ASU Hockey 2019-2020

[cwamjn]

ASU with a weekend set against #4 Denver. We won last night and tied tonight. We got badly outplayed tonight but our goalie bailed us out with 40 some odd saves.

Our helmets tonight were beautiful, I want to buy one.

 

[Willie D]

It's been a hot & cold year for the Devils so far. The Denver series was a big one, as was the sweep of #9 Quinnipiac (the team that bounced them from the Frozen Four last year), coupled with lazy losses to tomato cans like Mercyhurst and Alaska. Jr. Johnny Walker is tied for 11th in the NCAA in goals.

Netminding has been inconsistent. ASU lost their #1 goalie Joey Daccord to the Ottawa Senators this year. Debrower is competent, and will have to be before next year's arrival of Cole Brady, a 5th round draftee of the New Jersey Devils and currently playing with Fargo of the USHL, sporting a 2.82 GAA.

ASU is ranked #16 in the USCHO poll, #9 PairWise, and #9 in RPI. The Top 5 right now in NCAA D-I are Mankato St., North Dakota, Cornell, Clarkson, and Boston College.

Next up for ASU is a trip to #18 Michigan State. They will host #17 Harvard over New Year's, and travel to Clarkson in late January.

...and yes, the helmets were pretty fly.

 

[cwamjn]

From Irvine, today the #16 Devils start a weekend series against #17 Harvard.

 

[Willie D]

The hot/cold continued after the last post. ASU lost/tied with the Crimson, split a pair with Michigan Tech(U.P.) and swept Brown. ASU is now 2-1-1 against the Ivies. This weekend the Devils swept RIT (Rochester, NY), coming from behind in both games with 3rd period scoring explosions. Star of the weekend is definitely Willie Knierim (4 points, +6).

ASU currently ranked #14 in the USCHO and CHI polls, #11 in both RPI and PW with a #17 SOS. Staying in the top 15 in PW is important at this stage, as PW takes all factors including RPI and approximates the criteria of the Frozen Four selectors. The conference winners are awarded automatic entries, and ASU is ranked higher than Sacred Heart (#35, Atlantic Hockey).

Next weekend is a trip to Potsdam for two against #7 Clarkson. The remainder of the schedule is against unranked teams. Taking care of business will be the key since the weaker SOS will dampen their RPI.

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[Willie D]

Since the last update, Sun Devil hockey has done what they needed to do. The January 24th weekend resulted in a split with #8 Clarkson, both OT affairs. This recent weekend, the Devils dispatched Robert Morris University (PA) 5-4 and 3-2 at Oceanside. Johnny Walker (2 goals) and Josh Maniscalco (4 assists), and Willie Kneiriem (2 goals) all walked away with impressive weekends. Walker and James Sanchez are both in the top 10 in D-I scoring.

ASU is now #12 in both the USCHO and CHI polls, and #8 in PairWise. The win against Clarkson makes ASU 2-3-1 against teams above them in PairWise. Although Quinnipiac upset #3 Cornell over the weekend, Duluth also beat Denver twice, leapfrogging ASU in the ratings (ASU is 2-0 vs. Quinnipiac and has not played UMD).

Next games this weekend are in the Northeast against Holy Cross and Bentley. The following weekend will be the final home series vs. Alaska, and the Devils finish the season in Madison vs. Wisconsin.

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[cwamjn]

Ranked #11 with a 3-2 win over Holy Cross last night.

 

[Willie D]

Now #10 with a 3-0 romp over Bentley.

PairWise breakdown with 4 games remaining:

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https://www.uscho.com/2020/02/10/mo...two-more-minnesota-dulth-continue-hot-streak/

 

[Kel Varnsen]

This is one of my favorite things in college sports.

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Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Willie D]

Remembering the words of Wisconsin's iconic coach, Badger Bob Johnson, "It's a great day for hockey!"

The Devils move up 1 spot in the USCHO poll to #9 nationally, remain #10 in CHI after two sound defeats over Alaska this weekend, 5-0 and 5-2. Noteworthy performances came from Brinson Paischnuk (1 G + hat trick), Jack Judson (3 A), and Brett Gruber (2 G).

The boys pack for next weekend's regular season finale in Madison against the Badgers, a program whose NHL alums include Chris Chelios, Tony Granato, Mark Johnson, Curtis Joseph, Mike Richter, and Pat Flatley. Wisconsin plays in the competitive Big 7 or 8 or whatever they are in hockey + Notre Shame.

A win over the Badgers would almost lock ASU in the Frozen Four tournament because of Wisconsin's strong schedule. With a #11 rating in PairWise, teams with assured berths via conference wins would be:

#10 Penn St (Big-whatever)
#3 Cornell (ECAC)
#6 Boston College (Hockey East)
#1 North Dakota (NCHC)
#2 Mankato St. (WCHA)
NR American Int'l (Atlantic Hockey) ---ALL AS OF TODAY.

