College Hockey - 2011/2012

[Bear55]

I'm hoping Bear55 will give me some hot tips on a big buck this fall. Michigan Tech probably has a better chance of claiming there McNaughton trophy there*grin*.

Hunt the beds, hang the heads.

[solbes]

I like CC next year a lot and see them as a top 3 finisher. Without Brittain, I see Denver falling off 2-4 spots. Sioux lost a lot of scoring; they will be a top 3 or 4 team as always but not as dominating as last year. Duluth will drop a couple of spots, but could still contend. Gophers could do better with Patterson starting the year in goal. I'm not sure what to think of Cloud, kind of a wild card.

[Shorelunch]

I like CC next year a lot and see them as a top 3 finisher. Without Brittain, I see Denver falling off 2-4 spots. Sioux lost a lot of scoring; they will be a top 3 or 4 team as always but not as dominating as last year. Duluth will drop a couple of spots, but could still contend. Gophers could do better with Patterson starting the year in goal. I'm not sure what to think of Cloud, kind of a wild card.

I agree 100%, Solbes. It must be early in the season! Sconny will be decent, too.

[Bear55]

Next years standing? More then ever I have no clue, there are always surprises but wow this year just seems crazy wide open and a large number of teams could finish anywhere from 1 to 8.

I found a random picking tool on the web and came up with this.

St Cloud

UND

Gophers

WI

Omaha

UMD

CC

Denver

Not hard to pick the bottom 4 in no particular order. I could maybe see Bemidji jumping up a few spots.

Bemidji

Mavs

Alaska

Tech

[cbrooks]

I like UNO chances next year, CC, I still think Denver will be a top 3 or 4. Denver's back-up goalie Adam Murray look good last year. Which makes the Sam Briton lost a little easier. I expect the same teams in the final five except for BSU instead UNO. I'm picking UNO to win the McNaughton at this point.

[brmuskie]

UND will win it all next year with 10 freshman. One of those Freshman, Rocco Grimaldi, wants to be a pastor when he is done with hockey. This UND team will be a bunch of saints with Grimaldi in the locker room. Expect no more DUI's and frostbitten toes from these angels.

Brittain has been thinking that something wasn't right with his knee for a long time - since before his freshman year. But they thought time and excercise would heal it. A couple weeks ago he was at a goalie camp in Canada and tweaked it again - then realized things weren't healing and he needs surgery. Too bad - DU will drop a few spots because of his absence.

My picks are;

UND

CC

UW

AA

SCSU

DU

UM

UMD

UNO

BSU

MSU

MTU

[solbes]

This UND team will be a bunch of saints with Grimaldi in the locker room. Expect no more DUI's and frostbitten toes from these angels.

Yeah but this is what'll be out on the street. Sorry, couldn't resist

[scsavre]

Look like frattin and Filnley must be back in town.

I havent decided how things will shake out yet. I am sure I will be spot on though.

Ill predict soon and then again for the pre-season. UND will not be on top of either of my lists. Im thinking a 3rd place Gophs right now.

[archerystud]

Seems like a lot of the top teams lost quite a bit heading into next year.

I'm not sure about other teams but I highly doubt SCSU will finish that high unless Lee carries them. Their D corp will be too young/inexperienced (although probably improved) to finish in the top spot.

[solbes]

Garrett Haar has decommitted from Northeastern. He's currently looking at Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota, Minnesota, Denver, and BU. I'm crossing my fingers that Mr Herter pulls him to the Twin Ports. Double bonus?!?

[solbes]

Uh oh, might as well get this out of the way. I've made enough lawn mower Frattin & UND jokes to deserve some heat. JT Brown (frozen 4 MVP and absolute animal in finals)got caught using another guys ID 2 weeks before his 21st Bday. Gave a false name to the officer after attending Grandmas in Canal Park (mmm getting thirsty right now). Not entirely surprising.

What was kinda funny is that he tried to bolt from the officers. Here's the link to the story.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/204209/

Here's my favorite quote of what happened. "While the officer was writing the citation and talking to dispatch, Brown allegedly ran around the officer and tried to exit the front doors. The officer reached out and grabbed Brown by the back of his jacket. Brown was able to break the hold and went through the doors directly into another officer. He changed direction and started running down the sidewalk but an officer was able to grab onto his sweat shirt.

An officer reported that Brown flailed his arms while spinning in a circle. An officer pulled Brown’s sweat shirt over his head and was able to get him in a bear hug and take him to the ground.Two officers put Brown’s hands behind his back as he continued to squirm and try to get off the ground. One officer kneeled on Brown in the mid-back area and another kneeled on his shoulder to hold him down while handcuffs were applied."

Pulled his sweatshirt over his head? Has this guy ever been in a hockey fight? Never let em do that!

Also seriously, who here thinks you would get away with using a fake ID after the F4 win this year? The whole town was captivated by it. JT Brown is pretty recognizable. Amusing

[Bear55]

Wow that was a dumb move, even worse when you run, that could add to the trouble. You never give a fake to a cop, heck he was just going to get a fine if he didn't decide to take off. It still might be a slap on the wrist but who knows for sure. But hey since it was a UMD player I will have to chalk it up to boys will be boys. Too bad he doesn't play for UND because a prison sentence would have been mandatory.

[scsavre]

I was a ok with it until he had the multiple attempts to run. That's a [PoorWordUsage] move. These are also the type of things that makes a player think, maybe I should just sign a pro deal rather then sit out a couple games. I could be wrong but isn't this at least a gross misdemeanoer.

If he ws at und hackstol <after giving the police double hackstols> would make him an assitant captain.

Lucia would kick him off the team, he would also state the fact the brown developed too fast as a freshman and no longer fits the mold.

[solbes]

]

If he ws at und hackstol <after giving the police double hackstols> would make him an assitant captain.

Lucia would kick him off the team, he would also state the fact the brown developed too fast as a freshman and no longer fits the mold.

Gotta laugh at that. I don't know why he ran either. Clearly wasn't thinking very well at that point. Ticket and slap on the wrist, or court date + criminal record stuff? Sandelin said he would deal with this, whatever that means.

[cbrooks]

Are we keeping score of which team screws up more off the ice? Thats one for Duluth

[solbes]

Are we keeping score of which team screws up more off the ice? Thats one for Duluth

Ya Baby! Puttin points on the score board and it's only July.

[Bear55]

Lets not keep score, UND and UofM don't have a great track record for this kind of stuff.

[solbes]

Guess this falls more into the 2013/14 category, but linked here is an article from the SC Times proposing an annual MN college hockey tourney at the X. No hard deets yet, but it sounds like 4 teams would rotate (between MN, SC, Mankato, Bemidji, and Duluth). Could be fun, would keep some rivalries in play, and could augment/replace some revenue for all teams involved. Who doesn't love seeing college hockey at the X?

Saint Cloud Times link to Mn Annual Hockey Tourney

[Bear55]

I like it.

[Bran32]

What a fun tourney that would be every year!! Would love to see the gophs still make it to Bemidji every other year or so!!

[cbrooks]

Its about time they put something like this together. Bragging rights in Minnesota

[archerystud]

I like the idea as well. I don't think it will be as fun as the current Final Five but it still would be great hockey.

[cbrooks]

Andy Murray, former LA Kings & St Louis coach, is the new Western Michigan coach.

[scsavre]

Thats interesting.

[Bear55]

That is pretty interesting, a very good hire for WM. Pretty sure they wind up in the Super Conference now, or has it been made official already?