February
17, 2005
ESPN.com's
'The Show': INCH Overtime
As
hard as we try, it's virtually impossible to address every question
we receive during our weekly half-hour of college hockey chat
on ESPN.com's 'The Show'. So we thought, why not take the best
submissions that didn't get answered and post responses on INCH?
The
result is INCH Overtime. When warranted, we'll tackle everything
that we didn't quite get to during 'The Show.' We see it as a
win-win: your question gets answered, and we get talk more hockey.
Below
you'll find what we had left in the mailbag after we wrapped our
Feb. 17 chat.
Just
wanted to say that I really won't miss the NHL ... at least not
until mid-April. I love the college game and appreciate all you
guys do to cover it. Derek (Natick, Mass.)
What
do you guys think of Dartmouth's chances? They started out terribly
... are they on the right track? Jason (W. Lebanon,
NH)
Joe
Gladziszewski: See this
week's ECACHL Notebook for more on Dartmouth. A lot of people
around the league think the Big Green are for real and I expect
them to play in Albany and advance to the NCAA Tournament.
How
do you feel about a team like Holy Cross or any other team from
the Atlantic Hockey getting into the tournament, when they aren't
even in the top 30 as far as pairwise rankings, don't you think
that's unfair to a team from another conference who plays a much
tougher schedule and is ranked in the mid teens in the pairwise?
Steven (Madison, WI)
Nate
Ewell: Like The Dean said in
his chat, I think it's important to award automatic bids to
promote the growth of the game. Without those growing programs,
we'd still have a 12-team tournament, so thanks to those two automatic
bids you actually get two more "deserving teams" in
there.
Does
Nebraska-Omaha still have any hope of an at-large berth, or should
all hopes be pinned on winning the Super 6 next month?
Brandon (Toledo, OH)
Mike
Eidelbes: The Mavs will have to win the Super Six to
advance to the NCAA Tournament. Coach Mike Kemp has done an outstanding
job with his young team, but at 15-12-3, UNO just doesn't have
the quality wins and strength of schedule of a team like, say,
North Dakota to be knocking on the door of an at-large bid.
How
do you feel about the ECAC this year? I think St. Lawrence is
very good but very inconsistent and if they get hot can go the
distance. Any thoughts? Craig (NYC)
Joe
Gladziszewski: As it appears right now, there will be
four definite favorites in the home-ice spots for the quarterfinals
–
Cornell, Colgate, Harvard, and either Dartmouth or Vermont. I
think there are two sleeper teams in the next group and those
are St. Lawrence and Brown. If the Saints get through the first
round, and put a strong weekend together in the quarterfinals,
they're definitely capable of knocking off one of the top four.
Crystal
ball time, what current NCAA player will make the biggest impact
on in the NHL (if it ever returns)? Bob (nyc)
Nate
Ewell: Allow me three answers, Bob, if you will. I'll
start with one who plays in Boston now and one who will be there
eventually. Patrick Eaves of BC, an Ottawa Senators draft pick,
has all the tools to be an impact NHLer. And Colorado College's
Mark Stuart, a Bruins pick, can do it all from the blue line.
He's not an impact player along the lines of a Ray Bourque, but
who is? I'd consider him more like Don Sweeney with more size
and toughness.
Finally, since
no player can make a bigger impact than a goalie, you have to
look at Maine's Jimmy Howard. He'll make Detroit Red Wings fans
very happy –
assuming the league starts up again.
Were
you suprised with Michigan Tech's sweeps at Minnesota and Duluth?
Do you attribute that to Jamie Russell do a good job with the
team or simply a hot goaltender in Cam Ellsworth? Tim
(Houghton)
Jess
Myers: Tech’s success in the second half of the
season has been one of the real surprises in all of college hockey,
not just in the WCHA. Give credit to Russell for keeping a young
team together through that nightmarish first half of the season,
and also credit one of the more talented top lines in the country.
When Conner and Murphy get rolling, they’re the second most-dangerous
pair wearing black and gold in the game. There are two guys in
Colorado Springs who might be a little bit better.
What
WCHA team has been most affected by the NHL lockout? I think Suter
would have returned to Wisconsin if there wasn't fear of changing
salary rules for rookie contracts, but who else would have been
back? Parise? Thanks. Bob (nyc)
Jess
Myers: As much as Wisconsin misses Ryan Suter, and as
much as Thomas Vanek may have meant to the Gophers this year if
he would have been willing to contribute a full season’s
worth of effort (which is a huge ‘if’) no team has
been more dramatically altered by early NHL defections than North
Dakota. To go from being one of the most exciting offensive teams
in the nation to losing Zach Parise and Brandon Bochenski and
suddenly having no answer to the “who should get the puck”
question has been hard for the Sioux to handle and even harder
for their fans to accept.
Is
this the year Harvard finally gets the monkey off its back and
wins a game in the NCAA tourney? They were so close last year
before collapsing to Maine. Brittany (Los Angeles,
CA)
Joe
Gladziszewski: The difference with this Harvard team
compared to the last three years is that this year's group has
experienced some non-conference success. Those early-season wins
over BC, BU, and Maine and even the tie against Northern Michigan
have shown the Crimson that they're capable of performing on a
big stage.
What
do you think the Buckeyes chances are of making all the way to
the Frozen Four to play in front of the home crowd? MIke
(Columbus)
Mike
Eidelbes: I wouldn't bet against it. The first time I
saw Ohio State play this season (in a loss at Western Michigan,
no less), I came away very impressed. I liked the Buckeyes' offensive
balance, solid defensive corps and the steady goaltending of Dave
Caruso. They remind me a little bit of last year's Denver team
–
no real stars, just a bunch of very good players. They've got
to quit taking so many penalties, however. OSU leads the nation
by averaging nearly 26 PIMs a game.
Thanks
for the questions. Remember to check out The
Show each Thursday, and let
us know if you have ideas for guests you'd like us to invite.
