The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

[gfmorris]

Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

UAH got peppered on Friday. The boys fared better on Saturday, picking up an EAG with :18.6 left. But it was just another night of 3:1 SOG margins for us. The close losses are the ones that hurt the worst.

GFM

[davyd83]

Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Bowling Green had a pretty good weekend. Not so much for Tech.

Both teams went 1-1. BG won a consolation game after getting blown out in the first game. Tech lost the GLI Championship in OT. What makes it good for BG and not so good for Tech?

[Biddco]

Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Both teams went 1-1. BG won a consolation game after getting blown out in the first game. Tech lost the GLI Championship in OT. What makes it good for BG and not so good for Tech?

They didn't win a game.

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Both teams went 1-1. BG won a consolation game after getting blown out in the first game. Tech lost the GLI Championship in OT. What makes it good for BG and not so good for Tech?

Tech did not officially win a game. They tied their semifinal, advancing on a shootout that means nothing to the NCAA.

[Seawolf Fan]

Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Tech did not officially win a game. They tied their semifinal, advancing on a shootout that means nothing to the NCAA.

Put the best spin you can on it.
I always do.
And I wanted them to win.

[Suze]

Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Sorry Suze but there is never any humor in that type of pain.
To put it into perspective for you compare it to child birth.
After a few months or years I've heard many females say "lets have another baby".
I've never heard a male say "go ahead and hit me there again".
Enough said.

It's a good thing that we mothers forget the pain of childbirth, or we would never have more kids. For me, even the 46 hours of labor and eventual C section of my first didn't deter me from wanting more! I didn't mean to be mean, but sometimes members of our family have weird sense of humors ... what can I say?

[MavsFan]

Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

And, unlike childbirth, nothing good comes from a shot in the man parts. You're not likely to say "yeah, it hurt like hell, but the result was worth it."

[davyd83]

Tech did not officially win a game. They tied their semifinal, advancing on a shootout that means nothing to the NCAA.

Ah... My error

[gfmorris]

Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

The warmest low temperature this morning of all WCHA cities was in Anchorage. I expect that will be true again tomorrow.

GFM

[stuckinwi]

Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

The warmest low temperature this morning of all WCHA cities was in Anchorage. I expect that will be true again tomorrow.

GFM

This crap is evil. This was actually part of the forecast: "Becoming mostly cloudy and windy. Temperatures warming rapidly to -9 to -13F"

[gfmorris]

Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Okay, here's a serious question. The WCHA is, generally

Ferris (22 pts — remember, they have two games in hand on Mankato)
Everyone else (11-20 pts, especially with four teams log-jammed at 14pts)
UAH (2 pts)

The matter of who is the top of "everyone else" changes from week to week. Mankato is on a nice run, and BG seems to have recovered nicely from dropping a game to the Chargers. Is anyone going to turn into a clear #2 (or #3 if there are two teams), or is it going to be a muddle in terms of just trying to get in #2-4 so you have home games? Is it a matter of who gets to play UAH in this stretch (including Tech, Lake, and Alaska for the first time) and who doesn't (BG, Ferris)?

Also, who of the eight teams in the middle misses out on the playoffs? The Alaska schools are at the bottom of the table right now, and Bemidji hasn't won in regulation in eleven games.

If you have ideas, I'd love to hear them, including why. I think that UAH has another 2-5 points left in its bag of tricks.

GFM

[Laker Dude]

Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Okay, here's a serious question. The WCHA is, generally

Ferris (22 pts — remember, they have two games in hand on Mankato)
Everyone else (11-20 pts, especially with four teams log-jammed at 14pts)
UAH (2 pts)

The matter of who is the top of "everyone else" changes from week to week. Mankato is on a nice run, and BG seems to have recovered nicely from dropping a game to the Chargers. Is anyone going to turn into a clear #2 (or #3 if there are two teams), or is it going to be a muddle in terms of just trying to get in #2-4 so you have home games? Is it a matter of who gets to play UAH in this stretch (including Tech, Lake, and Alaska for the first time) and who doesn't (BG, Ferris)?

Also, who of the eight teams in the middle misses out on the playoffs? The Alaska schools are at the bottom of the table right now, and Bemidji hasn't won in regulation in eleven games.

If you have ideas, I'd love to hear them, including why. I think that UAH has another 2-5 points left in its bag of tricks.

GFM

For some reason I have a fear 2 of those points for UAH will be when they play LSSU. Although LSSU should not take UAH lightly as the only win Alabama-Huntsville had last year was against the Lakers.

[RaceBoarder]

Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

I will say that I'm content with NMU's position right now... We're coming off a solid weekend against BSU and we do have 2 games in hand over most in front of us... I do wish we were in action this week to keep things going however...

Historically NMU has been a 2nd half team, although that has simmered down in the past few seasons... I would like them to use the next 2 weekends to put some space between themselves and the Alaska schools... It's doable... From there on out, it becomes harder to forecast... The next month of the schedule is against everyone who they will be around in the standings... Win at home/split on the road becomes the mantra there... I'm sorry to say this in front of the UAH folk, but I am glad that we end with them... As long as the Cats stay focused, it should be 4 points that weekend, which is always nice come clutch time...

Overall, I think home ice is a very solid goal... Probably 4th, maybe 3rd... 2nd is probably a longshot...

[MaizeRage]

Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Now is a pretty good time to look at it, since exactly 70 out of 140 league games have been played.

I think you can put Minnesota State as a pretty clear #2. They're 8-1 in their last nine league games, and as close to first place as they are to third place(2 point difference w/ two games in hand). The rest of the league is pretty crazy. There's a team with 14 points that would host a first round playoff series and a team with 11 points that would miss the playoffs entirely. I feel like Michigan Tech is a better team than their record shows and could have a big second half. Northern Michigan, for all they've gone through, is a sleeper too. They're 4th in the standings if you go by winning percentage, and have the best goalie in the league.

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Now is a pretty good time to look at it, since exactly 70 out of 140 league games have been played.

I think you can put Minnesota State as a pretty clear #2. They're 8-1 in their last nine league games, and as close to first place as they are to third place(2 point difference w/ two games in hand). The rest of the league is pretty crazy. There's a team with 14 points that would host a first round playoff series and a team with 11 points that would miss the playoffs entirely. I feel like Michigan Tech is a better team than their record shows and could have a big second half. Northern Michigan, for all they've gone through, is a sleeper too. They're 4th in the standings if you go by winning percentage, and have the best goalie in the league.

IF Michigan Tech can get out of its scoring funk, it will do some damage, but they can't continue to make every goalie look like Patrick Roy...its getting old.