>St. Cloud State is a little low, but Denver being placed after Duluth and
>North Dakota? Denver loses a few people, but they do have some good
>talent returning, good proven talent.. North Dakota has Nick Naumenko,
>Teeder Wynne is good, but I highly doubt he'll have a year like last year.
>
>Minnesota has better offense than many people think. Bonin will be there,
>Kraft will be there.. Nick CHecco improves every year so he's ready to
>have a good year. Plus newcomers like Wyatt SMith, Reggie Berg, Mike
>Anderson and Erik Rasmussen should add some punch.
>
>As for St. Cloud State, Matt Cullen and Mark Parrish are their best 2
>newcomers.. They have other good freshman coming in, but none that will
>have the impact of Cullen.  Parrish had a very good Olympic Festival as well.
>
>Here are my picks:             >>Paul Thalacker's Picks:
>                               >>
>1. Colorado College            >>1 Colorado College
>2. Minnesota                   >>2 Minnesota
>3. Wisconsin                   >>3 Wisconsin
>4. Denver                      >>4 North Dakota
>5. Minnesota-Duluth            >>5 Minnesota-Duluth
>6. St. Cloud State             >>6 Denver
>7. North Dakota                >>7 Michigan Tech
>8. Northern Michigan           >>8 St. Cloud St.
>9. Michigan Tech               >>9 Northern Michigan
>10. Anchorage                  >>10 Alaska-Anchorage
 
I think this would be a good time for me to put in my two cents worth. . .
 
I agree with the opinion that St. Cloud will finish in the middle of the
pack. St. Cloud hockey seems to be a Div 1 sport at a Div 2 school.  We are
still maturing as a program and learning to play through everyone's opinion
instead of relative to it.  When picked high they believe they deserve to
win, and if picked low they play at a level nobody would ever expect.  But,
I think the extreme ups and downs of the past couple of years should help
level out the team's heads.  The more ups and downs the program goes
through the more experience the players gain.  This experience is not lost
upon graduation but is passed from player to player and helps level out
emotions and allows the team to rise above expectations and just play good
hockey.  Just look at a program like Minnesota.
 
Minnesota is a great example of a team that plays through polls and
expectations.  I admit I really dislike them   (you will have to pardon me,
I just had to say that- it's that I94 rivalry thing!)  but they are ALWAYS
good.  As long as I have paid attention to college hockey they always play
up to and usually beyond thier ability.  The gophers have been through more
bad starts than a 20 year old chevy in a Minnesota Janurary, yet they
always manage to finish high.  I hate to say it, but if St. Cloud could
show the same isolation from the "expert's opinions" as Minnesota, they
could be parked near the top year after year like the gophers.
 
Thus after all this rambling:
 
St. Cloud: SHOULD (but may not) be around 5 - but could finish as high as 3
if
     they keep their heads on straight. They are a good team - just young
 
Minnesota: 1 or 2 fighting with Colorado
 
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