NCHC Hockey: Taking a look at the KRACH and Pairwise Rankikngs

By Eric Burton

3	Minnesota-Duluth	562.6	.8067	16	12-6-0	0.6667	2.000	1	281.3
5	Miami	443.8	.7722	9t	14-6-0	0.7000	2.333	6	190.2
6	North Dakota	438.8	.7705	6	13-4-2	0.7368	2.800	9	156.7
7	Nebraska-Omaha	435.4	.7693	13t	12-5-3	0.6750	2.077	3	209.6
13	Denver	287.3	.7010	12	11-5-1	0.6765	2.091	20	137.4
21	St. Cloud State	164.5	.5980	37t	7-10-1	0.4167	0.714	2	230.4
29	Western Michigan	107.2	.5137	36	7-9-2	0.4444	0.800	21	133.93
48	Colorado College	28.76	.2687	56	3-13-1	0.2059	0.259	30	110.9

Here’s the NCHC teams from the KRACH rankings. You can see that Minnesota-Duluth has the hardest strength of schedule to date. St Cloud State University has the second toughest SOS. Nebraska-Omaha comes in with the third toughest.  

You can also see from the Pairwise Rankings that the NCHC is doing pretty well right now and that the top-10 is full of NCHC teams. This weekend's match-up between UMD and UND is going to be important for the Pairwise Rankings. While a weekend doesn't make a season, a sweep for either team would be huge. 

3	Minnesota-Duluth	56	12-6-0	.6667	16	.5983*	3
4	Miami	55	14-6-0	.7000	9t	.5899*	4
6	Nebraska-Omaha	53	12-5-3	.6750	13t	.5861*	6
8	North Dakota	51	13-4-2	.7368	6	.5805	8
15	Denver	44	11-5-1	.6765	12	.5587	15
26	St. Cloud State	33	7-10-1	.4167	37t	.5180	26
36	Western Michigan	24	7-9-2	.4444	36	.4919	36
46	Colorado College	13	3-13-1	.2059	56	.4445	46

UND Spends $126,261.95 on Nickname Change So Far

By Eric J. Burton -- This story popped up this past weekend. I was going to comment on it earlier, but forgot.

Hey, I know the Fighting Sioux nickname is going to be changed, that's not really up for debate. However, stories like this are just going to fuel the fire on the blogspehere.

This isn't chump change and there seems to be a lot of money from UND going out to other places that aren't in the state of North Dakota.

Anna Burleson, Grand Forks Herald -- As of Dec. 30, the university had spent a total of $126,261.95 on everything the Nickname and Logo Process Recommendation Task Force required, including food, IT equipment rental, various office supplies and printing, consultants, room rentals for community forums, travel and IT systems.

The task force is considering recommending appointing another committee that, through a series of public polls, would ultimately choose a permanent name for the school. UND’s Fighting Sioux name was retired in December 2012 after the NCAA threatened sanctions.

Moving forward, university officials are hesitant to say how much they’re willing to spend on the endeavor.

According to the article a majority of the money has gone to Marie Miyashiro, president of the consulting firm Elucity Network, and Kelly O’Keefe, professor of advertising at the Virginia Commonwealth University Brandcenter.
Thoughts?

Oshie named NHL's First Star of the Week

View image | gettyimages.com

Former Fighting Sioux forward T.J. Oshie was named the NHL's first star of the week. Oshie had one heck of a week last week, including a hat trick against the San Jose Sharks.

FIRST STAR – T.J. OSHIE, RW, ST. LOUIS BLUES
Oshie paced all players with five goals and shared the League lead with seven points to power the Blues (23-13-3, 49 points) to two wins in four starts. He collected one assist in a 3-0 triumph over the Colorado Avalanche Dec. 29. Oshie then found the back of the net in a pair of losses – a 3-2 defeat to the Nashville Predators Dec. 30 and a 4-3 decision to the Anaheim Ducks Jan. 2. He capped the week by registering his second career hat trick (also March 27, 2014 vs. MIN) and second career four-point performance (also Nov. 14, 2013 vs. COL: 0-4—4), notching 3-1—4 in a 7-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks Jan. 3. He also potted his 19th career game-winning marker (third this season) and eclipsed 100 NHL goals (101-174—275 in 402 GP) in that contest. The 28-year-old Everett, Wash., native has compiled 10-10—20 in 31 outings this season, including 5-3—8 during a five-game point streak. (NHL.COM)

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll

January05, 2015

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	North Dakota	(13)	13- 4-2	933	NR
2	Boston University	(18)	11- 3-3	915	NR
3	Harvard	(15)	10- 1-2	897	NR
4	Minnesota State	( 1)	14- 4-1	870	NR
5	Miami		14- 6-0	752	NR
6	Massachusetts-Lowell		14- 3-3	747	NR
7	Minnesota-Duluth	( 3)	12- 6-0	702	NR
8	Michigan Tech		15- 5-0	641	NR
9	Minnesota		10- 5-1	554	NR
10	Denver		11- 5-1	514	NR
11	Bowling Green		12- 3-3	452	NR
12	Vermont		14- 5-1	448	NR
13	Nebraska-Omaha		12- 5-3	442	NR
14	Providence		13- 6-1	371	NR
15	Quinnipiac		13- 6-1	304	NR
16	Boston College		11- 7-1	274	NR
17	Colgate		11- 6-1	212	NR
18	Merrimack		11- 6-2	183	NR
19	Yale		8- 3-2	155	NR
20	Robert Morris		12- 4-4	55	NR
Others receiving votes: Union 35, Michigan 15, Alaska 9, Dartmouth 8, Penn State 6, Holy Cross 4, Northern Michigan 1, Notre Dame 1.