the habit of doing the same thing over and over again because it makes them too predictable in net.

And I can't remember where I read it, but there was an article with Herb Brooks talking about goalies and how he'd gladly take a goalie that has great instincts.

Velmeran wrote:

And further what both of you were saying then; perhaps the Gophers need find another body to help invest time working on techniques with their goalies?

Can't say I disagree with the feelings that the Gopher goalies seem to get worse with time...

I know I already addressed this in my last post, but hey I've got to get my post counts up on this board (so I can say that I posted here more then the old board.)

I think they should bring in some one who knows how to teach technique based on the goalies abilities and instincts rather then just a specific technique. "Cookie cutter" styles may give you a lot of "average goalies" (goalies that can do ok most of the time) but you put a guy out there who knows how to cater to a goalies ability and instinct, and you'll see better results (IMO.)

what ever the reason for the goaltending (I tend to agree with zamboni though) I will not apply it to Frazee. Fat + Crazee = Frazee.

Maybe there's mold in the locker room or something that drives them mad... I just remembered Tyler Hirsch.

Kellen Briggs? It was Frazee. He was just a horrible goaltender.

Jordan Schroeder is preseason WCHA Co-Player of the Year.....let's hope he is ALSO the POST-season Player of the Year....
Link

Quote :

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The University of Minnesota failed to qualify for the NCAA college hockey tournament a year ago. But coaches in the Gophers conference think this year's team will be an improved one.

Coaches in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association have picked Minnesota to finish fourth, and Denver to win the league title.

The Pioneers received eight of the 10 first-place votes in the Grand Forks Herald preseason coaches poll.

Minnesota sophomore forward Jordan Schroeder -- a first-round draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks -- was picked by coaches as the league co-Player of the Year, along with St. Cloud State forward Ryan Lasch.

St. Cloud State goalie Mike Lee, a Roseau native, is picked as the WCHA preseason Rookie of the Year.

Defending league champion North Dakota received the other two first-place votes and is projected to finish second, followed by Wisconsin, Minnesota and St. Cloud State.

The Gophers finished sixth in the WCHA last season.

The bottom five, in order, are Minnesota Duluth; Minnesota State, Mankato; Colorado College; Alaska Anchorage; and Michigan Tech.

I'm excited to see how Lee does up in SCSU and facing top players more consistently then he did in Roseau.

But then I am also REALLY excited to see how Leddy, Budish and Schroeder does on the same team. Imagine if Budish takes Stoa's place with Schroeder feeding him the puck! That could be just SICK!

And here's to praying that Kangaroo doesn't suffer from "Stauber-itus" and start to get worse and worse with every game he plays.

Go Gophers!

they had no "go" what so ever.

poor poor performance

Wild still losing. Gophers lost. Twins done with. What's a girl to do? Please for the love God, don't blow it Vikings.

Depressing night...nothing to look forward to tomorrow with the gopher football team at penn state....its a somber night in Minnesota

OldTimeHockey wrote:

Wild still losing. Gophers lost. Twins done with. What's a girl to do? Please for the love God, don't blow it Vikings.

Now calm down, the Vikes have an extremely tough game coming up on Sunday, it's very possible they can play a great game and still lose this one...

TaLoN wrote:

OldTimeHockey wrote:

Wild still losing. Gophers lost. Twins done with. What's a girl to do? Please for the love God, don't blow it Vikings.

Now calm down, the Vikes have an extremely tough game coming up on Sunday, it's very possible they can play a great game and still lose this one...

We're getting payback for the best 24 hours in sports that we experienced a couple of weeks ago.

still waiting to see the Gophers new team... last night wasn't the Gophers (or at least I hope to hell not!)

GOALLLLLLL GOPHERS

Jay Barriball with teh Goph's first of the year.