SCHL - how do you guys look?

[CUDangled]

I haven't seem many/any posts on here from the SCHL teams. Anyone on here from that region? How do you guys look? How with the DI/DII scene change with the teams moving up to DI?

[terrorcoach]

The overall talent level is higher this year than it has been in many years. Unfortunately that isn't really saying too much but the number of players with NARCh and TORHS national experience has grown considerably.

The Louisiana teams and SHSU haven't played yet but I expect they will be the stronger teams along with UNT. Texas A&M may be a surprise team this year with a couple of strong additions to the roster.

I can't speak for all the other teams but UNT is dedicated to playing better competition this year. We are planning to attend the TORHS Winter Trifecta in St. Louis in juniors and would really like to play some out of region games in the spring. We will have a difficult time at that level but it is the only way to improve.

[JLambertUMSL]

There's a new team at the University of New Orleans. Jason Shields, who played three years on the A team at UMSL, is on it. I don't know any of his teammates, but I do know he is a talented player, and they should be quite competitive. I'll be following UNO's progress this season for sure...hopefully they make it to Nationals.

[terrorcoach]

I've never seen Jason play. I have seen his brother Nick play and he was fun to watch. Unfortunately roller hockey lost him to wrestling at North Carolina.

I expect UNO to be competitive with UNT and SHSU. LSU and ULL are clearly the most talented teams in the region though.

[JLambertUMSL]

I've never seen Jason play. I have seen his brother Nick play and he was fun to watch. Unfortunately roller hockey lost him to wrestling at North Carolina.

I expect UNO to be competitive with UNT and SHSU. LSU and ULL are clearly the most talented teams in the region though.

Jason is extremely tough physically, aggressive, and can really shoot the puck. He'll be the first to admit that he's not the best defensive player in the world...but he's a great kid from a great family and we enjoyed having him at UMSL.

[UL-Lafayette]

Heading into this weekend every team in the SCHL has played 4 games ... North Texas is in 1st place (4-0), LSU, ULL and Texas A&M are all 3-1 with some key games coming up this Satruday and Sunday in Dallas.

This past weekend in Lafayette,Louisiana was the debut of ULL, LSU, UNO, and Sam Houston's seasons. The big surprise had to be the debut of Jason Shields (former UMSL forward) and his UNO team that just got blown away on the court. They started the season (0-4) getting outscored by their oppenents 8-54 in those 4 games ... so to answer your questions UNO is not a team to look out for and will struggle to win any games the rest of the year unless they pick up more players.

LSU was without one of there top players in Mikey Ashy along with 2 other skaters and their goalie. Playing shorthanded, all LSU did was impress as they played ULL to an amazing game in a 16-13 loss, crushed UNO twice, then destoryed Sam Houston 10-1 ... this weekend's match up between North Texas and LSU should be one hell of a game.

Sam Houston looks to have taken a step back from last year, they have some major roster changes and i dont think they compete with ULL,LSU, or North Texas at the top of d1.

Although Sam Houston did beat ULL this past Saturday, dont expect that to continue ... ULL was winning the whole game and blew a lead in the last 5 minutes to take the loss, terrible goaltending along with bad team defense lost ULL the game down the strecth ... however Sunday morning ULL returned to the form we expect and completely shut down Sam Houston to route them 9-4 ...

This weekends SCHL games to look out for:
ULL (3-1) vs Texas A&M (3-1)
LSU (3-1) vs North Texas (4-0)
Sam Houston (2-2) vs North Texas (4-0)

... alot of talk has been about Texas A&M being a really strong d1 team this year, starting the season (3-1) with there only loss a being a close 9-7 contest against undefeated North Texas. This weekend we will definalty find out what A&M is all about as they face ULL, LSU, and Sam Houston.

should be some amazing hockey up in Denton,Texas this weekend as ULL and LSU will travel up to Texas there for the first time.

[hockeyisfun]

What I have seen in the SCHL this season are teams that are competitive within their own league but will not be able to compete with the better teams from other leagues at nationals. There is no complete team in the league.

ULL, UNT, and LSU are good, and it will be fun playing and watching them this season, but they are lacking in one area or another.

ULL is good but their goalie is well below average. He can stop a stop a shot from the point but make him move and he looks confused. They win most of their games because of team speed, which exceeds that of the other schl teams. However, they are no faster than most other teams at nationals.

UNT has a similar problem. Their goalie is better than ULL but is a weak link. Additionally, they rely heavily on a couple players to carry the team.

LSU is a new comer and still have a lot to work on. They have a very short bench which will get them killed in the 3rd period of close games. Again, their goalie is nothing to write home about, I think someone said he was just a player suited up as a goalie which wouldn't surprise me.

Tech is also pretty good this year. Better goaltending than the above three teams. The core of the team has been together for a while now, such a long while they may even be past their prime. They kill themselves with penalties (which is exemplified by subpar officiating, however everyone in the league has the same subpar refs). However on any given day they have the potential to beat any of the above teams.

The remaining teams are just fighting for a spot in the playoffs, but don't pose much of a threat to the above teams.

[Jason Shields]

on behalf of the UNO hockey team, we wish that we could have been more competitive this semester. We found out 4 days before our first game that Steve Cheredaryk was ineligible. obviously this was a huge blow to our roster. with the exception of myself and our goalie, none of our players have any travel-level roller hockey experience whatsoever... not exactly the best talent pool for a team with only five skaters! hopefully we can pick someone up over break. thanks to all of the other teams for playing with class despite the lopsided games