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Joe Gladziszewski

  (2:31 PM)

It's time to talk college hockey here on SportsNation with the writers from InsideCollegeHockey.com. We'll be taking your questions for the next 30 minutes about the players, teams, and issues around college hockey.

Drew: (Denver, CO)

From your standpoint what has been the key to the Gophers success so far this season? And what do you think will happen to the Sioux? And who do you like in the WHCA this year?

Jess Myers

  (2:32 PM)

As talented as the Gophers' freshmen are, they're winning because upperclassmen like Stoa and Barriball are leading the way. North Dakota will be OK (getting Joe Finley back will help) but I see them as just OK. Maybe not as bad as the 7th place I predicted, but not a real contender for the NCAA title. As an objective journalist, I lik all 10 WCHA teams equally.

Dan (Bellingham, WA)

UNH cant score goals - can the end of the world be far behind??

Joe Gladziszewski

  (2:35 PM)

Well, there's a difference between "can't score" and "haven't scored yet" and I think UNH will see an uptick in their offensive production. It can't get much worse than it's been, with five goals over the last four games (and those weren't against the New Jersey Devils). It's going to take some depth from UNH's forwards to start chipping in with a goal here and there. Right now it seems like teams can focus on limiting van Riemsdyk and DeSimone and it really stifles the Wildcats.

Mike (Potsdam, NY)

What candidates for the Hobey top 10 do you see coming from conferences other than the WCHA, CCHA, and HE?

Mike Eidelbes

  (2:37 PM)

Princeton's Lee Jubinville, a top-10 Hobey finalist last year, and Jacques Lamoureux of Air Force are the obvious candidates. I doubt the CHA will produce a candidate. It wouldn't be a surprise to see another ECAC Hockey forward -- maybe a Chris D'Alvise, Brian Day, or a Brandon Wong. All three are off to good starts and could pile up some impressive goal totals if they stay hot.

Jeff (Boston)

Give us your top 3 games to watch/pay attention to this weekend.

Mike Eidelbes

  (2:39 PM)

A lot of great games on tap this weekend. The Denver-Colorado College series gets my vote for the best of the lot. Wisconsin is at North Dakota for a weekend series featuring two teams that have started slowly and need some wins. Finally, there's Northeastern and New Hampshire in a home-and-home out east. Tough to go wrong with any of those games.

Dave (Snohomish WA)

Just finished listening to the most recent podcast regarding the shootout. Should it become the law of the land in college hockey, I assume it'll be similar to the NHL in that it won't be used in the playoffs?

Joe Gladziszewski

  (2:40 PM)

Thanks for listening to the podcast, and we can't really say whether or not it'll be used in the playoffs (likely not) until a point if/when the shootout is actually adopted across all six Division I conferences.

Luke (Potsdam, NY)

Several of the ECAC's top teams are gearing toward a faster pace to compete on a national level (e.g. Clarkson, Princeton). How will that fast pace hold up in the clutch-and-grab ECAC league games?

Joe Gladziszewski

  (2:43 PM)

When you play in ECAC Hockey and really, in any of the leagues, different opponents will use different styles of play. One thing is for certain -- coaches at all levels of all sports are copycats. When somebody finds things that work, others emulate those things. To see Princeton and Clarkson atop last year's ECAC Hockey standings and in the NCAA Tournament shows that teams can attack the net and generate chances but still maintain strong enough defensive play in their own end. When Cornell was especially successful in the early part of the decade, reducing goals-against seemed to be the best way to get wins.

Matt (Boston, MA)

With the new NCAA travel considerations, could a conference sending 4-5 teams to the NCAAs end up seeing 3 conference teams in the same regional? Where does the madness end?

Joe Gladziszewski

  (2:46 PM)

There's still some way to go before those NCAA Tournament placement considerations become law, but given the scenarios that were presented and are already being discussed and implemented for fall sports, it is definitely possible that several teams from the same conference would end up in the same NCAA Tournament Regional site.

Steve (Madison, Wis.)

You guys talked a bit about the shootout in the podcast -- the same conversations people in the NHL had three years ago. It's here to stay there -- do you think the same will happen in college?

Joe Gladziszewski

  (2:49 PM)

Players and fans like it. Some coaches like it. As we talked about it on the recent INCH Podcast, we didn't really have anything against it, other than in college hockey when there are so few points available during conference play (22-30 game league schedule), awarding extra points for overtime and shootouts could drastically shake up the standings. We think it's great for in-season tournaments to decide advancement, and we're OK with it as an end-of-season tiebreaker, but there's not enough sample size during the season to award an extra point ... and not awarding a point to the shootout loser is also unfair, after they've earned a tie for 65 minutes of actual hockey.

Smitty (Denver CO)

What's wrong with Wisconsin, other than the fact that they give up a ton of goals?

Jess Myers

  (2:51 PM)

Like that's not enough wrong? Giving up a ton of goals is their problem. Until they get more offensive support (so the talent on defense can concentrate first on defending the blue line) and better goaltending, it's going to be a tough road for Bucky.

Thomas (North Dakota)

Five of your top eight teams are from the East - are you crazy?

Joe Gladziszewski

  (2:54 PM)

That's how things have gone so far, and we're very comfortable with how the Power Rankings look. BU 7, Michigan 2 -- UNH 5, Wisconsin 1 -- Clarkson two ties against #1 CC -- North Dakota loses to BU and UMass ...

Peter (Colorado Springs)

Is Air Force's impressive start for real? How good can they be?

Joe Gladziszewski

  (2:56 PM)

Air Force has taken care of its business so far, and that's what is most impressive to me. They were expected to be the class of Atlantic Hockey and have gone out and won all four conference games thus far, all on the road, and also got a convincing home sweep of Bemidji State. They're scoring a lot of goals, and I don't see them slipping from the top of their league all year long.

Nick (Ithaca, NY)

How long does it take the Ivy teams once their season has started to get "up to speed" to their competition? Thinking specifically about the other ECAC rivals ... thanks.

Joe Gladziszewski

  (2:59 PM)

I don't think it's as big a challenge as it looks, because most of the Ivies schedule one or two exhibition games and try to get a non-league game or two early in the season before ECACH conference action begins in earnest. In that regard, the difference between playing 3 or 4 games and 5 or 6 isn't much. They don't head into the league schedule without a bit of preparation.

Joe Gladziszewski

  (3:00 PM)

Thanks for all of the questions and thanks for stopping by to talk college hockey with us. Another great weekend of games lined up, enjoy them on the tube or at your local rink, and be sure to stop by and check out INCH's conference notebooks, play Pick 'Em, and download the latest podcast.