Well, after only three (or two) weeks of league play, I think the WCHA can
look forward to two bids (of 12) in the NCAAs again this year.  The reason?
 Parity.
 
It used to be that one or two teams would just leap out, kick ice and take
names, and two more would tag along closely.  At least that's how I remember
it.  It was sort of like the old Big 1T1en football (Michigan, OSU, and eight
little guys), only it was three or four big guys and for to six whipping
boys.
 
CC is at .500; UM is there with them.  Wisconsin and SCSU are keeping them
company.  UND looks awesome, but hasn't played any of the top finishers from
last year yet.  This may be the year where the WCHA is won by under 40
points.
 
I can see the final RPICH numbers having one or two WCHA teams in the second
5 (6 - 10), and a slew of them in the second 10 (11-20), but finishing like
last year with only the two automatic berths going because they don't play
enough non-conference games to overcome the fratricide.
 
The holiday tournaments ought to show whether the WCHA is a conference of
tough teams beating up on each other, or a conference of mediocre teams
beating up on each other.  I say that because I tend to discount NC games in
the first weeks because the true characters of the teams (that word that
doesn't have an "I" in it) hasn't come out yet, but by the late
November/December time it should.
 
So, without getting into a "my conference is better than your conference"
war, does anybody else see the level of parity I see in the WCHA?  Does
anybody else see that much parity in any other conference?
 
Steve G
 
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