60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): Western Michigan

Western Michigan

2018-19 Record: 21-15-5 (13-10-1, 3rd in NCHC)
Head Coach: Andy Murray, 9th Year
Top returning scorers: Josh Passolt (16G-18A) and Hugh McGing (16G-14A)
Top returning goaltender: Ben Blacker (Sr.)

Would any team raise a banner for being state Pairwise champs? I doubt it, however, Western Michigan could celebrate being the best team in Michigan last season. While Lake Superior State also has a claim to the title, the Broncos finished with the highest Pairwise, which is the only thing to go by since none of the seven Michigan schools made the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

Two of the three Ohio teams did. Three Minnesota schools were the top three overall seeds and Massachusetts had a Frozen Four school, but it was a complete shutout for the third "M" state.

Western Michigan, for much of 2018-19, was the state's best chance, an honor that could continue in 2019-20. The Broncos keep much of its core intact and avoided the early departures most teams in its position do.

What's New: More Andy Murray. While the NHL has opened its doors wider for NCAA coaches, the former LA Kings and St. Louis Blues head coach continues to stay in the college game. WMU and Murray agreed to a new deal that keeps him in Kalamazoo until 2023-24.

The Broncos also hope to get a healthy Wade Allison. After being derailed by two injury-filled seasons, he returns for his senior year. Allison, who had 8 goals in only 22 games, served as Western Michigan's bellwether for much of last season. When playing, the Broncos did not lose a game until February.

Murray's team also gets the reigning USHL Player of the Year, Ronnie Attard, on its blue line. The 6'4", 210 lbs Attard led all USHL defenders with a USHL single-season record 30 goals and 65 points in 48 games for Tri-City. Not surprisingly, Attard's season led to him being drafted in June as the Philadelphia Flyers selected him with the 72nd pick.

Closing Thoughts: Every team ends up being different no matter how little turnover ends up happening. However, even with that caveat, Western Michigan, just on the outside of the NCHC elite, on paper looks similar this season to the one who lost to CC in the NCHC quarterfinals. Besides Attard, the Broncos only have three other freshmen.

Western Michigan does need to replace Trevor Gorsuch, who became the starting goaltender and one of college hockey's underrated turnarounds last season, along with leading scorer Colt Conrad. Ben Blacker has plenty of experience in goal. Incoming freshman Brandon Bussi, just up the road in Muskegon, had the third-best save percentage in the USHL.

Adding Attard to a blue line that has another big underclassman in Mattias Samuelsson should be a boost. Keeping Allison and Hugh "S.A" McGing for their senior seasons can be beneficial to the offense, along with a repeat standout performance from Josh Passolt, who developed into a 16 goal scorer last season.

Murray getting players like Passolt and McGing to bloom and develop has been key to the Broncos' success in recent years. It's a good way right now to look at Western Michigan's play. Nothing to stand out and raise a banner over, but plenty to still celebrate if one so chooses. There's a group who can develop into an NCAA Tournament team to represent the Great Lakes State.

Recent 60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less) Features
Union
Minnesota
North Dakota
UMass Lowell
Every Team So Far

--
If you enjoyed this blog, you can follow Nate on Twitter and like/subscribe to his Facebook page. Thanks!

60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): Union

Union College

2018-19 Record: 20-13-6 (10-10-2, 7th in ECAC)
Head Coach: Rick Bennett, 9th Year
Top returning scorer: Anthony Rinaldi (11G-12A)
Top returning goaltender: Darion Hanson (Jr.)

2014 Frozen Four appreciation week rolls on with a profile of the Dutchmen. (Sadly, if not for moving AIC up for making the NCAA Tournament, Union, of all teams, fittingly would have been the Labor Day profile.) The Pairwise continues to have a cold sense of humor, even if Shayne Gostisbehere is not on the ice.

Union won at least 20 games for a third straight season thanks in part to non-conference success. A 4-0-1 start with a sweep of Northeastern at Matthews Arena, the Friendship Four title in Belfast, a dominant win over St. Cloud State at the Three Rivers Classic plus a goaltending duel for the Mayor's Cup over RPI stand out.

Conference play was not as successful.  Union's seven non-conference wins in 12 games nearly matched its 10 ECAC wins. The Dutchmen finished seventh in ECAC (one point away from fifth), entering 2019-20 taking some time to reassess and rebuild back into contention following the departure of its top three scorers and other major contributors.

What's New: One reason to reassess and rebuild is that Bennett has 12 newcomers this season. Eight forwards, two defenders and two goaltenders make up the Dutchmen's Class of 2023.

As a group, the new Union players are from mostly outside the Northeast. Bennett's Minnesota pipeline continues to flow as three of the eight forwards - Christian Sanda (Vadnais Heights), Colin Schmidt (Wayzata) and Chaz Smedsrud (Luverne) - hail from the "State of Hockey." Defender Dylan Anhorn helped Prince George (BCHL) capture the Fred Page Cup (as BCHL champions) and Doyle Cup (between the BCHL and AJHL champs).

