Kendall Hockey Classic Facilities - Rent a Shower and Toilets

I have to say this is a first in my hockey career. A locker room with Rent a Can & Showers! http://t.co/xGwqAOyn5O pic.twitter.com/SRvySMdbaU
— Gary Shuchuk (@gshuchuk) October 9, 2014

Wisconsin Badgers assistant coach, Gary Shuchuk tweeted this picture from Alaska Anchorage. The Badgers are playing in the Kendall Hockey Classic. Apparently, the facilities aren't all that good.

THE SERIES – UAA vs. MAINE
OVERALL: UAA leads, 3-2-1 AT UAA: UAA leads, 2-1-0
LAST MEETING: Oct. 17, 2008 (UAA won, 3-1 at Fairbanks) STREAK: UAA 1
NOTES: UAA played Maine in two series in 1990 with the Seawolves sweeping the Black Bears, 4-3, 6-5 OT, Jan. 6-7 in Anchorage, before Maine responded with a 3-3 tie and a 5-3 win on Nov. 16-17 in Orono ... the last time the teams met in the Classic was on Oct. 19, 2002 with Maine winning, 4-2.

THE SERIES – UAA vs. WISCONSIN
OVERALL: UW leads, 54-15-9 AT UAA: UW leads, 21-7-6
LAST MEETING: Jan. 4, 2014 (UW won, 4-3) STREAK: UW 1
NOTES: UAA and Wisconsin met for a non-conference series last season with UAA upsetting the then-No. 13 ranked Badgers, 3-2 on Jan. 3, before Wisconsin retaliated on Jan. 4, 4-3.

A bit of randomness from RW77

University of Alaska Anchorage (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ok, it's been a while since I posted here and there's a few random things I'm going to mini-rant about.  Before I do, however, I freely acknowledge that I'm no expert and that these are MY OPINIONS ONLY.

Ok....

Sure, I'll take on a job that's sure to be a lost cause...

That's my take on what a coach would have to think about when accepting the UAA Head Coaching gig.  As a UND fan, you don't get much insight into the internals and the atmosphere around the UAA program in Anchorage, but over the period of time from the end of Hill's tenure until now, it seems like it's just one bad year after another.  Sure, there were a few "ups" along the way but comon...

Now everyone, including alumni and former players, are giving the vote of No Confidence to UAA AD Steve Cobb.  I find myself wondering if Cobb is behind all of it, or is it above even him?

I can't imagine trying to sell UAA to a player from...say... Massachusetts, California, or even the Midwest.  It's so far away and isolated (even if it is a wonderful place...at least that's how I remember Anchorage anyhow).  I remember thinking during the coaching search after Hill left that whoever gets that job will inherit the toughest coaching gig in the WCHA and certainly among the hardest in all of DI hockey.

It seems that NO ONE wants to go to Anchorage.  So, if you keep on dreaming of diamonds being found in the rough that you convince to come to campus, how can you not have bad years year after year?

I don't think UAA should fold their program.  I do think they have something to bring to the table, but UAA is a big time dependent upon institutional support.  If it doesn't get it, it goes under.  I'd venture the same thing goes for MTU and even UNO (living in Omaha, I can tell you if the Husker football team is playing, no one gives a flying bleep about UNO hockey).  UNO gets it.  I believe MTU has gotten it as well.  UAA definitely does not... at least not totally.  If it goes completely, then it will follow the math UAH did but succeed and go the way of Findlay, Iona, and Wayne State.

Submariners on Skates

I despise diving.  I also despise officials that take forever to get the game going again after reviewing it but....  I think that's what's going to have to happen.  I am convinced that on ice officials do not call diving as much as they should because they cannot recognize diving when they see it in real time.  The truth is that diving has become a part of the game.  Not just because the refs don't call it when it happens, but because the coaches (at best) ignore it when players do it or, even worse, condone such acts.  Even the media at times refers to a clever dive as "Drawing a penalty."  (Though I admit freely that not every time a player draws a penalty is he diving).

