Pic from CC Athletics: Hey USCHO, this is what Bachman's pads look like now, update your stock pics from 2 years ago!!


If you haven't already noticed, the Tigers are doing the Saturday-Sunday thing this weekend up at the Ralph in North Dakota. Home ice in the WCHA playoffs is the main thing the Tigers will be fighting for this weekend and of course throwing a kink in the race for the MacNaughton Cup-heck they can even win it if they can muster the right kind of luck.

On a blog note: due to some unfortunate schedule conflicts in the coming days, I won't be able to post anything after the games this weekend and potentially not until after the DU season finale. Lame, I know, I'm going to be out-of-the-loop in what could be an incredibly exciting last 3 games of the season. There is a chance I could sneak a post or two in during the week but it's going to be a busy next 10 days for me. SO, don't get too bummed out with no new posts, I've got a good reason :) I'll be sure to post any pictures I receive over the next two weekends as soon as I can.
Here's some links to keep up on the action in my absence: GO TIGERS!!!!
College Hockey News (Richard Bachman is the featured pic at the time of this post)
USCHO Scoreboard
CC Athletics

Tigers still in race for WCHA season title
FRANK SCHWAB-THE GAZETTE

With only three games left to play, Colorado College could repeat as Western Collegiate Hockey Association champions - they would need to get at least two wins and a tie and also get some help - or finish as low as seventh place.

The WCHA has been tough to figure out all season, although the incredibly close race will get sorted out over the final two weekends of the regular season.

T-1. North Dakota, 15-6-3, 33 points
Remaining games: 2 vs. Colorado College, 2 at Wisconsin
Outlook: The schedule isn't easy but North Dakota has been hot and has a game in hand on Denver, which is tied for first.

T-1 Denver, 15-7-3, 33 points
Remaining games: 2 vs. St. Cloud State, 1 vs. Colorado College
Outlook: The Pioneers could put the pressure on North Dakota by sweeping St. Cloud State, but still needs some help from rival Colorado College.

3. Colorado College, 12-8-5, 29 points
Remaining games: 2 at North Dakota, 1 at Denver
Outlook: A tough remaining schedule means CC could move up with some wins. But with one fewer game than every team that could pass them, the Tigers need some points in their final three games or risk losing home-ice advantage.

4. Wisconsin, 13-9-2, 28 points
Remaining games: 2 at Minnesota State-Mankato, 2 vs. North Dakota
Outlook: Finishing in the top three is big in the WCHA, to guarantee avoiding the extra game in the Final Five. Wisconsin has that in its sights with an easier schedule than the Tigers and a game in hand.

5. Minnesota-Duluth, 10-8-6, 26 points
Remaining games: 2 at Minnesota, 2 vs. Alaska-Anchorage
Outlook: The series at Minnesota this weekend will go a long way in determining if Minnesota-Duluth can fight off St. Cloud State and the Gophers for home-ice advantage.

6. St. Cloud State, 12-11-1, 25 points
Remaining games: 2 at Denver, 2 vs. Minnesota State-Mankato (1 home, 1 road)
Outlook: St. Cloud State needs some points at Denver this weekend to keep hopes of home ice in the first round alive.

7. Minnesota, 10-10-4, 24 points
Remaining games: 2 vs. Minnesota-Duluth, 2 at Michigan Tech
Outlook: Minnesota is the only team with remaining games against lowly Michigan Tech. Combine that with two winnable home games against Minnesota-Duluth, and the Gophers could make a charge into the WCHA's upper division.

8. Minnesota State-Mankato, 9-13-2, 20 points
Remaining games: 2 vs. Wisconsin, 2 vs. St. Cloud State (1 home, 1 road)
Outlook: Mankato would need a lot of help to finish in the top five, even with three home games left.

9. Alaska-Anchorage, 7-14-5, 19 points
Remaining games: 2 at Minnesota-Duluth
Outlook: Anchorage could move up a bit, but is going on the road in the first round.

10. Michigan Tech, 1-18-7, 9 points
Remaining games: 2 vs. Minnesota
Outlook: Michigan Tech could be a spoiler to Minnesota, but it will face the WCHA's top seed on the road in the first round.

As if you can't put any more emphasis on the two games this weekend, how about home ice for the WCHA playoffs AND a potential NCAA invite hanging in the balance?

