NCHA 2009-2010 Second Half Thread

[Sir Nubs]

The NCHA standings look like this:

St. Norbert - 14
St. Scholastica - 12
Stout - 11
River Falls - 7
Stevens Point - 6
Superior - 5
Eau Claire - 5

Stout and Stevens Point only have eight games left, the other five teams have taken their bye already and have 10 left. How does the race for the first-round Peters Cup bye shape up? Do my Knights have enough to win an 11th NCHA title or will CSS overtake them? Looks like a two-horse race to me at this point between the Catholics.

[Wormser-PointRC]

I agree, I also think it's between SNC and CSS. SNC is definetaly in the drivers seat, but there are certainly a lot of games to be played, and as it has been shown, every game is a battle in the NCHA.

It'll be interesting to see how Stout and Superior do in the second half, because they seem to be on the slide.

Hopefully Point can get a home playoff series, that's the goal now. They've seemed to turn the corner.

[Matthew Webb]

I agree, I also think it's between SNC and CSS. SNC is definetaly in the drivers seat, but there are certainly a lot of games to be played, and as it has been shown, every game is a battle in the NCHA.

On thing that I think may be getting lost in the shuffle of Oswego/Adrian and Plattsburgh/Elmira is the play of St. Scholastica.

Was at the Hamline and game on Friday and the Saints looked flat out sensational. Even Bridges commented that he thought it was about as close to perfect of a game as could be played. Very impressive. Having already earned the road split at the CCC, don't count out Scholastica. I, somehow remarkably, have seen them seven times this year and think they, thus far, are better than they were last year.

[gojackets]

On thing that I think may be getting lost in the shuffle of Oswego/Adrian and Plattsburgh/Elmira is the play of St. Scholastica.

Was at the Hamline and game on Friday and the Saints looked flat out sensational. Even Bridges commented that he thought it was about as close to perfect of a game as could be played. Very impressive. Having already earned the road split at the CCC, don't count out Scholastica. I, somehow remarkably, have seen them seven times this year and think they, thus far, are better than they were last year.

I remember thinking while watching the CSS/UWS games online...holy cow. CSS dominated those games. They looked to be very very good.

[Collegeman]

It appears that if Scholastica beats RF this weekend it would pretty much eliminate falcons since Falcons got beat both games before the break by Stout. River Falls is in a must win situation to stay in a place where they can control there destiny.

How does playoffs work, how many teams go to them and does the 1st place team get a bye or does 1st play 4th etc?

[gojackets]

It appears that if Scholastica beats RF this weekend it would pretty much eliminate falcons since Falcons got beat both games before the break by Stout. River Falls is in a must win situation to stay in a place where they can control there destiny.

How does playoffs work, how many teams go to them and does the 1st place team get a bye or does 1st play 4th etc?

CHAMPIONSHIP
All seven (7) teams will qualify for playoffs, with teams seeded #1 through #7
Top seed receives a bye and hosts lowest remaining seed in Semifinals
Quarterfinals will be two games + mini game series format on Feb 19-20, 2010at high seeds
Semifinals will be single-elimination and hosted by high seeds Feb 27, 2010
Championship will be single-elimination and hosted by high seed Mar 6, 2010
Winner of Championship receives automatic bid to NCAA Tournament

From NCHA website

[Michael]

CSS, I believe, has surprised everyone this year with seemingly no indication that they lost 10 seniors, including 2 All-Americans and two other very good offensive forwards to graduation. I know I've been amazed by their mostly stellar play and I know Coach Wick didn't know what to expect this year either.

That said, I was going to say I'm worried about their play as the season progresses, as they have a number of freshmen getting a lot of ice time. Then I looked at the stats, where I noticed only about 5 freshmen are regulars. Their sound defeat of Hamline coming off of break does a lot to dispel my fears of them fading down the stretch like in the 2005 season.

Impact freshmen are Tyler Miller and Brett Corcoran, and what was at the beginning of the season a shaky goaltending duo has evolved into a solid rotation.

