While few would argue that Western Michigan has been a perpetually a tough opponent on any given night, it has been more than a decade since the Broncos have been considered a serious contender in the CCHA. But after starting the season with four straight wins for the first time in 20 years, the icers from Kalamazoo have their eyes set on more significant prizes than the home playoff series victory over Lake Superior that is the team’s legacy from last year.

Veteran goalie Riley Gill is an experienced member of a Western Michigan club that is enjoying early-season success.

Having finally seen the pieces come together during the team’s present winning streak in addition to a 5-2-1 stretch to close out last year’s regular season which helped the Broncos earn a home-ice playoff series, the Broncos have now set their sights on making it through the next round of the playoffs to the bright lights of Joe Louis Arena and the CCHA Championship weekend.

“I don’t think we’re going to settle for anything less than being the best in this league,” sophomore J.J. Crew said. “We think we can make it to (Joe Louis Arena) and we think we can hang with anyone in this league.”

Crew has played a significant role in Western Michigan’s early-season success, leading the team with six points. Teaming up with Max Campbell and Greg Squires on what may well be one of the league’s top scoring lines, Crew opened the season with a hat trick on opening night and a 1-2-3 line in the second game against Mercyhurst before being held scoreless during the trip to Alabama-Huntsville last weekend.

Despite his absence from the scoresheet in Huntsville, Crew was happy with his performance, and is encouraged by the results he and his teammates are seeing from hard work during the summer and preseason workouts.

“I think that we’re on the right track,” Crew said. “Everyone has been working hard since the summer and we have a lot of chemistry on the ice and we’re clicking on all cylinders.”

The chemistry Crew spoke of came is evident in the team’s ability to win in different situations. With two wins coming at home and two on the road, two leading from the onset and two come-from-behind victories and a blowout coming before three one-goal games, Western Michigan has faced an interesting spectrum of game situations that will help acclimate freshmen to the sometimes unpredictable nature of the college game and give veterans like senior goaltender Riley Gill a sense of optimism this year’s team.

Gill, who has compiled a .942 save percentage and 1.67 goals against average in his three wins, has won some big games in the past and knows that the Broncos’ ability to protect their own leads and erase opponents’ advantages will serve the team well as the begin the CCHA slate, starting with a home-and-home series against Michigan State.

“The first weekend against Mercyhurst we put goals up on the board and then we won a couple of tight ones on the road this past weekend,” Gill said. “I think that we’ve proven that we can win both ways.”

MARC CHEVERIE
Denver
Jr. | G | Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia

His Statistics: 2 GP, 2 shutouts, 60 saves.

His Impact: It was a weekend of historic proportions for the Pioneers and for Cheverie, who whitewashed Minnesota on back-to-back nights—the first time that has happened to the Gophers since 1930—with identical 30-save efforts. In doing so, Cheverie extended his personal shutout streak to 203:19, second in the DU hockey annals behind Peter Mannino’s run of 208:42 without allowing a goal.

Cheverie has three shutouts this season—he also blanked Ohio State on Oct. 15—and seven for his career. Minnesota has been the victim of Cheverie’s perfection on three separate occasions. In addition to the shutouts this past weekend, he was also the goalie of record in a 4-0 win over the Gophers at Magness Arena on Nov. 22, 2008.

Heading into the Pioneers’ weekend series with Minnesota State, Cheverie leads the nation in shutouts, is tied for first in wins with four, ranks second with a .966 save percentage, and is fourth with a 1.00 goals against average.

His Runners-Up: Blake Kessel (New Hampshire); John Kruse (Air Force); Jerry Kuhn (Western Michigan); Chris McKelvie (Bemidji State); Brandon Pirri (Rensselaer); Bill Sweatt (Colorado College)

The INCH Player of the Week is presented by The INCH Shop

This past weekend was fairly enjoyable for hockey fans in Colorado. In addition to Denver’s series sweep at Minnesota, Colorado College took two games from visiting Michigan Tech. The Tigers were paced by senior forward Bill Sweatt, who in the two games piled up 1-6—7. Up the road a spell, Air Force got off the schneid with a pair of wins over RIT at Cadet Ice Arena. Rookie forward John Kruse led the Falcons with 1-5—6 and a plus-minus rating of +4. (As an aside, INCH hopes Kruse has designs on being a fighter pilot, and gets tagged with the nickname “Maverick.” We feel the need for speed.)

