I've been relatively quiet the past few weeks, enjoying a taste of spring and watching Michigan and DU both lose on the first day! BUT the big news I spotted this morning is that Richard Bachman signed a 3 year deal with the Stars and will no longer be the Tigers saving grace in net.
Sad for the Tigers, good for him. Next year will be an interesting battle in net, but the Tigers do have a new goalie coming in who may be an NHL draft pick before stepping onto campus. It should be an interesting off-season for the team.



Bachman leaves CC for Stars
THE GAZETTE

Colorado College goaltender Richard Bachman and the Dallas Stars agreed to a three-year contract Friday. Terms were not disclosed.

"The main thing for me was getting in a good situation with a NHL team that doesn't have a lot of depth at goaltender," Bachman said. "The other main thing is it has been my dream to play pro hockey. I went both ways on it. It was a really tough decision. It just felt like the right timing."

CC coach Scott Owens said Bachman called and told him the news.

"We're happy for him," Owens said. "It seems to be a very good opportunity within the Dallas organization for Richard."

The Stars drafted Bachman in the fourth round, 120th overall, in 2006.

"The guys were sad to see me go but they're supportive of it," Bachman said of his teammates.

He had a standout freshman season for CC, with a 1.85 goals-allowed average and .931 save percentage, and was named the WCHA Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year.

The Tigers held off the Gophers this afternoon to hand UM their 2nd WCHA loss of the season. Bachman stole the show and Addison DeBoer's 1st period short-handed goal was the difference. Good game for the Tigers but slightly annoying to watch as the announcers treated CC like the retarted kid on the corner, ofter suprised CC even knows how to pass. I know they are UM announcers but c'mon, do you guys even know the sport? Near the end, CC dumped the puck in on Kangas and one announcer uttered a "drrrr), ha. Oh, and it was the first time since 1955 that the Tigers have shutout Minnesota in Minnesota.

After four consecutive Friday-night defeats, maybe this was a baby step in the right direction for Colorado College.

The Tigers got 32 saves from Richard Bachman along with a goal by Matt Overman just 1:04 into their series opener with the University of Minnesota Duluth, but had to settle for a 1-1 tie at the World Arena that extended their winless streak on Fridays to seven weeks.

They came out like gangbusters, seizing the early lead when junior winger Overman beat Bulldogs goaltender Alex Stalock with a backhand from the slot before most of the crowd had settled into their seats. Sophomore defenseman Ryan Lowery and junior center Andreas Vlassopoulos assisted on the tally.

But, after that, Stalock was unbeatable. He made seven of his 28 saves in overtime, including a pair on Vlassopoulos from point-blank range in the final 15 seconds. Bachman may have made the stop of the game with 40.4 seconds left, however, keeping the contest even with some slick glove work on a quick wrister by UMD’s Drew Akins.

Bachman, who blanked Duluth in three of four meetings last season, saw his shutout streak against the Bulldogs end at 233 minutes and 47 seconds when Josh Meyers scored during a power play at 16:01 of the second period.

With the point, CC pulled to within one of idle Minnesota and first place in the WCHA standings. The Tigers, 9-4-4 overall and 6-3-2 in league play, head into Saturday’s rematch tied with Wisconsin for second place. Minnesota Duluth, 6-4-5 overall and 3-4-4 in the WCHA, is tied for sixth.

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 have just beaten rival DU 3-2 at the World Arena, taking a 1-win lead in the Gold Pan Series. More to come as it's posted
Raw boxscore
USCHO Recap followed by CC Athletics recap below.

Allowing more than 40 shots on goal for the third consecutive game, Colorado College again placed its fate in the hands and pads of Richard Bachman on Sunday.

This time, however, the No. 1-ranked Tigers generated enough offense to reward their sophomore netminder with a victory while improving to 5-0-3 for the season.

Scott McCulloch, Andreas Vlassopoulos and Ryan Lowery each scored a goal, while Bachman finished with 40 saves, leading CC to a 3-2 triumph over the University of Denver at a sold-out World Arena.

Bachman’s best and biggest stop came in the closing minutes, when he made a spectacular glove save to rob DU defenseman Patrick Wiercioch from point-blank range in the low slot.

Lowery’s tally, a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle after the sophomore defenseman took a nice feed from freshman winger Nick Dineen, gave the Tigers a 3-1 lead at 13:53 of the second period and proved to be the game winner.

Vlassopoulos set up a power-play goal by McCulloch at 6:40 of the opening period, then struck for a red lighter of his own with 41.6 seconds left in the frame to put CC up 2-0 after 20 minutes.