Garret Nieto is the younger brother of Brown goalie Gavin Nieto, which will either make for a fun ECAC brother battle or mass confusion of people thinking they are seeing double - four G. Nietos! The other incoming goalie is the appropriately named Merek Pipes.

Potential leading scorer Liam Morgan left in August for Belfast. Union's annual Mayor's Cup game with RPI for Capital Region bragging rights is scheduled for January 25th.

Closing Thoughts: It wasn't planned, but coincidentally having the two 2014 championship game teams go back-to-back shines a light on the similar position both are in five years later. The connection remains. Both have Luverne freshmen (Smedsrud and Jaxon Nelson) as part of large rookie classes. Even Colin Schmidt was at one time a Minnesota commit.

Then there's the fact Union, like yesterday's team (and the other 2014 Frozen Four semifinalists), has not hit its expectations. On one hand, the Dutchmen keep winning 20+ games and beating elite teams. On the other hand, Bennett's teams have made a single NCAA Tournament appearance in the five seasons since winning the 2014 national championship.

Bringing in a large freshman class to replace major contributors can take some time to adjust, but the expectations should be a little lower. Union does not, on paper, get an easy start to the season, opening against a BU team in a similar position before playing Northeastern and Massachusetts on back-to-back October weekends. Searching for the consistency missing in recent seasons and having time to find it leads to an intriguing situation. The ECAC portion of the schedule might be that much more important.

Recent 60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less) Features
Minnesota
North Dakota
UMass Lowell
Lake Superior State
Every Team So Far

--
If you enjoyed this blog, you can follow Nate on Twitter and like/subscribe to his Facebook page. Thanks!

60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): Minnesota

University of Minnesota

2018-19 Record: 18-16-4 (11-10-3, 3rd in Big Ten)
Head Coach: Bob Motzko, 2nd Year
Top returning scorers: Brannon McManus (14G-12A) and Sammy Walker (10G-16A)
Top returning goaltender: None

It's finally Minnesota's day in the series. So much to discuss. So few words.

Bob Motzko's start behind the Gopher bench began by tying then routing UMD in a way no other team did all season. Even then, Motzko correctly said there was work to be done.

Home losses to two of the five worst teams nationally burrowed the Gophers into needing a miracle to make the NCAA Tournament. Inconsistency led to Motzko tinkering and the team being near .500 all year. A five-forward power-play unit bolstered scoring. Hot goaltending helped when an opportunistic offense went cold. Minnesota had 5+ goals seven times contrasted by an early 12 game stretch where the Gophers scored two or fewer goals eight times.

Minnesota clicked down the stretch, going on a 7-1 run with wins over three NCAA Tournament teams. The Gophers finished third in the conference before an OT loss to Notre Dame in the Big Ten semifinals ended the miracle bid.

What's New: Goalies. All those goaltenders who started games? They're gone, along with a large senior class.

Junior starter Mat Robson signed an entry-level contract with the Minnesota Wild. Two-time B1G Goaltender of the Year Eric Schierhorn and third-string goalie Brock Kautz both graduated.

With no returning goalie, the job looks to be between freshman Jared Moe and Michigan transfer Jack LaFontaine.

Robson isn't the only early departure for the Gophers. All-American Rem Pitlick, who had 31 points in 23 second-half games, signed with Nashville following his junior season. Clayton Phillips transferred to Penn State.

The home schedule includes the return of the Mariucci Classic. All four Minnesota teams will be at Mariucci this season in addition to a Thanksgiving weekend series against rival North Dakota.

Not-So Closing Thoughts: Look, this will not be my only 2019-20 preview for Minnesota. A more in-depth profile will be written somewhere in one form or another.

Until then, for a team whose identity for much of last season was inconsistency, there's more change and smaller, unanswered questions.

Turnover in players means this is quickly becoming Motzko's team. 10 of the 12 new players were recruited by him. That includes 2019 first-round pick Ryan Johnson and 39th overall pick Jackson Lacombe. Both defensemen have been on the upswing of their development. Bryce Brodzinski was 2019 Minnesota Mr. Hockey. Under the radar is Ben Meyers, whose 33 goals were third among all USHL players. His scoring touch would be a boost to add to 2018-19 Big Ten freshman of the year Sammy Walker and Sampo Ranta.

One big question concerning Minnesota is whether talented underclassmen can step up and lead after losing so many key players. The Gophers don't have the luxury of Robson stealing games early when the team was heavily outshot. (Minnesota was outshot by 5.58 shots per game and the only team in the bottom-20 of that stat with an above .500 record.) Only Brannon McManus returns on the top power-play unit.

