In a strange Friday night in the WCHA, CC, DU, North Dakota lose and Wisconsin ties. Seemed strange to me, regardless of current standings. More reading to come later
Box Score

CC Athletics

Colorado College will have to wait at least another day to snap out of its offensive slump.

Not even Richard Bachman could rescue punchless CC in Friday’s series opener with the University of North Dakota, as the Fighting Sioux woke up from their early-season doldrums to claim a 3-1 victory at the World Arena.

The final stats say that the No. 1-ranked Tigers finished with a 30-29 edge in shots on goal. But the real story is that 37 more of their attempts sailed harmlessly wide or were blocked by the UND defense in front of freshman goaltender Brad Eidsness, who needed to make only a handful of quality saves.

Eidsness lost his shutout with 1:27 left to play, when Tyler Johnson’s wrist shot from the high slot changed direction after glancing off the arm of Bill Sweatt as the speedy Sweatt streaked toward the net.

North Dakota, meanwhile, got goals from Brent Davidson and Brett Hextall just 14 seconds apart midway through the second period to take command in a game that never seemed in doubt for the visitors.

Darcy Zajac’s tally at 9:53 of opening period staked the Sioux to an early lead, and CC just never found the groove while suffering its first defeat of the season.

The Tigers went 0-for-8 on the power play, including four straight chances early in the third period. They even had a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:24 when Zajac and Hextall were whistled for infractions within 36 seconds of each other.

A bright spot? Colorado College, now 5-1-3 overall and 3-1-1 in WCHA play, continued its shorthanded success by killing all four UND power plays in the game.

North Dakota, 3-4 overall, improved to 3-2 in league play heading into Saturday’s rematch.

I just realized I forgot to post the new polls this week, must have had something to do with that stupid event that took place Tuesday night. Anyway, the Tigers remained at numero uno again across the board, thanks to Bachman's NHL level performances. (polls will follow post) The biggest annoyance I have right now is that USCHO and INCH don't have current photos of the Tigers' players and it drives me freaking insane! The INCH Player of the week pic (oh yea, did I mention Bachman got that?!) is him in the early parts of last season with the gold pads (sent him the wrong color) and the basic black helmet. GET A CURRENT PHOTO!! I think that takes away a huge chunk of credibility to a site if they aren't willing to take the time to get a current pic.

An interesting traffic note: I compared my traffic from this site to the old one and the supportcctigers.blogspot.com site is still generating a ginormous amount of traffic and it's old! Nothing is current and no one seems to be clicking through, it's odd. So anyway, this site IS what was formerly supportcctigers.blogspot.com. I just wanted a new domain so I jumped over. So please bookmark this address and let your friends know.

I'm still working on the ugly blug links, it's a glitch somewhere hidden in my code that I can't seem to find. If anyone knows how to fix it please let me know. (it's all configured in the color and font settings to be yellow and grey so it's a hidden problem).

The Tigers' opponent this week is the once mighty North Dakota Fighting Sioux. The Sioux are currently 2-4 (2-2WCHA) and are coming off a 5-2 loss to Wisconsin. Judging from the lack of posts on Goon's Sioux site, it's been a bad year already. I can't remember the last time the Sioux weren't in the top 10, let alone unranked! Doesn't mean it won't be a tough series, but the Tigers need to sweep North Dakota for points and because, at least in terms of current records, the Sioux are apparently a "should win" series. The biggest key is to get some points and avoid injuries...oh yea and score!

Speaking of scoring, am I the only one who is getting annoyed with the Tigers' perimeter power play attack? They pass on the outside too much and don't generate good chances. Opposing teams crash the net and make fans hold their breath as Bachman plays superman while getting pummeled with shots. The Tigers have the talent to score more but aren't, and I have a feeling a shift in stragety may help. That's my 2 cents.

Polls:
INCH Power Rankings

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll

The 14th annual USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll is conducted each week in conjunction with the American Hockey Coaches Association. The poll includes input from coaches and journalists representing each of the six NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences, as well as composite votes from officers of the American Hockey Coaches Association and USA Hockey Magazine, the official publication of USA Hockey.

Nov. 3, 2008

No.	Team (First-place votes)	Points	Last Poll
1.	Colorado College (28)	501	1
2.	Boston College (5)	469	2
3.	Boston University (1)	442	3
4.	Minnesota	394	5
5.	New Hampshire	361	7
6.	Denver	354	4
7.	Michigan	304	8
8.	Miami	242	6
9.	Princeton	205	10
10.	Northeastern	193	9
11.	Michigan State	162	12
12.	Notre Dame	141	13
13.	Minnesota State	73	11
14.	Air Force	72	NR
15.	Clarkson	50	14

Also receiving votes: Massachusetts 27, Vermont 23, Cornell 15, Minnesota Duluth 13, North Dakota 9, St. Lawrence 8, Union 8, Harvard 5, Alaska Anchorage 3, Yale 3, UMass Lowell 1, Nebraska-Omaha 1, St. Cloud State 1.

USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Poll

Nov. 3, 2008

No.	Team (First-place votes)	Points	Last Poll
1.	Colorado College (41)	986	1
2.	Boston College (5)	932	2
3.	Boston University (1)	908	3
4.	Minnesota	829	5
5.	New Hampshire	772	6
6.	Denver	755	4
7.	Michigan	676	8
8.	Miami	599	7
9.	Princeton	548	10
10.	Northeastern	529	9
11.	Michigan State	468	11
12.	Notre Dame	457	13
13.	Minnesota State	316	12
14.	Air Force	291	17
15.	Clarkson	249	15
16.	Vermont	216	14
17.	Cornell	187	16
18.	Harvard	156	20
19.	Massachusetts	146	NR
20.	Minnesota Duluth	104	NR

Also receiving votes: North Dakota 89, St. Lawrence 59, Alaska Anchorage 53, Nebraska-Omaha 30, St. Cloud State 28, Colgate 25, Union 20, Dartmouth 16, UMass Lowell 15, Northern Michigan 11, Yale 11, Wisconsin 7, Ferris State 6, Alaska 4, Bemidji State 1, RIT 1.

The Tigers remain at #3 this week, DU has moved back to #4 behind the Tigers and North Dakota, after going 0-2 over the weekend, is the big free-faller this week, dropping to #13 in both polls. INCH released their first Power Rankings this week and the Tigers sit nicely at 4 (though Notre Dame is 3, even though they lost...)

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll

The 14th annual USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll is conducted each week in conjunction with the American Hockey Coaches Association. The poll includes input from coaches and journalists representing each of the six NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences, as well as composite votes from officers of the American Hockey Coaches Association and USA Hockey Magazine, the official publication of USA Hockey.

October 13, 2008

No.	Team (First-place votes)	Points	Last Poll
1.	Boston College (32)	507	1
2.	Michigan (1)	465	2
3.	Colorado College (1)	439	3
4.	Denver	389	6
5.	Boston University	387	9
6.	New Hampshire	350	7
7.	Miami	272	8
8.	Notre Dame	251	4
9.	Minnesota	216	10
10.	St. Cloud State	174	15
11.	Michigan State	163	11
12.	Princeton	130	12
13.	North Dakota	112	5
14.	Clarkson	83	13
15.	Minnesota State	59	NR

Also receiving votes: Northeastern 18, Cornell 17, Northern Michigan 14, Vermont 10, Harvard 8, Wisconsin 8, Air Force 5, Minnesota Duluth 3.

USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Poll

October 14, 2008

No.	Team (First-place votes)	Points	Last Poll
1.	Boston College (45)	993	1
2.	Michigan (2)	936	2
3.	Colorado College (3)	898	3
4.	Denver	819	6
5.	Boston University	784	9
6.	New Hampshire	767	7
7.	Miami	663	8
8.	Notre Dame	636	4
9.	Minnesota	525	10
10.	Princeton	460	12
11.	Michigan State	459	11
12.	St. Cloud State	449	15
13.	North Dakota	445	5
14.	Clarkson	356	13
15.	Minnesota State	283	18
16.	Cornell	190	17
17.	Vermont	144	20
18.	Harvard	136	19
19.	Northern Michigan	124	16
20.	Wisconsin	118	14

Also receiving votes: Northeastern 108, Air Force 71, Massachusetts 44, Minnesota Duluth 39, UMass Lowell 10, Bowling Green 8, Alaska 7, Ferris State 7, Niagara 7, Yale 5, Dartmouth 3, Quinnipiac 3, RIT 2, St. Lawrence 1.

Some interesting news is brewing in the NCAA Tournament offices today as a potential reconfiguring of placement could take place for this next tournament. The reasoning? Travel expenses. The argument is that teams should be placed in geographic proximity instead of for bracket integrity. One scenario INCH published found that the West Regional last season would have had CC, DU, AFA and NoDak at World Arena instead of UNH, Notre Dame and Michigan State. It might make travel sense but it isolates fan bases and could be a disaster for ratings and provide even more conference canniblization. INCH has the full rundown.

The WCHA quickly issued a response and will meet about a counter-plan tonight.
“At first blush, it doesn’t sound good for our sport,” said Denver coach George Gwozdecky. “If the WCHA has six teams in the tournament and only two emerge from the west, you might not have the best four teams in the nation at the Frozen Four.”
The article also mentions a possibility that the tournament could move back to campus sites instead of regionals for the first rounds. I actually like that idea, and the more I think about it, the more I REALLY like that idea. It gives you an even greater incentive to play well in the regular season so you can continue on "true" home ice (not like CC last season when the World Arena was transformed into one giant NCAA advertisment and hardly felt like home). It would be similar to the NFL playoffs. The article also mentions a good point: with the regionals, the already niche fan-base is fractured even more and empty, quiet arenas ensue. Not good for the sport. You can read the full WCHA response in the INCH WCHA Notebook.

