College Hockey:2007-08 WCHA Season Preview
As much as teams hate them, it seems like they’re going to have to get used to them.
Early departures.
“We lost another dozen players during the offseason to the National Hockey League,” said Doug Spencer, the WCHA’s associate commissioner for public relations. “Over the last two years, over 30 underclassmen have left early.”
This means, of course, that once again, the league is extremely young — 58% of players this year are freshmen and sophomores.
“The early signings are really becoming a concern; we didn’t quite know what was going to happen after the [NHL's Collective Bargaining Agreement],” agreed league commissioner Bruce McLeod. “It’s some things that have changed in the American League … it’s not just one thing that has caused this phenomenon for us.”
As a result, coaches have had to shift their recruiting tactics to keep up.
“It certainly makes our jobs more difficult,” said Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves. “We have to ask ourselves, the question is, ‘Is this young man a one-year, two-year, three-year, four-year player,’ and you’ve got to have that high-level player in your system in order to give yourself a chance to win.
“But it is the world in which we live so we have to have plan A, B and C laid out there in case these young people go.”
Expansion and the Future of College Hockey
Though the WCHA confirmed its moratorium on expansion in early May, much of the talk was nevertheless about expansion — especially given the recent news of Wayne State dropping its program.
“I think all of the coaches would tell you to a person that we want to see college hockey grow and what’s best for college hockey,” said Minnesota State University head coach Troy Jutting, “but we kind of have to let the people that are in the position to make those decisions make those decisions.”
The question of Bemidji State, a constant query for the league, did come up as well, given that the Beavers are one of the four remaining CHA teams.
“Bemidji’s had hockey for an awfully long time and we obviously have a good league and there’s going to be a lot of questions asked,” said Minnesota head coach Don Lucia. “The more people you let into a league, the less people are in other people’s buildings and I know people get upset about that.
“I think we still have to look and try to maintain the schools that we have, but also I think we have to try to find a way to maintain that sixth conference some way, somehow.
However, he added that, “it’s too early and there’s too much dialogue to be talked about to even go down that path.”
Filling the Holes
While the question for many teams last year was how to replace scoring, several teams have their question marks in arguably the biggest areas: defense and goaltending.
The WCHA saw seven starting goaltenders leave, six to graduation. The goaltender departure that will arguably hurt the most is Bobby Goepfert’s graduation from St. Cloud State.
“I think we’re probably one of the teams in the league that’s set with the most unknowns right now, especially for the defensive side, losing that goaltender and we’ve got one goalie coming back that’s played all of six games, another redshirt and a new freshman in there,” said SCSU coach Bob Motzko. “We’re completely turning our D corps over.”
The other departures that may leave their teams struggling in net early on are Matt Zaba (Colorado College), Nathan Lawson (Alaska-Anchorage) and, to a lesser extent, Brian Elliott (Wisconsin).
And really, Elliott is only “to a lesser extent” since Wisconsin seems to just reload in net. The situation into which junior Shane Connelly steps is similar to his predecessor.
“We’re in the same position as we were two years ago with Brian after Bernd Brckler graduated and nobody knew a thing about Brian Elliott,” said Eaves. “The big question that year was whether Brian could play back to back games and he stepped in and stepped up to the plate.
“Shane Connelly is ready to be that guy. It’s his time now.”
The rest of the teams who lost goaltenders — Denver, Minnesota, Minnesota-Duluth — had fairly steady rotations in place and therefore won’t suffer as much.
However, that’s not to say those teams don’t have their own issues.
“On the blue line, that’s going to be the biggest question mark for us, losing Mike Vannelli and losing Erik Johnson, losing Alex Goligoski,” said Lucia, “over 100 points back on the blue line we’re going to have to replace.”
“The big challenge for us will be which guys coming back will assume more responsibility offensively,” said Minnesota-Duluth coach Scott Sandelin.
So, Translation Being …
Once again, it will be a tight race in the WCHA. Last year, two points separated teams from playing at home during the playoffs, and the same number separated third from fifth.
As McLeod said last Wednesday, the only thing anyone can be sure of is that there’s going to be some great hockey.
“With the rise in the number of early signings, I think it clouds the picture for all the prognosticators, but it makes for a really interesting season,” he said. “One thing I do know for sure is that it’s going to be a very, very, very competitive WCHA race and some great, great hockey.
“The teams getting closer and closer all the time, caliber-wise — the differences usually end up being some health issues or chemistry or goaltending.”
That said, it’s basically a crapshoot to predict what will happen. However, I’ll go ahead and take a crack at it. Individual team previews can be accessed by clicking on each team’s name.
Head coach: Dave Hakstol, fourth season overall and at North Dakota (78-45-11)
2006-07 record: 24-14-5 overall, 13-10-5 WCHA (31 points, third of 10 teams)
2006-07 team offense: 3.56 goals per game overall (sixth in NCAA), 3.32 conference (first)
2006-07 team defense: 2.70 goals per game overall (25th), 2.68 conference (seventh)
2006-07 power play: 23.9% overall (third in NCAA), 22.2% conference (second)
2006-07 penalty kill: 82.5% overall (30th), 81.9% conference (fifth)
Key returners: D Robbie Bina, sr. (10-22-32), D Taylor Chorney, jr. (8-23-31), F Ryan Duncan, jr. (31-26-57), G Philippe Lamoureux (21-12-4, 2.42, .913 in 37 appearances), F Brad Miller, jr. (10-14-24), F T.J. Oshie, jr. (17-35-52)
Newcomers to watch: F Matt Frattin (49-34-83 in 58 games for Fort Saskatchewan/AJHL), D Derrick LaPoint (13-36-49 in 59 games for Sioux Falls/USHL), F Evan Trupp (20-30-50 in 35 games for Penticton/BCHL)
Early departures: D Brian Lee (2-24-26), F Jonathan Toews (18-28-46)
Other key losses: F Chris Porter (13-17-30)
2007-08 predicted finish: First
Bottom line: Though the Sioux had some big early departures just like everyone else, they also had some big names stay — including Hobey Baker winner Ryan Duncan. Regardless of whether they have their typical slow start, there aren’t many reasons to bet against North Dakota not only winning the WCHA, but returning to the Frozen Four.
Head coach: Don Luci
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