I think the only ways to eliminate diving are long term or unacceptable solutions.  The long term is simply to replace all the coaches in amateur hockey with hockey coaches that have a heavy hand against diving.  They teach that it is wrong and do something about it when they see it (with or without their rose colored glasses).  There's nothing to say that this is even possible, either.

Secondly, use the replay system... post game.  If the head office spots a dive by another player, that player is brought in for a conduct review and a 1 or 2 game suspension gets handed out for diving after the fact. 

Related articles

• UAA Suspends Search For Head Hockey Coach (minnesota.cbslocal.com)
• Hockey alums give AD a no-confidence vote (sfgate.com)
• UNO Hockey: Ryan Walters to return for senior year (thehockeywriters.com)
• UAA arena to be called Alaska Airlines Center (sfgate.com)
• AD Steve Cobb Interview on UAA Firing/New Arena (thearu.com)

Dave Shyiak's post game comments

Here is what UAA Head coach Dave Shyiak had to say following Saturday's game between the University of North Dakota and the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves that ended in a 3-3 tie.

UND and UAA battle to a tie.

Grand Forks, ND – Last night, UND head coach Dave Hakstol had this to say about the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves.

“This was a team we expected to face,” Hakstol said. Highly competitive – good players – guys that battle hard together.”

That’s exactly the team that the University of North Dakota Hockey team faced tonight in the second game of their WCHA series.

The Seawolves came out at the start of the game and were a miserable team to play against as they got into the shooting lanes and forechecked UND hard. UND had a Seawolves forechecker on them all night long.

Sweeps in the WCHA are hard to get and it didn’t matter that UND had beaten UAA by a grand total of 9-1 in two previous games.

UAA proved to be a very difficult team to play against and they gave UND fits, UND also appeared to come out a bit flat to start the game. UND head coach Dave Hakstol agreed.

“I thought it took us 20 to 30 minutes to work our way in,” Hakstol said. “It wasn’t pretty – we  we did work our way in – the were tenacious I thought, throughout the 60 minutes and we gave the lead away in the third period – which put us in a pretty tough spot and we found a way to come back and salvage a point.   That’s a positive.”

The Seawolves took an early lead in the first period as a result of their hard work as sophomore  forward Scott Allen gave his team the lead as he scored his fourth goal of the season at the 04:05 mark of the first period, assisting on Allen’s goal were Seawolves Austin Sevalrud and Alex Gellert.

Ironically, that was the first goal that UND had given up in the first period this season, albeit it’s only three games into the season. It also didn’t hurt that UND came into the game as the second rated defensive unit in the country.

UND would get on the board and even the score at 1-1 with goal from Corban Knight at the 13:39 mark of the first period.

UND would get the go ahead goal at the 12:55 mark of the third period and it appeared that UND was taking control of the game.

Not so fast, UAA scored on a shorthanded goal by senior Tyler Currier at the 10:25 mark of the third period, UND freshman Jordan Schmaltz lost control of the puck at the  blue line. Currier pounced on the puck - raced in on the UND net and shot the it through the five hole of UND junior goalie Clarke Saunders for the game tying goal, that was the fourth goal of Currier’s career.

UAA would take the lead as they cashed in again at the 10:25 mark of the third period, with a goal from senior forward Jordan Kwas.  UND would answer tie the game at the 18:25 mark of the third period and after a lengthy review, Derek Forbort was given credit for the goal.

After the game Forbort wasn’t even sure that he should have been credited with the game tying goal.
“Got a rolling puck and just threw it to the net,” Forbort said.   “I think it went off Corbin Knight, I don’t even think that I scored.”

The two teams would go to over time and trade opportunities – but would settle nothing.

Midway through the overtime period, UND freshman forward Rocco Grimaldi brought everyone in the building with a great opportunity but was denied by UAA junior goalie Rob Gunderson.

After the game, Grimaldi described his glorious opportunity after the game.

