I'm reflecting on the season so far (mostly completed before the holiday
break) and looking at which teams have been overachievers (or
underachievers) relative to expectations going into the season. In some
conferences there have been few surprises, while others have some real
headscratchers. So far ...
Atlantic Hockey - Okay, whoever switched the players between Mercyhurst
and RIT can 'fess up now. Almost all the other teams are playing the way
they were expected to, but Mercyhurst has been awful (they were the
preseason #1 pick) and RIT has taken their place near the top of the
Atlantic standings. Given their history, the early collapse of the Lakers
is hard to explain (though they have had goaltending problems, I think.)
RIT is harder to figure, because no one really had a feel for how much
they would improve in their first full year in the conference. Army and
Air Force have also done a bit better than expected -- maybe it is the
military approach to conditioning??
College Hockey America - This one has no surprises, really. Each team is
doing about as well as expected, not that that is good news for Wayne
State. Niagara has been the class of the league, with out-of-conference
wins over St. Lawrence, RPI, and Colgate. (What, are they trying out for
the New York division of the ECACHL?)
CCHA - The big winner here is Notre Dame, doing way better than expected.
They have looked good all year and beaten some big teams. Lake State is
doing pretty good, too, though I'm less convinced they will survive in the
end. On the down side, Northern Michigan has certainly underachieved, and
Ohio State doesn't have anything to brag about either.
ECACHL - Up: Quinnipiac. Down: Colgate. Off the planet down: Harvard.
The Crimson have won 3 games. Thank goodness for the win over Colgate,
because that was the only 1 of the 3 wins that I didn't see. For a while
there I was worried that Harvard could only win if I watched the game.
That's too much pressure on a fan ...
WCHA - Competitive in most ways, but some settling out yet to come, I
think. Colorado College and St. Cloud are higher than expected
(especially CC) and Alaska-Anchorage is doing better than most would
think. Wisconsin and North Dakota have been struggling so far, though
part of that is injury issues. As those clear up, and teams settle in for
the remainder of the season, I expect those 2 powers to move up the ranks.
Hockey East - UNH has been surprisingly good so far, very consistent and
putting up wins and points. UMass and Vermont have done fairly well,
though UVM is dependent on winning low-scoring games for the most part.
That may work as the season wears on or not. The down teams are probably
Providence (I guess we expected a hot start, like last year) and Boston
College, a team that is good but inconsistent. Maine hit a brief roadbump
in the conference but otherwise has been very good.
Looking at the national picture, I tried to pick the best and the worst in
each category. Best, I'm giving to Notre Dame. I saw their 7-1 pasting
of BC earlier in the year, and seen them on TV also, and they continue to
play well. Jeff Jackson appears to be performing some magic again, and
folks should begin to worry about how to handle the Irish if they keep
this up. Worst, I'm torn between Mercyhurst and Harvard. Mercyhurst has
really struggled this year, but because Harvard is in a better conference
(not by as much as before, though) and they have a longer history of
accomplishment I am voting them the most underachieving team in America to
this point.
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