Now that the WCHA goes into an off-week before the tournament
selections, it's time for the pundits to look at the league's chances in
the tourney.  No matter how I look at it, it seems to me that the WCHA will
only get two bids this year -- CC and MN.  The teams that finished 3-5 in
the regular season were all upset in the first round of the playoffs
(killing their power ratings a la CC two years back), and neither WI nor
Tech could pull the upset and get the automatic playoff bid.  If I had to
pick a third team, it would have to be Wisconsin, based on the way that
they have played the last 12 games, but I really doubt that the committee
would send a team with a losing record.
        How did this situation come about?  As I see it, the WCHA this year
was the Big Two (CC and MN), the Middle Six, and the Bottom Two (UAA and
NMU).  The Middle Six were all pretty equally matched, and any games
between them were close and often determined by home ice.  In my opinion,
they were all strong teams, but the wins and losses cancelled each other
out, leading to records near .500 and the three first-round upsets.  I
really think that this demonstrates the need for more non-conference play
for the WCHA.  I believe that the Middle Six could play well against the
bulk of the other teams in the NCAA; I have very few games to point to to
back up that belief, however.
        As for the Big Two in the NCAA's, I am concerned at how they will
fare...  CC has explosive offense and strong goaltending, but they are
showing their traditional tournament-time letdown.  If they regain their
form for the tourney, however, they will contend for the title.  The
Gophers, on the other hand, always play well in the playoffs (until the
end, that is :-).  Watching them vs. Wisconsin, it struck me that they
looked like the WI '92 team -- lots of talent, but problems playing
together as a team.  I saw a lot of sloppy passing out there that I didn't
expect from a team of that caliber.  Bonin and Crowley are so incredibly
dangerous that they might carry the team by themselves for quite a way, but
the team needs to gel more if they want to stop me from yelling "1979!" at
them next year.  How Moen and DeBus play will also have a lot to do with
their fortunes.
        Drop the puck!
 
                -john nash
 
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