University of Denver received some good news over the bye weekend besides the obvious opportunity for players with nagging injuries to heal.#1 ranked Yale lost two games over the weekend to conference opponents Union and RPI. DU inched closer to Yale in the Pairwise ranking and another loss by Yale coupled with their easier schedule would give DU the #1 ranking in college hockey as long as the Pioneers keep winning.
DU's two biggest rivals played over the weekend in Colorado Springs. Colorado College defeated North Dakota 4-2 on Friday night. UND star defenseman Chay Genoway injured his knee in the game. On Saturday night The Sioux bounced back 6-0 and CC goaltender Joe Howe left the game, also with a knee injury.
DU plays Colorado College next weekend.
13 comments:
Much as I like to see those team beat on each other, it's a bummer to see key players go down for anyone. Always best to win against the best.
What's the word on Howe for next weekend?
I still have no idea how Yale was/is ranked number 1. They haven't played anybody. Half the WCHA teams would have the same record or better if they played that schedule.
From The Springs Fishwrap...
"Howe was injured during a collision in front of the CC net with North Dakota’s Brad Malone and a CC defender with 17:35 left in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association game. No penalty was called. The extent or nature of Howe’s injury was unavailable Saturday night. He was helped off the ice and into the training room where he remained after the game."
If Howe misses any action this will be third player that Malone has injured this season.
Regarding Yale.
As most know the Pairwise formula was tweaked again this season. The new formula seems to benefit conferences that are more "balanced" like the WCHA & ECAC and hurt conferences like the CCHA & Hockey East that are more "top heavy."
Either way Yale has the best record in the country by a pretty wide margin, so they deserve to be #1. Their schedule is pretty light the rest of the way.
"If Howe misses any action this will be third player that Malone has injured this season."
I'll ignore the minor point that being 'injured' does not necessarily equate to 'missing action'. But to say that Malone injured Howe is quite a stretch...especially since you weren't even at the game.
Curious Roger, how would you describe the play? (I wasn't at the game either). Was it more a CC player taking down Malone that led to the collision, or was it more Malone running the net that caused the collision?
Really doesn't matter since it doesn't sound like there was any goonery involved. But I can't help but be more interested in the play of Malone after the Martin injury.
So who might DU be playing for the WCHA 1st round playoff series? Any guesses yet?
if we finish at #1 we will almost certainly play MTU, finishing as #2 or 3 could have us hosting CC, Minn, MSU, Bemidji, SCSU, or UAA... its still pretty wide open on the lower half of the WCHA.
Ideally we get MTU, but after that I think Bemidji could be the best matchup for us... honestly, lots of these 'lower' seeds are quality teams (see UAA) so the first round won't be easy... unlike the Yale schedule ;)
I was thinking the same thing about Yale ... I looked at their wins, beating: Princeton and Dartmouth (ranked 19 and 18), CC (no. 20), RPI (10), Union (13), and that's it as far as ranked teams. Maybe I missed one? I see one top 10 team (at no. 10) and just got beat by both Union and RPI this weekend ... Not saying they don't have a good record or aren't getting the job done, they beat whomever was put in front of them. But do we honestly think Yale would be favored to beat BC, DU, NoDak or Wisconsin? ... So glad we have a playoff system in hockey, let them settle it on the ice. The only poll that matters is the last one, I guess -- chase
Dg, no t-shirts or checklists this year? What gives?
I am used to my Pios kickin' ass, but how about my other team?
Go Western Michigan Broncos!
I think it's easy to quickly dismiss the Yale program on a surface level. If you dig a little deeper--beyond the schedule issue you see a team with some pretty major talent. Goalie is one the best in CH--which is super important. They score the most goals in CH--no one is even close, they have a wicked PP and a couple of the top scorers in the country. I expect that they'll win a game or two in the NCAA's--might make it to the FF. They have four loses all season. Three in the last couple of weeks. They lost to Brown--a team that has knocked off several good teams this year. The big question is can they regroup from these recent loses. Sometimes, some loses get a team (that had been rolling) in touch with reality and help them to rise above. I wouldn't dismiss them so quickly just because they come from the "lowly" ECAC. Take a look at the ECAC out of conference record this year--pretty strong.
Yale knocked UND out of the NCAAS last year. Coupled with RIT knocking out DU last year, two powerhouse WCHA teams were eliminated in their first games in the NCAA Tourney by underdogs. In this tourney where you are one loss and done, anything can happen and no one can be taken lightly.
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