ryan@fremen.DEC (DTN 264-8280 MK01-2/E25) (12/11/85)
---------------------Reply to mail dated 12-NOV-1985 21:36--------------------- >Posted by: decwrl!pyramid!pesnta!amd!vecpyr!lll-lcc!lll-crg!qantel!ihnp4!stolaf!umn-cs!umd-cs!steve >Organization: University of Minnesota at Duluth, Computer Science > > W E S T E R N H O C K E Y - R E A L H O C K E Y > >Why doesn't the WCHA play any games against the CCHA? Except for Boston >College there isn't any real competion out in hockey east. I'm all for >dumping the Super Seven (ha ha ha) for some real hockey. > >Posted by: decwrl!pyramid!pesnta!amd!vecpyr!lll-lcc!lll-crg!qantel!ihnp4!stolaf!umn-cs!mmm!rosevax!shari >Organization: Rosemount Inc., Eden Prairie, MN > >Let's here it for the WCHA!! The premiere college hockey league in the USA! >The Eastern teams are coming on strong, but overall the WCHA is second to none > > I predict a WCHA team will come away with the national >championship this year - the last couple of years they've been robbed!! No, they've been beaten. It's quiet lately, so I figured I'd pull these chauvinistic articles out and heat things up. Again we hear the WCHA fans calling it the "premier league" and claiming only they play "real" hockey. Listen up - THERE IS NO DOMINANT HOCKEY LEAGUE! All four leagues are competitive. Here in the Boston area we constantly hear that Hockey East is so much better than the ECAC, when the truth is the one advantage Hockey East has is a bigger PR budget - as a matter of fact, to the best of my knowledge the ECAC has won every inter-league game so far this year. As for WCHA/Hockey East games, my perception has been that at least a quarter to a third of the games have gone into overtime, and over half have been ties or decided by a single goal. This past weekend I finally decided to keep track of the scores: Denver 6, Providence 5 OT Providence 4, Denver 3 OT The top WCHA team didn't exactly roll over 6-7-1 Hockey East team Providence, did they? And Providence was without the player who single-handedly brought them to the championship game last year, goalie Chris Tereri. Lowell 3, North Dakota 1 North Dakota 3, Lowell 2 Lowell is 5-9-1, North Dakota is 8-8. Two mediocre teams split a pair, no signs of dominance here. Maine 4, Michigan Tech 4 OT Maine 6, Michigan Tech 3 Is Tech WCHA or CCHA? I forget... Maine is 1-11-1, Tech is 2-11-4. The worst team in Hockey East beats the worst team in another league. Doesn't really prove anything, I admit... Duluth 10, BC 1 BC 4, Duluth 3 2nd place WCHA team splits with first place Hockey East team. Yeah, but they won by 9 in the first game - see, that proves Hockey East isn't competitive and doesn't play real hockey and... (insert useless blather here). I haven't seen any games yet this year, but my perception from what I've read is that BC and Harvard will be the teams from the east to beat for the championship this year. Although I enjoyed RPI's dominance last year immensely, I'm glad to see no one racking up the wins like they and Michigan State did last year - it should be very competitive within each league, AND in the NCAA playoffs. RPI's record (9-1-1) looks good so far, but I'm the first to admit that they haven't beaten any good teams yet, and they're unlikely to win the ECAC regular-season title, although at playoff time they'll still have to be reckoned with on the basis of superior coaching. Here are the latest polls. Note the extreme differences, especially in Minnesota's rankings: The NCAA Division 1 poll, as selected by a four-member coaches panel. 1. Minnesota (12-4) 57 2. Denver (13-4) 55 3. Harvard (6-1-1) 51 4. Bowling Green (14-4) 49 5. Minnesota-Duluth (13-4-1) 43 6. Yale (6-1) 41 7. BC (10-5-1) 38 8. Wisconsin (11-7) 32 9. Lake Superior (11-6-1) 25 9. RPI (8-1-1) 25 As voted by coaches and conducted by radio station WMPL. (must not have talked to the same coaches as above:-) 1. Denver (5) (12-3) 86 2. Bowling Green (2) (14-4) 83 3. Minnesota-Duluth (2) (13-4-1) 73 4. Minnesota (1) (12-4) 70 5. BC (10-4-1) 58 6. Wisconsin (11-7) 42 7. Yale (6-1) 39 8. Harvard (5-1-1) 36 9. N. Michigan (11-6-1) 21 10. Lake Superior (11-6-1) 15 Also receiving votes: Michigan State, Providence, Western Michigan, and Vermont. The WMEB, College Hockey Statistics Bureau poll: 1. Denver (13-4) (7) 104 2. Bowling Green (14-4) (2) 98 3. Minnesota-Duluth (13-4-1) (1) 84 4. Yale (7-1) 58 5. BC (10-4-1) 52 6. Harvard (6-1-1) 51 7. Minnesota (12-4-1) (1) 48 8. Wisconsin (11-7) 41 9. RPI (9-1-1) 28 10. Lake Superior (11-6-1) 18 Also receiving votes: Michigan State, Northern Michigan, BU. Surprise teams in the ECAC: Vermont, which didn't even make the playoffs last year, is tied for second with Yale; St. Lawrence, usually a contender, is 0-6 in league games, and Army won their first ECAC game in about 12 years and has been competitive in every game (they play each league team once instead of twice and aren't eligible for the playoffs; next year they become a full-fledged member). Mike Ryan ARPA: ryan%fremen.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA UUCP: {decvax,allegra,ihnp4,ucbvax,...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-fremen!ryan
newman@bgsuvax.UUCP (Tim Newman) (12/16/85)
Michigan Tech was in the CCHA for, I think, 3 years. They quit two years ago along with Northern Michigan and joined the WCHA. Tech had been in the WCHA until the briefly joined the CCHA. As for superiority, we all know which conference is really the best. The Great West with Northern Arizona, US International, Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks, and (I think) Air Force or Brigham Young is so superior it isn't even funny. :: - )
zeus@aero.ARPA (Dave Suess) (12/19/85)
In article <829@bgsuvax.UUCP> newman@bgsuvax.UUCP (Tim Newman) writes: >Great West with Northern Arizona, US International, Alaska Anchorage, >Alaska Fairbanks, and (I think) Air Force or Brigham Young is so superior >it isn't even funny. :: - ) Yeah, and USIU is easily the best college team in California, and we know about California leading the US in darn near everything! Seriously, though, I admire the USIU program (it's fun to go to San Diego to see them play Minnesota or North Dakota, at the Miramar House of Ice, with its low ceiling and dubious boards, and going OUTSIDE TO WARM UP between periods): maybe hockey can gain a foothold at the college level in California one day (why not?). One more note: I was looking at some month-old clippings that showed the record of WCHA vs. Hockey East to be something like 24-6-1 so far... I'll get the exact figure if indignant screams get posted (but I expect a silent whimper, instead). Dave Suess, zeus@aerospace.arpa or aero.UUCP