The biggest difference I've noticed is Jordan Chong. He is much faster than he was last year, and he's always had a knack for scoring on breakouts. Since Thanksgiving, he's been on a role and has scored a goal or more in every game since, which is up to 7 games now, and has 12 points in that span, too. I think this UWRF series will give a good indication as to how they'll fare in the rest of the season--if they do as well as they did last weekend, they'll be in good shape.

[FALCONSANNOUNCER]

CSS not as sharp as you all thought 5-0 loss to Falcons. Although I believe this was more shaky goaltending then the Falcons dominating as CSS did have 42 shots on goal. Tonight will decide whether its goaltending or the Falcons just flat out-played CSS.

[altazo]

CSS not as sharp as you all thought 5-0 loss to Falcons. Although I believe this was more shaky goaltending then the Falcons dominating as CSS did have 42 shots on goal. Tonight will decide whether its goaltending or the Falcons just flat out-played CSS.

I have a feeling you're gonna find out for sure...

[Michael]

I have a feeling you're gonna find out for sure...

Ditto. Saints played much worse than normal.

[bladesofsteel]

2 goals were tic tac toe back door plays that goaltender could do nothing about, and one was a breakaway goal. More of css turnovers and mistakes then shaky goaltending. you have to score to win. uwrf just made the most out of there oppurtunitys. Tonight i do agree could be a differenst story everything last night went uwrf way so css should be jacked up tonight.

Also uwrf has not lost on the road this year yet, very strange. There much better on the road so far. Uwrf has talent and if they hustle and stay out of the box they can play and beat anyone. When they take tons of penaltys is where they get in trouble.

[Michael]

Here's a question for you guys who have seen RF a few times: are they always as dangerous as they were this weekend? Whenever they had a chance to shoot, they had a chance to score. Some great one timers and snipes.

On another note, about the game tonight: CSS played MUCH better than last night, more like what I've seen of them in other games. They should have won, giving up leads of 3-0, 4-2, and 5-3 to let UWRF hang around. However, UWRF skated well and had a scoring prowess I don't remember seeing for a while. CSS controlled a lot of play, and in my opinion were the better team on the ice, but the Falcons earned their tie by moving their feet. The Saints tired a little by the end, as they did begin on at a very fast tempo. Bottom line is, the Saints should be pretty tired after practice this week and figure out how to preserve a lead.

[Collegeman]

You know I don`t really have a favorite in this league but I have to admit I like watching River Falls when they are broadcast because they are a wild card team, they just don`t give up, they are fiesty and a bunch of young guys.

They just come out of nowhere and win. Even when you think they are out of it you watch because they might make a few streak goals. Not sure if their penalty problem is their youth or undisiplined penalties but they kill themselves with them.

They got beat bad by Stout but they came back and made it close in the 2nd game before the break. They battled Norbert for two games and now they come back on the Saints when they had to win this weekend to stay in the race. You could tell in the 1st period they were slow and then moved their feet. Falcons seem to roll all 4 lines but at the end of this game theh went with just 4 D and into OT.

[bladesofsteel]

yes rf has the ability and talent to put it in the net when they stay out of the box and move there feet as they showed late tonight. tonight with 30 seconds river falls was down 5-3 and calleja passed it to czuba to make it 5-4 then calleja turns around and scores right away to tie it with about 15 seconds left. what a crazy game and uwrf never quit. callejas been on fire with 14 pts in his last 7 games and he and czuba been feeding off each other very well.

uwrf has more depth then people think, .tonight i think every line scored. They are a good team when they stay out of the box. at home they have been in trouble with to many penaltys against stout and norbs which was almost all there loses. dangerous team if they dont beat themselves

[BlueDevilRadio]

NCHA Standing's as of 1/17/10

1. St. Norbert (13-3-1) 16 PTS
2. UW-Stout (8-7-3) 15 PTS
3. St. Scholastica (11-3-3) 13 PTS
4. UW-River Falls (10-5-2) 10 PTS
5. UW-Eau Claire (6-8-3) 7 PTS
6. UW-Stevens Point (8-8-1) 6 PTS
7. UW-Superior (8-7-2) 5 PTS

[FALCONSANNOUNCER]

They have come flying out since the break. I hope Freeman has dialed them up for a stretch run, which it appears he has.