Tigers want to be home for WCHA playoffs
FRANK SCHWAB
THE GAZETTE

In a week, Colorado College should have a better idea if it can make plans for a home series in the first round of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs.

The Tigers host a pair of games this weekend against Minnesota, which is sixth in the WCHA. The Gophers are a point behind CC, but the Tigers have played one more league game. The top five teams in the WCHA host first-round playoff series.

The Tigers are 10-8-5 in the WCHA, tied for fourth with St. Cloud State. CC had a chance to make a move in the standings but settled for a tie against Denver in its only game of the weekend.

"That makes this series even more important," coach Scott Owens said.

The Tigers were the second team among others receiving votes in Monday's USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. Air Force didn't receive any votes after splitting a pair of games at Bentley.

CC and Air Force are tied for 20th in the U.S. College Hockey Online PairWise rankings, which mimic the NCAA Tournament selection committee's rankings. Usually a team needs to be in the top 12 or 13 to receive an at-large bid to the NCAAs.

The Tigers' immediate concern isn't the NCAA Tournament, but their seeding in the WCHA playoffs. The Tigers are two points ahead of seventh-place Minnesota-Duluth and three points behind third-place Wisconsin. North Dakota and Denver are tied for first with 29 points, four ahead of CC.

"I think we're just right in the middle," Owens said. "We're right there, and it's going to be a battle."

The Tigers obviously had some disappointment from the tie last night, but got a point and got some hardware so they'll just take the point and the positives from the game and move on. Missy J sent me some amazing pics from the game (above) so enjoy those! Below are the links to the Gazette and Denver Post recaps of the game as well as the recap from the USCHO.
Gazette Recap
Denver Post Recap

DU Skates to Tie With CC
CC Holds Onto Gold Pan
by Theresa Spisak/WCHA Correspondent

Even though Denver has one more chance to tie up the season series between the two squads, they couldn't win the Gold Pan due to a rule that states the current holder of the trophy retains it if the teams tie the season series. The game was Owens' 400th behind the bench for the Tigers.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Feb. 13) — Sometimes, you get what you pay for, and the 7,696 standing-room only crowd in World Arena got just that Friday night.

Though the Colorado College Tigers and University of Denver Pioneers tied, 3-3, the game held a late tying goal for Pioneers’ fans and a Gold Pan victory for the Tigers’ faithful.

Ask each team, however, and both were glad to get a big conference point.

“[It was a] tough point to get; a tough game to play, having to come from behind in a building that historically has not been very kind for us,” said Pioneers’ coach George Gwozdecky. “In many ways, I was proud of our effort.”

“It’s a big point; they’re very hard to get,” said his Tigers’ counterpart Scott Owens. “It’s very, very hard, especially considering the schedule we have left. It’s always a big point.”

Both teams had early chances to get on the board, but neither DU’s Kyle Ostrow nor CC’s Mike Testwuide could take advantage of their open net chances.

Despite being outshot 13-7 in the period, the Tigers scored first with a power-play goal 8:53 into the first period. Brian Connelly took a shot from the point that was tipped in front past DU goaltender Marc Cheverie (25 saves) by Stephen Schultz.

The Pioneers tied it up about 4:30 into the second period when Dustin Jackson skated into the Tigers’ zone, muscled his way through traffic to the front of the net and put the puck far side past CC netminder Richard Bachman (41 saves).

CC regained the lead at the 9:19 mark of the frame when Cody Lampl put an Eric Walsky rebound in the net. Just 1:36 later, the Tigers went up 3-1 on another tipped Connelly power play shot, this time with Bill Sweatt getting the goal.

The Pioneers rounded out the scoring in the frame with 4:43 to go in the period on a power-play goal of their own. Rhett Rakhshani passed the puck from behind the net to Joe Colborne in the slot, who put it under Bachman’s right shoulder.

Brian McMillin almost put the Tigers up 4-2 with about 2:40 left when he backhanded the puck out of the air towards the DU net, but it went off the crossbar behind Cheverie.

It appeared as if CC would hold their lead through the third, but Colborne tallied his second of the night to tie it up with 56.3 seconds remaining when he roofed one over Bachman’s left shoulder from the doorstep.

“I was kind of sliding back door thinking that I was going to scrum, maybe the puck would go behind the net or something and all of a sudden it was just out there on my stick,” said Colborne. “I was the lucky recipient.”

