Mike passed along my comments regarded the "upper" half of the CCHA
for 1993-94.  I'll add my full order of finish and a couple of
qualifiers:
 
   1. Lake Superior
   2. Michigan
   3. Michigan State
   4. Bowling Green
   5. Miami
   6. Western Michigan
   7. Ferris
   8. Kent
   9. Notre Dame
  10. UIC
  11. Ohio State
 
I picked Michigan second before Cam Stewart bailed out.  That, and the
possibility of David Oliver leaving for Team Canada makes it a highly
questionable selection, probably founded on too much heart to begin
with.
 
Apologies to Miami fans for the criticism, but I thought Savage, Bergeron
and Cook were far more important than Marshall and Shulmistra.  Even a
solid season from Kevyn Adams, IMHO, will not be enough to retain the
CCHA title.
 
Lake Superior has appeared in the past two NC$$ championship games
without winning a CCHA regular season title.  If the Lakers have a
good start they could run away and hide from the rest of the pack.
 
As I see it, the first six teams above are gunning for 3-4 NC$$ berths,
depending on the strength of the other three conferences.  Ferris and
Kent should consider CCHA home-ice (top 6) a success and Notre Dame is
the best among the "bottom" tier.  The Irish finished 10th last year
and should move up 1 place, or maybe 2, each season.  UIC lost Jon
Hillebrandt, but they still have the potential to knock off anyone
that's overlooking them.  (They thumped Michigan last season.)
 
Ohio State is...well, it's gonna be another long season in Columbus.
 
 
  John H
  U Mich