The fourth-ranked Pioneers, who finished with a 42-20 shots-on-goal advantage for the night, finally broke through Bachman’s armor seven minutes into the middle stanza when Tyler Bozak pounced on a rebound just to the left of the crease and found a small opening on the goalie’s stick side.

Lowery restored Colorado College’s two-goal lead a little less than seven minutes later, with fourth-line winger Matt Overman also earning an assist.

That’s the way it stayed until the 14:44 mark of the third period. After failing to cash in on its first nine power plays of the contest, DU capitalized on its final chance of the night as Tyler Ruegsegger pulled the visitors back to within a goal. Wiercioch and Patrick Mullen combined to set up Ruegsegger. The assist was Mullen’s second of the game and 10th of the season.

The Tigers, now 3-0-1 in league play, moved ahead of Denver and into second place all alone in the WCHA standings heading into next week’s two-game series at home against the University of North Dakota. The Pioneers, 4-2-1 overall and 2-1-1 in WCHA play, dropped into a tie for third place with the University of Alaska Anchorage.

CC Athletics
While a second tie in two nights is likely to cost Colorado College its No. 1 national ranking, at least the Tigers escaped chilly Cheel Arena this weekend having avoided potential disaster.

Playing precious little five-on-five hockey throughout the third period and overtime, CC and Clarkson University battled to a 2-2 deadlock in the finale of their two-game non-league series in Potsdam, N.Y.

The ECAC officiating crew whistled 15 minor penalties, including two on each team in the sudden-death session, during the final 25 minutes of the contest. It was the Knights who got the best of the deal, scoring a power-play goal with 4:28 left in regulation to wipe out a 2-1 deficit.

Both goaltenders were outstanding, Richard Bachman finishing with a career-high 40 saves and Clarkson’s Paul Karpowich with 28.

Colorado College, still undefeated at 4-0-2, grabbed a pair of leads on red lighters by Bill Sweatt just 16 seconds into the game and by Chad Rau at 2:06 of the second period.

Chris D’Alvise, who returned to the lineup after serving a one-game suspension, pulled the Knights even for the first time at 6:13 of the opening frame. Scott Freeman, who had an apparent goal disallowed earlier in the third period, got credit for the tally that sent the game into overtime.

It was the first power-play goal that CC has allowed this season after the Tigers killed 41 consecutive shorthanded situations including the first eight on Saturday. They failed to capitalize on 10 power plays of their own, as Rau’s goal came six seconds after a Clarkson penalty expired. The Knights, who had a pair of brief 5-on-3 advantages in the game, finished 1-for-11.

from CC Athletics

Top-ranked Colorado College remains undefeated but can't exactly be thrilled with its latest result.

Playing on the road for the first time this season, the Tigers settled for a 1-1 tie with Clarkson University on Friday at sold-out Cheel Arena in Potsdam, N.Y.

CC, now 4-0-1, dominated statistically, out-shooting the Knights by a 34-23 margin and winning 50 of the game’s 80 faceoffs. But, other than a power-play goal by senior center Chad Rau that knotted the contest at 14:25 of the second period, the visitors were unable to dent freshman goaltender Paul Karpowich.

Rau scored his fourth goal of the season after pouncing on a loose puck in the slot. The tally, set up by freshman defenseman Gabe Guentzel and senior right wing Eric Walsky, extended Rau’s point-scoring streak to five games and improved his season total to nine.

Clarkson grabbed the lead at 5:54 of the middle frame, when Lauri Tuohimaa one-timed Brandon DeFazio’s centering pass from behind the net past Tiger goalie Richard Bachman, who had no chance to stop the shot. Scott Freeman also drew an assist.

It was the first goal that Bachman has allowed in three Friday-night appearances so far this season.

The Tigers, who finished 1-for-7 on the power play, got their final one during the five-minute overtime but could not capitalize. They killed all five Clarkson power plays in the game and still have not allowed a PPG in 33 opponent chances in five outings to date.

