D3 Regional Rankings and Bracketology

[PrezdeJohnson09]

It does seem that the west gets less Canadians than they used to. Back when I went to UWS over half the roster was Canadian...now I think there is only a handful. Same with River Falls

That is the case across the board.

With the NCAA's crack down on international aid grants five or so years ago now as well as the Canadian dollar completely going in the toilet have been a factor in that.

[gojackets]

Re: D3 Regional Rankings and Bracketology

I haven't looked, but isn't that the case with most (or all?) of the MIAC schools as well? Very few Canadians? Not that it's a good or a bad thing either way, but it does mean that the available talent in the Upper Midwest is more spread out than it would be if the teams attracted more talented Canadians than they are currently, and more on the level that the Eastern teams are able to.

I just looked at Gustavus, St Thomas, Bethel and Concordia...they had very few Canadians, if any on their teams 10 years ago.


You also gotta remember also that back then there was no Finlandia, Marian, St. Norbert, Adrian, Saint Scholastica, or Concordia-WI.

[D2D]

Re: D3 Regional Rankings and Bracketology

You also gotta remember also that back then there was no Finlandia, Marian, St. Norbert, Adrian, Saint Scholastica, or Concordia-WI.

Hmmm, interesting. I know that the East has added new D3 teams of their own over the past 10 years, but have the top teams had major contributions to their success from recruited Canadian players? Again, not meant to demean or criticize, just trying to understand why Eastern teams have dominated D3 while Western teams have dominated D1.

[gojackets]

Re: D3 Regional Rankings and Bracketology

Hmmm, interesting. I know that the East has added new D3 teams of their own over the past 10 years, but have the top teams had major contributions to their success from recruited Canadian players? Again, not meant to demean or criticize, just trying to understand why Eastern teams have dominated D3 while Western teams have dominated D1.

Plattsburgh has 7 Canadians it looks like, Elmira had only 1...oddly they have 2 swedes and a Brit though.

I really think it goes back to what Shelfit said. All of the top Minnesota players go D1 and handful go east. You really only have hockey players in MN/Wi/and somewhat Illinois so your pulling from a shallower pool to start. However, with the exception of Plattsburgh this year many western teams were competitive and able to beat the Eastern teams. Even Gustavus had Plattsburghs on the ropes for a good portion of their game, so hopefully things are shifting to being more even. With the addition of several new eastern teams will you start to see the talent pool start to water down out there.

[123kidd]

Re: D3 Regional Rankings and Bracketology

Aside from the recruiting International player's, the whole landscape of West DIII hockey is going to change soon. With the addition of Northland, Aurora, Trine and possibly UW-Stout, Hope and Calvin, along with the fact the the WIAC schools want to figure out an Auto bid, something major is going to happen in the next 2-3 years.

[shelfit]

Aside from the recruiting International player's, the whole landscape of West DIII hockey is going to change soon. With the addition of Northland, Aurora, Trine and possibly UW-Stout, Hope and Calvin, along with the fact the the WIAC schools want to figure out an Auto bid, something major is going to happen in the next 2-3 years.

Which will only further dilute the D3 pool and that's exactly what happened out east this year with the new conference of almost all new programs. If you watched any of those games this year you saw players that didn't skate well, couldn't pass accurately on a consistent basis, had very weak shooting skills, and on and on. Basically there are players in that league that would never have been recruited by all the preexisting D3 teams simply because they aren't good enough to help those teams get better or even fit into in the first place. But at least the new D3 programs have given players the opportunity to play D3 hockey that would never had had that opportunity before. Is that a good thing? I'm not sure. It's not like there are suddenly a lot more U19 teams to recruit from. All the best Tier 1 U19 players are going D1 or higher end D3. That leaves lower end Tier 1 U19 players and a LOT of Tier 2 U19 players for everyone else to recruit from. So you're adding to the bottom level of D3 by adding so many more lower end Tier 1 and Tier 2 U19 players. Hopefully the diluted waters will get better over time but I doubt it will be any time soon.

