College Hockey Look Ahead #1

Next year's college hockey season will provide a few storylines that will be great to watch. Here a few that I will be following closely:

1. Realignment- There will be a huge shift in college hockey alignment with the folding of the CHA conference. The league had four teams last season and three of the teams have found new homes. Bemidji State will move to the WCHA which features teams such as Minnesota and Wisconsin, and both Robert Morris and Niagara will be moving to the Atlantic Hockey Conference. That leaves only Alabama-Huntsville alone. They have been declined membership by the CCHA (home of MSU, UM, FSU) and will act as an independent next year.

2. WCHA Expansion and CCHA's Response- The WCHA will be taking the University of Nebraska Omaha from the CCHA along with Bemidji State to go from 10 teams to 12. This also means the CCHA will go from 12 teams to 11. I am hoping that the CCHA will save UAH to go back to 12 teams. Alabama-Huntsville has shown that it can compete with CCHA teams by winning a few games and would sell out when football names like OSU, MSU and UM come to play them. College hockey should be looking to expand and not kill programs. The game has increased in popularity on ESPN2 and I believe now is the time to look to expand to teams like Penn State or Pittsburgh.

My early top 5 for next year:
This is incredibly too early and I have done this with out much research. I plan on doing a more comprehensive rankings when all the pro signings are done and after the conclusion of junior hockey tournaments so I can better understand the class of recruits coming in. Coming later this summer I also will talk about the other teams in the top 20.

1. Boston College- The returning champs will have John Muse back in net. Also Cam Atkinson who scored two goals in the national championship game will be a junior. BC played one of the fastest teams in the nation, Wisconsin, and wore them down. BC will be back strong and is definitely a title contender.

2. Miami- It's deja vu all over again. Miami has back to back frozen four appearances and they should be strong again. Cody Reichard and Connor Knapp will both be junior goaltenders. Coach Enrico Blasi likes to rotate goalies but I think if one steps up they should be named the starter. They are the key to Miami finally breaking through.

3. Wisconsin- They lose seniors Blake Geoffrion and Michael Davies. As long as Brendan Smith doesn't sign with the Red Wings they could have the deepest and most talented defensive corps. Scott Gudmandson MUST be better as a goalie.

4. North Dakota- Had a disappointing league campaign this year. They learned early how to play without Chay Genoway and were a very young team. They should be better next year and Brad Eidsness made stride last year in net and if he gets better as a junior they will be scary good.

5. Cornell- They lose Ben Scrivens but I think Cornell plays possibly the best defensive system in the nation. They have an identity and they always know how to play it well. However knowing Cornell they will flame out to a team they shouldn't in the NCAA tournament.

Video: Matt Frattin scores a top play