Although it hasn’t yet been formally announced, all indications are that next summer’s NHL Entry Draft will be held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, home of the Kings. We know that the North American geographic footprint for the NHL is significantly larger than that of college hockey, but it was nice for college hockey fans and media to consider nearby locales such as Montreal, Ottawa, and Columbus in recent years.

“They outworked us at times but I think we deserved at least one this weekend.”—Minnesota captain Tony Lucia, to Roman Augustovitz of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune following Denver’s second shutout of the weekend at Mariucci Arena Saturday.

When Lucia the younger says “one”, is he referring to a win or a goal?

INCH has stood by without comment for two weeks, but in this, the third week of absurdity, we are compelled to shed our cloak of silence. What, we ask, is up with one renegade pollster consistently going off the board with his/her first-place vote in the national polls?

It started two weeks ago when Boston College garnered a lone no. 1 mention in both the USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today and USCHO.com/CBS College Sports rankings. Last week, another Hockey East school, Vermont, earned a sole no. 1 vote in both polls. This week, Yale got the outlier in the polls.

Don’t get us wrong; we’re certainly open to radical thinking when it comes to voting in the national polls. Perhaps the voter in question can only give his/her top spot to institutions located in one of the 13 original colonies. We’ll know that’s the case should Old Dominion gets a first-place vote. But this pattern is odd, to say the least.

Obviously, we don’t know the identity of this person (or people). We don’t even know if it’s the same person responsible for the lone vote each week. We’d love to hear this particular voter’s rationale, however. One thing we can tell you is that it’s not us. INCH casts a vote in the USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today poll every week. The ballot we submit aligns with the top 15 teams in that week’s INCH Power Rankings.

@ThatKevinSmith: Via @nerdbastards “If Gozer the Gozerian asked you to choose the form of your destructor, what would it be?” Gretzky, circa ‘84 Oilers.

The successful writer/director (”Clerks”, “Chasing Amy”, etc.) is a big hockey fan, a bigger New Jersey Devils fan, and an even bigger Gretzky fan. A prolific Tweeter, Smith will soon start production on “Hit Somebody”, a hockey-themed flick based on the Warren Zevon song of the same name.

The headline of this piece doesn’t refer to the prowess any member of the INCH family has as a deejay, though, if asked, we’re more than happy to dust off our Eric B. and Rakim vinyl and take a turn on the wheels of steel. Instead, it refers to the picks for this week’s most intriguing matchups—a pair of single games pitting CCHA and Hockey East powers against one another and two conference series.

Junior goaltender John Muse allowed four goals on 16 shots in Boston College's season-opening loss at Vermont Sunday.

Boston College at Notre Dame (Friday): Notre Dame has won four of the last five games in this series with the lone loss coming to Boston College in the 2008 Frozen Four championship game in Denver. The Fighting Irish were shaky in series splits with Alabama-Huntsville and Providence, but shut out a listless Boston University team at Agganis Arena Tuesday. Listlessness must be spreading like H1N1 in the Hub of Hockey, because the Eagles looked as much in a season-opening loss at Vermont Sunday.

The most intriguing matchup in this contest pits the Irish forwards, who’ve yet to fire on all cylinders, against a young BC defensive corps that struggled against UVM. Notre Dame defenseman Teddy Ruth, who hasn’t played this season because of a lower body injury, will not dress against the Eagles.

Denver at Minnesota (Friday-Saturday): In this very space last week prior to its series at North Dakota, it was mentioned that Minnesota was a great unknown that could win by six goals or lose by the same margin. Two games into the season, I don’t know that we have any greater handle on the Gophers other than the fact that goaltenders Alex Kangas and Kent Patterson were pretty sharp.

