I've been looking around the preseason blogs and everything seems to be ragging on Colorado College. They had one of the worst seasons in the history of their program last year. After an offseason that features quite a few new faces, I've decided to focus on 4 of the members of the incoming class.
First, I should mention I love the goalie position. I'm a firm believer that a program should work it's talent from the goalie forward. Placing special emphasis on defense and shot blocking.
Coach Haviland of Colorado College did just that with the incoming crew. Though not drafted (at least yet) Jacob Nehama brings a spark to my eye. Standing at 6'0 tall, he's not a Jon Gillies type of netminder but his stats speak for themselves.
He finished the season with 29 wins, 13 losses and 4 ties. Kick in his .913 save percentage and this guy appears to be on track to do some serious damage. To put this into perspective, take Joe Howe (current volunteer goalie coach at Denver) during his time in the USHL. He finished his first season with his best record of 13-5-1 with a .915 save percentage. I liked Howe in net and I think I'll like this guy too. If you compare Jacob to similar goalies in stature, I think you will find he is a top notch goaltender. His size makes him not as marketable as current CC netminder Tyler Marble. Either way, in net CC will have the ability to have dueling goaltenders. MN State - Mankato has had the same issue for the past 2 years and it's produced wonderful dividends.
Next, let's look a bit at Trey Bradley. He's a very small player. Based on size alone, I wouldn't expect too much from him given how large CC's ice surface is. However taking a look at his USHL stats, I would have no problem looking at Trey as a serious set up man on any line.
Next up is Nathan Kwiecinski. He's no Jacob Slavin, and he has quite a bit of growth to do. I'm not sure where he will fit in the scheme of things. His offensive side stats are not very good, which leads me to believe he is a stay at home defense man - my favorite kind (as a goalie of course). If Kwiecinski can keep opposing players off Marble or whoever is in net, the tigers can do their job in the front.
The show stopper of all of these should be considered Mason Bergh. He's an absolute monster of a player. Not the tallest forward at 6'0, but his stats are oh so good. I would wonder how Bergh and Bradley would do on the same line. Either way, Bergh is an incredibly gifted player. He's going to make the rounds at CC.
CC has reason to believe in it's incoming class. In 2 years, people may be talking about how good this crop of recruits was. Maybe they will all break out this season. Just maybe.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Sunday, September 6, 2015
College Football Rankings.......
With most of college football's best week 1 games complete, it's safe to say that we have a baseline week. Or maybe not.......
Of the top 10 teams, only 1 played a ranked team (Alabama). I'm a Wisconsin fan myself, but I kept my cool on this game way before coming in. I knew that Wisconsin is NO WHERE near Alabama's recruiting level. So I almost expected a loss.
So let's take a look at last year's 4 playoff teams and analyze what they did, or didn't do. Then we'll move on to the actual ranking.
Rankings are as of this season, teams are the final 4 of last season.
#1 Ohio State. They have not played yet so no judgement.
3. Alabama. I've never looked at Alabama and said "that's a high scoring team". I've always thought of Alabama as a Python. They use their defense to constrict any team they play. Offense is always a product of where the defense can get the ball to. This year is no different. They have a very potent offense which can score from any point on the field. The defense speaks for itself. They destroyed the Badgers and took away the only weapon Wisconsin has had for the last 5 years, the run game.
#7 Oregon. They won 61-42 over a team that should not have scored more than 20. I know Oregon has a potent offense. But just like the ducks proved last year, they do not have the defense to compliment such a great offense. On the plus side, if the Ducks do find themselves in a showdown against a similar up tempo offense they will hang around much longer than any other team wants. Easily able to outscore opponents and take advantage of mistakes.
#10 Florida State. FSU has been full of the Jameis Winston distraction for well over 2 years. They key question was: Can the Seminoles win without Winston. Although Texas State doesn't really present the ability to answer this question, FSU was able to run up the scoreboard. I would say this leaves them at Neutral.
Winner of last year's big 4: Alabama.
Side Notes.
Rankings as of current.
