Hockey unranked in preseason poll for first time
The disrespect is both puzzling and unbelievable.
Consider this: Michigan was ranked #11 preseason last year despite losing over 80% of goals scored and the season turned out how you expected it.
Now we have an active head coach that is changing the way things operate around here, almost everyone from last year's team back and have a first round draft pick on the roster.
Michigan is the 7th team out of the Top-20 with 24 votes. Tech has 60 votes and they lost the only good thing to happen to their program in the last 30 years.
Michigan was also picked to finish second to last in the B1G.
Preseason poll-
- Denver
- Boston University
- Minnesota
- Harvard
- UMass-Lowell
- Minnesota-Duluth
- North Dakota
- Notre Dame
- St. Cloud State
- Penn State
- Providence
- Wisconsin
- Boston College
- Quinnipiac
- Cornell
- Union
- Air Force
- Minnesota State
- Ohio State(?!)
-
Northeastern
Western Michigan (!!!)
Receiving votes: Vermont 119, Michigan Tech 60, Bemidji State 52, Clarkson 45, Robert Morris 39, Miami 37, Michigan 24, St. Lawrence 18, Nebraska-Omaha 17, Bowling Green 16, Yale 11, Ferris State 5, Brown 1, Canisius 1, Dartmouth 1, New Hampshire 1
September 27th, 2017 at 10:11 AM ^
A spot in the rankings. Besides, isn't it more fun to prove people and polls wrong by being great when nobody expected you to be good?
September 27th, 2017 at 10:27 AM ^
our 2018-19 team play. It's going to be loaded and will be highly ranked pre-season.
September 27th, 2017 at 10:32 AM ^
2018 could be a very fun year for Michigan athletics. Might have football, hockey, and basketball competing for championships. Plus, baseball is recruiting like never before.
September 27th, 2017 at 11:32 AM ^
Softball should be cycling back into a position of dominance soon as well after a small step back this season. We brought in a monster recruiting class this year, including 2 of the top 10 players nationally, who should be instant-impact freshmen. As they round into form as sophomores, along with some of the other talent, things could get real fun, real fast.
September 27th, 2017 at 11:39 AM ^
We have a 5* (Canadian) center coming in this season and a very strong 2018 class.
September 27th, 2017 at 10:16 AM ^
I disagree that this is either puzzling, unbelievable, or disrespectful.
We were ranked #11 last year and we were awful. Why should that be evidence that we should be ranked again? We were 6-12-2 in the B1G last year. That's not a performance that warrants being ranked pre-season the next year regardless of coaching changes.
Also, not sure why you indicated surprise at OSU or WMU's rankings. Those teams finished 15th and 6th in the pairwise last year, respectively.
I do have high hopes that Pearson will make this a quick turnaround and we'll be a solid hockey team this season. But let's not fool ourselves, we were a bad hockey team last year and being unranked in the preseason is perfectly reasonable.
September 27th, 2017 at 10:21 AM ^
a blue blood coming off a 24-9-5 season? They'll get the benefit of the doubt even if losing 80% of their offense.
A considerably under .500 team gets less benefit of the doubt.
Not that preseason polls matter anyway. We'll find out soon enough how good the 2017-18 U-M hockey team is or isn't.
September 27th, 2017 at 10:20 AM ^
anyone who thinks we shouldn't be ranked. That said, I think it's totally fair that we are not ranked after last season's performance. I don't doubt the turnaround will show results this year, but can't blame those who think it will.
September 27th, 2017 at 10:23 AM ^
It doesnt matter where you line up, it matters where you wind up!
September 27th, 2017 at 10:27 AM ^
They will have every opportunity to earn their ranking as the season progresses.
September 27th, 2017 at 10:29 AM ^
You don't get ranked just because of the name on the jersey.
September 27th, 2017 at 10:29 AM ^
Polls mean even less in hockey than they do in other sports. They are a vague curiosity in the early season (Michigan has, in the past, often strung together a couple of nice weekends to ascend to #1 in November before being swept by Northern Michigan or something) and lose all interest once there are enough data points to make the pairwise rankings legible.
Besides, the polling is so regionalized that most of the media members are guessing about half the teams on it anyway.
September 27th, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^
Preseason polls in ALL sport are like sexy talk via text messages before your first time with a new sexual partner - don't mean a lot once the games get underway. No reason to get into a huff about it...
September 27th, 2017 at 10:41 AM ^
September 27th, 2017 at 10:46 AM ^
September 27th, 2017 at 10:53 AM ^
September 27th, 2017 at 12:17 PM ^
September 27th, 2017 at 1:27 PM ^
...and tweet players. He does that too.
September 27th, 2017 at 12:54 PM ^
Which banner? Michigan has the ability to compete for four or five depending upon how you define it: The GLI, B1G regular season, B1G tournament, and the NCAA tournament, which if you would like offers recognition for a Frozen Four appearance as well as a title.
Michigan could be a terrific team this year and win none of them. It could be awful and sneak into a GLI win.
But the chances are good that Michigan is a year away from winning either B1G title (though if they make a final in Minneapolis I plan to be there wrapped in a jersey and hope) and a year away from being a serious threat to win a national title. A season in which the team makes the second round of the NCAA tournament, finishes third in the B1G regular season, and is eliminated in the tournament championship is a great season that exceeds any reasonable expectations. It also promises no banners, unless they win the GLI.
I'd be delighted to be wrong, but the influx of recruiting talent that brings a lot of hope for the future also illuminates the talent shortages of the present.
September 27th, 2017 at 8:36 PM ^
Please stop.
September 27th, 2017 at 10:53 AM ^
But UP! We will get back there!
GO BLUE!!
September 27th, 2017 at 10:57 AM ^
Respect has very little to do with meaningless preseason polls.
September 27th, 2017 at 11:13 AM ^
You gotta cool it on the disrespek. I don't follow hocket closely, but this makes perfect sense to me. High ranking last year, failed to make tournament, and hire a new coach. The rankings will come.
September 27th, 2017 at 11:12 AM ^
I'm not surprised by us being unranked in the polls - I will admit I was a bit surprised to see us picked 2nd to last in the Big Ten, but when you look closer, I can see why. I do think people are underestimating how quickly Mel can turn things around. He more than tripled Tech's win total in year 1, and that was with a lot less talent & resources. Still, it will take some time to get back to the way it's supposed to be, and I don't mind if people take a "show me" attitude. We will show them, and it's good motivation to the team to feel like they have something to prove.
September 27th, 2017 at 11:29 AM ^
This is neither puzzling nor unbelievable
September 27th, 2017 at 11:56 AM ^
September 27th, 2017 at 12:22 PM ^
where I think Michigan is going to really prove people wrong. All pollsters are looking at, is that we sucked last year and now have a new coach. Mel will make huge improvements with this team in his first season and I think we could be on the bubble of the tournament this year.
September 27th, 2017 at 3:19 PM ^
see, this is the other side of WD. the one side provides the info on non-rev sports and random but topical facts. useful.
this side dials the righteous indignation up to 11 (you mean 10? no 11). check that shit at the door.
That said, I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you. I would have had them unranked at the beginning of last year, and ranked 16-20 this year. but the media/coaches wouldn't have, they just see the M and rank them a bit lower based on how many SRs left.
this year they are coming off a poor record, so it's not expected that the media/coaches would rank them.
I'm predicting a fringe tourney team, for which a split in NY's north country is a necessary but not sufficient indication of such a team. I would not be too shocked with a split.
September 27th, 2017 at 6:58 PM ^