Michigan Wolverines Hockey

[Rob F]

....and we again score into an empty net---AND THIS ONE COUNTS!!!!!!!---with 4 seconds left!

Final now, 4-2!

Oh well, it's a win, even though it's only the consolation game, but it might help our NCAA tourney seedings a bit.

[Rob F]

On the TV broadcast, they were showing the Pairwise Rankings of the top 4 CCHA teams and saying that all 4 teams at the CCHA tourney this weekend are pretty certain to be in the NCAA Tournament field to be announced tomorrow.

Michigan, currrently #7, will likely get a 2 seed.

I wish I were more optimistic, but to me, this team just doesn't look to have enough offense to be a real threat in the NCAA's. But, if Hunwick gets hot in the net, anything can happen---as it was, he was a helluva lot better today than yesterday, stopping 40 of ND's 42 shots on goal. Then again, can Michigan afford to give up THAT many shots and win very often??? We're going to need better defense than that!

[SeanB]

Anytime M beats ND, it's a good thing.

[Michael Pitts]

The NCAA hockey selection show is tomorrow at 11:30AM EST on ESPN2.

[Mike]

Michigan is projected as the overall #5 seed (top #2 seed in the tourney). Miami will get the final l#1 seed (4th overall). I like that Western is getting in - a solid 3 seed - and projected to play Denver in the first round (10 vs. 7).

Losing Wholberg is big.

[Mike]

The bracket:

http://www.uscho.com/wp-content/pdf/general/2011bracket.pdf

Michigan is the top 2 seed (overall 5) and will open with UNO. If top seeds advance, they'd play BC for a trip to St. Paul.

[Michael Pitts]

Bring on Big Ten Hockey! (in 2013-14)

[Mike]

Can't wait to see a lot of games broadcast in HD on BTN.

[lineygoblue]

Hey Mike: You like the idea of Big Ten Hockey instead of the CCHA?

Just wondering.

[Mike]

I'm torn. A Big Ten hockey conference means greater exposure for college hockey and more games on TV via BTN - which is a good thing.

OTOH, I've always liked that Ferris, Northern, Western, and LSSU were able to compete in the same conference as UM and MSU. It is a point of pride for hockey fans that our state has 8 D1 hockey programs. However, I'm afraid that the inevitable drop in revenue for the CCHA will force some of them to drop their hockey program. I can't imagine the Joe bothering to host the CCHA finals without the probability of Michigan and/or MSU playing there. The CCHA's current TV deal with Fox and Comcast can't be worth much but I wonder if they'll even have a TV deal without the 3 Big Ten schools. The league also makes up the difference in teams' travel expenses when they go to Alaska. With a severely damaged revenue structure that may go away as well leaving the Nanooks to fend for themselves.

The WCHA should come out with minimal damage. They just added quality programs in Bemidji and UNO so they'll go back to a 10 team league but will still have perennial powers in North Dakota, Denver and Colorado College to go along with other decent programs like Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud. That conference will still be a major player on the national scene but the CCHA is in big trouble.

I wouldn't be surprised if there is some major realignment of conferences as this plays out over the next several years. Maybe the CCHA is absorbed into other leagues. If the CCHA becomes the "Big East football" of college hockey, I could see ND joining the WCHA and Miami going to Hockey East so they can play premier competition and keep their programs at a high level. That would pretty much be the end of the CCHA and I don't know what schools like Ferris and LSSU could offer a bigger/better conference other than another date on the schedule.

[Rob F]

Great post, OT!

I'm torn, too---I think that over the next few years College Hockey will likely undergo a shift at least equal or greater than what we've seen in Div. I Football recently, and it's going to be a painful process for some programs. No doubt the CCHA is going to suffer big-time with the loss of 3 of its' 4 biggest schools; it's anybody's guess how and where the rest of the league will find replacements for U of M, msu, and osu.

My thinking is geography somewhat dictates what might be to come---- that possibly MTU and NMU shift to the CCHA, maybe Neb/Omaha, too, while Alaska's Nanucks make more sense ending up in the WCHA. I highly doubt there's a start-up program(s) in the making anywhere in the region to bring the CCHA back up to the current # of members, and even if there were, no way would they have the history and impact of a U of M-level program. Maybe there are some lower division NCAA teams looking to move up to Div I, but I just don't see the league retaining its' current level of competition. The WCHA , on the other hand, looks to be better positioned to flourish despite the loss of Minny and Wisky.

College Hockey does seem to be gaining in popularity---will it continue to do so to the extent that some or all of the other Big Ten schools add programs to allow the planned 6-team conference to someday expand? I don't pretend to know if there's anything in the works at any of the 6 non-hockey schools, but if I had to guess which would be most likely, I'd guess Iowa and Illinois, and possibly Nebraska, but the other 3 seem to be much less likely.

Yes, it means much more TV coverage for the Big Ten teams than currently----I just hope it doesn't deep-six any of the rest of the remaining teams in the CCHA

[WM Wolverine]

Hockey isn't very 'big' in a lot of places, doubt we'll ever see more than eight B10 hockey programs.

[Mike]

I read on the USCHO board that all six of the non-hockey schools in the Big Ten have teams competing at the club level, DII or DIII. It's very possible some of those schools could invest some resources into those programs to bring them up to a varsity level. That's what Penn State is doing.

[WM Wolverine]

It takes a Div I quality arena to do so, not just 'some' resources.

[entropy]

you also have to examine it from a title IX perspective