John Haeussler followed up my "Teams to watch" post with some good
insights on the CCHA, but he only sent it to me.  With his permission,
I'm forwarding this to everyone.  Enjoy.  - mike
 
>>First Tier:
>>LAKE SUPERIOR...
>
>  Absolutely loaded.  #1 in the CCHA if not the nation (although BU
>  may stake a claim to the latter).
>
>>MICHIGAN STATE...
>
>  This is a solid team, but Buzak is not as good as his stats indicate.
>  I picked them to finish 3rd in the CCHA (behind LSSU and Michigan,
>  before hearing of Stewart's departure).  I'm just not frightened by
>  this team like previous Spartan squads.
>
>>MIAMI...
>
>  Tough call.  As far as I'm concerned, a middle of the pack team.
>  But, I never thought they were as good as they showed last year.
>  You mention Shulmistra and the defense.  As with Buzak, Shulmistra
>  doesn't impress me as being a goaltender that will win a tough
>  game for you.  His defense was outstanding last season, but Joe
>  Cook (1ST TEAM ALL-CCHA) has graduated and the gap between he and
>  Bobby Marshall (2ND TEAM ALL-CCHA, 2ND TEAM ALL-AMERICA) was wider
>  than generally accepted.  I won't argue Hauer (UMD) or Richter (UW),
>  and I certainly won't argue Smith (LSSU), but how Marshall made ALL-
>  AMERICA over Cook and Neaton (UM) will forever remain a mystery.
>
>>WESTERN MICHIGAN.  Broncos graduated only 5 players, none on D or
>> in goal.  8 of top 10 scorers back, and many were freshmen who have a
>> year of college experience under their belts.
>
>  Again, a good team on paper, but I picked them to finish 6th in the
>  CCHA.  The fowards are solid (Chris Brooks is awesome), but the
>  goaltending controversy always seems to plague WMU.  Craig Brown has
>  never fully had the starting job.  It used to be Brown & Laurie, now
>  it's Brown & Renfrew.  In the past, I felt Brown was one of the
>  premier keepers in the conference, but I've seen Renfrew outplay
>  him which makes me wonder.  I don't see the situation as being a
>  positive for WMU.  Also, they did lose two of their better D's...
>  ALL-CCHA Rookie Scott Chartier and would be junior Belanger have
>  both turned pro.
>
>>MICHIGAN...
>
>  What can I say.  When I first saw their schedule, I thought to
>  myself, "If we avoid any early season lapses, we could be 17-3,
>  18-2 or even better come January."  This was before the Stewart
>  and Oliver situations.  If the freshmen don't step in, 10-10 is
>  within the realm of possibility and the schedule gets tougher
>  after that.  Still, I envision another NC$$ berth.  (Maybe there's
>  too much heart in there.)
>
>You didn't mention my dark horse candidate, BGSU.  I picked them
>4th in front of Miami and Western.  The possible loss of Holzinger
>to Team Canada will hurt, but losing Harkins to graduation will
>dramatically improve their work ethic and I like their young
>players, especially Ellis in goal.  Maybe Keith is rubbing off on
>me too much.  :-)
>
>Take care,
>
>  John H
 
---
Mike Machnik           [log in to unmask]          [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                  *HMN* 11/13/93