best recruit class and top 4

[franeepack]

If you take Minnesota out, who has the top recruiting class of players to move their team forward. UNH? are they good enough to replace the seniors? Did wayne, niagara mercyhurst, quinn get better? Is St cloud , Bemidji, and Mankato, moving forward? Are the ivy's stronger or weaker than last year?
What teams will be the top 4 and host on site NCAA quarter finals?

[WSUhugefan]

Second year under new coach, same assistants, picked up proven power forward from Findlay in Monk to accompany Zamora & McGrath-Agg. I pick 'em 2nd in CHA behind the Hurst but well over .500 probably by 4-5 games, let's call it 18-14-3 sweeping Qpac and Niagara during the season and splitting with the Lakers.

[brookyone]

In the WCHA, I'd say Bemidji State is most definitely moving forward with the recruiting class they had. I think they'll improve their win / loss record in league play & reduce their number of LOPSIDED defeats with the two quality goaltending recruits. I don't see them competing with the likes of UMD / UW or Minnesota yet, but improving substantially and being more competitive overall.

The Fighting Sioux have some nice players coming in & I think will surprise some WCHA opponents with perhap's stronger "1st year league entrant" play than anticipated. Should be UND's best roster yet & definitely improved from any pre WCHA roster they've had IMO. I expect they'll "be in" many of their league games & win a few against longer established WCHA teams.

MSU, at one point I would have said they also would be moving forward. I still think they'll be better than last season but with the departure of Nichols, MAYBE not as much. We knew Vogt would be gone, a HUGE loss & although from what I hear, the goalie recruit is highly regarded, she still has to prove herself against WCHA sharpshooters. Recruits Bunker & Stohr will help this team...losing Nichols, a solid player, hurts IMO.

Can't forget the Bulldog's who after Minnesota (sorry, won't mention them again in this thread) had the best recruiting class (I thought.) I guess goaltending might still be a question for UMD but I don't see them losing as many games as last season. What I'm wondering, who's gonna play with Ouellette & Koizumi ? UMD did land a couple of what appear to be very talented forwards.

[ARM]

While I agree with you on BSU's recruiting class, and that their freshmen goalies should do well, I don't think that goaltending was their big problem last year. Coté gave them solid goalkeeping every time that I saw her play. They just didn't have any scoring punch. Of the people they brought in, I think Pullar is most likely to make an immediate impact in that area.

UND will be competitive, but they will also need to generate enough offense to win games. They graduated several of their top scores (transfers from Findlay). The Wooster twins might make as big of an impact as any frosh in the league.

Unlike most, I don't expect MSU-M to match their reord of last season. Bunker and Stohr are nice players; I don't know that they can take the Mustangs to the next level as rookies.

[Collegehockeynut]

I don't know much about OSU incoming class, but it will be big in numbers. If OSU is going to make some "noise" in the WCHA I think next year has to be the year. They are solid in net. They have a good core of junior and senior forwards returning and the incoming freshman Aldous is a good addition. I have heard there is a good D coming also from Chicago. I think OSU may suprise some people next year.

[Slapper]

Hey Brookey,

I heard Ms. Quellette is now 26 YOA and her eligiblity has therefore run out.
I'm uncertain of the rules.
Is this true?

[moxie]

Originally posted by Collegehockeynut
I have heard there is a good D coming also from Chicago.

She's not from Chicago, but close. Mallory Peckels, D, from the Wisconsin Wild is headed to OSU.

[dave1381]

Originally posted by Slapper
I heard Ms. Quellette is now 26 YOA and her eligiblity has therefore run out.
I've never heard of an age cap in any NCAA sport. How old was Chris Weinke when he won the Heisman? 28?

[ARM]

Didn't we just have this discussion a couple of months back? I think the conclusions were that the key is you have five years to complete your four years of eligibility. Caroline Ouellette was effectively a sophomore when she started at UMD, due to previous competition in Canada. So 2004-2005 would figure to be her last year. It is possible that this could be appealed. If there is an age limit, it is definitely older than 26.

[brookyone]

I don't know the rules either, or if there even are any rules in place regarding age restrictions. I've never seen anything to indicate there is. I heard someone mention such a rule years ago at a men's NCAA hockey final in St. Paul Mn. Something to the effect an athlete was ineligible if they had reached the age of 25 before the start of their season. I don't believe that's true. I think it was just a BU fan complaining about "them 24 year old Canadian sophomore's" playing for Northern Michigan. I suspect Ms. Ouellette will be in a Bulldog uniform next season. Maybe that would explain the apparent confusion. Last season I recall seeing Caroline listed as both a sophomore & junior in different places. Or was it junior / senior ? Now I'm confused.:confused:

[dave1381]

no one ever listed Caroline as a senior last year... it was more along the lines of sophomore (seeing as she was in her second year at UMD) or junior (seeing as she was playing her third overall season of college hockey).

[ontherocks]

If you go to USCHO's UMD Homepage and click on statistics, it shows Ouellette as a senior last year. Its probably an error.

