Okay, so it’s that time again, right? The chill starts creeping in, and my brain just automatically switches to hockey mode. Specifically, college hockey. And like clockwork, I got that itch to try and figure out how the 2024 season might shake out. It’s become a bit of a yearly ritual for me.
Getting Started – The Groundwork
First thing I did, I just sorta sat down and thought about last season. Who finished strong? Who fizzled out? You gotta have that baseline. Then, the real work began. I started digging into rosters. This part? It’s always a mess. Seriously.
- I spent hours just scouring team websites, news articles, fan forums – anywhere I could find info on who’s coming back.
- Then tracking down who graduated or turned pro. That alone took forever.
- Don’t even get me started on the transfer portal. It’s like the wild west these days. Trying to figure out who landed where and what impact they might have? A real headache. I kept a running list, but it felt like it changed every day for a while there.
I also looked at coaching changes. A new coach can totally change a team’s vibe and system, you know? So, I made notes on any big shifts behind the bench.
Trying to Make Sense of It All
Once I had this mountain of raw info, mostly scribbled notes and open browser tabs, I had to actually process it. This wasn’t some fancy algorithm or anything. It was mostly me, staring at my notes, drinking coffee, and thinking.
I started comparing teams within their conferences. Okay, Team A lost their top scorer but got a hotshot goalie transfer. Team B kept their core defense but has question marks up front. How does that stack up? I tried looking at schedules too, at least the early parts that were released. Who has a tough start? Who gets to ease into it?
Honestly, a lot of it comes down to gut feeling too. You see a team that maybe lost some key guys, but they just have that culture, you know? That winning mentality. You can’t really quantify that, but I try to factor it in. Sometimes you just get a hunch about a team clicking or a player having a breakout year.
The Actual “Predicting” Part
After all that digging and thinking, I finally started putting pen to paper, well, fingers to keyboard. I tried ranking teams, conference by conference. Then I took a stab at the Frozen Four. This is where it gets really fuzzy. There are always surprises. Always. Teams come out of nowhere, injuries happen, puck luck goes weird ways.
So, I put down my top teams, my potential Cinderellas, maybe a player I think will really pop. But I hold it all pretty loosely. It’s more about the fun of the exercise, mapping out the possibilities based on what I could find.
- Boston University looked stacked again, hard to ignore them.
- Denver, always seem to reload, right? Had to put them high.
- Then you got teams like Quinnipiac or Minnesota, always in the mix.
- Michigan? Who knows with the guys they lost, but the talent they bring in is always top-notch. It’s a gamble.
It felt like piecing together a puzzle where half the pieces are missing and the other half might not even be from the right box. You do your best with what you’ve got.
Wrapping It Up
So yeah, that was my process. A lot of digging, a lot of guessing, a fair bit of head-scratching. It’s not scientific, not by a long shot. But it’s how I get ready for the season. Now, the fun part is watching the actual games and seeing how hilariously wrong (or maybe surprisingly right?) I was. We’ll see how 2024 plays out!