The Pioneers won’t have standout center Joe Colborne in the lineup—he broke a finger in a loss to Ohio State last week. Also, DU coach George Gwozdecky tells Mike Chambers of the Denver Post that he plans to rotate goalies Marc Cheverie and Adam Murray for the third straight series.

Michigan at Boston University (Saturday): Offense shouldn’t be a problem for these teams, but it has thus far. The Terriers, a few days removed from being shut out by Notre Dame, have two goals in two games. The Wolverines, meanwhile, have nine goals in three games. Keep an eye on a pair of talented forwards who’ve yet to get untracked-or is it on track? Because untracked would seem to indicate derailment, and that ain’t good. Semantics aside, Michigan’s Louie Caporusso, who scored 24 goals and 49 points last season, has bagels thus far. BU’s Nick Bonino scored 50 points as a rookie; he, too, is scoreless.

RIT at Air Force (Friday-Saturday): Atlantic Hockey’s preseason favorites enter the weekend with a combined 0-7 record (to be fair, the league’s 10 teams are 1-23-0 thus far.) Air Force, which started last season with 13 straight wins, is 0-4, its longest losing streak in more than two years. Senior goalie Andrew Volkening has been abysmal as evidenced by his 5.91 GAA and .805 save percentage. RIT, meanwhile, has three narrow losses to ECAC Hockey opponents. In those three games the Tigers have fired a combined 119 shots on target, but have scored just six goals. That a shooting percentage of a little better than five percent.

Also: An offensive explosion could be in the works in Oxford—Miami and Michigan State have each played four games and scored a combined 34 goals … Is there a trio of forwards in the country better than Minnesota Duluth’s Justin Fontaine, Jack Connolly, and Mike Connolly? They’ll meet a St. Cloud State team that has yet to click offensively … UMass Lowell readies for a rugged stretch to open its Hockey East slate (Northeastern, Boston University, at Boston University, at Vermont, New Hampshire) with a non-conference match against Colgate at Tsongas Arena … Exhibitions for Ivies Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, and Princeton this weekend.

As hard as it was to believe how far Michigan State sunk into the depths of the CCHA standings last year, it seemed even harder to conceive a bounce back to contender status so quickly after the graduation of goaltender Jeff Lerg, the program’s cornerstone.

But through two weekends of the regular season, the buzz seems to be back around East Lansing and coach Rick Comley’s smiles have returned during his weekly press conferences. The Spartans swept Clarkson convincingly on opening weekend and split a hard-fought series on the road at Maine’s not-so-welcoming Alfond Arena this past weekend.

A key to Michigan State’s speedy recovery has been the play of a freshman class led by forward Derek Grant, who won the CCHA’s first rookie of the week award for this season, and blue liners Zach Josepher and Torey Krug, who have helped fill in some of the large chinks in last year’s Spartan armor. Having opened the season well against Clarkson provided a glimpse of just how potent a class this may be and, better yet, that potential withstood the test of a relentless and hostile crowd in Orono.

“They did great,” Comley said of his freshman class during his weekly meeting with reporters Tuesday. “I think it was a good trip for them, good bonding. It’s always good to get away for three or four days and they handled the atmosphere very well. The atmosphere at Maine is as good or second to none as far as noise in the building. And that crowd, boy, they have a purpose coming into that building.”

As trying of an environment as that can be for freshman who are just finding their college hockey legs, it wasn’t any easier on sophomore netminder Drew Palmisano—the brave soul charged with softening the blow levied by Lerg’s graduation.

Michigan State goaltender Drew Palmisano successfully battled Maine— and team's rabid fans—in Orono last weekend.

“You drive up to the building at five o’clock and there are 1,000 students lined up outside,” Comley said. “They’re there for the warm-up, they taunt your goaltender all through the warm-up. They’re throwing foam pucks on the ice to mix in with the regular pucks so your kids never know what they’re shooting. You know, it’s just non-stop.

