Hockey ranked #6 in USCHO preseason poll; #9 in USA today

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

Here is the USCHO poll: http://www.uscho.com/rankings/d-i-mens-poll/

I found out about the USA today poll from Michigan's twitter, @umichhockey.

 

Personally, I think Michigan is a little underrated at #9 in the USA today. I think they deserve to be #5. I still don't understand HOW THE HELL miami is ranked #2....they lost so much offensive production.

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rosedani

September 26th, 2011 at 5:57 PM ^

Defintely dont think we are underrated at 6th. We lost basically all of our point production with louie, carl, matty, and scooooooter. We need to prove that we can put the puck into the net and maybe we will have a freshman step up and provide a spark. 

Joined: 09/28/2010

MGoPoints: 408

hockeyguy9125

September 26th, 2011 at 6:08 PM ^

I am surprised Michigan is ranked that high. Whatever works though, preseason polls mean nothing. Michigan better be strong on the back end and in goal if they want to continue the NCAA Tournament streak this year.

Joined: 03/30/2009

MGoPoints: 2948

South Bend Wolverine

September 26th, 2011 at 7:40 PM ^

I thought the same thing, although one must bear in mind that there are only 59 teams, so this would be the football equivalent of being ranked ~14/20, and the basketball equivalent of being unranked, but an RPI top-50 sorta team (insofar as such odd analogies are apt).  I am pretty nervous, though, about our ability to sustain things.  A truly magical senior class just graduated, and we need both freshmen to step up and current players to take over (I'm looking at you, Chris Brown!).  We'll see how it goes!

Joined: 09/11/2009

MGoPoints: 7918

freernnur5

September 26th, 2011 at 7:42 PM ^

Well the team usually is built around having a solid defense. With Hunwick, JMFM and Pateryn returning we have a good core, but we need to see some improvement from some of the younger guys and hopefully some production out of the incoming freshmen. 

We did lose a lot of offense from last year, but we weren't really blowing people out of the water. We did not have a Frattin/Miele/Atkinson player. The closest we had was Hagelin, but he did not put up the goal/assist numbers they did. However his and the other senior leadership from last year will be tough to replace.

Joined: 03/28/2011

MGoPoints: 671

DenverRob

September 26th, 2011 at 7:36 PM ^

Last year I predicted that M would hang national championship banner #10. I came really damn close.

This year I think our tourney streak is in jeopardy. I think they make it, but I see this team ranked 11,12 at the end earning a 3 seed.

Joined: 08/05/2010

MGoPoints: 2339

Wolverine Devotee

September 26th, 2011 at 9:31 PM ^

I think a top-3 finish in the CCHA, a CCHA tournament championship and a decent run in the NCAAs. I mean, hey, Michigan won the CCHA tourney in 2010 and they were the lowest seed to ever win it. I hope Michigan desnt have a regular season like that though.

Joined: 06/29/2009

MGoPoints: 31528

Sac Fly

September 26th, 2011 at 11:08 PM ^

Looking at the roster for this season and stats from last season it looks bad, but it's not as bad as it seems when you break it down.

  • Carl hagelin's impact on the team will not be matched and that's a spot that we will be lacking in all season. No one on the team was close to his 1.1 PPG average last year and we will struggle to fill the void in our hearts with the loss of the swedish flag, not felt since the departure of jack johnson's dad.
  • Love expert louie caporusso was the player I picked last season who would be hardest to replace. He followed up an outstanding 43 point season by posting a carrer low in goals an became the most inconsistant player i've ever seen in my life who wasn't alfonso soriano. Honestly he was my favorite player on the team but the slow starts and the cold streaks makes his production easier to replace.
  • Rust is a player you can't see all of from the stat sheet, you had to watch him to see what kind of player he was (example: big chill goals 2,3, and 4). Rust was an assisting machine with 21, second on the team to hagelin and his goal scoring was one of the lowest totals on the team with 5. That isn't something that im worried about filling, what is not going to be easy is finding a player who has the leadership and the grit that matt rust had. Defensively he was our best player and his .59 PPG average was 4th best on the team, but his presence in front of the goal was second to none.
  • Chad langlais might have been the most underrated defenseman in michigan hockey history. Finished 12th on the UM all-time list for assists (68) by a defensema, and 16th for points (81). Tied for the record for most games played in michigan history (173). Sadly it wasn't enough to get drafted and he signed with the wheeling nailers.
  • Finally we move on to scooter vaughn, nothing was expected from a guy who switched from defense to forward and was only supposed to be a penalty killer. He responded by scoring 24 points, 9 more than he had in his first 3 seasons combinded. That being said red is a machine when it comes to getting production from players who are considered an afterthought, he did it with brian lebler and before him it was travis turnball. This year if history is a good indicator a player who finished in the 10-15 point range like lynch or moffat will finish the season with 25 points.
  • The other player who have departed didn't make as much of an impact. Llewellyn spent most of his ice time in the penalty box before he was dismissed, moffat was average, hogan was hurt.

Joined: 04/03/2010

MGoPoints: 5981

jabberwock

September 27th, 2011 at 11:20 AM ^

I was positive this post ws titled "Hoke ranked # 6 preseason poll . . ."

which, why not.

"I think Hoke has changed the tide on the rivalry. Hell people in Ohio are starting to believe him. Never in a million years I would have thought that. Selling Michigan jerseys is a good start."

He deserves it.

Joined: 07/04/2008

MGoPoints: 51146