[Wormser-PointRC]

I was pretty shocked by the 5-0 River Falls win over CSS Friday night. It's one thing to win a close one, but 5-0 over one of the better teams in the country was impressive/surprising.

Next weekends Point/RF series is a big one for both teams. If Point wants any shot at a home playoff series, they need to get points there. On the flip side, a good weekend for Falls puts them right in the thick of it and they could make a good run at the conference championship.

But this is the NCHA and as usual, nothing is clear after this weekend, and nothing will be clear after next weekend.

[Collegeman]

The only advanatge of wining the league is of course the prestige of saying you won the NCHA and you get a bye first round of playoffs but in reality there is no real clear advantage is there? EVERYONE makes the playoffs! It seems that in this league with all the teams being able to beat any other team on a given weekend the actual season is just warm up for the playoffs. Other leagues actauly have weak teams at the bottom and with the that scenario being in the top 3 or 4 teams would give you a clear advantage because your mini series would be against a teams most likely you could beat in at least the 1st and maybe 2nd round.

What is your propective?

[CARDS_rule_the_Burgh]

The only advanatge of wining the league is of course the prestige of saying you won the NCHA and you get a bye first round of playoffs but in reality there is no real clear advantage is there? EVERYONE makes the playoffs! It seems that in this league with all the teams being able to beat any other team on a given weekend the actual season is just warm up for the playoffs. Other leagues actauly have weak teams at the bottom and with the that scenario being in the top 3 or 4 teams would give you a clear advantage because your mini series would be against a teams most likely you could beat in at least the 1st and maybe 2nd round.

What is your propective?

I think this year there is slightly more of an advantage. Previously, it just meant you get the worst-performing team in the league. But this year, it means you avoid the two-plus-mini series. You get to rest up and prepare, while whatever team you are playing is playing at least 2 games. #7 plays the #2 team. Imagine that #7 splits the series with #2, then wins it in a long (OT-riddled) minigame. Now, you have the best-performing team in the conference with a full roster of very fresh legs, hosting the worst-performing team in the conference who are extremely fatigued after playing 3 important playoff games. Who has the CLEAR advantage here?

I know, it's hypothetical, but no matter WHO the #1 team plays, they are coming with fresh legs to face off against a team who has played at least 2 hard-fought (as all NCHA games are) playoff games.

In summary: The departure of Lake Forest results in the Regular Season Champion actually having some advantage in the playoffs.

[Michael]

I think this year there is slightly more of an advantage. Previously, it just meant you get the worst-performing team in the league. But this year, it means you avoid the two-plus-mini series. You get to rest up and prepare, while whatever team you are playing is playing at least 2 games. #7 plays the #2 team. Imagine that #7 splits the series with #2, then wins it in a long (OT-riddled) minigame. Now, you have the best-performing team in the conference with a full roster of very fresh legs, hosting the worst-performing team in the conference who are extremely fatigued after playing 3 important playoff games. Who has the CLEAR advantage here?

I know, it's hypothetical, but no matter WHO the #1 team plays, they are coming with fresh legs to face off against a team who has played at least 2 hard-fought (as all NCHA games are) playoff games.

In summary: The departure of Lake Forest results in the Regular Season Champion actually having some advantage in the playoffs.

Interesting. I seem to recall CSS taking out Superior in a similar fashion to your hypothetical situation (OT minigame) a few years back, although I think they were 5th seed, and then they took out River Falls. Had River Falls rested, who knows?

However, I think the bye into the Semis all but locks up a Pool C to the NCAAs for the #1 seed. As has been the case the last few years, the NCHA regular season champion makes the big dance no matter what happens, if they make the second round. If three or four teams come out with very successful seasons, it's almost guaranteed. We saw last year a third-place CSS squad get an invite after dropping a close semifinal to Stout. They were the third NCHA team in.