“I thought Palmisano did a good job in dealing with that, because for four of the six periods, he’s just surrounded because they have a balcony at that end of the rinks. It’s as good of a college crowd as I’ve been around.”

It may be too early to call the Spartans a threat to revive visions of the impenetrable top four in the CCHA that reigned for several seasons prior to last year, but the development of Grant and his classmates and the (so far) steady Palmisano behind them give Comley hope. Add in the revived Corey Tropp, who has returned from last year’s season-ending suspension with nine points in four games, and Jeff Petry, who may just be better than he was during his dazzling freshman season, and MSU might just have the supporting cast to give opponents headaches.

When asked just how important a win or two in this weekend’s series at top-ranked Miami would be, Comley was confident that it would officially mean his program is back on track.

“I don’t know [about a] program win,” Comley said. “But I think it’s another key step on the road back to being competitive at the level that we want to be at, which I think we’re going to be before it’s all said and done … You know, I’m very much encouraged by this team and where I think it can get to. I like how they play hard, I like the areas of the ice that we can play in, we don’t get outmuscled now, we win faceoffs, we compete and we can score goals.”

The NHL’s Central Scouting Service has released its early-season listing of the top North American players eligible for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft from Canadian Junior A leagues and U.S. high school and prep school ranks.

Players are divided into four cagetories: A-rated players are predicted to be selected in the first or second round of the 2008 draft; B-rated players are considered potential mid-round selections; C-rated players are plotted as late-round picks; players CSS scouts haven’t seen enough to form an evaluation fall under the limited viewing category.

Next month, Central Scouting will release its list of draft-eligible collegians to watch as well as ratings of the top 25 prospects from the United States Hockey League and the U.S. National Team Development Program. The Central Scouting Service mid-term rankings appear in January.

The list below contains only those players who have verbally committed to college programs. The full prospect list can be found at NHL.com.

Intrigue abounds in this, the season’s first full weekend of the regular season, assisted by the 2009-10 debuts of some familiar teams.

Jay Barriball and Minnesota open the 2009-10 season at North Dakota this weekend.

1. Minnesota at North Dakota (Friday-Saturday): Beyond the rivalry, this series intrigues me because I have no idea what to expect from the Golden Gophers. I wouldn’t be surprised if North Dakota beat ‘em by six goals, nor would it shock me if Minnesota won by six (on second thought, that would shock me just a little). There are so many questions-Who replaces Stoa? How will the heralded newcomers fare? Which Alex Kangas shows up this season?-that anyone who says he or she has a handle on the Gophers is lying.

As was mentioned in this week’s INCH Podcast, North Dakota may not have the one dominant, dynamic forward like a Zach Parise or Jonathan Toews, but the balance across all four lines is impressive. Brad Eidsness is a capable goalie, but he seems like the college hockey version of Kyle Orton-you don’t have to win the game for us, but don’t lose it.

2. Miami at New Hampshire (Friday-Saturday): The RedHawks’ month-long death march continues this weekend with a pair at the Whitt. On paper, it seems as if UNH, which dropped a 3-1 decision at Rensselaer last Saturday, doesn’t match up well with Miami-the RedHawks should be able to wear the Wildcats down with their superior depth-but I’m more interested Miami’s focus. My feeling is the RedHawks are really locked in on a) putting April’s NCAA championship game loss behind them and b) proving to everyone that it’s behind them. That said, since Dick Umile has been behind the Wildcat bench, UNH has never started a season with two losses.

3. Michigan State at Maine (Friday-Saturday): Yeah, we know Maine isn’t what it once was. But did you see Michigan State last season? There were times the Spartans barely resembled a hockey team. These are important games for MSU if it wants to continue rebuilding its confidence-winnable road matches against a quality opponent in a hostile environment. The Black Bears, meanwhile, need to bounce back after two losses to a better-than-you-think Union team last weekend. The return of no. 1 goalie Scott Darling from a two-game suspension for violating the school’s student-athlete code of conduct will provide a boost.

