It depends on your definition of compete.
All-time, Air Force is 46-160-8 against the current WCHA teams +
Bemidji State (a 0.234 winning pct.). If you take out CC and Denver -
who account for more than half of those games, it's 37-77-6, or a
0.333 percentage.
By team, the breakdown is:
Alaska-Anchorage 7-12-1
Bemidji State 6-23-2
Colorado College 6-56-2
Denver 3-27-0
Michigan Tech 0-0-0
Minnesota 0-1-1
Minnesota-Duluth 0-3-0
Minn. State-Mankato 14-23-2
North Dakota 0-3-0
St. Cloud State 10-10-0
Wisconsin 0-2-0
In the last three years, Air Force is 2-5, with one win each over
Denver (2007-08) and CC (this year), as well as pairs of losses to
each of Denver and CC, and a loss to Minnesota in the NCAA Tournament.
What we don't know, of course, is whether Air Force's recent strength
is a momentary blip, or an indication of continuing program growth. If
this is an indication of where they are going to be as a program
long-term, my guess would be that they would sit in the bottom half of
the WCHA, in the mire usually occupied by Michigan Tech and
Alaska-Anchorage, with occasional upset wins in playoff series.
John
On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 2:33 PM, Eric Burton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I disagree beating C.C. this season doesn't prove anything other than C.C.
> was down this season.
> I respectfully disagree that AFA could compete in the WCHA on a regular year
> to year basis.
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Erik Biever" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2009 1:22 PM
> Subject: Re: Geographic alignment
>
>
>> I think Air Force has proved they could successfully compete in the WCHA.
>> (Smart fans will note that they missed this year's Frozen Four by *that*
>> much.) They have their own valid reasons for preferring membership in
>> Atlantic Hockey.
>>
>> -- Erik
>>
>> Eric Burton wrote:
>>>
>>> Air Force joined the AHA so they could play Army, they are not going to
>>> move to the WCHA, We can talk about this till we are blue in the face but it
>>> isn't going to happen. Also, Air Force couldn't compete on a regular basis
>>> against the WCHA teams would end up in the cellar of the WCHA on a
>>> consistant basis. The AHA is a good fit for them.
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