I'm reflecting on the season so far (mostly completed before the holiday 
break) and looking at which teams have been overachievers (or 
underachievers) relative to expectations going into the season.  In some 
conferences there have been few surprises, while others have some real 
headscratchers.  So far ...

Atlantic Hockey - Okay, whoever switched the players between Mercyhurst 
and RIT can 'fess up now.  Almost all the other teams are playing the way 
they were expected to, but Mercyhurst has been awful (they were the 
preseason #1 pick) and RIT has taken their place near the top of the 
Atlantic standings.  Given their history, the early collapse of the Lakers 
is hard to explain (though they have had goaltending problems, I think.)  
RIT is harder to figure, because no one really had a feel for how much 
they would improve in their first full year in the conference.  Army and 
Air Force have also done a bit better than expected -- maybe it is the 
military approach to conditioning??

College Hockey America - This one has no surprises, really.  Each team is 
doing about as well as expected, not that that is good news for Wayne 
State.  Niagara has been the class of the league, with out-of-conference 
wins over St. Lawrence, RPI, and Colgate.  (What, are they trying out for 
the New York division of the ECACHL?)

CCHA - The big winner here is Notre Dame, doing way better than expected.  
They have looked good all year and beaten some big teams.  Lake State is 
doing pretty good, too, though I'm less convinced they will survive in the 
end.  On the down side, Northern Michigan has certainly underachieved, and 
Ohio State doesn't have anything to brag about either.

ECACHL - Up: Quinnipiac.  Down: Colgate.  Off the planet down: Harvard.  
The Crimson have won 3 games.  Thank goodness for the win over Colgate, 
because that was the only 1 of the 3 wins that I didn't see.  For a while 
there I was worried that Harvard could only win if I watched the game.  
That's too much pressure on a fan ...

WCHA - Competitive in most ways, but some settling out yet to come, I 
think.  Colorado College and St. Cloud are higher than expected 
(especially CC) and Alaska-Anchorage is doing better than most would 
think.  Wisconsin and North Dakota have been struggling so far, though 
part of that is injury issues.  As those clear up, and teams settle in for 
the remainder of the season, I expect those 2 powers to move up the ranks.

Hockey East - UNH has been surprisingly good so far, very consistent and 
putting up wins and points.  UMass and Vermont have done fairly well, 
though UVM is dependent on winning low-scoring games for the most part.  
That may work as the season wears on or not.  The down teams are probably 
Providence (I guess we expected a hot start, like last year) and Boston 
College, a team that is good but inconsistent.  Maine hit a brief roadbump 
in the conference but otherwise has been very good.

Looking at the national picture, I tried to pick the best and the worst in 
each category.  Best, I'm giving to Notre Dame.  I saw their 7-1 pasting 
of BC earlier in the year, and seen them on TV also, and they continue to 
play well.  Jeff Jackson appears to be performing some magic again, and 
folks should begin to worry about how to handle the Irish if they keep 
this up.  Worst, I'm torn between Mercyhurst and Harvard.  Mercyhurst has 
really struggled this year, but because Harvard is in a better conference 
(not by as much as before, though) and they have a longer history of 
accomplishment I am voting them the most underachieving team in America to 
this point.