4. Boston College at Vermont (Sunday): Even though Denver rallied in the third period to win, Vermont was impressive in its season opener at Magness Arena Friday, then beat our preseason no. 1 team the next night. The Catamounts’ top two lines, in particular, looked very sharp. How they match up against a relatively untested BC defensive corps will likely decide the game. Also, John Muse, the Eagles’ goaltender, took a step back last season after an outstanding freshman campaign. His return to form is critical to his team’s success.

Also: Former BU goalie Brett Bennett makes his debut for Wisconsin against Colorado College tonight … high-scoring forward Mike Connolly returns from a two-game suspension for Minnesota Duluth in its series with Minnesota State … can Union get a win at St. Cloud State? … fresh off wins against Army and UMass Lowell at home, Nebraska-Omaha visits Colgate … Alabama-Huntsville can pull off another road upset when it visits Air Force.

With some long-awaited stability from a coaching standpoint coming in the form of a contract extension for coach Dallas Ferguson and a sizable portion of last year’s vaunted defensive corps returning to Fairbanks this season, it was a safe bet that Alaska would maintain its home zone stinginess as they try to build on last year’s fourth-place finish. But as stalwart as the rearguards are poised to be, significant question marks loomed on both sides of the blue liners.

Could sophomore Scott Greenham be counted on as consistently as Chad Johnson could be on the few occasions the puck got through to the net? Would the maturing group of forwards score a few more goals to keep the Nanooks competitive in games that Greenham and the defensive corps needed a bailout?

CCHA Goaltender of the Week Scott Greenham stopped 43 of 44 shots in two Alaska victories last weekend.

While it’s only the middle of October, if last weekend’s wins over Michigan and Mercyhurst at the Kendall Hockey Classic are a sign of things to come, this just might be the year Alaska contends for its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

Greenham, who was named the CCHA Goaltender of the Week after stopping 43 of the 44 shots he faced, felt totally at home in taking over the No. 1 job. The sophomore built on lessons learned from working with Johnson throughout last year and he felt the boost of a seemingly enhanced offense that scored seven goals on the weekend – a total that Alaska tied or topped just twice last year.

“We brought in some new guys who can definitely put the puck in the net,” Greenham said. “Last year we had a lot of opportunities to put the puck in but couldn’t capitalize. Obviously, coach wasn’t too happy with the offensive production but (the offensive players) were working hard over the summer at shooting clinics and working on capitalizing on opportunities.”

As the Nanooks return to their home ice for the Brice Alaska Goal Rush to play Robert Morris and Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute at the Carlson Center, Greenham and his teammates will face an additional pressure: the expectations of the hometown fan base.

Needless to say, Fairbanks isn’t your typical college hockey town, and last year’s success has the Nanook faithful craving even more this season. It’s a town of friendly people that greet Greenham and his teammates on the streets, but they support Alaska fervently and are counting on Greenham to help lead the team to the promised land.

Just as he took the pressure in stride to earn a 2-0 shutout of a Michigan team that scored six against Alaska Anchorage one night later, Greenham embraces the high standards the natives of Fairbanks have set.

“You definitely feel pressure (from the fans), but it’s not a band kind of pressure,” Greenham said. “Pressure can be good too; it forces you to perform near the top of your game all the time. The fans expect a lot, but it’s nothing that you don’t expect out of yourself.”

Feels good to be back, doesn’t it?

We’re trying something different this season in order to get more of a national feel to our early-week coverage before delving into the conference stuff as the weekend nears. Every week, the First Shift will feature INCH’s national Player of the Week, Stick Salute, and Bench Minor. We’ll also take a lighter-hearted look at the weekend that was in our Say What?, Rankings Outrage, and Tweet of the Week segments.