The teams battled throughout overtime, both getting several chances, but the contest ended in a tie.

“It’s a pretty weird sort of feeling,” said Colborne. “We obviously wanted two points, we had a chance for the Gold Pan, but when you look at it now, it was a huge, huge point for us in the standings, a huge character win for us that will hopefully carry us into Wisconsin.”

“We made the plays when we had to to get back in the game in time and tie it up so I was pleased with our effort and proud of our team to come back through some pretty good challenges tonight,” said Gwozdecky.

“If it wasn’t for Bachman, it would have been a loss,” said Owens. “It’s a strange deal. You get a tie, you get the Gold Pan, but it feels like a loss and they feel like a win and that’s the way it goes.”

The Tigers next play a non-conference matinee on Sunday against the United States Under-18 Team while the Pioneers are off until next weekend where they face the University of Wisconsin.

Three points was enough for the Tigers to make it back into one poll this week and nearly missing another. The Tigers played on the road with poor travel conditions and came out virtually unscathed. This weekend's tilt with the big dumb DU(d) is important both because it's a rivalry and CC is only 4 points out of first in the conference.

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll

Feb. 9, 2009

No.	Team (First-place votes)	Points	Last Poll
1.	Boston University (34)	510	1
2.	Northeastern	451	3
3.	Notre Dame	450	2
4.	Michigan	402	4
5.	Vermont	380	7
6.	Miami	310	6
7.	Cornell	294	5
8.	Denver	268	8
9.	Princeton	263	10
10.	Yale	191	14
11.	North Dakota	130	13
12.	New Hampshire	122	11
13.	Wisconsin	92	NR
14.	Minnesota	72	9
15.	Boston College	67	12

Also receiving votes: Ohio State 51, Colorado College 13, Minnesota Duluth 13, Air Force 1.

USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Poll

Feb. 9, 2009

No.	Team (First-place votes)	Points	Last Poll
1.	Boston University (49)	999	1
2.	Notre Dame (1)	912	2
3.	Northeastern	897	3
4.	Michigan	847	4
5.	Vermont	791	7
6.	Cornell	688	5
7.	Miami	668	7
8.	Denver	650	6
9.	Princeton	622	10
10.	Yale	507	14
11.	North Dakota	405	13
12.	New Hampshire	402	11
13.	Wisconsin	389	16
14.	Minnesota	360	9
15.	Boston College	346	12
16.	Ohio State	335	15
17.	Minnesota Duluth	235	17
18.	Colorado College	211	18
19.	Dartmouth	89	19
20.	Air Force	47	NR

Also receiving votes: St. Cloud State 34, Minnesota State 19, St. Lawrence 17, Alaska 8, Niagara 8, RIT 5, UMass Lowell 4, Massachusetts 2, Union 2, Clarkson 1.

What's left of the Gazette takes a look at the Tigers and the jam of teams battling in the middle of the WCHA standings.

CC hockey team part of logjam in WCHA
Seven points separate first and eighth in Western Collegiate Hockey Association
FRANK SCHWAB
THE GAZETTE

After a weekend off, Colorado College finds itself in the middle of a bunched-up Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

Only seven points separate first and eighth place. Minnesota-Duluth, Alaska-Anchorage and St. Cloud State split their respective series last weekend and Minnesota State-Mankato swept its series.

All four of those teams were behind CC in the standings. That means the top teams didn't separate themselves too much from the Tigers, who are five points behind front-running Denver. But it also puts more pressure on CC to maintain home-ice advantage in the WCHA playoffs.

CC is tied for fifth with Minnesota-Duluth and is only two points ahead of eighth-place St. Cloud State. The top five teams in the WCHA host the first round of the league's playoffs in March.

"I think what we're shooting for is home ice," coach Scott Owens said. "That's our goal."

The Tigers' status in Monday's USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll didn't change. CC didn't rank among the top 15 but is tops among others receiving votes. Air Force, which had a tie and loss last weekend at Mercyhurst, dropped out of the list of teams that received votes.

CC remained 20th in the U.S. College Hockey Online PairWise rankings, which mimics the NCAA Tournament selection committee's rankings.

The Tigers have a road series this weekend against last-place Michigan Tech, which is 1-14-5 in the WCHA. The Tigers could have center Nick Dineen, who suffered an upper body injury Jan. 24, back in the lineup.