[brookyone]

Right...That's the discrepancy I was referring to. The roster on the USCHO UMD team page has her as a senior. The roster at the official UMD site list's her as a junior...I think she has eligibility remaining & I think it's 1 year. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. She's a great player & I enjoy watching her play. I am still curious to see who play's on a line with her & Koizumi, or even if they keep those two together. I was thinking Jubinville might do well in place of Potter. She impressed me as capable of keeping pace with Caroline & Jessica when I watched UMD last season...but per the thread topic, perhap's maybe one of the talented incoming forwards.

[brookyone]

Originally posted by ARM
Unlike most, I don't expect MSU-M to match their reord of last season. Bunker and Stohr are nice players; I don't know that they can take the Mustangs to the next level as rookies.

Although I think the Mavs will be improved due to recruits & experience of returning players, yet not hugely so, I tend to agree with you here. I don't know that they'll improve to a degree necessary to keep pace with other WCHA teams I'm also anticipating improvement from...or narrow the gap from last season. In agreement with CHN, I wouldn't be surprised to see OSU put more distance between themselves & MSU in 04/05, and again, alluding to CHN's comments regarding returning forwards, maybe this will be the year the Buck's establish better consistency. Not to mention the distinct possibilty SCSU, UND & BSU will give MSU trouble next season.

[sevenpucks]

I think the Mavs will be competitive next year, will they have the kind of year they had last year, not sure, but with the goalie they already have and the one they have coming in I think they will be fine in net, they may not be as good early, but once those goalies get some experience they should be just fine. They also have about 5 forwards coming in, and from what I have heard they are pretty darn good. I dont think losing Nichols will be that big of deal with the addition of Bunker and Storh, plus the others that are coming in , plus the young kids they have coming back. They also are still in the process of bringing Wallace in from Canada. IF she comes next year like she is planning on, she will be one of the best D's in the league next year. So I think MSU will be fine next year! GO MAVS

[brookyone]

Originally posted by franeepack
If you take Minnesota out, who has the top recruiting class of players to move their team forward. UNH? are they good enough to replace the seniors? Did wayne, niagara mercyhurst, quinn get better? Is St cloud , Bemidji, and Mankato, moving forward? Are the ivy's stronger or weaker than last year?
What teams will be the top 4 and host on site NCAA quarter finals?

With additional recruit announcements being made, some not yet official, I think it may be time to rethink my earlier assessment & correct what was clearly a hideous oversight on my part. Read gano's comprehensive recruit list in the division 1 recruit thread, read a recent post on another apparent Wisconsin commitment in the same thread & I think the Badgers merit strong consideration for both best recruiting class (and transfer grabbing) giving them top 4 potential in 04/05. The Badgers definitely deserve mention in any WCHA best recruiting discussion. Mark Johnson appears to be building one heckuva program in Madison with an obvious commitment to competing with the top teams in DI. Wisconsin is certainly looking like a team to watch out for next season & should probably have been mentioned earlier.

[SKATNMIASOV]

Brookyone.


I'd agree. I think Wisconsin seems to be putting all their ducks in row. Just the addition of Davis and Kenyon are huge. Provided Davis can stay healthy and happy.. They seem to be very quitely putting all thier pieces in place. I believe the experience they gained this year will be applied come October. I really have a feeling you could see them contend for 2nd place this year. I still think the gophers have deep deep talent for the next couple of years to come. But they better not look back.
A little off the recruiting track, Freshman had the top two scoring spots this year for the badgers. Two seniors held down the number 3 and 4 spots. There was only one other Senior that posted 16 points. I think with Kenyon and Davis you could see those two voids easily filled. I was surprised to see Pheobe so far down at the bottom of the scoring list. I have seen her play and she is flat out talented. I think once she finds her way you could really see her put up some stats. She reminds me alot of Mulvaney at Ohio State. It doesn't look like the are losing much. Two of the players coming in already have D-1 experience so the college game is not new to them, just the locker room. I look for Wisconsin to do very well this year. I'm almost salavating thinking of what a great game New Hampshire and Wisconsin would be. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope some how they play. I dopn't know if either team has posted schedules yet.

[MSUMavsPuckFan]

Originally posted by ARM
Unlike most, I don't expect MSU-M to match their reord of last season. Bunker and Stohr are nice players; I don't know that they can take the Mustangs to the next level as rookies.
Ahem, Mavericks.

[mattj711]

skatin

I completely agree with you. Phoebe is an extremely good player. I expect her to be very productive the next three seasons.

[justobservin]

Originally posted by franeepack
If you take Minnesota out, who has the top recruiting class of players to move their team forward. UNH? are they good enough to replace the seniors?

As per the article on Coach Woog's resignation, UNH adding Rebecca Peters to the fold has to help their D.
Peters with returning sophs Garland and Clement. Then a whole army of frosh, Goguen, Saly, Hanley and Guerin. Great potential.