2011-2012 NCAA Preseason Rankings

[fishcore12]

Re: 2011-2012 NCAA Preseason Rankings

Im gonna give this a shot so here goes.
1. Notre Dame
2. Denver
3. CC
4. BU
5. Miami
6. UND
7. Yale
8. BC
9. UNO
10. Michigan

[FiveHole12]

Re: 2011-2012 NCAA Preseason Rankings

I guess I haven't bought into the Merrimack hype. The same could be said for Western Michigan, who could be a top-10 team. As for New Hampshire, they always have the potential to be a top team, so I wouldn't be surprised if they wind up there at season's end. Right now though, I think the ten I listed are better, or at least have fewer question marks, than any of these squads.

There's no hype out there around the Mack this season since DaCosta departed. But there should be, IMO. This is a pretty darn good team and well coached. Anyone who saw them play Notre Dame in the NCAA regional last spring has a feel for how good they can be, and a lot of that team returns.

Merrimack returns 3 of the top 10 HE point scorers (Flanigan (sniper), Todd & Collins)
Defense: 2nd leading HE D point scorer (Stollery) and a cast of monster D that I consider to be among the best in Hockey East as a D corp (Heywood (So), Ellis (So), Bigos (Jr)). These guys put a hurtin' on opponents and can slow down the speediest of teams.
Goaltending: Joe Cannata. He stepped it up last year and is now one of HE premier goalies.

I will be very surprised if they don't finish in the top 3-4 Hockey East. Depth on the forward lines may be their downfall, but Dennehy has shown the ability to recruit some pretty good players since becoming HC, so my guess is they'll be fine.

There are snipers in Maine. Questionable goaltending.

This all coming from a BC guy.
And no, I don't have the time to commit to the committee, but I will be happy to share thoughts on this thread.

[manurespreader]

Re: 2011-2012 NCAA Preseason Rankings

One of the biggest problems with this is that very few people get enough exposure to rank fairly. Even if you see a few games in the other end of the country it's nigh on to impossible to see enough to make any kind of rational decisions. TV helps but it takes the flavor of the game away.
I hope Merrimack is dominant, and I wonder about AA. They were playing well at the end of last year.

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: 2011-2012 NCAA Preseason Rankings

There's no hype out there around the Mack this season since DaCosta departed. But there should be, IMO. This is a pretty darn good team and well coached.
Merrimack returns 3 of the top 10 HE point scorers (Flanigan, Todd & Collins)
Defense: 2nd leading HE D point scorer (Stollery) and a cast of monster D that I consider to be among the best in Hockey East as a D corp (Heywood (So), Ellis (So), Bigos (Jr)). These guys put a hurtin' on opponents and can slow down the speediest of teams.
Goaltending: Joe Cannata. He stepped it up last year and is now one of HE premier goalies.

I will be very surprised if they don't finish in the top 3-4 Hockey East. Depth on the forward lines may be their downfall, but Dennehy has shown the ability to recruit some pretty good players since becoming HC, so my guess is they'll be fine.

This all coming from a BC guy.
And no, I don't have the time to commit to the committee, but I will be happy to share thoughts on this thread.

FWIW, I think I'm just going to have a weekly thread on here, and have people post their top 10. Perhaps that may be a commitment that you are more willing to make? (i.e. a weekly post of your top 10 in my weekly thread on here)

One of the biggest problems with this is that very few people get enough exposure to rank fairly. Even if you see a few games in the other end of the country it's nigh on to impossible to see enough to make any kind of rational decisions. TV helps but it takes the flavor of the game away.
I hope Merrimack is dominant, and I wonder about AA. They were playing well at the end of last year.

I completely agree. That is why I want to get a top 10 from across the geographic spectrum of college hockey. As for UAA, I think they'll be a lot better than some people might think. I think they'll push for home ice in the WCHA and could potentially make a run at the NCAAs. They are a darkhorse for sure, but have a lot of the parts that make up a good team.

[FiveHole12]

Re: 2011-2012 NCAA Preseason Rankings

FWIW, I think I'm just going to have a weekly thread on here, and have people post their top 10. Perhaps that may be a commitment that you are more willing to make? (i.e. a weekly post of your top 10 in my weekly thread on here)

Good idea. I can probably do that, but may miss a week or 2,3,6.
Then you can tabulate your top 10 from this thread (you sneaky one you).... BRILLIANT!

[Onion Man]

Re: 2011-2012 NCAA Preseason Rankings

1.) Denver
2.) Miami
3.) Notre Dame
4.) Colorado College
5.) Michigan
6.) Boston University
7.) Boston College
8.) Minnesota Duluth
9.) North Dakota
10) Nebraska Omaha

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: 2011-2012 NCAA Preseason Rankings

Good idea. I can probably do that, but may miss a week or 2,3,6.
Then you can tabulate your top 10 from this thread (you sneaky one you).... BRILLIANT!

Thank you. Plus, it allows where if you do miss a week to tabulate using another poster from your region. Ideally, I'd like to have somewhere in the vicinity of 10-15 voters, with a good representation from each conference and east/west split.

[steakbomb]

Thank you. Plus, it allows where if you do miss a week to tabulate using another poster from your region. Ideally, I'd like to have somewhere in the vicinity of 10-15 voters, with a good representation from each conference and east/west split.