Few DU tickets remain

Only 300 tickets remain for CC's Feb. 13 game against Denver at World Arena. CC is expecting a sellout. Tickets, which are $18, can be purchased at Ticketmaster, the World Arena box office or by calling 576-2626.

It's rough watching our Tigers plod through this season after one of the best year's in school history last season. The Tigers have seemed out-of-sync all season which was all to obvious in the first week against Alabama-Huntsville. There was a good article Wednesday about the Tigers' struggles and how losing Jack Hillen has really hurt the team. He had 31 assists and created countless scoring chances with his blue-line blasts. I think we are seeing now just how big a presence he had in setting up offensive chances, regardless of stats. Let's hope Owens can get the team back in a groove this weekend as the Tigers get some rest and regroup for the final months of the season.

Why is the magic gone?
FRANK SCHWAB-THE GAZETTE

This season was supposed to be a continuation for Colorado College.

The Tigers returned 76 percent of its goal scoring and goaltender Richard Bachman, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Player of the Year, from a team that won the regular-season title. They were picked to repeat in the WCHA.

CC is unranked and barely above .500 in the WCHA at 9-8-3, 13-9-6 overall. Nobody saw this drop coming.

"I think that's been the most frustrating is it's not that much different from last year's team," CC coach Scott Owens said.

So what has happened? Most answers are vague, referring to intangibles like chemistry and consistency.

"It's just we're not all on the same page, we're not clicking," senior defenseman and captain Jake Gannon said. "We've got to start working together better."

There are some tangible reasons CC has had a disappointing season.

Defenseman Jack Hillen's graduation was probably underestimated. He had a heavy slap shot from the blue line, which helped on the power play and to generate offensive chances. He had six goals and 31 assists last year. His production hasn't been replaced.

"He could log a lot of minutes and gave us a strong presence on the blue line," Owens said.

Also, Bachman hasn't had an All-American season. He can't be blamed for everything - he gave up four first-period goals in Saturday's embarrassing 6-1 loss to St. Cloud State, but two were deflected off CC players. However, he isn't dominating like last year.

Last year he saved 93.1 percent of shots he saw and had a 1.85 goals-against average.

This year he has a 91.4 save percentage and a 2.60 goals-against average.

"I feel healthy, I've just got to work on a few things," Bachman said. "I definitely feel confident and that I can get on a run here."

Injuries have hurt the Tigers. Defensemen Jake Gannon and Kris Fredheim and forwards Matt Overman, Nick Dineen, Scott McCulloch, Andreas Vlassopoulos and Tim Hall, and backup goaltender Drew O'Connell have missed time because of injuries.

CC had a strange schedule in which it played 22 games before its first weekend off, the most in college hockey. There's no way to tell if that contributed to the rash of injuries, but last year's balanced schedule was more beneficial.

"I think that helped us stay fresh," Owens said.

And chemistry issues have plagued CC. After CC's offense started slowly, players might have started pressing. Forwards Bill Sweatt and Eric Walsky appear to be trying to do too much at times. CC is scoring just 2.68 goals per game, which is ninth in the WCHA.

Whatever the Tigers' problems are, they don't have long to fix them with eight league games left after a weekend off.

"I think it's a matter of everybody getting on the same page and buying into what we're doing," Gannon said. "Once we do that, I think it's going to come along for us."

• • •

This season vs. last season

Last season (‘07-'08) is listed first in each category, then this season (‘08-'09)

Goals per game
3.32
2.68

Goals against per game
2.15
2.68

Assists per game
5.32
4.10

Power play percentage
19.2
14.8

Penalties per game
5.8
7.5

Record, winning percentage
28-12-1 .695
13-9-6 .571

INCH had a pretty cool article about joining the WCHA, coming off the heels of the league officials deciding to lift the moratorium on expansion. If I get the time this week I'm going to have to fill this thing out, it's pretty funny and pretty true.

From insidecollegehockey.com
Application for Admission to the WCHA

1. Which answer best describes the current status of your program?
a) Our program has a decades-long tradition of hockey dating back to the post-War era and has won numerous national championships in other classifications.
b) Our school has added hockey within the past two decades, but has established a competitive program.
c) Our institution is new to Division I hockey, but we have an emerging program in a hockey-mad market.
d) We got uniforms and everything.