2018-19's final month saw positive steps and that Motzko's team can play with anyone. Minnesota had the second-highest PWR quality win bonus of any school. The Gophers showed what is possible. Now it's about putting it together.

Recent 60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less) Features
North Dakota
UMass Lowell
Lake Superior State
Colorado College
Every Team So Far

--
If you enjoyed this blog, you can follow Nate on Twitter and like/subscribe to his Facebook page. Thanks!

60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): North Dakota

North Dakota

2018-19 Record: 18-17-2 (12-11-1, 5th in NCHC)
Head Coach: Brad Berry, 4th Year
Top returning scorer: Jordan Kawaguchi (10G-16A)
Top returning goaltenders: Adam Scheel (So.) and Peter Thome (Jr.)

For all intents and purposes, North Dakota's 2018-19 season ended in Buffalo. Twelve months ago that news would be welcomed by fans, a sign the Fighting Hawks returned to the high heights of a program that reached nine Frozen Fours this century.

Today, it ends up being more an acknowledgment about what could have been. North Dakota did not conclude with an April Frozen Four appearance at KeyBank Center. UND missed the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season. A major reason has to do with being swept in January by Canisius up the street and seven stories at HarborCenter.

Take away those two losses in Buffalo to the 54th ranked team in the Pairwise and the Fighting Hawks, despite starting conference playoffs on the road for the first time since 2001-02, would be tournament-bound. All in all, North Dakota enters 2019-20 healthy with four 1st and 2nd round NHL draft picks and a chip on its shoulder.

What's New: How does one get over disappointment? (TPIR announcer voice) By splurging on a BRAND NEW SCOREBOARD!

October 5, 2001: Ralph Engelstad Arena official opens with a @UNDmhockey game against Minnesota. Things definitely look different now, but we'll see you again on October 5 when the 2019-2020 season begins. #TBT #100days pic.twitter.com/mg2mfsvbFW

— RalphEngelstadArena (@TheREA) June 27, 2019

The Ralph's massive upgrade features college hockey's largest center-hung video board. North Dakota also got new uniforms. The black thirds look better although it would be nice to see one of the sweaters have the Hawks logo. (I'll admit this is not a popular take.)

Six players join this season, including CC grad transfer Westin Michaud. His 30 points (13G-17A) last year would have led North Dakota. Forward Shane Pinto was the first pick of the 2019 second round. Harrison Blaisdell put up 33 goals for Chilliwack (BCHL) while defender Ethan Fritsch helped Moorhead (MN-HS) to the State Tournament. UND's lone early departure was junior Ludvig Hoff.

Closing Thoughts: North Dakota is a good example of the tiny difference between NCAA Tournament contender and watching the same intermission segment eight times. This area is full of successful teams who can point at a bad game or two. Besides UND, UMass Lowell needed a couple wins down the stretch. Minnesota lost at home to Ferris State and St. Lawrence.

The Fighting Hawks are not in as bad shape as being swept by an Atlantic Hockey team, a fifth-place finish in a strong NCHC, and missing the NCAA and NCHC tournaments would say. UND beat each of the top three teams. North Dakota had elite possession numbers. On average, UND had over 9 shots per game more than opponents - a total that puts the team in the category of Frozen Four clubs.

Yet the goals per shots on goal percentage was 52nd of 60 teams. North Dakota lost 12 games last season where UND outshot its opponents. 12! That's the difference.

There's some disappointment, obviously. Few programs have as high expectations annually as UND. Still, the goal totals should rebound towards the mean. Returning a healthy Adam Scheel and Grant Mismash along with getting a second year of Jacob Bernard-Docker will be big.

Fortunately, North Dakota, who outshot Canisius 33-14 and 48-16 in both losses, kicks off the season against the Golden Griffins. It's likely a coincidence, but after falling in a building with one inside it, the Grand Forks Tim Horton's closed.

Recent 60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less) Features
UMass Lowell
Lake Superior State
Colorado College
Northern Michigan
Every Team So Far

--
If you enjoyed this blog, you can follow Nate on Twitter and like/subscribe to his Facebook page. Thanks!

College Hockey Stock Report (July/August 2019)

One more offseason month to go.

July 1st technically kicks off the season, as it's the date teams officially switch conferences or begin. There was one in Division 1 this year as Long Island University kicks off its inaugural women's hockey program. For the most part, we're still asking #IsItOctoberYet (or #IsItNovemberYet for those who are Ivy League schools). There's still a month (or two) until games begin.

Right now, players are coming back on campus. Classes are underway. Teams are starting up practices or even exhibition games.

Guys crushed the run test this morning & came back in great shape. First on ice practice tomorrow. No matter how many times you have done it, start of a new season is so exciting #300s #passfail #dayone

— Derek Schooley (@derekschooley) August 27, 2019

With one more offseason month to go, it's time to bring back the stock report and take a measure of what's going on over the past two months. And if this isn't enough, make sure to follow along my "60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less)" series profiling all sixty D1 men's hockey programs.