Okay so it's still the middle of Thursday night, but it's still technically Friday so I'm going to do a game day preview. The Tigers welcome Michigan Tech to the World Arena and hopefully a loud and excited crowd greets them to open conference play. Yes I know the weather feels like summer and the trees are glistening in the never-ending sunshine, but there is hockey and it's a great time. I myself will not be able to attend (moving) so I'm hoping others will make up for my absence ;)
Anyway, I promised a preview of Michigan Tech, so here's a quick briefing of a team that has been pretty weak in recent years:

• The Huskies currently hold a 1-1 record after playing in the Superior Cup last weekend (lost to Northern Michigan, beat Lake Superior)
• Lost to Toronto in exhibition opener which one blogger found to be embarrassing
• Went 14-20-5 last season
• Lost to North Dakota in 3 games in the first round of WCHA playoffs last season
• CC tied them 2-2 and won 5-2 in the series in Houghton last season
• Upset CC in '06-07 at the World Arena in 3 games in the WCHA playoffs (I was home on break for that one, ugh)
  
• CC leads series 86-68-10
• Series dates back to 1947
• Tech has 10 players that have never played CC
• Haven't won 20 games in a season since '87-88
• Freshman goalie Corson Cramer is from Colorado Springs (Cheyenne Mountain) and his family lives across the street from my parents. He played for the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets the past 2 seasons
  

Predictions
Friday: CC 5, MTU 2
Saturday: CC 4, MTU 1
I think CC will start to get it's scoring going a little better and be able to use the large ice and inexperience of the Huskies to open it up a bit. Tech's output will rely solely on the Tigers goaltender as the defense has shown a tendency to creep up too much and leave the 'tender hanging. I think Bachman may get a 1 game weekend, depending on what happens Friday. That being said, conference points are all important so don't be surprised if Bachman takes both nights.

Well it wasn't always pretty and it certainly was not as easy as expected, but the Tigers came out of their opening weekend against a non-conference foe unscathed. I'm sure there will be rumors and hate spewing across the 'net from opposing teams and media wondering if CC is actually any good after struggling by a team from Alabama. After watching both games up close, I can assure you the Tigers will be fine and that UAH is much better than advertised, they will handily win more than 6 games like they did last season. Their defense and goaltending was solid; they always had three players near the defensive net which made shooting lanes almost non-existent and it was hard to get in close for a quality shot, hence the lower-than-expected offensive output (scoring, not shots). The Tigers did manage a couple powerplay goals Saturday night and 4 goals during "regular" play (Rau added an empty-netter) so they will be fine. The power play suffered from too much passing (aka indecisiveness) and the aformentioned tight defensive play. The Tigers went 0-for-8 on Friday and 2-for-6 on Saturday, a game in which EVERY hook or grab was called in the offensive zone. CC was 5-for-5 killing penalties Friday and 9-for-9 Saturday. As good as UAH may have been defensively, they certainly didn't have the elite offensive scoring of a WCHA foe, so penalties need to be kept low. Look for the obstruction calls to continue to remain high this season with the new rules changes.

Uncaged notes:

• Both teams went with their 2nd goalies Saturday night and both played well. Drew O'Connell played the entire game and wants to get more playing time in his senior season. He was hung out to dry by the D on 2 of the goals he let in
• UAH played with a lot of energy and came out hot and it looked like it caught CC off-guard, they were a little out of sync for the first 10 minutes
• A fan threw a broom on the ice after the game, funny but not really necessary
• The crowd was better Saturday night but still pretty weak by my standards, I guess live hockey with a great team and great venue isn't appealing to more than 3,000 people in a city of over a half-million, shouldn't matter who the opponent is
  

I'm going to try to do grades for the weekend series' for as many weekends as I can. Definately will for the games I attend, we'll see about away games...

Offense: C
The Tigers passed too much and waited too long to take shots and need to develope more scoring past Chad Rau to survive the WCHA

Defense: B
O'Connell was hung out to dry twice Saturday, once on a 3-on-1 shorthanded, but those were the only real glaring errors

Goaltending: A-
Richard Bachman didn't face many shots Friday but the long gaps between shots tested his game focus. O'Connell let in 1 he shoulda saved and 2 that only Patrick Roy could have gotten. UAH didn't manage more than 20 shots either night

Skating/Team Speed: A+
The Tigers can flat out fly

Puck Control/Passing: A-
The Tigers were sloppy during a few points Saturday night but are still very skilled and well-coached

Crowd/Atmosphere: B
When the Tigers' scored it felt like the arena was full. The rest of the time it was pretty quiet and people arrived late. I realize Alabama isn't a huge draw so I'll give credit to those who were actually there. I will say though, I'm impressed with the apparel in the crowd: most people had yellow and black on or one of the various jerseys so we have a very strong following of regulars

Intangibles: C
(note: this is a generality, CC has no control over how they play out)
The altitude seemed to get UAH a little bit Friday, not Saturday. The home crowd wasn't big enough to cause any problems and UAH played tough.

Opponent Representation: F
I saw 1 UAH fan, though I honestly didn't expect any

Up next is Michigan Tech, who went 1-1 in the Superior Cup opening weekend. Preview of them Wed. or Thursday.