2. What is the capacity of your home arena?
a) Larger than 15,000
b) 8,000 - 14,999
c) Less than 8,000
d) The state won't build us one until we get in your league.

3. The playing surface at your home venue is ____:
a) Slightly smaller than Lake Superior
b) 200' x 85'
c) The DECC
d) Outdoors

4. Choose which best describes your non-conference scheduling policy.
a) We will host a holiday tournament and invite last-place teams from other leagues.
b) We are locked in to long-standing rivalries against regional and traditional opponents such as Alabama-Huntsville and Robert Morris.
c) Anyone. Anywhere.
d) All of our non-league games will be played at home.

5. Regional cable sports networks broadcast ____:
a) All of our games (home and road).
b) Some of the better matchups we play.
c) Our games against Denver, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
d) None of our games. We don't have cable in this part of the state.

6. We will attract top-notch recruits by:
a) Reducing our academic standards.
b) Wowing them with our extravagant home arena.
c) Targeting players born prior to 1987.
d) Paying better than our competitors.

7. If the WCHA expands to 12 teams, it is possible to grow the league tournament to include an additional first-round series and an added quarterfinal game in St. Paul. With that in mind, how would you like to receive your share of the league tournament proceeds?
a) Deposited directly into our athletic budget.
b) Sent via certified check to our assistant A.D. for finance.
c) Keep it to pay down our expansion fees.
d) In a big burlap sack with a dollar sign on it.

8. Where do you see your hockey program in 20 years?
a) Competing on the same level as traditional powers like Minnesota and North Dakota.
b) Rising to prominence over a period of years like Miami.
c) Making a sudden splash on the national scene like Notre Dame.
d) Not losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament every year like St. Cloud State.

ESSAY QUESTION NO. 1: A college hockey media member based in Chicago has recently written a piece praising Boston University, Notre Dame, and Denver. The following week, the same writer issues a piece stating that Boston College, Michigan, and Colorado College are overrated. Is the writer biased toward Eastern or Western Conferences/schools? Explain.

ESSAY QUESTION NO. 2: The WCHA is the nation's pre-eminent college hockey conference, but its members do not win the national championship every season. Please concoct a list of reasons a WCHA school didn't win the national championship despite its obvious superiority.

Choose TRUE or TRUE for the following statement:
Zach Parise and Phil Kessel are the two most important athletes in hockey history.

So much for the moratorium. I just found the following article on the Gazette from the wire that the WCHA is voting on a possible expansion today. I'll have more details as soon as I find out.

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association, meeting at the NCAA Convention, faces the subject of expansion today. A vote will be taken by the WCHA's 10 member schools on whether to lift a 10-year moratorium on expansion.

Bemidji State is a member of a dying four-team league, College Hockey America, which is expected by many to operate through 2009-10. Coach Tom Serratore's team will then need a new conference.

Each WCHA school has one vote today and a simple majority will be needed to lift the moratorium. If lifted, the league would be open to applications, and WCHA officials would screen schools meeting admission criteria. After any on-site visits to applying schools, the WCHA can invite applicants to make a presentation at league meetings April 26-28 in Marco Island, Fla.

To be admitted, an applicant would need eight of 10 votes. It's likely a new member would begin play in the WCHA in 2010-11, said league commissioner Bruce McLeod.

The Bemidji State women's program is part of the women's WCHA.

USCHO didn't seem to think the game was close with their "Minnesota Romps over CC" headline. I watched the 2nd and 3rd periods and I don't think "romp" is quite the term, but the Tigers were a step behind and again struggled to score. Of course, you can't give up 3 PP goals and expect to beat anyone in the WCHA, let alone the upside-down "W" so that was a problem. Minnesota definitely has got some snipers, CC is still trying to find an identity. Hopefully they will bounce back tonight, though they sure looked flat. Good news is there is still a whole 'nother half of the season left after the Christmas break so hopefully they will be refreshed for the final run. Game two is this afternoon at 3PM, links from last night are below.

USCHO

Gazette (complete with a picture of the Tigers playing Mankato...)

CHN Tale of the Tape

This weekend Mike Chambers made a lot of noise among college hockey fans with his declaration that the WCHA was expanding. Not true in the least bit, says CHN. Most of us realized that this was not happening, especially with the WCHA expansion moratorium. It seems Chambers credibility has taken a major hit with his statement "This isn’t just opinon. In true blog form, I can’t divulge my sources at this time because things are too political — which is why this issue won’t make the paper right now — but this is what is being discussed by conference commissioners. And it makes sense." Not good man.

