NCAA Hockey/ Lightning

[JoeB]

Eric, Notre Dame is a decent team.  In fact they just pasted #1 ranked BC 7-1 in Boston.  Go to the ESPN College page to read more.

[Eric_Soncrant]

Yeah I saw they beat BC badly last weekend.  But I have to believe that wasn't a true measurement of how either of those teams will be this year.  Notre Dame isn't that good and BC probably isn't that bad.  It did make way for the Maine Black Bears to become the #1 team in the country after sweeping two games from North Dakota.

The rest of those teams are awful.  But still it is college hockey and I hope the Tampa area embraces it in leading up to the Frozen Four.  Maybe next year they'll improve the lineup.  If you have Notre Dame and a couple similar or better schools it wouldn't be bad.  Notre Dame should win this easily (but that's why they play the games).

Eric

[Mission9]

Army and Air Force are kind of limited because they have to get players who are willing to commit to being officers in the military.  Huntsville, Alabama is not usually thought of as an ice hockey mecca.  It is understandable that these teams may not be top notch.

[Bobcat99]

Army and Air Force are kind of limited because they have to get players who are willing to commit to being officers in the military.  Huntsville, Alabama is not usually thought of as an ice hockey mecca.  It is understandable that these teams may not be top notch.

The service academies have a significant problem in hockey, and probably always will. Canadians (which make up more than half the players on many college hockey teams) are not exactly motivated to spend four years serving in the U.S. military.

This was actually not that big a problem until about five years ago. The U.S. had recruiting offices in major Canadian cities, and Canadians made up the largest foreign contingent of the U.S. military for decades. The tide has turned considerably, alas, and I believe the U.S. has pulled all its recruiting offices out of Canada owing to low performance.

It's also very, very hard to get accepted at the service academies as an international student, because you have to be sponsored by a member of the U.S. Congress -- usually your representative. International students don't have that kind of support. I don't know the numbers for the USAFA or West Point, but I know that the incoming class of 2009 at the Naval Academy had a total of 11 international students, all of them from very small, faraway countries.

[bull2saintleo]

Even if you don't have good college hockey team, if the name is recognizable and they suck, it may still be a good attendance draw.

.....and if Michigan ever comes down here, I'll be there in a second.

[HOTMello2005]

We need Minn, BC, Wis. and U Mich.  to come down and play a tourney....And for exhibition have the Ice Bulls play the winner of the tourney.

[Bobcat99]

We need Minn, BC, Wis. and U Mich.  to come down and play a tourney....And for exhibition have the Ice Bulls play the winner of the tourney.

No one would ever insure that game. I love the Ice Bulls, but they would get truly demolished by an NCAA team.

Hell, they'd get demolished by an ACHA Division I team. The gap in talent between ACHA Divisions I and III is pretty enormous.

Let's look at it this way. Division II teams generally beat Division III teams by 4-5 goals. Division I teams beat Division II teams by about 5-6 goals. NCAA teams beat ACHA Division I teams by 7-10 goals.

You can go back and do the math :-)

[HOTMello2005]

Then let's find a way to add Ice Hockey as an official team to the Athletics Dept and do some recruitment of NCAA talent.

I know you're correct Bobcat...I just love hockey so much.

[USF_Girl]

NCAA team would kill us, but we've knocked out D2 and D1 teams in tournaments in the past. We do have a some NCAA players and D1&2 ACHA players on our team. We also have a nationally ranked goaltender that kept the team hanging last year when we had a "rebuilding" year. He had a chance to goto the University World games in Europe for Team USA featuring mostly ACHA D1 players but declined because he would miss 6 season games which could make the difference between going to nationals and staying home.

[JoeB]

Notre Dame is ranked 11th so far.  I would say that is a pretty solid team, not a bad team at all.