Glad once again to be reading the pre-season banter. For those in the know, of which I am not, I haven't heard any mention of UNH in this thread.

[Driftryder]

Re: 2011-2012 NCAA Preseason Rankings

Nice work as always FS23, I'm afraid I may be a little biased in voting as I always think the Gophers are in the top ten.

But I will enjoy reading through the thread weekly, I will just bow out of attempting to vote.

[alnike]

Re: 2011-2012 NCAA Preseason Rankings

My rankings are similar to fishcore12. These are the 16 teams I think make the NCAA Tournament.

I have followed college hockey since 1990, and in my opinion, this appears to be the least amount of talent in college that I have witnessed. With 25-30 players turning pro each summer now, combined with the annual summer CHL defections, there are few teams with important Sr. classes.

1. Denver (Brittain returns in winter to lead Denver in NCAA's)
2. Notre Dame (Tynan and Lee will lead ND to the Frozen. Is goalie Johnson good enough?)
3. Boston University (return some talent, may not reach potential though)
4. Colorado College (Schwartz should win Hobey)

5. Miami (Strong D and G, freshman will be key to achieve this level. High number of seniors will be valuable in March.)
6. North Dakota
7. Boston College
8. Nebraska Omaha
9. Union
10. Michigan
11. Minnesota-Duluth
12. Yale
13. New Hampshire
14. Western Michigan
15. Alaska Fairbanks
16. RIT

Bubble: Minnesota, Merrimack, St. Cloud, Wisconsin

[jdr1]

Re: 2011-2012 NCAA Preseason Rankings

This is easy!!!
Du
Cc
Und
Uno
Uminn
Duluth
Scsu
Bsu
UW
Aa

And if we go to 12
Tech
Mankato!!!

Western bias!!!

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: 2011-2012 NCAA Preseason Rankings

Sorry jdr1, but that's a bit too biased...I like it though

So far, here are those who I have as voters for the preaseason poll:
Fighting Sioux 23 (west)
manurespreader (west)
fishcore12 (east)
OnionMan (east)
alnike (west)

If I have your region incorrect (i.e. east/west) please let me know. With that being said, I would really like to get 3 more westerners and 4 more easterners for a total of 12. For the purposes of determining region, if you are predominately a fan of a team in the CCHA or WCHA, then you are from the west. If you are a fan of a team in the ECAC, Hockey East or Atlantic Hockey, then you are from the east.

Also, don't feel as though you are committed to being a voter for the entire year. I've pretty much scrapped that idea in favor of a "vote when you can" approach. I fully anticipate that the voters will differ somewhat from week to week, but I would like to keep a consistent east/west split if at all possible.

[SCSU Euro]

Re: 2011-2012 NCAA Preseason Rankings

1. Notre D. - I think everyone else has made their case enough
2. DU - Brittain may be out for a while, but I think you have to factor one of the best goalies in the country as he will be back, and Murray isn't a sieve, just needs some experience. Plus, they could always pull like an '03-ish Gophers and just go beat teams 7-5.
3. BU - Did they seriously lose one F, one D and a 3rd string goalie?!?
4. Miami - Initially had them at 2, but they weren't a balanced team scoring so the loss of Camper, Miele and Cannone REALLY hurts. Those highly-touted freshmen need to come up big fast.
5. CC - Truthfully I'm not sold on Howe yet, but ala DU, this team is so loaded with offensive firepower they may win a lot of shootouts. And how long do the Schwartzs stay? This could already be a last hurrah for them.
6. Mich - Well the #1 recruiting class in the land better come through, bc they were decimated by losses, maybe none bigger than Hunwick but luckily for them Bryce Hogan wasn't too shabby in his ice time last year.
7. Union - I'm surprised as you that I put in an EZAC team as high as 7 but Kinkaid is a threat to steal a game every night and they're a balanced team with good chemistry.
8. BC - Like Michigan, a team that lost a lot and are going to have to rely on talent over experience.
9. UNO - Blais lost basically his top line and that's tough to rebound from but Faulkner is a solider goaltender returning and the Megna brothers are gonna be something SPECTACULAR to watch.
10. UMD - I may get flack for being an SCSU fan to put the defending champion Bulldogs this low, but to be fair, I have them as the 4th best WCHA team which is where they finished before going on the run. Losing Faulk, Fontaine and M. Conn. hurts, and honestly, I think the reason I keep them in the top 10 is bc they return their goalie tandem and J.T. Brown is every bit as electrifying as the much more known J. Conn.

Wish I could say more about the WCHA, but after looking at their incoming freshmen classes, I'm not as impressed as I normally am. Agree with FS23... UND will be a team that will struggle pre-Christmas break. Come March and April, probably one of the last teams you'll wanna see, especially when Rocco gets the pace and flow of NCAA hockey.

[Ralph Baer]

Re: 2011-2012 NCAA Preseason Rankings

7. Union - I'm surprised as you that I put in an EZAC team as high as 7 but Kinkaid is a threat to steal a game every night and they're a balanced team with good chemistry.

Kinkaid turned pro.

I think that moves them back to #26.

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: 2011-2012 NCAA Preseason Rankings

Kinkaid turned pro.

I think that moves them back to #26.

According to that poll, they're #29 now.