“I thought I had him beat there,” Grimaldi said.  “So I just tried to turn the jets on and beat him wide, and drive it into the net, whether it’s through the goalie or whatever, probably had a little more time than I thought, I could have pulled it a little wider and maybe tried to get it up but I just tried to jam it and he was there, he [Gunderson ] played really well tonight I got to give their goalie credit.”

After the game UAA head coach Dave Shyiak was pleased with his team’s effort tonight.

“I think that was probably our best 60 minutes of the year,” Shyiak said. “ It was a hard earned tied It was a great hockey game. What we learned as a hockey team tonight is how we have to play. I thought we pressured the puck well, I thought we executed our game plan, we got good goaltending and we got contributions from everyone tonight.”

If UAA keeps playing like they did tonight, they’re going to give a lot of teams fits.

Game Notes for UND versus UAA 10/26-10/27

Seal of the University of North Dakota (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The University of North Dakota begins WCHA play this weekend when they take on the University of Alaska Anchorage in a two game series at Ralph Englestad Arena on October 26 and 27.

Friday, #4 USCHO and USA Today poll – North Dakota (1-1-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) versus Alaska Anchorage (2-1-1, 0-0-0 WCHA)

Game times: 7:37 pm CT on Friday, 7:07 pm CT on Saturday.

Radio:  UND 96.1 (KQHT-FM) – The Fox.

Webcast and Audio:  UNDSPORTS.COM

Television: Midco Sports Net, FCS Central both nights.

Series History: UND leads the All-Time series against UAA: 45-17-4. UND has had success against UAA as of late as UND has won five in a row against UAA and has a record of 11-2-1 the last 14 games. UND beat UAA 5-0 last Friday in the first game of the Brice Goal Rush Tourney.

Players to Watch:

North Dakota: Forwards: Connor Gaarder (0g-2a—2pts), Corbin Knight (0-g0—0pts), Carter Rowney (0g-0a—0pts), Roco Grimaldi (1g-1a—2pts), Mark MacMillan (2g-0a—2pts). Defense: Jordan Schmaltz (1g1a—2pts) Dillon Simpson (0g-1a—1pts), Andrew MacWilliam (0g-1a—1pts), Derek Forbort (0g-0a—0pts). Goaltender: Clarke Saunders 1-1, 1.01 GAA, .962 save Percentage.  

Alaska Anchorage: Forwards: Matt Bailey (1g-3a—4pts), Scott Allen (3g-1—4pts), Alex Gellert (2g-1a—3pts) Defense: Blake Leaske (0g-1a—1pts), Quinn Sproule (1g0a—1pts), Derek Docken (1g0a—1pts). Goaltenders: Chris Kamal 1-1-0, 2.40 GAA, .907 save percentage, Rob Gunderson 1-0-1, 2.90 GAA .877 save percentage.

More on the nWCHA's new playoff format

When I first heard about the nWCHA’s playoff format I actually thought it was a joke and or a misprint abut as the details emerged I realized that they weren’t kidding.

In a nut shell since some of the member schools in the nWCHA don’t want to have to pay for any additional travel to or from Alaska
and this is a way to alleviate travel costs.  

This is a bad plan, because this move will cheapen or could in essence ruin the integrity of the nWCHA conference tourney. The best way to run a tourney is to have your top 1-8 teams play based on seeding, or you make the regular season meaningless. So if the Alaska Schools finish second and third you will have knocked out one team that might have gotten to the nWCHA Final Five if they had played their appropriate seed. If I was a fan of one of the Alaska schools I would be upset - I don't care for this and I am not a fan of either program.

Jack Hittinger, Bemidji Pioneer ---- Bemidji State athletic director Rick Goeb Thursday confirmed that all nine of the league’s teams would make the playoffs and that the regular-season champion would receive a bye into the Final Five.

That much could have been gleaned from the press release the league released Thursday afternoon.

