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(Provisional) standings

You want (provisional) standings? We got (provisional) standings! They’re below and preserved forever here!

The standings are only provisional because we still have the following games before the next trade deadline:

• 11/20/2018: reeling Bemidji State @ reeling St. Cloud State (the “reeling” series), Boston University @ Boston College (the “having Boston in your name, in one case controversially” series), Holy Cross @ Harvard (the “H stands for hurt” series), Merrimack @ Quinnipiac (the “ack” series), RIT @ Penn State (the “series where RIT plays Penn State”)
• 11/21/2018: RIT @ Penn State (the “end of the series where RIT plays Penn State”)/

Anything could happen! Well, not anything.

What happened this weekend?

Let’s look back at the KRACH predictions and see what we learned! Remember, the KRACH value here is the chance, predicted by KRACH, that the first team would win.

• Robert Morris v Minnesota State (x2) — KRACH: 0.505; actual: 4-4 tie, MSU 2-1. In the first game, Minnesota State pulled out to a 4-1 lead before Robert Morris scored three unanswered goals, the last with 21 seconds to go; in the second, Minnesota State scored two in the third period for a come-from-behind win. Freshman phenom goalie Abigail Levy (Minnesota State, $30, 20.25 SP, 5.4 WP, 4 picks) did what she does as MSU were outshot 44-24 and 34-20, leaving Levy as the highest scoring fantasy goalie of the weekend. The highest scoring Robert Morris player was Jaycee Gebhard (Robert Morris, $41.3, 22.7 SP, 3.6 WP, 2 picks), as usual.
• Princeton v Colgate — KRACH: 0.511; actual: Princeton 6-0. Ouch, Colgate.
• Princeton v Cornell — KRACH: 0.535; actual: 2-2 tie, which seems right for when these two teams are at full strength. Despite Princeton’s massive weekend, their fantasy players were not huge scorers. The unpicked Claire Thompson (Princeton, $30.7, 12.6 SP, 5.4 WP, 0 picks) was Princeton’s top scorer for the weekend, while the sextuply-picked Carly Bullock (Princeton, $31.1, 14.2 SP, 1.7 WP, 6 picks) was eighth in their scoring and Sarah Fillier (Princeton, $24.3, 7.1 SP, 1.3 WP, 2 picks) was tenth. Of the Princeton players that are on any fantasy teams, the one who did best was Stephanie Sucharda (Princeton, $25.4, 7 SP, 2.5 WP, 2 picks), who I suggested last week you might consider trading.
• Providence v Merrimack and @ Merrimack — KRACH: 0.563; actual: Providence 3-1 and 5-3. What happens when the unstoppable force of Maureen Murphy (Providence, $45.2, 23.5 SP, 6.2 WP, 7 picks) meets the immovable object of goalie Samantha Ridgewell (Merrimack, $37.2, 19.05 SP, 1.25 WP, 0 picks)? Well, in this case, the unstoppable force scores a ton of goals and the immovable object lets in five goals on 21 shots in the second game. I think this firmly answers whether Providence or Merrimack is better. Ridgewell was the twenty-fifth highest scoring goalie in fantasy points this weekend, an unheard of low position for her. Murphy is now the third highest fantasy points scorer this season, and second in points per game, with no other Providence skater in the top 50.
• Penn State @ Rensselaer (x2) — KRACH: 0.595; actual: Penn State 4-0, 1-1 tie. Freshman Izzy Heminger (Penn State, $15.8, 6.6 SP, 3.6 WP, 0 picks) more than doubled her fantasy score for the season.
• Minnesota Duluth @ Ohio State (x2): KRACH: 0.609; Ice Garden consensus: ehhh… probably a split, Minnesota Duluth slightly favored; Bold Whyte prediction: OSU 3-1, 4-2; Actual score OSU 3-1, 4-1. In that Ice Garden prediction post, Bob Weidenhof noted that going into the weekend, Maddie Rooney (Minnesota-Duluth, $44.4, 18.1 SP, 2.8 WP, 12 picks) amazingly had the seventh worst save % and goals against average in the WCHA. This weekend didn’t help much. UMD were handily outshot, but Minnesota State were outshot by more by Robert Morris and still got a win and a tie. On the OSU side, despite or because of my recommendation last week to trade her, Tatum Skaggs (OSU, $29.4, 10.2 SP, 3.8 WP, 3 picks) exploded for a hat trick in the second game; the highest scorer for the weekend was Jincy Dunne (OSU, $41.1, 18.6 SP, 4.1 WP, 12 picks); and Emma Maltais (OSU, $48.1, 25.2 SP, 2.5 WP, 10 picks) is now the highest scorer in the entire fantasy league.
