Central rankings predictions and conversation

ACHA Hockey ACHA M2 Hockey
1

We’re now a month or more into the season and first rankings
should be published by the end of October (we think). Seems like a good time to
lay out predictions and observations. Post your list and weigh in.

Here are my top 10

  1. Lindenwood-Belleville – 7-0-0

No. 1 ranked team in the Central region last year with auto-bid to
nationals; undefeated so far this season, including wins against M1 Arkansas
and a strong first year team from Marian.

  1. Davenport – 4-0-0

Panthers are off to a good start, dominating SIUE and Lewis. Games this
weekend vs. Ferris State should add two more W’s.

  1. GVSU – 3-1-0
    Split with M1 Rochester College and thrashed Ferris State. A solid
    showing this weekend against Toledo could notch them up to the #2 slot.

  2. Lindenwood – 6-1-1
    The Lions took down RMU decisively, split with a middling Michigan team,
    tied and beat McKendree, and squeaked out two close W’s vs. St. Louis. Decent
    start with room to improve.

  3. Marian – 4-2-0

In their freshman season debut, Marian shows it’s a team to watch,
logging sweeps of WI-Oshkosh and Michigan Tech, along with two close losses to
powerhouse LU-B. This weekend: Lewis.

  1. Waldorf – 6-1-0-1

The Warriors are off to a great start, with the only blemish being a
1-point loss to WI-Oshkosh. Season opener was a shoot-out win vs. Lewis. Expect
them to add two more W’s this weekend vs. Augustana.

  1. NDSU – 4-1-0-1

Following a pair of pre-season exhibition losses to M1 Jamestown, the
Bison log W’s vs. St. Thomas and St. Cloud State, and OTW and OTL vs. rival
North Dakota. Next up: Winona State

  1. North Dakota – 4-1-0-1

The Fighting Hawks begin their 3rd season with a sweep of
Minnesota, split with WI-Oshkosh, and OT split with NDSU. Next up: WI-LaCrosse

  1. McKendree – 4-1-1
    Wins over St. Louis and Missouri
    plus an OT tie and loss vs. Lindenwood put McKendree about here.

  2. WI-Eau Claire – 4-1-1
    Sweeps of Winona State and
    WI-LaCrosse and a split with North Dakota help the Blugold’s squeeze into the
    top 10. Next up: St. Cloud State

Challenging (in no order): St. Louis, Lewis, MN-Mankato, St.
Cloud State, Michigan State, Winona State, Wisconsin, Iowa, DePaul

2

Friday At GVSU GVSU 5 University of Toledo 2
Sat. At Toledo Toledo 5 GVSU 2

3

Big statement by Winona State this weekend. Beat NDSU 4-2 Friday and were leading on Saturday but settled for 5-5 tie. 7-3-2 solid start, might sneak into the top 10 in my opinion

4

If Davenport ever gets a goaltender watch out. I think this years squad will finally get past the GVSU and Belleville for the autobid.

Not sure the thinking on the Dakotas and Winona State. None of them have played anyone close to being important this season. Look at the soc. Pretty much all conference games and a Jamestown team that missed horribly in recruiting so bad they even dropped from the NAIA move next season. Give those 3 thru Nov and see if they deserve to end up on the big board.

And is Marian even eligible for post season play? NO games played last yr means they should be on probation this yr (see LU-B 1st season) so if that holds up one of the challengers might slid into the picture.

5

Agree, Cawladge - solid outing this weekend for Winona State.

As for Davenport, #30 in net seems to be doing a good job. They crushed Ferris State this weekend, which IMO has them holding at #2 in Central, even though it was an easy contest. GVSU would have pulled ahead - they had the tougher weekend - but dropped one to Toledo.

Scores are being entered on MyHockeyRankings.com. Rankings are refreshed every Wednesday morning. Here’s the link for the Central region: http://myhockeyrankings.com/rank.php?y=2016&a=6&v=927

Friday 10/21 results

St. Thomas - 5
MN-Mankato - 4

WI-Eau Claire - 5
SCSU - 2

NIU - 2
Iowa - 4

GVSU - 5
Toledo - 2

SIUE - 5
M1 Missouri State - 6 (OTW)

Marian - 3
Lewis - 2

DePaul - 5
St. Louis - 1

Louisville - 3
RMU-IL (Maroon) - 2

Davenport - 12
Ferris State - 1

Illinois - 2
ISU - 3

WI-LaCrosse - 2
North Dakota - 4

Augustana - 1
Waldorf - 13

NMU - 6 (SOW)
St. Norbert (NCAA JV) - 5

Saturday 10/22 Results

Waldorf - 13 - Warriors dominate for the sweep
Augustana - 0

NMU - 5 - split
St. Norbert (NCAA JV) - 6 (OTW)

DePaul - 1
St. Louis 7 - split

WI-Eau Claire - 7 - sweep
SCSU - 2

WI-Superior - 5
Hamline - 3

Ferris State - 0
Davenport - 10 - Panthers crush the Bulldogs in a sweep

GVSU - 2 - Lakers split the home-and-home
Toledo - 5

WI-LaCrosse - 5
N. Dakota - 6 (OTW) - squeaks out the sweep

Marian - 5 - sweeps in a close series
Lewis - 4

NIU - 2
Iowa - 5 - Hawkeyes sweep

Illinois - 2
ISU - 6 - sweep

Winona State - 4
NDSU - 2

MN-Mankato - 4 - split
St. Thomas - 1

SIUE - 7 - Cougars drop two
M1 Missouri State - 9

Louisville - 3
RMU-IL (Maroon) - 2 - Eagles drop two close ones

Sunday 10/23 Results

Winona State - 5 - a tie and win on the weekend
NDSU - 5

Michigan - 9 - big win for big blue
BGSU - 1

ISU - 4 - Redbirds drop their 3rd game of the weekend
M1 Missouri State - 6 (ENG)

6

Time to stir the pot. What’s total BS is that 6 of those 10 teams mentioned are fully funded programs from their schools and are playing at HUGE advantage over all CLUB teams out there. ACHA is CLUB hockey, not VARSITY hockey. LW-B, Davenport, LW, Marian, Waldorf and McKendree are NOT playing by the rules at all. Giving students “GRANTS” or whatever you want to call them to drag them to your school. Of course if your coaches are paid full time by the school and you can offer other advantages kids are going to want to come to your school. Then go NCAA D3 or D1. Don’t ruin it and cheat to try to be better then organizations that have people that VOLUNTEER THEIR TIME FOR FREE to try to put a competitive team on the ice. Congrats to all 6 of the schools mentioned you are cheaters. You don’t deserve to be a part of this. I have even heard of one of the above mentioned teams offering hockey players a FULL RIDE scholarship for golf and offering to pay for his hockey equipment as well to come to their school. The player declined this offer because he knew it was not right at all to accept.