Yes you read that right. Tigers: 1, UAH: 0. Not the high-scoring blowout many of us were hoping for, even expecting. The Tigers were faster, more physical and shot more tonight and yet only had 1 goal to show for it. The embarrassingly small World Arena crowd was restless for most of the game as the Tigers danced circles around the Chargers and yet couldn’t find the back of the net. Add two cross-bars, a post hit and two empty-net near-misses to that and it made for a nervous night. UAH had numerous penalties in the area of hooking tonight trying desperately to slow down the CC speed. Numerous times, Tigers were so open that they elected for the pass instead of the shot. UAH did a horrible job of puck control throughout the game and looked like they were either bracing for a hit, or looking for an out before they had control of the puck. The Tigers stole the puck at will and ran all around the over-matched visitors. However, the goaltending by Cameron Talbot was superb and he hung with the Tigers’ shooting barrage, which ended with 45 shots on goal. The Tigers, other than scoring, looked very good and I have yet to see an area of real concern. A close win like this will only help the team when they get into WCHA action. It will be fun to see what kind of game we get tomorrow night; UAH was visibly wearing down as the night went on so it could be a radically different score.

Notes from the stands:

Chad Rau and Richard Bachman were All Americans and more as Rau had the only goal (a top-shelf rip with under a minute in the 2^nd) and Bachman stayed focused and notched a shutout on 16 shots, often with 5+ minutes in between shots.

The crowd was sparse, a shame since we have such a great team and it was the regular-season opener

No injuries yet, though ex-Lincoln Star Steve Shultz did go off the ice favoring his right shoulder/arm at one point.

Cameron Talbot was visibly devastated after letting in the only Tiger goal

UAH had new uniforms that looked purple in the arena lights but, alas, followed the trend of ugly RBK NHL jerseys. I liked the old ones better.

The odd black stripe down the side was not all that attractive, and I wasn’t a fan of the black nameplates.

And the socks, ohh the socks. I HATE the funky designs that companies try to wedge onto socks (yuck!). Why can’t they stay traditional?

Tiger UNI note: CC wore their yellow alternates which are a great color but I’m still not sold on the shoulder stripe going all the way down the sleeve.

Last game I said the players’ helmets had “TIGERS” on the side this season, well that’s just the left side, the right is “CC” lettering.

It was 75 degrees in the Springs today and could be a wintry weekend, come out to the game Saturday night!!!

Game Pics Below

The Tigers started out a little slow and had some early defensive breakdowns that hung Bachman out to dry twice, but after 10 minutes the Tigers were onto their game. The Tigers played their game and used their crisp passing and smooth skating to sail past the Golden Bears 5-2. The bears were finishing up their 3rd straight game against the Front Range teams and I'm impressed they played as well as they did. The team from Edmonton played hard and stayed with the Tigers for the most part but started to run out of gas in the 3rd.

Some notes and observations from ice level:

• Chad Rau had 2 goals and 2 assists and looks to be the big time sniper the Tigers need
• Billy Sweatt looks even faster this season
• Dan Quilico looks like a boy playing among grown men, haha
  
• Drew O'Connell came in at 10 minutes of the 2nd period and only faced 9 shots
  
• The crowd was very good considering it was an exhibition game (listed at 5589)
• Players now have "TIGERS" lettering on their helmets instead of the logo
• All beer is now $6 at the Arena (pretty sure Bud was $4 or $5 previously)
• The goalies on the bench wore their masks the whole game, not sure if it's an official WCHA rule this season but I know they had talked about it last year for safety
  
• Alberta players all wore half-shields like Canadian Major Juniors
  

Full game summaries:
Gazette, USCHO, CC Athletics,
University of Alberta Athletics

The University of Alberta rides into southern Colorado Springs tonight to face the Tigers in an exhibition contest. Alberta has been on a three night trip down the Front Range and has yet to win against the strong Colorado teams. They had their best chance Saturday night against DU until the Pios scored the winning goal with 1.8 seconds left to win 5-4. Sunday night, Alberta was on the north side and was taken down by AFA 3-1. The Tigers hope to send them back to Edmonton 0-for-3 and get tuned up for the regular season. It will be interesting to see how CC plays, whether they will treat it like a WCHA game or go easy and just work the bugs out. I would be suprised to see Bachman play the entire game, though it certaintly doesn't hurt getting game-speed practice in.

Also, Bachman and Hobey-snubbed Chad Rau were named first team on the Preseason All CHN Team.

Bachman gets some ink in the Denver Post with regard to DU's new goalie Marc Cheverie and what may have been and what will be.

J.P. Testwuide is one of 4 Pios who were suspended for their game Saturday.

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.