At the beginning of the season, I thought the 2014-15 UND hockey team could be good. They didn’t disappoint. To date, they have been a pretty good hockey team. Now, they’re not blowing anyone away and their non-conference schedule is a little weak, but they have a 27-7-3 record heading into the conference championship.
I have to believe they did something right this season. Are they a dominating teams? Nope, not at all, but I don’t think anyone in college hockey is. That being said, they’re not a bunch of untalented hacks, either.
Let’s not kid ourselves, UND has one of the best D-Corps in the country and has a great goaltender backing them up when they make a mistake. UND also has incredible depth through the forward lines. Sure, they could have played more games on the road, but a lot of teams in the NCHC and B1G could. That’s the way the schedule played out.
I know that UND has a couple of long road trips on their schedule next year. Finally, if you haven’t seen it, our favorite blogger is at it again.
Ryan Lambert, Puck Daddy — This isn’t as cut-and-dry as most people would have you believe. I’ve talked before about my skepticism of North Dakota‘s overall quality and the fact that they crumpled Colorado College this past weekend doesn’t really bolster their credentials.
Are they better than St. Cloud? Sure they are. They should win that game with ease too (but they might not, because they’re not great themselves!). This side of the bracket is of no real interest to me.
However, Miami/Denver? Yes please. Two teams with solid players throughout the lineup, both pretty strong in goal, and both dominant possession teams (the RedHawks have a slight edge, at 54.5 percent to the Pioneers’ 53.5 percent). I hope this game lasts forever.
And whoever advances out of it will indeed probably have to play North Dakota in the final, and both had success of a sort. Denver took just three of a possible eight points, but that’s better than most teams did this year (boy is it tough to win at North Dakota). Miami split the season series, winning and losing in both venues. These games not being played in Grand Forks probably helps these putative underdogs a lot.
Again, the most likely result is that North Dakota wins, but it’s also more up for grabs than some other conferences I could mention.
First, I love Puck Daddy, they’re a great hockey blog. They use satire to make their point. Lambert is known for his satire and he likes to troll fan bases. Especially, the UND fan base. Frankly, a lot of writers like to troll the UND fan base, because we’re a passionate bunch. Don’t take the bait, he’s trolling us.
If you don’t believe me, take a look at the numbers. Statistically, UND’s a pretty good hockey team. Breaking the stats down further, in conference games only, UND leads the conference in win, losses, winning percentage, goals against, goals against/games played, goal margin and goal margins per game.
Since Lambert likes to use the college hockey fancy stats a lot, here the numbers. I included the NCHC standings and each teams Corsi numbers. I think some put way too much stock in the Corsi numbers. In my opinion, the only numbers that really matter are wins and losses.
Conference Standings and Corsi Numbers
1. North Dakota 51.9
2. Miami University 54.5
3. Nebraska-Omaha 49.2
4. Denver University 53.5
5. Minnesota-Duluth 54.4
6. St. Cloud State 49.8
7. Western Michigan 51.0
8. Colorado College 43.2
In conclusion, while the pundits will try and talk UND down, statistically, they’re one of the top teams in the nation. UND is eighth in the nation in scoring and seventh in the nation in defense.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they ran the table and won the prize this season. On the flip side, I also wouldn’t be surprised if they failed to get out of the West Regional, but no matter how you look at it, UND has a good hockey team. That’s a fact, the numbers also back it up.
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