OK, I can't blame you if you don't care... but here is my
pre-season top 20. I reserve the right to change my mind
between now and the start of the season, but I feel
reasonably comfortable with what I have here (of course,
I've felt that way before and been horribly wrong in my
picks).
I spoke with a bunch of coaches, reviewed recruiting
lists (relying in part on USHR and in part on word of
mouth) and reviewed last year's stats (league only so
that I could ignore scheduling discrepancies).
1) North Dakota: The Sioux lost three key players; Matt
Henderson, Curtis Murphy and Mitch Vig. Murphy's loss is
obviously the most significant. They have the best goalie
and set of forwards in the west and a respectable group
of defensemen. No major question marks for the team
that was No. 1 or 2 for most of last season.
Top Rookie: Travis Roche
Hobey Candidate: Blake, but he'll never win.
2) Michigan: Flip a coin between the Wolverines and
Eagles. Or, based on the outcome of the last time they
met, go with the Wolverines. Blackburn should be fine in
goal -- the only real question is how to make up for
Muckalt's and Herr's offense. I figure that all of those
freshmen, now sophomore, forwards share the burden.
Top Rookie: Mike Comrie
Hobey Candidate: Bubba. He's had a much better year
than his nicknamesake in the White House, eh?
3) Boston College: The best set of defensemen in the
country, a solid goalie and a very good first two lines --
I just wonder who, besides Gionta, is a big-time scorer
up front. Maybe he is enough.
Top Rookie: Brooks Orpik
Hobey Candidate: Gionta. Being a sophomore hurts his
chances, but I'd bet my house that he will be a finalist
(barring injury) (please don't construe my wager as an
offer for your acceptance. Title is in Mrs. Howell's name
so you can't be a BFP).
4) Ohio State: So long as the young defensemen give
Maund a look at the puck, the Buckeyes should build on
last year. I don't know that they will finish ahead of
Michigan State, but I give them extra credit for making
the Final Four last year.
Top Rookie: Mike McCormick or Jason Crain. Crain will
have the more immediate impact.
Hobey Candidate: Could be Boisvert vs. Maund, which
hurts both their chances.
5) Colorado College: Take away last year's bout with
injuries and the Tigers were probably a top 4 team. Not
the most exciting team (especially compared to the
teams ahead of them), but they get the job done.
Top Rookie: Jeff Sanger, but Jesse Heerema may have
more of an opportunity to shine.
Hobey Candidate: Duh. Brian Swanson is a good
candidate, although he will definitely have to turn up the
intensity a notch.
6) Michigan State: It is hard to get over the loss of
Harlton, Berens and Alban on paper. But the Spartans
still have a great group of defensemen and Mike York,
Shawn Horcroff and Rustyn Dolyny up front. If the
freshmen are as good as some people think, MSU is a
serious contender.
Top Rookie: Adam Hall.
Hobey Candidate: Mike York.
7) Clarkson: The ECAC's top defensive club, for sure. If
Erik Cole, Ben Maidment Matt Poapst can score 15 goals
each, and the team gets another 15-20 from Matt Reid,
the Golden Knights will probably be the most consistent
team in the ECAC.
Top Rookie: Poapst. Can't wait for those SLU/Clarkson
games. Have brothers ever played against each other in
those tilts before?
Hobey Candidate: Willie Mitchell, but he'll have to turn
down the PIM.
8) Princeton: An excellent set of forwards and the entire
defense returns. The Tigers were very good last year
despite playing with only 4 defensemen (5 if you include
Jeff Halpern). If the goaltending is average, Princeton
earns this spot. (Prescient quote -- Len Quesnelle
telling me at this time last year "if we don't get to the
NCAA tournament with this team, we never will.").
Top Rookie: Kirk Lamb, who becomes eligible after 9
games. Tell everyone you heard it here first. Among true
freshmen, David DelMonte (Dion's little brother; only Ivy
League die-hards remember Dion, I presume).
Hobey Candidate: Halpern and Steve Shirreffs. OK, Hobey
Baker was a guy who played defense and forward, came
from the Mid-Atlantic states, went to St. Paul's, starred
at Princeton, and was a fair haired, 5'10" fellow. Sound
like anyone you know?
9) Maine: Hockey East's second best team behind two
from the ECAC? It could be worse if Harvard plays the
way it should and Yale plays the way it did last year. The
Black Bears have some great recruits, but I have doubts
about the defense and the depth up front.
Top Rookie: Doug Janik.
Hobey Candidate: Steve Kariya. Looking to pull "The
Fusco"
10) Northern Michigan: I'd like to see a couple of guys
net 20 goals for the Wildcats That would get them up a
few more notches. As it is, a tough team to check
because of the balance. Very solid everywhere.