Remaining teams ranked above ASU are:

#4 Duluth
#5 Denver
#7 Clarkson
#8 U-Mass
#9 Northeastern

The games will be on BigTen's internet stream, or from WIBA in Madison via iHeart.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Remembering the words of Wisconsin's iconic coach, Badger Bob Johnson, "It's a great day for hockey!"

The Devils move up 1 spot in the USCHO poll to #9 nationally, remain #10 in CHI after two sound defeats over Alaska this weekend, 5-0 and 5-2. Noteworthy performances came from Brinson Paischnuk (1 G + hat trick), Jack Judson (3 A), and Brett Gruber (2 G).

The boys pack for next weekend's regular season finale in Madison against the Badgers, a program whose NHL alums include Chris Chelios, Tony Granato, Mark Johnson, Curtis Joseph, Mike Richter, and Pat Flatley. Wisconsin plays in the competitive Big 7 or 8 or whatever they are in hockey + Notre Shame.

A win over the Badgers would almost lock ASU in the Frozen Four tournament because of Wisconsin's strong schedule. With a #11 rating in PairWise, teams with assured berths via conference wins would be:

#10 Penn St (Big-whatever)
#3 Cornell (ECAC)
#6 Boston College (Hockey East)
#1 North Dakota (NCHC)
#2 Mankato St. (WCHA)
NR American Int'l (Atlantic Hockey) ---ALL AS OF TODAY.

Remaining teams ranked above ASU are:

#4 Duluth
#5 Denver
#7 Clarkson
#8 U-Mass
#9 Northeastern

The games will be on BigTen's internet stream, or from WIBA in Madison via iHeart.

This is a great post. Thanks for sharing.

I love how these tiny schools are monsters in hockey.

 

[cwamjn]

Tough 7-6 loss, last night.

 

[Willie D]

ASU's regular season is OVER! Final record 22-11-3

After this last weekend's 0-fer in Madison, ASU sits at #13 in PairWiseRanking (PWR). As of today, the top 16 teams are:

1. North Dakota (NCHC)
2. Mankato St. (WCHA)
3. Cornell (ECAC)
4t. Boston College (Hockey East)
4t. Duluth
4t. Denver
7. Penn St. (Big-10)
8. Massachusetts
9. Ohio State
10. Clarkson
11. Bemidji St.
13t. Arizona St.
13t. Minnesota
15t. Western Michigan
15t. U-Mass Lowell
...20. AIC (Atlantic)

PWR is a mathematic analysis, similar to the process used by the tournament committee. There is very little subjectivity in D-I hockey (unlike hoops). The teams I shaded in red are my predictions to receive automatic Frozen Four berths via conference wins. Ties in PWR are broken by RPI, and ASU beats Minnesota in RPI. Odd, because MN is #2 in strength-of-schedule. And #20 AIC, despite being ranked below ASU, will get an automatic berth by winning the Atlantic Hockey tournament.

THE PLUS:

1. ASU plays no more regular season games. They can't directly impact their ratings any longer.
2. All of these teams still have tournaments to play. Which gives them an opportunity to win or lose, which could change their ratings based on how they perform against each other.

THE MINUS:

...see "THE PLUS" because it all can affect ASU positively or negatively. Example: The Gophers go on a romp in the Big-10 and beats both Penn St. and OSU. This would vault them over ASU in the PWR and give them the automatic bid from the Big-10, but would probably not knock either of them down below ASU. Ergo ASU falls a notch. OR...say Bemidji loses to Lake Superior St. (who, quite frankly, sucks) in the first round of the WCHA (that would be the current 2-7 game). Bemidji would probably fall below ASU, and not only help secure a bid, but hopefully improve their seeding.

Unlike the initial seletion, the seeding IS a very subjective process. But at #13, ASU is going to wind up playing one of the hockey powerhouses anyway.

So...who to root for in the conference tournaments:

a. Anyone except Minnesota
b. Denver, (ASU beat and tied Denver. They better they do, the better ASU looks)
c. Lake Superior St., (see above)
d. Clarkson (ASU split with Clarkson this season)
e. Boston College (who will play #11 Northeastern in the 1st rd. of Hockey East)

 

[Willie D]

As the PWR rankings indicates, a couple things happened that we wanted. Minnesota did lose 1 game to Notre Dame in the 1st round of the B1G, but won 2-1 to advance against Penn St. Minnesota dropped to #17. And good ol' Lake State managed 1 win against Bemidji St, narrowly beating ASU for #11 based on RPI....0003 RPI! They will play Bowling Green in the WCHA semis this weekend.

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[Ronin]

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