From WCHA.com

Colorado College Picked to Repeat as WCHA Champions
in 2008-09 in Annual Grand Forks Herald WCHA Coaches' Poll
by Brad Elliott Schlossman, Grand Forks Herald

Oct. 1, 2008

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The opinions of Western Collegiate Hockey Association coaches varied greatly when it came to picking a preseason rookie of the year and a preseason player of the year. There's one thing the coaches can pretty much agree on, though: Colorado College is still the team to beat.

The defending MacNaughton Cup champion Tigers received eight first-place votes and are picked to finish first in the 38th annual Grand Forks Herald WCHA preseason Coaches' Poll. UND received two first-places and is projected to finish second, followed by Denver. Minnesota and Wisconsin are tied for fourth.

"I think a lot of it is based on last year," Colorado College coach Scott Owens said. "I think the strength for us is going to be in our quality depth at forward. We also have five of the six guys who played regularly for us on defense back and all three goalies.

"I think everyone is excited to get back at it. It's an older team with good leadership."

The bottom five projected teams, in order, are St. Cloud State, Minnesota State, Mankato, Minnesota Duluth, Michigan Tech and Alaska Anchorage.

"I think CC is an improved team from last year, and they were a great team last year," UND coach Dave Hakstol said. "I think every team in the league can say they've found ways improve. What a heck of a league we have."

What perhaps best demonstrates the league's outstanding talent level this year is the coaches' votes for player of the year and rookie of the year.

UND's Ryan Duncan has a Hobey Baker Memorial Award sitting in his attic, but he didn't receive a single vote for preseason player of the year. Denver's Joe Colborne was the Canadian Junior A Player of the Year and the highest-drafted freshman in the country (first round, 16th overall), but he didn't receive a single vote for preseason rookie of the year.

Those honors went elsewhere.

Colorado College sophomore goaltender Richard Bachman is the preseason player of the year, getting three votes. St. Cloud State forward Ryan Lasch got two, as did Minnesota Duluth goalie Alex Stalock and Denver forward Tyler Bozak. CC's Chad Rau got one vote.

North Dakota's Jason Gregoire and Minnesota Duluth's Jack Connolly are the co-preseason rookies of the year. Both players received three votes, while Minnesota rookies Aaron Ness and Jordan Schroeder each got two.

Last Monday the official preseason polls made their debut and the Tigers will start out well. USAToday/HockeyMag ranks the Tigers #5 and has 5 WCHA teams in the top 10. Defending champ BC gets the obvious top spot (this isn't college football where politics determine number one this season) followed by evil Michigan and Notre Dame. The WCHA powerhouse teams go the next three with North Dakota, CC and DU at 4-5-6 respectively, and Minnesota at #9.

I am a little surprised at CC's rank and apparent high expectations (The Tigers recieved 2 first place votes, third most) and rank after last season's playoff face-plant. Voters obviously see the Tigers' regular season as a sign of things to come and not a fluke and that they will learn from their experiences last season. Personally, I think the Tigers will be very good and will probably have a shot at a second MacNaughton Cup but it will be a battle for an outright win. I think it will be a season of "As Bachman goes, so go the Tigers", no pressure Richard!
DU is a little of a question to me, they played poorly a lot last season but could win the big games and tournaments, something CC needs to learn. North Dakota will be strong and is probably my favorite for the WCHA title right now. Minnesota is my ? for the preseason. They limped through the season last year and barely made the WCHA tourney and promptly preformed very well, with a little help from CC's weak showing. Should be a great season!

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll
September 22, 2008

No.	Team (First-place votes)	Points	Last Poll
1.	Boston College (27)	490	1
2.	Michigan (4)	432	2
3.	Notre Dame	376	3
4.	North Dakota (1)	371	4
5.	Colorado College (2)	355	8
6.	Denver	299	9
7.	New Hampshire	287	6
8.	Miami	263	5
9.	Minnesota	223	12
10.	Boston University	203	NR
11.	Clarkson	173	10
12.	Michigan State	159	7
13.	Wisconsin	103	13
14.	Northern Michigan	75	NR
15.	St. Cloud State	69	14

Also receiving votes: Princeton 51, Cornell 30, Harvard 30, Minnesota State 28, Air Force 24, Massachusetts 9, UMass Lowell 9, Niagara 9, Vermont 6, Maine 3, Northeastern 3.