What wasn’t on the press release, however, was the fact that the Alaska schools would be playing each other every year – regardless of league finish – unless one of them got that first-round bye.

In other words, there will always be at least one hockey team from Alaska in the Final Five.

“There were mixed feelings about that,” speaking from the Detroit airport following the meetings. “If they both finish above or below the top four, there might be a feeling that it was a little unfair.

“But we discussed a lot of different options and this was the one that seemed to make the most sense for everyone from a travel perspective and from an economic perspective.”

I believe that Brad Schlossman of the Grand forks Herald might have been right last summer when he wrote this piece.

A source told the Herald that when business was conducted in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, there were often times two blocks of voting.

The schools with larger budgets typically wanted to spend money, invest and try new things. Schools with smaller budgets often resisted.

With Minnesota and Wisconsin departing for the Big Ten Hockey Conference, the smaller-budget schools take over control of the voting block. This caused athletic directors with larger budgets to worry about the future of the conference.

I don’t think it’s that hard of a stretch to figure out that there are haves and have not in college hockey. College hockey is no different than the other sports in division I, II and III sports, you can also see this in FBS and FCS football - some schools are more committed to their sports teams more than other schools and not all is equal. That being said, there has to be an integrity associated with a conference tourney, if the best teams aren't representing the conference in their conference tourney you have short-changed and cheapened the playoff system.

What happened if both UAA and UAF were sitting high in the Pairwise Rankings and on the cusp of making the NCAA tourney and needed to make the Final Five to solidify their chances at an at-large bid to make the NCAA tourney? By one of these teams losing their first round bid they would in essence end their season and kill any chance they had of making the NCAA tourney.

Organizing the new WCHA

Image via WikipediaOr maybe we should call it re-organizing the WCHA.

It looks like the newly reformatted WCHA is going to have a 28 game schedule starting in 2013-14. One of the main things that the new WCHA is also working on is travel to the Alaska schools. For obvious reasons, having both Alaska schools in the same conference is going to cause travel costs to go up.

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner --- The revamped WCHA is set to play a 28-game conference schedule during the regular season.

“I think it’s a good thing and it will put us in a strong position,” Karr said Saturday night at the Carlson Center following the Nanooks’ 3-1 win over Bowling Green. “Some of the other conferences may be playing fewer games.”

The administrators of the new WCHA are also considering a plan which teams would come twice in the same season to the 49th State to play the Nanooks and UAA either once out of every five years or twice out of every five years.

“They’re going to come up to Anchorage in the first semester and Fairbanks in the second semester, or vice versa,” Karr said.

There is a possibility, too, of an opponent coming to Alaska to face the Nanooks and UAA during the break for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

There is also an advantage of traveling to Alaska as well, if your team travels to Anchorage or Fairbankds your favorite college hockey team can add two extra games to their schedule, for a team like UND or Minnesota, that can mean a lot more money in the bank.

Looks like the WCHA is also going to add a 10th team and there is a chance that it could be UAH, this was discussed on the Pipeline Show last weekend. Geof Morris  from UAHHockey.com, was on the Pipeline Show laid out the problems facing UAH, their situation is not pretty.

“We’re hoping to get to 10 schools as soon as possible,” Karr added.

Among schools under consideration to become the 10th member of the new WCHA are Wisconsin-Green Bay, Iowa State, Minnesota State Moorhead and Alabama-Huntsville.

Officials at Wisconsin-Green Bay, Iowa State and Minnesota State Moorhead have discussed adding Division I hockey to their athletic programs.

It's UAA week.

Well in case you haven't noticed, it's UND vs. UAA week. You may or may not see this blog post, based on the site meter, not too many have. This is probably the kind of stuff that that anti-nickname crowd was talking about, especially when they complained about the opposition fans and their misuse of the nickname and imagery.

This beaut, is from the UAA fan blog, written by Donald Dunlop aka Delusions of Grandeur. Not seeing a lot of hilarity in this blog post. Then again we're probably not his audience. 