[gojackets]

Re: D3 Regional Rankings and Bracketology

Which will only further dilute the D3 pool and that's exactly what happened out east this year with the new conference of almost all new programs. If you watched any of those games this year you saw players that didn't skate well, couldn't pass accurately on a consistent basis, had very weak shooting skills, and on and on. Basically there are players in that league that would never have been recruited by all the preexisting D3 teams simply because they aren't good enough to help those teams get better or even fit into in the first place. But at least the new D3 programs have given players the opportunity to play D3 hockey that would never had had that opportunity before. Is that a good thing? I'm not sure. It's not like there are suddenly a lot more U19 teams to recruit from. All the best Tier 1 U19 players are going D1 or higher end D3. That leaves lower end Tier 1 U19 players and a LOT of Tier 2 U19 players for everyone else to recruit from. So you're adding to the bottom level of D3 by adding so many more lower end Tier 1 and Tier 2 U19 players. Hopefully the diluted waters will get better over time but I doubt it will be any time soon.

I'm just curious...were players like Sheerhan and Meneghin, Senese D1 recruits that chose plattsburgh...or are they just top of the line D3 players?

I know the video announcer for the championship game kept talking about a player being recruited by D1 but choosing D3, however, I'm pretty sure he was talking about Hall from River Falls.

[PrezdeJohnson09]

I'm just curious...were players like Sheerhan and Meneghin, Senese D1 recruits that chose plattsburgh...or are they just top of the line D3 players?

I know the video announcer for the championship game kept talking about a player being recruited by D1 but choosing D3, however, I'm pretty sure he was talking about Hall from River Falls.

I could be wrong but I think Senese is someone who just really adapted well to the college game. Unless she was hurt, I distinctly remember her not dressing at the beginning part of her freshman year. She really came on as a sophomore.

Meneghin and Sheeran are just plain and simply studs. I'm sure they had D-I looks.

[Call It]

Re: D3 Regional Rankings and Bracketology

I'm just curious...were players like Sheerhan and Meneghin, Senese D1 recruits that chose plattsburgh...or are they just top of the line D3 players?

I know the video announcer for the championship game kept talking about a player being recruited by D1 but choosing D3, however, I'm pretty sure he was talking about Hall from River Falls.

They are exceptional D3 players with a strong skill set and hockey sense. The reason why they are not D1 is their Speed. They are not nearly fast enough for D1 and when the speed picks up their decision making is sub-par. At the slower D3 game they excel.

[D2D]

Re: D3 Regional Rankings and Bracketology

They are exceptional D3 players with a strong skill set and hockey sense. The reason why they are not D1 is their Speed. They are not nearly fast enough for D1 and when the speed picks up their decision making is sub-par. At the slower D3 game they excel.

I've never seen them play, but my hunch is that there would be at least several D1 teams who would take the very top D3 players in a heartbeat, if they could. Think Union, Brown, Merrimack, RIT and who knows how many more.

[Call It]

Re: D3 Regional Rankings and Bracketology

I've never seen them play, but my hunch is that there would be at least several D1 teams who would take the very top D3 players in a heartbeat, if they could. Think Union, Brown, Merrimack, RIT and who knows how many more.

Perhaps, why isn't this happening more? The D3 to D1 move.

[shelfit]

Perhaps, why isn't this happening more? The D3 to D1 move.

Who would you rather play for, a team like Union that never makes it into their conference playoffs or a team like Plattsburgh where you're guaranteed a spot in the NCAA tournament and a chance to compete for a national championship every year? I know my answer but there are D3 level players on those low end D1 teams that chose to go to Union, Merrimack, RIT, etc, just so they could say they played D1 hockey.

[PSUChamps2001]

Who would you rather play for, a team like Union that never mawesome it into their conference playoffs or a team like Plattsburgh where you're guaranteed a spot in the NCAA tournament and a chance to compete for a national championship every year? I know my answer but there are D3 level players on those low end D1 teams that chose to go to Union, Merrimack, RIT, etc, just so they could say they played D1 hockey.

....and losing a full year of eligibility

[shelfit]

....and losing a full year of eligibility

In some cases it's the parents that are to blame because they are so preoccupied grooming their daughters as they grow up to make it to D1 because they are living vicariously through their daughters that by the time the girls are at an age to make a decision they're sort of brainwashed to choose any D1 opportunity that might come along. In other cases it's a matter of keeping up with the Joneses because one or two teammates made it to D1 "and if they made it to D1 then so can my daughter."

[shelfit]

I've never seen them play, but my hunch is that there would be at least several D1 teams who would take the very top D3 players in a heartbeat, if they could. Think Union, Brown, Merrimack, RIT and who knows how many more.

The top 5-7 players on the teams you listed are the ones that are really D1 players. The rest are borderline D1 and the players that are contributing less than 3-5 points a year are D3 level players and are easily replaceable at the D1 level.