Biggest Upside Surprise in the WCHA This Year?

[siouxinminny]

OK, so who exceeded expectations by the greatest margin?

[umdtke5]

AA....No Question for me.

[UMD Fro Patrol]

I am definitely biased, but no one expected Duluth to do anywhere near as well as they have this year. Their defense came from absolutely nothing to being a solid, stifling defense, that and the contributions from younger players who have added great depth.

Wisconsin should be up there as well, but they have some highly-heralded younger players, thus my vote for tUMD as biggest surprise.

[richl49]

I took Wisconsin. I think people expected Duluth to be good, maybe not as good as they are, but a lot picked them third or fourth this year in the preseason. Meanwhile must I think expected Wisco to be near the bottom of the standings. Anchorage was a big surprise in the middle of the season, but cooled off somewhat near the end.

[MinnesotaNorthStar]

I had to vote for Wisconsin. I had them pegged for 8th this year...they finished 3rd.

I expected Duluth to be this good. I had them at 3rd, right behind the Sioux. Anchorage surprised me as well, but I knew they'd surpass they're win total from last year. I know, I know, what an "out there" prediction.;) :D

[Brenthoven]

Duluth had the tools last year, and they were (and still are) very scrappy. I didn't expect them to (come close to) win it all, but Sconni I didn't expect top 5 for sure. :cool:

[Parise for Hobey Baker]

I think 'Sconni is the biggest surprise. No one was even talking about them this year at all. Duluth finished ok last year. Wisconsin did not. After a very down year last year, Wisconsin really turned it around. Therefore, they get my vote.

[zamboni_14]

I went with Duluth because I figured they would do ok this year (miss the NCAA tournament but make the WCHA final 5.) But I never expected them to actually be among those with a legit shot at the NCAA title. Sure there are several teams with that tag this year, but I don't think many were expecting Duluth to be among those. NoDak, MN, Mich, Maine, BC.. those were givens unless one of them fell appart this year. But to seriously add Duluth to that list.. that's some mighty good company to be with this time of year.

Wisconsin.. I spoke to some people who follow them rather close, and they told me they had a few guys that could really change the team for the better. And they always seem to be one of two ways.. good or bad, and never "ok." So if they couldn't be "bad" this year, they would have to be good.

AA would be my second pick behind Duluth only because nobody saw them upsetting Wisconsin, let alone made the semi-finals of the WCHA tourny. I just wonder how much was the teams doing rather then King's doing. He seems to be 80% of the team (IMO.)

[state of hockey]

I voted for Wisco. I can't really explain why UAA didn't surprise me too much, but oh well. One could see the wheels really turning at tUMD and the end of last year. You could feel them gaining steam in the off-season, kind of creepy. But Wisconsin came out of freakin' nowhere! Last year was pretty abysmal for Wisconsin standards. (am I correct?) For some reason I did not think it would take merely four months to get things back together again. To me they looked on the brink of doom, MTU and LSSU doom. I am in a way very glad they proved my intuition incorrect.

[bostonbruins]

If the question is about just the regular season then I would have to go with Wisco. If the playoffs are included then no questions asked its UAA

[brianvf]

UAA. Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that they would be at the Final Five? Hopefully they can continue their rise upward.

[Greyeagle]

I voted for CC. 11-15-2 last year.
Sure they're picked to be a top half team this year (4th?) but I still think they have a ton of upside. I'd it would not suprise me if the are as high as 2nd or 3rd this year, which is a dramatic improvement.

Edit: :o

[dave29]

For this year, yes I would agree CC should be the most improved. However, this poll I think was for last year. ;) Oh well.

[blueandnow]

no one calls it denver university :p

[Foxton]

no one calls it denver university :p
Why are you trolling threads from 2004?:p

[blueandnow]

Why are you trolling threads from 2004?:p

because no era of time is safe from my mischief!

[SoCalSiouxFan]

SCSU

Winner of the DQ Cup.:rolleyes:

http://www.dqcup.com/

Congratulations to SCSU on being the Best College hockey team in Minnesota.

Nice trophy, does it come with free ice cream?