Once you get past all of the bravo sierra and profanity there are a lot of good things on his blog about UAA hockey. Also, let it be known, that UAA hockey doesn't get a lot of positive coverage from the local media.  

A few of the topic of discussion we will probably see this week, 1.) Will head coach Dave Hakstol attend the UAA luncheon this year?  2.) Will UND have hot water in the showers in the locker room? 3.) As most of us know, UAA Athletic Director Steve Cobb was less than impressed with the way the NCHC took form. So it will be interesting to see what kind of a reception that UND gets.

According to the Anchorage Daily News, UAA athletic director Steve Cobb said that he blames "everybody for being less than honest with their own league members. ... I'm not offended at all they want to start a conference. I'm very offended at the way it was handled. ... It's going to be very tense and very uncomfortable." [CHN.COM]

Related articles

• North Dakota-Alaska Anchorage Preview (insidehockey.com)

Putting a wrap on the Final Five...

This past weekend I took in all five games of the Final Five and realized what an awesome format the new Final Five is. It’s a shame that the new format will only last two more seasons before the almighty Big Ten Hockey Conference will ride off into the sunset with Wisconsin and Minnesota. I hope we can keep a semblance of the current format.

There were a “few things” that I really liked about the new tournament format. First, in the new format your team is only guaranteed to play in one game, that’s it, if your team loses it’s done and that team goes home for the weekend, under the old format if your team managed to win on Thursday night, that team would be guaranteed to play in two more games. Since there was no third place game this year, fans did not have to buy a ticket to a meaningless third place game that could have ended up being a clunker if one team was already out of the NCAA playoff picture.

Again, In my opinion I must emphasis that this year every game mattered, while both teams were in the NCAA tourney already, when both teams were asked at the post game press conference if this was a meaningless game, the media was corrected by both teams players and the head coaches that this was not a meaningless game. If you need to ask why it wasn’t a meaningless game, it was because a conference title and a tourney trophy and pride was on the line. Not many teams get to claim back to back Broadmoor Trophies and the Denver Pioneers had an opportunity to prevent that from happening, in the end they did not but the Fighting Sioux had to work for it as well.

In retrospect this was one of my favorite WCHA Final Fives not just because my favorite team won but because there were a lot of great story lines and great hockey, I also got to see the game from a different angle this time around. I applied for a received a press pass from the WCHA and I was able to see the back stage of the college hockey world, this was a valuable experience that I will never forget. I met some really cool people as well and hung out with some old friends as well. It was a great learning experience all the way around.

Beavers and Bulldogs

In the First game of the WCHA Final Five the BSU Beavers beat the UMD 3-2 in overtime to advance to the Semifinals of the WCHA Final Five. The UMD and BSU game wasn’t without controversy as the Bulldogs defenseman Brady Lamb was called for high sticking at 5:53 mark of OT period and the Beavers forward Matt Walters scored 19 seconds later on the only shot of the period for the BSU Beavers. The win for the Beavers game the life to fight another day, the loss for the Bulldogs sent them home to lick their wounds and get ready for the next round. At the post game press conference you could tell by UMD head Scott Sandelin’s body language has not very happy at all and almost in disbelief at what had just happened, I kind-of likened it to another giant that fell victim for the BSU Beavers, just ask the Cornell Big Red and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

The "victors" on the other hand gave us a look backward into the past; the upstart Beavers that made the Frozen Four two short years ago, the wide eyed kids from Bemidji that refused to go away, they knocked off the third and fourth teams in the WCHA and they were now setting their sights on the second place Pioneers.

Seawolves and Tigers

In the second game of the quarterfinals the Seawolves gave the C.C. Tigers everything they could handle as they out-shot the Tigers 23-16 and dominated the play for most of the game but the Seawolves suffered some of the worst puck luck I have ever watched in a hockey game. The UAA head coach summed it up well with this statement, "It doesn't feel right," said Shyiak. "I thought we earned the right to win by the way we played. I thought we played well, and we had some quality scoring chances early, but we didn't get any of them to go in. And all four of their goals went in off skates."