I still don't have internet so finding time to post is a little short, but I'll be up to full blast shortly. Eric Walsky must have eaten his Wheaties yesterday because he accounted for 4 of the Tigers' 7 goal explosion last night. I knew it would be a tough series, North Dakota is always big, strong and talented even if they aren't ranked. A split will probably sit just fine with CC, although all 4 points would have been nice. It's good to see how the team rebounded from their first loss of the season. If we land 7 goals every time after a loss, fans might actually want the Tigers to lose a bit, ha. On a fun Uncaged note, I landed on the SiouxSports.com blog list last night for my measily "Tigers Win" post, kinda cool. And for those of you still ticked about the messed up blue and purple links, they should be fixed soon. I've got some great advice from a co-worker and a blog follower and as soon as I find the glitch, the site will be much more readible. With my Huskers stomping KU yesterday, the Broncos off today and the win on Thursday plus the Tigers' 7 goal explosion, I may be in the mood to dig through some code today! Have a great rest of the weekend!

update
I just picked up something of extreme interest to WCHA fans from Mike Chambers' blog this play a 1/2 WCHA schedule so they wouldn't be too much of a change. Not sure about UNO, could they compete?? What are your thoughts?

Game Summary links:
USCHO
CC Athletics
CHN
SiouxSports
Gayzette
Goon's World

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.

So I was traveling for the first part of the weekend and couldn't post anything from the tie Friday night, but I did watch most of it. It was pretty obvious after five minutes that both teams are very very good, which should provide us with a great rivalry this season. Bachman made 44 freaking saves, he's still got it. I caught a couple of mistakes in the telecast and the paper Saturday. FSN's wanna-be rinkside reporter asked one of our players (I forgot who now) how the series is different this season because of the change to home and home....ummm as long as I can remember that's the way it's been. The only difference this season is they don't play consecutive nights. Second error, the Gayzette tabbed tonight's game as the series' finale. Ummmm, we play DU twice more this season, not how I would define "series' finale", I know they were trying to sound dramatic, but that's stupid.
So tonight the Tigers take on DU(D) at the World Arena on ESPNU with a (hopefully) big national audience. Although I really want the Tigers to win, what I want more is an intense, high-speed, high-skill game to showcase our teams and the WCHA to the rest of the country who never gets a chance to watch us!
Speaking of rivalries, the reason why I want it to be a great game is because when one team has a down cycle, it's not so much a rivalry. For example, my Huskers got stomped by Oklahoma last night because OU is amazing and Callahan ruined our program so we are still rebuilding. Getting blown out 62-28 isn't fun, but when OU was in their down time, NU stomped 'em 69-7 in 1997 and 73-21 the year before. That's just how it goes. But anything is better than being a cu fan, what a joke!!
Here's the links from Friday's 1-1 tie
CHN Live Blog
USCHO, BOX
CC ATHLETICS

On Michigan Tech’s fourth power of the first period, Scott McCulloch made the play of the night.

McCulloch stole the puck at his own blue line, outraced a pursuing defender and scored a shorthanded goal that propelled Colorado College to a 2-0 victory over the feisty Huskies in Friday’s WCHA opener at the World Arena.

Third-ranked CC improved to 3-0 overall. Michigan Tech dropped to 1-2.

McCulloch’s red lighter at 17:24 of the initial frame was all sophomore goalie Richard Bachman would need, as Bachman made 19 saves to record his second shutout in as many starts this season.

Chad Rau added an insurance tally midway through the third period, tapping the puck into a half-empty net after Bill Sweatt’s centering attempt snuck between Tech goaltender Rob Nolan’s skates near the right post and slid to a wide open Rau at the top of the crease. Junior defenseman Nate Prosser also drew an assist on the goal.

The Tigers, who didn’t test Nolan at all in the opening 12 minutes of play while killing the first three penalties of the contest, finished with 38 shots on goal including 18 in the middle period. While defeating MTU for just the second time in the last eight games between the teams overall, they have won all 17 regular-season meetings played at the World Arena.

Both CC and the Huskies went 0-for-7 on the power play.

More notes from USCHO, CHN, Gazette,

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.

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.

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.