Elliot Olshansky of CSTV. The article broke down the teams that made the NCAA playoffs last season. This is what Elliot had to say about the three WCHA teams that made the NCAA tourney last spring. I think you will find it to be an interesting read.
North Dakota - It takes a special group of players to make a pact to stay in Grand Forks, as several of the Sioux's top stars did. Losing Jonathan Toews will hurt -- as will the departure of Brian Lee, even if some in Grand Forks won't admit it -- but in the WCHA, losing a couple of first-round draft picks is par for the course among the upper-echelon teams. The more important thing is that Ryan Duncan, T.J. Oshie, Robbie Bina and Taylor Chorney are back to lead seven of North Dakota's top 10 scorers, and it's unlikely that the string of bad luck that struck the Sioux in the early portion of the 2006-07 campaign will return. VERDICT: Better
While some of the media pundents have said UND isn't going to be as good this season as they were last year. Elliot Olshansky recognizes that UND still has the good core nucleus of a great hockey team that in my opinion will have one of the best defensive corps in the NCAA, the only weakness I see for UND is the goaltending; Philippe Lamoureux is going to have to keep his emotions in check if the Fighting Sioux are going to go far in the NCAA playoffs.
St. Cloud State - It's hard to imagine the Huskies being any better than they were last season with Bobby Goepfert now trying to carve out a professional career in the Anaheim Ducks organization, but then again, Jase Weslosky looked good in most of his appearances last season. More importantly, the high-scoring freshman duo of Andreas Nodl and Ryan Lasch is back for a sophomore campaign, although the early signing of Andrew Gordon will take its toll, as will the graduation of Dan Kronick. Bob Motzko has shown himself to be talented at getting the most out of his team, but there's only so long you can hold off the Wisconsins, Denvers and Colorado Colleges of the world. VERDICT: Worse
St. Cloud was a good hockey team last year that fizzled in the NCAA tourney yet again. Without Bobby in goal they just got worse. While SCSU wasn't very deep on the forward position the future looks very bright for the Huskies if their young goaltender Jase Weslosky 6-gp 5-1-0 gaa 2.67 save %.899 can carry the load. They do return Andreas Nodl who had 16 goals 30 assists for 46 points.
Minnesota - It's hard to be better than the best, which is what the Gophers were, statistically, heading into the NCAA tournament. It's also hard to be better when you've lost your three top defensemen, the forward expected to move back to the blueline to help compensate and the program's all-time leader in goaltending wins. On the other hand, the Gophers' losses at forward are minimal, except that Jim O'Brien could have been expected to take major steps forward this year, and that Mike Carman is not eligible to play until the second semester. Given that the Gophers' strength last season was offensive dominance and the ability to control the puck, if the re-worked defensive corps can hold the blueline effectively, Minnesota should not be too far off. In the meantime, though, the Gophers have a few things to prove. VERDICT: Worse
The Gophers return a good share of their offensive talent, however, they no longer have Alex Goligoski on the blue line quarterbacking the power play. Goligoski was one the best defensive players in the NCAA last season and would have fit nicely in the Gophers defensive scheme. While the Gophers still have some teeth in their line up they are going to have to score a ton of goals to offset having arguably one of the biggest head cases in net Jeff Frazee...
No comments:
Post a Comment