UAA Seawolves forward Tommy Grant proved once again that he was one of the most under rated forwards in the WCHA as he ended his WCHA career just as he started going 100 hundred miles an hour playing each shift if it was his last. I can see this kid getting a contract sometime in the near future because of the way he plays the game, I will miss watching Tommy Grant play in the WCHA.

DU and BSU

The second game the upstart BSU Beavers didn’t really go as well as they had wanted , the Beavers need to win two more games to return to the NCAA tourney for a third year in a row. That run ended at the hands of the DU Pioneers as the Pioneers who thrashed the Beavers 6-2. The game was close through two periods as the Beavers had out worked the Pioneers and were still tied going into the third period. In the third period, the Beavers failed to convert on a 5-3 power play the Pioneers scored four unanswered goals.

At the press conference, the wide-eyed Beaver players from a day before looked dejected, the reality that their season was finally over, and a fantastic run had come- to- an end, the giants from DU had ended the BSU Beavers first season in the WCHA.

While all season long I have e read comments about the BSU Beavers being a poor hockey team or not being very good, the Beavers in fact proved to be a team that was dangerous and not to be over looked. I told my buddy Scott that the BSU Beavers resembled their coach, intense, small in stature, hard working and they never stopped moving their feet. They are on top of you and they will never give up. I think by making the Final Five and winning a game, the BSU Beavers were successful in their first season and there will be better days ahead. I think the Beavers proved to the naysayers and fan bloggers that the Beavers did in fact belong in the WCHA.

With the loss the magical career of Matt Read came to an end, I only wish I could see him play more, Matt Read finished his college career with (65g-78a-143pts). Word has it that Read is close to signing a professional contract.

UND and C.C.

The Tigers and the Sioux were locked into a what I would call a pretty good defensive battle, Sophomore forward Danny Kristo scored a goal on his first shift in his first game back from the frostbite incident, I don’t know if you couldn’t write a better story line any, I mean does it get any better than that? Also, sophomore defenseman Andrew MacWilliam returned to the lineup from an undisclosed injury that had kept MacWilliam out of action for three games. MacWilliam looked fresh returning from the layoff and played like a man possessed. I would say that Andrew MacWilliam looked as good as I had seen him play all season long, MacWilliam known for being more of a physical bruising stay at home defenseman actually led a couple of nice rushes up ice. The Sioux won the game 4-3 on a goal from Hobey Baker finalist Matt Frattin.

DU and UND

The Sioux and the DU Pioneers took center stage to renew college hockey’s version of the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s feud. The game was testy and feisty from the start as both teams got after each other. The Sioux came out and looked like they were a little tight and the DU Pioneers got on the board first with a goal from Denver forward Dustin Jackson assisted by Kyle Ostrow and Anthony Maiani.

In the second period, the Fighting Sioux got their legs going and answered the Pioneer tally with a goal from Danny Kristo assisted by Taylor Dickin and Derrick LaPoint. Both teams exchanged good offensive scoring chances and sophomore goalie Aaron Dell kept the Sioux in the game with stellar goaltending. The Sioux finally took the lead on a weird goal by senior forward Brent Davidson as he scored from behind the red line, assisting on the Davidson goal were Kristo and LaPoint. Going into the third period the Sioux had something like a 20-0-2 record when leading after two periods so you had to think that Sioux had a good chance to win the game.

History in the making

In the third period with 2:13 remaining in the game the DU Pioneers scored to tie the game with a nice goal from Anthony Maiani assisting were Beau Bennett, Matt Donovan. The game was very entertaining through the first overtime and the game would remain tied until the 5:11 mark of the second overtime when Hobey Baker Finalist Matt Frattin scored the game winner assisting on the game winning goal were Chay Genoway and Evan Trupp. It was the first time the championship game of the Final Five had gone to overtime since the fluky Blake Wheeler goal in the 2007 Final Five. This was also the longest overtime game for a Final Five since 1993 when the WCHA went to the Final Five

WCHA Season Preview Intro & Part I (RW77)

The 2010-11 DI Season is Coming!