This is a work in progress, to be sure. But unlike Phil Cuzzi, we promise not to miss anything.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
RICH PURSLOW Nebraska-Omaha Jr. | F | Greenlawn, N.Y.His Statistics: 2 GP, 2-2-4, +3 vs. Army and UMass LowellHis Impact: If the results from this past weekend’s Icebreaker Tournament in Omaha are any indication, Dean Blais’s tenure as the Mavericks’ head coach should be, at the very least, exciting. UNO, which ranked 42nd in the country in scoring offense last season with an average of 2.45 goals per game, exploded for 10 goals in wins against Army and UMass Lowell.Purslow, the Icebreaker MVP, led a balanced scoring attack with a goal and an assist in each of the Mavs’ two wins. He helped set up Terry Broadhurst’s game-winning goal in Friday’s 6-4 decision against Army and sparked UNO’s come-from-behind triumph against the RiverHawks Saturday with a first-period goal less than three minutes after UML jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage. His Runners-Up: Dan Bakela (Bemidji State); Mike Cichy (North Dakota); Scott Greenham (Alaska); Brayden Irwin (Vermont); Dan Morrison (Canisius); Eric Lampe (Quinnipiac); Cameron Talbot (Alabama-Huntsville). The INCH Player of the Week is presented by The INCH Shop
STICK SALUTE	Good on the hockey fans in the Rochester area (7,421 of them, to be exact) for showing up at Blue Cross Arena for Saturday’s Colgate-RIT tilt. The game turned out to be a real treat—the Raiders’ Austin Smith scored a shorthanded goal in the third period to give his team a 3-2 victory. The building’s primary tenant, the American Hockey League’s Rochester Americans, averaged a little more than 4,000 fans in 40 home dates last season.
BENCH MINOR	The opening weekend wasn’t a high-water mark for the CCHA’s upper echelon. Most notable (and by notable, we mean cringe-worthy) were Notre Dame’s 3-2 loss to Alabama-Huntsville at the Joyce Center Friday, Michigan’s shutout loss to Alaska in Anchorage that same night, and Ohio State’s pair of losses to visiting Quinnipiac, a team picked to finish in the bottom third of ECAC Hockey.
SAY WHAT?	“I’m not one who’s going to make a lot of changes when things are working.” — UNO coach Dean Blais to the Omaha World-Herald’s Chad Purcell following the Mavs’ Icebreaker Tournament championship game win Saturday. But when things aren’t working—especially for a goaltender—Blais gets out the hook quicker than Tony LaRussa. UNO senior Jeremie Dupont learned as much against Army and UMass Lowell, allowing six goals on 20 shots in just under 54 minutes of work. Sophomore John Faulkner earned both wins in relief.
RANKINGS OUTRAGE	It’s early and it’s gonna take a while for the national polls to sort themselves out. That said, we’re not sure how Boston College, the 12th-ranked team in this week’s USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today poll, earned one first-place vote. By the way, 27 teams received at least one vote in the same poll. The Alaska Nanooks, who beat Michigan and Mercyhurst at the Kendall Hockey Classic in Anchorage, were not one of them.
TWEET OF THE WEEK	@HackswithHaggs: God bless the dude at Angels stadium wearing a Whale T-shirt while waiting in line for a hot dog. What are the odds?

THE SKINNY

This is the league that produced Jeff Lerg, Ryan Miller, and Marty Turco, the conference that spawned Dan Ellis, Glenn Healy, Blaine Lacher, and Bob Essensa, a circuit that was accurately described as “a land of goalies as far as you can see” by former INCH scribe James Jahnke a few years back. Even lesser known backstops from Tuomas Tarkki to David Brown and Jordan Sigalet to Jeff Jakaitis have, in the past, built up a wealth of experience and backstopped some unforgettable upsets and magical playoff runs.

It is this history that makes one wonder who is ready to separate themselves in a league with sure bet Brian Stewart at Northern Michigan leading a pack of so many promising goaltending prospects that have shown flashes of brilliance.

Miami’s Cody Reichard made a name for himself with an NCAA Tournament performance beyond his years, but can he bounce back from the disappointment of a bad luck bounce in overtime of the national championship game? How will his counterpart, Connor Knapp, who was stellar throughout the regular season, figure into the RedHawks’ plans?