60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): UMass Lowell

UMass Lowell

2018-19 Record: 19-13-5 (12-7-5, 4th in Hockey East)
Head Coach: Norm Bazin, 9th Year
Top returning scorer: Kenny Hausinger (13G-9A)
Top returning goaltender: Tyler Wall (Sr.)

In Dickensian fashion, 2019 was a tale of two halves for UMass Lowell. It was the best of times followed by the worst of times.

The River Hawks began the calendar year with a 2-1 win over rival Massachusetts en route to a 9-0-1 hot streak. Tyler Wall and Christoffer Hernberg were en fuego, giving up one goal or less in seven games and shutting out teams four times during the stretch. One of the shutouts was Massachusetts to bookend the high point of UMass Lowell's year.

Over the final 10 games, the River Hawks ended up going 2-5-3, losing to Boston University in the Hockey East quarterfinals and sliding out of a potential NCAA Tournament berth. To make matters worse, leading scorer Ryan Lohin signed a pro contract after his junior season with Tampa Bay and Mattias Goransson went home to his native Sweden, all while UMass Lowell had to watch Massachusetts' run to the national championship game.

What's New: The River Hawks, along with Merrimack, start what hopes to be a new Thanksgiving tradition with a combined tournament. Each of the Hockey East teams faces RPI and Penn State at home.

Also on the non-conference schedule is Alabama Huntsville, Minnesota Duluth, Colgate, and RIT. All in all,18 games are at the Tsongas Center.

Bazin this season has a nine-person freshman class to replace six seniors, Lohin and Goransson. Among the group are six forwards, two defenders and goalie Logan Neaton who combined hail from four different countries (United States, Canada, Sweden and Slovakia). It's a large group both in numbers and size. All except one incoming freshman is six feet or taller.

Closing Thoughts: Despite the ending, UMass Lowell continues to be a good story. The River Hawks, in what was supposed to be a down season due to roster turnover, went from 30th in the Pairwise at the holiday break to 10th at one point. Bazin had both an NCAA-high 12 freshmen and the hottest team. For those players, getting an experience like that under their belts can be seen as beneficial in the long run.

Sure, it's important to not dance around the fact the team ended up short of an NCAA Tournament goal for a second consecutive season. However, if contending and fading down the stretch ends up being considered a season of Darkness, that is not a horrible spot to be as a program. Picked to finish eighth in Hockey East, UMass Lowell ended up fourth on the backs of goaltending and depth scoring.

Six River Hawks players had at least 20 points last season. Three return as does Wall in goal. Losing Goransson is a blow to a still-young blue line, but it comes with several now-sophomores skating big minutes in big situations. Of the incoming freshmen, Matt Brown led Des Moines and was tied for ninth in the USHL with 30 goals. Andre Lee had 20 for Sioux Falls, helping the Stampede win the Clark Cup.

There's plenty to look forward to as the River Hawks begin the latest chapter. UMass Lowell also will be witness to UMD unveiling its 2019 national championship banner at Amsoil Arena for any extra motivation.

Recent 60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less) Features
Lake Superior State
Colorado College
Northern Michigan
Boston University
Every Team So Far

--
If you enjoyed this blog, you can follow Nate on Twitter and like/subscribe to his Facebook page. Thanks!

2019 Women's Hockey Top 25 Under 25 (The Ice Garden)

The Ice Garden, SB Nation's women's hockey blog, does a fantastic job covering the sport at all levels with a number of dedicated writers. Earlier this summer, I was honored to be one of the four external voters to help their rankings for the top 25 women's hockey players under the age of 25.

The full rankings list can be found here. Former Wisconsin star Annie Pankowski finished as the top player under 25. Two former Gophers - Dani Cameranesi (6) and Kelly Pannek (23) - made the list while redshirt senior Sarah Potomak was named an honorable mention.

In the spirit of transparency, my list was built upon the idea of who I would pick to start a team of under-25 players. (It's too bad Lee Stecklein is just on the other side of 25 because that's where I'd start.) That made my list slant towards college players, who are younger and have a bigger upside. There's no wrong answer as to how to build the rankings, but this is my philosophy.

Top-6 (TIG consensus ranking)
1. Loren Gabel (5)
2. Pankowski (1)
3. Megan Keller (didn't mean to start my list with the three Patty Kazmaier finalists, but there's a reason all three were named finalists) (4)
4. Maddie Rooney (T-13)
5. Cameranesi (6)
6. Alina Mueller (3)

A big thanks to Michelle Jay and everyone at The Ice Garden for letting me vote.

--
If you enjoyed this blog, you can follow Nate on Twitter and like/subscribe to his Facebook page. Thanks!