Yup, Season ONE of the 12 team WCHA is just around the corner, and despite the filth that is the NCAA and the Nickname issue, I'm getting excited (add to that that the NFL season is around the corner and the Cubs have once again crapped out and renewed all the haters' claims that they really are baseball's professional punch line organization)!

The season brings old challenges and new challenges and I plan to outline the new challenges and what the league brings to the table this year in my own way as well as briefly (I promise) review the old challenges. This will be done in several parts as this would surely make an unbelievably long blog post and one that I don't have the time to dedicate to writing all in one go. I plan to review a new and old challenge as well as 2-3 teams per blog post until I've run out of challenges this season faces and have previewed all 12 WCHA teams. I will not be spending any time talking about the latest nonsense regarding the BTHC or Major Juniors.

Hopefully this will be well received and I will make this a yearly occurrence.

And So It Begins

The first thing I'll hit on is the age old challenge regarding Obstruction. A few years back, the NCAA issued a crackdown on Obstruction, including what the WCHA fans call "Clutch and Grab Hockey." The result was the same as any other crackdown issued by the NCAA: Unconcern, overzealous implementation, Gradual Indifference, and finally bogus exclamation of resolution.

The WCHA almost seemingly didn't care about this, as McLeod stooge Greg Shepherd (then only a part time Head of Officiating) only half heartedly implemented his interpretation of the rules. This resulted into penalties being called every 30 seconds or so. However, as the season progressed, the penalty calling decreased and clutch and grab returned gradually, this time more adapted to make it not so overt. Inevitably, Shepherd was asked to report the progress the WCHA has made on the crackdown on obstruction and he said that the teams were very sharp and fast to learn to the point that clutch and grab practically didn't occur any longer.

Don't worry folks, you'll sense a theme here. Today, the old challenge is to engage in the up tempo style that many of the WCHA teams employ (such as UMN, SCSU, UND, and as of late UW) with a seemingly non existent Clutch and Grab mentality blinding the FOUR officials on the ice.

Teams to Preview: Michigan Tech University, University of Alaska-Anchorage, MSU Mankato

Michigan Tech University (MTU)

WCHA Record last year: 4-24-0 Overall Record: 5-30-1 (1-6-1 in Non-conference Play)

Key Losses: Malcolm Gwilliam, Drew Dobson
Key Returnees: Kevin Genoe, Jordan Baker, Brett Olson, Deron Cousins, Josh Robinson
Key Recruits: Brad Stebner, Daniel Holmberg, Dennis Rix

My Take: Well.... if you are a betting man, avoid Tech. They have some gems, but none of them produce offensively. Mainly, their top player is Kevin Genoe, a goaltender who is only a sophomore this year. Josh Robinson is also returning, and he is my sleeper on this team. I've always thought pretty highly of Tech's goaltending since watching Cam Ellsworth play way back in my on campus days. Unfortunately, they can't get offensive help. Dennis Rix comes into Houghton with a pretty good offensive output all things considered last season with Grande Prairie of the AJHL. Daniel Holmberg is a BIG Swede center who could possibly fill a role as big bodied finisher, but who knows how Europeans convert their game to the NCAA way. They do get leadership back in Baker and Olson.

Remember: Most NCAA student athletes go pro in something other than sports. Watch Tech players become good pros in other areas than hockey as soon as their eligibility is up.

