Times Sports Blog

The college hockey universe has been rocked since my last WCHA Weekly last spring. The WCHA is the conference most affected by all the changes coming to college hockey as it will lose all of its top schools in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Colorado College, Denver, Minnesota Duluth, Nebraska Omaha, North Dakota and St. Cloud State.

Nobody can tell for certain if all these changes will be good for the college hockey landscape. In the short term I could see it hurting the popularity of the sport with a number of team having to establish new rivalries but in the long run it may prove to be beneficial once those new rivalries take hold and the old rivalries are kept alive.

It will take Minnesota fans time to get used to playing Big Ten teams like Ohio State and Penn State but if those programs can grow and become competitive it will be a fun conference to follow.

The NCHC with CC, DU, UMD, UNO, UND, Miami (Ohio), SCSU and Western Michigan will be a highly competitive league right out of the gate. All eight programs are established and run very well.

I feel bad for the WCHA, though, and teams like Bemidji State and Minnesota State. They were left with a Jan Brady conference. The WCHA will be second fiddle to the NCHC and the Big Ten.

The good thing is at least we have two seasons to send the WCHA out in style before it blows up. Two more seasons of the Final Five. Two seasons to think of a new name for this post.

I hate to just focus on the NCHC and forget about Minnesota and Wisconsin. And there's no way I'm going to make it all about the Big Ten or WCHA because that would exclude North Dakota and other great teams. It may have to be renamed the NCHC, Big Ten & WCHA Weekly.

Weekend Wars
The college hockey season kicks off Friday with a number of non-conference games. This will be the first real chance to see what a number of teams have. The exhibition games teams play are hard to bring into perspective because the competition is not up to par with the college hockey level.

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
Sept. 26, 2011
1. Notre Dame (11)
2. Miami (Ohio) (12)
3. North Dakota (5)
4. Denver
5. Boston College (2)
6. Michigan
7. Colorado College
8. Minnesota Duluth
9. Yale (1)
10. Boston University (2)
11. Union
12. New Hampshire
13. Western Michigan
14. Nebraska-Omaha
15. Merrimack
16. Maine
17. Wisconsin
18. Resselaer
19. Minnesota
20. Cornell

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll
Sept. 26, 2011
1. Miami (Ohio)
2. Notre Dame
3. North Dakota
4. Denver
5. Boston College
6. Boston University
7. Colorado College
8. Yale
9. Michigan
10. Minnesota Duluth
11. Union
12. New Hampshire
13. Western Michigan
14. Nebraska-Omaha
15. Maine

College Hockey News Preseason Top 10
1. Miami (Ohio)
2. Boston University
3. Notre Dame
4. Colorado College
5. Boston College
6. North Dakota
7. Denver
8. Western Michigan
9. Michigan
10. Yale

Grand Forks Herald WCHA Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Denver (7)
2. North Dakota (4)
3. Colorado College (1)
4. Nebraska-Omaha
5. Minnesota Duluth
6. Minnesota
7. St. Cloud State
8. Wisconsin
9. Alaska Anchorage
10. Bemidji State
11. Minnesota State
12. Michigan Tech
Coaches selected Colorado College's Jaden Schwartz as preseason player of the year and North Dakota's Rocco Gimaldi as preseason rookie of the year.

94X WCHA Preseason Media Poll
1. Denver (16)
2. Colorado College (7)
3. North Dakota (2)
4. Nebraska-Omaha (1)
5. Minnesota Duluth
6. Minnesota
7. Wisconsin
7. St. Cloud State
9. Alaska Anchorage
10. Bemidji State
11. Minnesota State
12. Michigan Tech
Voters named Denver's Jason Zucker preseason player of the year, North Dakota Rocco Grimaldi preseason rookie of the year and Colorado College's Scott Owens preseason coach of the year.

Each week I will pick from six games. My record last season was a surprising 59-48.
For week one of the 2011-12 season I will go with:
Miami (Ohio) over Bemidji State
Minnesota Duluth over Notre Dame
Nebraska-Omaha over Mercyhurst
Wisconsin over Sacred Heart
Alaska Anchorage over St. Cloud STate
Minnesota over Sacred Heart

Friday, October 7
Minnesota State @ Rensselaer, 7:00 pm ET
American Int'l @ Michigan Tech, 7:07 pm ET
Bemidji State @ Miami, 7:35 pm ET
Notre Dame @ Minnesota Duluth, 7:07 pm CT
Northern Michigan @ Wisconsin, 7:07 pm CT
Sacred Heart @ Minnesota, 7:07 pm CT
Air Force @ North Dakota, 7:37 pm CT *
Mercyhurst @ Nebraska Omaha, 7:37 pm CT #
St. Cloud State @ Alaska, 5:07 pm AT &
USA Under-18 Team @ Denver, 7:37 pm MT
Clarkson @ Alaska Anchorage, 8:07 pm AT &
* - Ice Breaker (Grand Forks, ND)
# - Mutual of Omaha Stampede (Omaha, NE)
& - Kendall Hockey Classic (Anchorage, AK)

Saturday, October 8
Minnesota State @ Rensselaer, 7:00 pm ET
Bemidji State @ Miami, 7:05 pm ET
American Int'l @ Michigan Tech, 7:07 pm ET
TBD @ Nebraska Omaha, 7:07 pm CT #
Notre Dame @ Minnesota Duluth, 7:07 pm CT
Northern Michigan @ Wisconsin, 7:07 pm CT
Sacred Heart @ Minnesota, 7:07 pm CT
TBD @ North Dakota, 7:37 pm CT *
USA Under-18 Team @ Colorado College, 7:07 pm MT
St. Cloud State @ Alaska Anchorage, 8:07 pm AT &
# - Mutual of Omaha Stampede (Omaha, NE)
* - Ice Breaker (Grand Forks, ND)
& - Kendall Hockey Classic (Anchorage, AK)