2. TCU. I would love, LOVE the opportunity to roast this entire squad. I don't think Minnesota is a top of the pack Big 10 team. They are in the middle with Wisconsin and Nebraska. TCU is supposed to have this Air Raid offensive system that annihilated every team in it's path last season. Due to the amount of starters returning on offense, TCU was supposed to blow their way to the Big 12 games. Minnesota didn't really play that well and still came within a touchdown of beating the Horned Frogs. Not too good if you ask me. If TCU is indeed the top of the conference, I would downgrade the Big
Stanford and Arizona State. Neither of these teams should have been ranked. Even though the preseason rankings are a combination of the previous year's results and recruiting, I don't understand how these two teams ended where they did. Good thing for both of these teams: They both lost to bad opponents.
Which brings us to the conclusion:
Although the BCS is gone, the ranking system that enveloped it's entire time is still in tact. Currently we have a ranking system in place that stays until about week 8. It's pointless to put rankings on these teams. Everyone is fighting but no one will see the truth until the committee come's out with it's top 4. Every conference swings from time to time. For a while it was the ACC which was taking recruits from California and Texas. Since then, it's been all SEC. I understand giving any team which is in this conference a chance to compete early for a top 4, but placing a team like Arkansas at 18 when they finished 7-6 over all and 2-6 in conference play is atrocious.
Conclusion: We run a modified BCS system. Same drama, except with a tiny playoff.
Of the top 10 teams, only 1 played a ranked team (Alabama). I'm a Wisconsin fan myself, but I kept my cool on this game way before coming in. I knew that Wisconsin is NO WHERE near Alabama's recruiting level. So I almost expected a loss.
So let's take a look at last year's 4 playoff teams and analyze what they did, or didn't do. Then we'll move on to the actual ranking.
Rankings are as of this season, teams are the final 4 of last season.
#1 Ohio State. They have not played yet so no judgement.
3. Alabama. I've never looked at Alabama and said "that's a high scoring team". I've always thought of Alabama as a Python. They use their defense to constrict any team they play. Offense is always a product of where the defense can get the ball to. This year is no different. They have a very potent offense which can score from any point on the field. The defense speaks for itself. They destroyed the Badgers and took away the only weapon Wisconsin has had for the last 5 years, the run game.
#7 Oregon. They won 61-42 over a team that should not have scored more than 20. I know Oregon has a potent offense. But just like the ducks proved last year, they do not have the defense to compliment such a great offense. On the plus side, if the Ducks do find themselves in a showdown against a similar up tempo offense they will hang around much longer than any other team wants. Easily able to outscore opponents and take advantage of mistakes.
#10 Florida State. FSU has been full of the Jameis Winston distraction for well over 2 years. They key question was: Can the Seminoles win without Winston. Although Texas State doesn't really present the ability to answer this question, FSU was able to run up the scoreboard. I would say this leaves them at Neutral.
Winner of last year's big 4: Alabama.
Side Notes.
Rankings as of current.
2. TCU. I would love, LOVE the opportunity to roast this entire squad. I don't think Minnesota is a top of the pack Big 10 team. They are in the middle with Wisconsin and Nebraska. TCU is supposed to have this Air Raid offensive system that annihilated every team in it's path last season. Due to the amount of starters returning on offense, TCU was supposed to blow their way to the Big 12 games. Minnesota didn't really play that well and still came within a touchdown of beating the Horned Frogs. Not too good if you ask me. If TCU is indeed the top of the conference, I would downgrade the Big
Stanford and Arizona State. Neither of these teams should have been ranked. Even though the preseason rankings are a combination of the previous year's results and recruiting, I don't understand how these two teams ended where they did. Good thing for both of these teams: They both lost to bad opponents.
Which brings us to the conclusion:
Although the BCS is gone, the ranking system that enveloped it's entire time is still in tact. Currently we have a ranking system in place that stays until about week 8. It's pointless to put rankings on these teams. Everyone is fighting but no one will see the truth until the committee come's out with it's top 4. Every conference swings from time to time. For a while it was the ACC which was taking recruits from California and Texas. Since then, it's been all SEC. I understand giving any team which is in this conference a chance to compete early for a top 4, but placing a team like Arkansas at 18 when they finished 7-6 over all and 2-6 in conference play is atrocious.
Conclusion: We run a modified BCS system. Same drama, except with a tiny playoff.
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