Can Brad Phillips make Notre Dame fans forget the loss of Jordan Pearce just as Pearce softened the blow of David Brown’s departure? Will Bryan Hogan continue his strong regular-season play but add in the element of tournament success that Michigan has lacked over the past few years?

Scott Greenham in for Chad Johnson in Alaska, Ohio State’s Dustin Carlson aiming to repeat his consistent performance from last season, and Drew Palmisano looking to fill the physically tiny but intangibly giant pads of Jeff Lerg at Michigan State—the questions and possibilities are endless.

One thing is certain: From Phillips’ magic in an upset bid that fell just short on the road at Yost Ice Arena while playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program three years ago, to Reichard’s reportedly positive response to his heartbreaking end of the season, from Hogan’s stability in regular season last year  to Carlson’s rescue of what appeared to be a bleak goaltending situation at Ohio State, the talent is there.

Now we wait and see who will emerge from the young, but encouraging, pack.

BREAKTHROUGH TEAM

Forward Zac Dalpe scored 25 points for Ohio State as a freshman last season.

With just three seniors and two juniors on the roster last season, Ohio State took some people by surprise when then-freshman Zac Dalpe and a trio of sophomores—John Albert, Peter Boyd and Hunter Bishop—helped departed senior Corey Elkins orchestrate the second-most prolific offense in the CCHA.

While that might have been considered the Buckeyes’ breakout season, this should be the year that Ohio State plays itself into the previously impenetrable top four (Alaska squeaked past OSU into that spot last season.) The freshman and sophomores that accounted for 82.6 percent of Ohio State’s offense have an extra year of experience and Dustin Carlson has the potential to be among the league’s top netminders, giving the Buckeyes all the tools to compete with Miami, Notre Dame, and Michigan. Add in free student tickets that could help fill Value City Arena and create an imposing home-ice advantage, and the Buckeyes should be a tough team to beat.

PRIMED FOR A FALL

The Alaska Nanooks were the darlings of the CCHA last year, taking advantage of an unexpected opening in the league’s top four to earn a first-round bye in the CCHA playoffs before losing to Michigan in the semifinals at Joe Louis Arena. Don’t expect the Nanooks to implode and fall to the bottom of the conference, as Dallas Ferguson proved himself as a capable leader and rightfully earned a five-year contract extension to bring some stability to a program that had been through coaching changes each of the two previous summers.

It may, however, be tough for the Nanooks to compete if Scott Greenham doesn’t put up similar numbers to Chad Johnson last year as Alaska will likely still be starved offensively. Again, don’t expect a precipitous drop, but don’t be surprised if teams like Ohio State, Northern Michigan, and Nebraska-Omaha finish ahead of them.

PRESSURE TO PERFORM

Following in the footsteps of Jeff Lerg is nothing new for Michigan State goaltender Drew Palmisano. He was Lerg's successor with the USHL's Omaha Lancers.

It was only one bad year that may prove to be an anomaly, but Michigan State desperately needs to bounce back from its worst finish since joining the CCHA in 1981. Defenseman Jeff Petry and forward Daultan Leveille are likely future NHLers and will lead the charge, but there are a number of question marks beyond those two. Goaltender Drew Palmisano looked strong in some of his brief spells of action last year, but it’s hard to imagine that he can immediately become the team’s on-ice and emotional leader a la Jeff Lerg. Coach Rick Comley received a vote of confidence in the form of a contract extension this summer, but continued struggles will have fans up in arms as the program’s 2007 national title fades further back in memory.

TOUGHEST ACT TO FOLLOW

So many of the pieces return that it is tough to bet against the Miami RedHawks this year, but one has to wonder whether anything other than a national title will be a failure for this group. Coach Enrico Blasi and the RedHawks seem to have their heads in the right places—focusing on the present and future rather than the heartbreaking past—but this past year’s NCAA Tournament showed just how much a little bit of puck luck and momentum on any given night can boost a team into the next round. Even if the RedHawks can win the league’s regular season and/or playoff conference championships, will that be enough to satisfy Blasi, the players, and the Miami fan base? How long can the RedHawks go without winning their first national title and, if they fall short, will the frustration affect their program?