Top Rookie: Bernie Sigrist.
Hobey Candidate: None.
11) Harvard: I've picked the Crimson in the top 20 in
something like 4 of the last 5 years. They've finished
there once. Sooner or later, talent has to count for
something. I'm counting on Bala and Moore to rub off on
their teammates, rather than vice versa. If Craig Adams
can't come back from injury, there will be some
leadership issues.
Top Rookie: Jared Cantanucci
Hobey Candidate: JR Prestifillippo. People seem to have
forgotten just how good he is when healthy and focused.
He will be both to start the season.
12) Boston University: It hurts to pick the Terriers so
low, but I just don't see where Jack Parker will get the
goals... and there are too many kids on defense. I even
have doubts about picking them this high, which probably
hurts coach Parker more than it hurts me.
Top Rookie: Mike Pandolfo.
Hobey Candidate: Michel Laroque. He better hope that his
defense doesn't take too long to gel.
13) Yale: Call this one part believing that the Elis over-
achieved a little bit last season and one part believing
that Ray Giroux and Daryl Jones were the primary
reasons for their success. Still, Jeff Hamilton and Alex
Westlund are pretty good starting points. I'd love to see
Hamilton, Gionta and Halpern on a line together... yikes.
Top Rookie: Spencer Rodgers (brother of Harvard's
Clayton, continuing the Harvard/Yale sibling rivalry
begun by the Sproules and the Turcos)
Hobey Candidate: Hamilton and Westlund. Hamilton is
great, but if Yale does well enough for these guys to
merit consideration it will be because of Westlund.
14) Minnesota: No way things are as bad as last year. On
the other hand, the defense will definitely be interesting
to watch (particularly on the breakout). Too much depth
up front to ignore, however.
Top Rookie: Pick One.
Hobey Candidate: If this team plays the way Doug Woog
would like, there won't be one. They need more than one
guy to score.
15) Wisconsin: I'm not high on the Badgers, but I wasn't
at this time last year, either. Reinprecht and Anderson
give them good top-level talent, but I don't see depth at
any position.
Top Rookie: Kent Davyduke.
Hobey Candidate: Anderson. Every team would kill for
this guy.
16) Northeastern: Could easily move up a few notches
with competent goaltending. Solid depth at forward and
defense. Billy Newson, Todd Barclay and Roger Holeczy
form the best line in Hockey East (assuming that they
stay together). This could be the year that national folks
get to appreciate Bruce Crowder.
Top Rookie: Willie Levesque.
Hobey Candidate: None, but that doesn't mean that we
can't enjoy watching the little guys.
17) RPI: A couple of ECAC teams could challenge RPI for
a top 5 spot in the league (Vermont and Cornell would be
my picks today, but that will change by tomorrow). The
defense looks thin, but there are enough quality forwards
and the goaltending is solid. Now, if Scott Prekaski had
been admitted to Princeton.... (a question Don Cahoon is
probably asking every day).
Top Rookie: Matt Murley (I'm sure he'd like us to just let
him be)
Hobey Candidate: St. Hilaire, if his teammates can put
his sweet passes in the net.
18) St. Cloud: The Huskies fared pretty well last year
despite losing some key players to the pros. The recruits
are good enough to offset the losses, which could mean
that St. Cloud moves up to 12th.
Top Rookie: Mark Hartigan or Nate DiCasmirro
Hobey Candidate: None.
19) UNH: On one hand, the entire defense is back (minus
Erik Johnson, who was never a key guy). On the other
hand, the defense let this team down several times in the
last two years. I guess we find out how good Jason Krog
is and whether the S line can do more with more ice
time.
Top Rookie: I have never seen him play, but anyone who
scores 71 goals for Milton (Ontario junior) has to be
pretty damn good ... Darren Haydar.
Hobey Candidate: Krog. Might be tough if his offense
drops off with the loss of Mowers, et al.
20) Notre Dame: Tough break losing Mark Eaton ... sort of
like Princeton losing Dom Auger last summer, and it
turned out OK for the Tigers. Never recruit a Flyers draft
pick, that's my theory (they constantly turn pro -- or at
least that's my impression). Still, ND has a lot of
experience and adequate depth.
Top Rookie: David Inman.
Hobey Candidate: None.
Others: I really didn't think about anyone else seriously,
although I took a good look at St. Lawrence, UMD, Ferris
State and Providence. I gave a cursory look at everyone
else, tossed them out of consideration, then went back
thinking "how come I dumped Miami and Lake Superior?
Oh yeah, that's why." This is where we find out what
their coaches are made of, I guess.
OK, fire away....
-Geoff
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