I haven’t posted on this in a long time so my first post in about 3 months will be my early power rankings for the CCHA, the new rebranded D1 hockey conference consisting of Bemidji State, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Lake Superior State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State, Northern Michigan, and St. Thomas. Were a little over a month away from the start of the 2021-22 College Hockey season and the first time with full attendance since March 2020. These rankings will be based off last seasons play, roster moves, and playoff play.
8. Ferris State
I choose Ferris State at 8 because they haven’t really improved their roster in any shape, but they will be getting Team USA back up goalie Logan Stein in between the pipes for the full season instead of basically half. The bulldogs went 0-13-1 in conference play last season so I’m not expecting much from them this year again and I’m guessing that they will be at the bottom of the conference again and most likely get swept in the playoffs.
7. St. Thomas
Coming in at number 7 is the new kid on the block, St. Thomas. I’m not sure what I’ll be expecting from them this season but I wont have high hopes for them this season. During the off-season, They picked up a ton of transfers and have “Tik Tok Star” Joey Sofo coming back. I think they’ll still do pretty good in their inaugural season but they’ll still have to face a ton of power houses including Minnesota State. They could be an underdog and prove me wrong but My expectations are pretty low and I can see them maybe taking a playoff series to game 3 but in the end losing the series.
6. Lake Superior State
This one may seem surprising but number 6 is Lake Superior State. Even though they won the WCHA Championship last season, they lose their top players including Marek Mittens, Ashton Calder, and Assistant Captain Hampus Eriksson. I still have some high expectations from the champs but they may have a season like Northern Michigan’s last season. I predict that they’ll finish barely under .500 and maybe they can win a series in the playoffs but that’s about it.
5. Michigan Tech
Coming in at number 5 is the Huskies. They lost their NHL prospect Carson Bantle. They have Blake Pietlla coming back to their team so they’ll have their goaltender locked up but besides that I honestly have no idea how they’ve improved so Ill see when the season starts but im predicting maybe a little over .500 and a series sweep in the playoffs.
4. Bowling Green
At number 4 I choose Bowling green. Just like Lake State, they also lost a ton of star players to the transfer portal. I think they’ll be just a little bit better than Tech and Lake State because they still have better players than both of them. They’ll have a over .500 record but will end up losing first round to Michigan Tech.
3. Bemidji State
Coming in at number 3 is Bemidji State. They Have some good talent coming back but they did lose starting goaltender Zach Driscoll to the transfer portal. They have a good amount of offense and defense coming back but they might just have a goalie problem like nmu did when Atte Tolvanen graduated. I still think they can do damage during the season and I do think theycould be in the top 20 in D1 but they wont have enough to reach the NCAA Tourney.
2. Northern Michigan
At number 2 is NMU. I think they’ll have a breakout season since they barely lost any players. The biggest blow to the roster is the departure of star Griffin Loughran to the transfer portal. They have both captains and surprise star Rico Dimatteo coming back to the team. NMU had a great playoff run last year with beating Bowling Green in the best of 3 and stunned everyone in beating Minnesota State 5-1 in Mankato before losing 6-3 in a heartbreaking WCHA Championship defeat to UP rival Lake Superior State. I think they’ll make a statement this year but finishing 2nd in the CCHA and making a deep run in the playoffs, winning the CCHA championship for the first time since 1980 and make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 12 years.
1. Minnesota State
If I need to explain why Minnesota State is number one, I’m just going to assume that you don’t watch college hockey at all. They have one the the greatest college hockey goalies of all time coming back for his senior year and the mavericks have a deep arsenal of very talented players on their lineup, They’ll finish top 5 in the nation again and will sweep every team they face in the CCHA playoffs, until they face NMU in the CCHA Championship. They’ll have a pretty close score but Mckay will think too much about last season game and the Wildcats will get to him again.
Well that’s my rankings, the first conference game is October 8th with a slate between St. Thomas and Northern Michigan set to start at 6:37.
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