BEST PLAYER

It seemed inevitable that Notre Dame defenseman Ian Cole would sign with the St. Louis Blues this past summer. But when the junior decided on a return to South Bend, top-line forwards, defensemen, and goaltenders alike shuddered at the thought of facing Cole for at least one more year. Cole was a very impressive plus-15 last season and added 26 points on the strength of six goals and 20 assists. The junior is dominant defensively, has an imposing physical stature, and knows how to get the puck to the net where the Irish forwards are among the best in the business at cleaning up the trash and scoring ugly goals.

IMPACT NEWCOMER

While the hiring of Dean Blais in Omaha should have a positive effect on the Mavericks’ program, interim Bowling Green head coach Dennis Williams has the potential to have a greater long-term impact on the future of the CCHA. After spending a few months on life support, the Falcons are pleased to be the beneficiaries of a new fundraising campaign that may help save the program, and Williams seems like the ideal choice to lead the program at such critical crossroads. Williams is a Bowling Green alumnus who describes the head coaching gig as his dream job and plans to immediately make some adjustments to the way the Falcons conduct their day-to-day business. It may take some time—his squad will feature five freshman defensemen and a rookie netminder—but Williams’ enthusiasm for the program and his new position may be the impetus needed to help revive Bowling Green hockey.

UNSUNG PLAYER

There may be questions surrounding postseason goaltending in Ann Arbor just as there have been for several years, but Bryan Hogan was an critical part of helping Michigan stay near the top of the CCHA last year and he gave them a chance against Air Force on an afternoon when the Wolverines’ offense was stagnant. With a star-studded team that includes Louie Caporusso, Chris Summers, and exciting newcomer Chris Brown amongst a dozen NHL Draft picks, it is sometimes forgotten that Hogan went 24-6-0 and allowed fewer than two goals per game last season. This year, Hogan will play an even more critical role, as Michigan’s backup netminders are extremely inexperienced, leaving Hogan to do a yeoman’s work, protecting the net essentially every single night of the year. Michigan was just 5-6-0 in contests that Hogan didn’t start last year, leaving one to wonder where the Wolverines might have been without him.

BURNING QUESTIONS

1. Coach Rick Comley said that his team is a bit more talented and his forwards will benefit from the ice time they got last year, but can Michigan State fight its way back to respectability this season?

2. Where will Bowling Green’s program stand at this end of this season, and how will that affect the future of the CCHA? If the Falcons continue to struggle mightily on the ice, will that set back the enthusiasm surrounding their renaissance efforts on campus?

3. Can Northern Michigan get off to a strong first-half start and finally make the jump from late-season spoiler to legitimate contender by picking up points in the early stages of the season?

4. How will the changes in the way points are awarded affect the race for the regular-season title, home ice advantage in the playoffs, and first-round byes? Teams will be awarded three points for a win in regulation or overtime, two for a shootout win, and one for a shootout loss.

MARK IT DOWN
Five things you can take to the bank in the CCHA this season

1. When Michigan State forward Corey Tropp returns to Yost Ice Arena on Nov. 13, he will be less than well received by the boisterous student section at Michigan.

2. Ohio State will develop the foundations of a true home-ice advantage with a continuously improving squad and its decision to let students attend home games for free.

3. Cody Reichard will come out of the greatest disappointment he has ever faced as a better goalie for having experienced how cruel fate can be in overtime.

4. While he hasn’t seen a great deal of game action, Brad Phillips’ numbers from his limited playing time and an all-world defensive corps suggest that he’ll keep Notre Dame near the top of the league.

5. Alabama-Huntsville is going to be as ready as ever—when it travels to Notre Dame next weekend and host Western Michigan later this month—to prove that they are ready to compete in the CCHA if given the chance.