Predicted Outcome: 11th

University of Alaska-Anchorage (UAA)

2009-10 WCHA Record: 9-17-2 Overall Record: 11-23-2 (Non-conference Record: 2-6-0)

Key Losses: Lee Baldwin, Bryce Christianson, Jon Olthuis, Nils Backstrom, Kevin Clark, Jared Tuton, Josh Lunden
Key Returnees: Curtis Leinweber, Tommy Grant, Daniel Naslund, Kane Lafranchise, Luka Vidmar
Key Recruits: Rob Gunderson (G), Chris Kamal (G), pretty much all forwards

This team is much similar to MTU...except the defections have begun and it's hurt them as only one defection was to the pros (Baldwin) and the other was seemingly discontent. However, when the discontentment involves a player that could have been... no, essentially WOULD HAVE BEEN the #1 goaltender coming into this season and couple that with the graduation of the only other goaltender on UAA that has even ONE NCAA DI game under his belt.... This can't be good.

Junior practice goaltender Dusan Sidor (0 games entering his 3rd year in Anchorage) is joined by AJHL graduate Rob Gunderson and NAHLer Chris Kamal to vie for the starting position. Lookie at all that inexperience. This question mark is simply too GIGANTIC to even consider putting this team in any role in the WCHA other than spoiler/ruiner of PWR... if they manage to win. There's even a significant chance that they'll lose to whichever CIAU college they are playing this year.

The saddest thing is their Head Coach Dave Shyiak. I really don't think he's that bad of a coach. He's no Serratore or whoever it was that coached RIT, but UAA has the misfortune of being, well, UAA. Recruiting to Anchorage is very nearly impossible. And that means that UAA is doomed to be a virtual cellar dweller in the talent-heavy WCHA.

Predicted Outcome: 12th

Minnesota State University at Mankato (MSUM)

2009-10 WCHA Outcome: 9-17-2 Overall Record: 16-20-3 (Non-conference Play: 7-3-1)

Key Losses: Geoff Irwin, Kael Mouillerat, Kevin Murdock, Zach Harrison, Tyler Pitlick
Key Returners: Michael Dorr, Phil Cook, Andrew Sackrison, Ben Youds, Ryan Galiardi, Channing Boe

The Mavericks aren't the worst team in the league. They're just not talented enough to hang with the top pack. Add into that their historical penchant for rather...ahm...unethical standards of play and it's hard to get excited about the Mavs unless you are a diehard fan...which means you are a current or former student at Mankato.

They have some talent. Phil Cook and Austin Lee were ok. Andrew Sackrison, Galiardi, Dorr, and Youds have talent... they just can't seem to put it all together. They had the future in hand with Kevin Murdock and Tyler Pitlick but they bolted for greener pastures (Major juniors for Pitlick and the USHL for Murdock). It's too bad. That being said, of the bottom three, MSUM can best act as the best spoiler and can steal some games against the top of the league on any given night.

They give UND fits in Mankato, even when UND gets the win. That being said.... They'll fight with UNO and BSU for the top 10. In the end, I think Blais and the experience of the Beavers will be too much.

Predicted Finish: 10th

UAA Seawolves sign David Hale's former dance partner.

I know it's a little late but I thought I might post this anyways. The UAA Seawolves signed former MSU Mankato forward Ryan McKelvie. Sioux fans will probably remember him more for his fight with former Sioux defenseman David Hale. The Sioux were down in the game and the fight between Hale and McKelvie rallied the Sioux players and helped them turned the game around, the Sioux went on to score 4 of the next 5 goals and rallied salvage a tie for the game.

UAA's announcement regarding McKelvie's hiring appears here.

A three-year captain for the Mavericks, the red-headed McKelvie was a hard-working, gritty performer who played both ends of the rink. And for those who have seen most of MSU's games the last couple of decades, it would be hard to disagree that his dust-up with North Dakota defenseman David Hale during the 2002-03 season was one of the best college tussles during that time.[Mav Blog]

I can imagine Ryan McKelvie who was known for his tough play more than his goal scoring will be a good addition to the Seawolves hockey club. UAA is a tough team to play against because they are big and get in the passing and shooting lanes and play more of a defensive style of hockey and I am sure his addition will only help. McKelvie was also an assistant coach at Bemidji State University.