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College Hockey starts tomorrow with a number of non-conference games...some good matchups but mostly bad ones like Boston vs Bentley
some random thoughts on the season:
Hockey East and NCHC are very similar with just 1 horrible team, 2-3 really good teams, and several others on the decline. NCHC you have North Dakota and Denver as a clear 1-2 but Minn-Duluth should be pretty good and St Cloud hanging around. Western Mich and Omaha are on the way down, Colorado College on the way up, and Miami are terrible. Hockey East you have BU as perhaps the best team in the nation, BC with a sick recruiting class to add to a decent team, Providence and Merrimack both looking very strong, and then a big group of mediocre teams (Umass, Lowell, Uconn, Maine). Maine could be a surprise team, UVM are 2nd worst, and New Hampshire have separated themselves as the worst team in the Hockey East
CCHA is bizarre as Minnesota State's domination is over after the coach bolted to Wisconsin leaving only a couple defenseman and some goalies. Then you have Bowling Green in chaos with 3 players booted, the coach fired, and best player leaving the school. That should leave Michigan Tech as the clear #1 and worth a bet to win the title at 50/1. Northern Michigan and Bemidji likely fighting for 2nd, Ferris and Lake State at the bottom, and St Thomas the clear up and comer. Michigan Tech will get BGSU's Swankler (preseason POY in CCHA) for the 2nd semester and with the best goalie in the league (Pietila) I think they run away with the conference and are well worth a few dollars to win the NCAA Championship. I threw a quid or two on St Thomas at 500/1 as I think they could move up as high as 2nd in the CCHA
Robert Morris returns to Atlantic Hockey and I have really no idea who will win this conference with RIT, Canisius, AIC, and Sacred Heart the likely best and Bentley the absolute worst, even below Robert Morris. RIT won 25 games last year so should be the team to beat with the conference POY returning. For betting purposes they should be one of the best OVER teams in ncaa hockey.
Big 10 is wild as Wisconsin and Michigan State are 100% back while Michigan and Minnesota remain the most talented. Penn State put together the worst schedule in the country so will get plenty of non-conf wins while Ohio State and Notre Dame can be top 10. Basically every team is good making this the #1 conference in hockey
ECAC seems straight forward with Quinnipiac and Cornell leading the way followed by Harvard then a drop off to maybe St Lawrence or Clarkson. Union were forced to rename their team so are no longer the Dutchmen as somehow that was offensive? Brown and Yale, though improved, will still be poor along with Princeton.
Alaska and Arizona State will remain the best of the Independents while Lindenwood, LIU, Stonehill, and Anchorage will take plenty of beatings. Lindenwood decided to start their October off with 2 away games each at Ohio State and Michigan and then the following month two more away games at Penn State and Western Mich followed by a trip for a pair of games at revived Wisconsin. Good luck with that
some random thoughts on the season:
Hockey East and NCHC are very similar with just 1 horrible team, 2-3 really good teams, and several others on the decline. NCHC you have North Dakota and Denver as a clear 1-2 but Minn-Duluth should be pretty good and St Cloud hanging around. Western Mich and Omaha are on the way down, Colorado College on the way up, and Miami are terrible. Hockey East you have BU as perhaps the best team in the nation, BC with a sick recruiting class to add to a decent team, Providence and Merrimack both looking very strong, and then a big group of mediocre teams (Umass, Lowell, Uconn, Maine). Maine could be a surprise team, UVM are 2nd worst, and New Hampshire have separated themselves as the worst team in the Hockey East
CCHA is bizarre as Minnesota State's domination is over after the coach bolted to Wisconsin leaving only a couple defenseman and some goalies. Then you have Bowling Green in chaos with 3 players booted, the coach fired, and best player leaving the school. That should leave Michigan Tech as the clear #1 and worth a bet to win the title at 50/1. Northern Michigan and Bemidji likely fighting for 2nd, Ferris and Lake State at the bottom, and St Thomas the clear up and comer. Michigan Tech will get BGSU's Swankler (preseason POY in CCHA) for the 2nd semester and with the best goalie in the league (Pietila) I think they run away with the conference and are well worth a few dollars to win the NCAA Championship. I threw a quid or two on St Thomas at 500/1 as I think they could move up as high as 2nd in the CCHA
Robert Morris returns to Atlantic Hockey and I have really no idea who will win this conference with RIT, Canisius, AIC, and Sacred Heart the likely best and Bentley the absolute worst, even below Robert Morris. RIT won 25 games last year so should be the team to beat with the conference POY returning. For betting purposes they should be one of the best OVER teams in ncaa hockey.
Big 10 is wild as Wisconsin and Michigan State are 100% back while Michigan and Minnesota remain the most talented. Penn State put together the worst schedule in the country so will get plenty of non-conf wins while Ohio State and Notre Dame can be top 10. Basically every team is good making this the #1 conference in hockey
ECAC seems straight forward with Quinnipiac and Cornell leading the way followed by Harvard then a drop off to maybe St Lawrence or Clarkson. Union were forced to rename their team so are no longer the Dutchmen as somehow that was offensive? Brown and Yale, though improved, will still be poor along with Princeton.
Alaska and Arizona State will remain the best of the Independents while Lindenwood, LIU, Stonehill, and Anchorage will take plenty of beatings. Lindenwood decided to start their October off with 2 away games each at Ohio State and Michigan and then the following month two more away games at Penn State and Western Mich followed by a trip for a pair of games at revived Wisconsin. Good luck with that
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