• St. Lawrence @ Brown — KRACH: 0.618; actual: SLU 4-1. Yup. KRACH was being too kind to Brown here.
• New Hampshire @ Holy Cross — KRACH: 0.716; actual: UNH 4-1. UNH outshot Holy Cross 58-20, so in a way this was a good result for Holy Cross and 1B goalie Jada Brenon (Holy Cross, $21.2, 9.15 SP, 2.3 WP, 0 picks).
• Cornell @ Quinnipiac — KRACH: 0.783; actual: Cornell 2-1. Quinnipiac’s defense shut down Cornell’s big guns, but Quinnipiac still can’t score. On the weekend, Four Nations returnee Jaime Bourbonnais (Cornell, $27.5, 6.8 SP, 3.4 WP, 1 pick) was Cornell’s best fantasy player
• Boston University v Vermont (x2) — KRACH: 0.796; actual: BU 3-0, tie 3-3. Both games were fairly level in shots, and goalies Melissa Black (Vermont, $14.9, 9.45 SP, 1.55 WP, 2 picks) and Corinne Schroeder (BU, $33.8, 11.45 SP, 2.7 WP, 0 picks) played both of the games, so the big difference in score between the two games is probably attributable to hockey being a sport. Jesse Compher (BU, $36.1, 17.3 SP, 5 WP, 2 picks) and Mackenna Parker (BU, $23.1, 4.9 SP, 3.6 WP, 0 picks) did the bulk of the scoring for BU, and Sammy Kolowrat (Vermont, $10.2, 4.3 SP, 2.3 WP, 0 picks) was the highest scorer for Vermont.
• Northeastern @ Maine (x2) — KRACH: 0.797; actual: Northeastern 3-1, 3-3 tie. Northeastern started Aerin Frankel (Northeastern, $31, 13.55 SP, 1.3 WP, 9 picks) in the game they won and Brittany Bugalski (Northeastern, $21.3, 8.6 SP, 1.3 WP, 0 picks) in the game they tied; this is not the first time that’s happened this year. Tereza Vanišsová (Maine, $32, 11.3 SP, 2.3 WP, 5 picks) had her best week for some time, and Chloé Aurard (Northeastern, $28.5, 18.9 SP, 3.6 WP, 5 picks) did the business for Northeastern.
• Colgate @ Quinnipiac — KRACH: 0.799; actual: 3-3 tie. Colgate’s goalies are both slightly below their save percentages from last year: Julia Vandyk (Colgate, $39.2, 13.5 SP, 0.8 WP, 5 picks), who’s played 10 games, is on .92 compared to .929 last year and Liz Auby (Colgate, $12.2, 4.05 SP, 0.2 WP, 0 picks), who’s played three games, is on .931 compared to .936. It’s probably not the goalies’ fault that Colgate didn’t pull out the win, but this is a disappointing result for them.
• Boston College @ Connecticut and v Connecticut —  KRACH: 0.807; actual: BC 3-0, 4-0. Good job KRACH! Two shutouts for Maddy McArthur (BC, $33, 16.6 SP, 3.15 WP, 7 picks), and big scoring weekends for Four Nations returnee defenders Megan Keller (BC, $49.2, 19.6 SP, 5 WP, 9 picks) and Cayla Barnes (BC, $43.7, 14.1 SP, 3.6 WP, 4 picks).
• Syracuse v RIT — KRACH: 0.831; actual: RIT 6-4. If KRACH predicted the result at the end of the 11th minute of the third period, KRACH would be looking pretty smart here, as Syracuse went out to a 4-2 lead on the back of a hat trick from Emma Polaski (Syracuse, $10.7, 8.7 SP, 4 WP, 0 picks) who also got an assist on the goal she didn’t score. Then, somehow, RIT scored at 11:38, 16:37, 17:12 and 19:12 of the third period to win 6-4 on the back of 19 (!) shots on goal compared to Syracuse’s 42. RIT’s best player according to the stats was Ellie Larson (RIT, $13.4, 11.9 SP, 2.7 WP, 0 picks), though you can make a strong argument that RIT’s best player was actually Syracuse goalie Maddi Welch (<— harsh).
• Clarkson @ Brown — KRACH: 0.858; actual: 9-1 Clarkson. Good job KRACH! All the Clarkson players you know and love scored a ton, led by Elizabeth Giguère (Clarkson, $72.6, 25.1 SP, 4.1 WP, 15 picks) with Tia Stoddard (Clarkson, $9, 6.4 SP, 4.1 WP, 0 picks) having her best week of the season. Almost all, that is — T.T. Cianfarano (Clarkson, $40.7, 15.9 SP, 0 WP, 15 picks) somehow managed to score no points.
• St. Lawrence @ Yale: KRACH: 0.888; actual: St. Lawrence 4-1. Good job KRACH! Skylar Podvey (SLU, $32.6, 15.1 SP, 5.7 WP, 1 pick) was the second highest scorer of the week.
• Minnesota @ St. Cloud State and v St. Cloud State — KRACH: 0.946; actual: Minnesota 4-3 (OT), 7-2. Good job KRACH! This series was particularly notable for the long-awaited re-emergence of Kelly Pannek (Minnesota, $41.3, 12.9 SP, 5.1 WP, 6 picks) as a scoring force, with linemate Amy Potomak (Minnesota, $34.8, 9.5 SP, 3.1 WP, 1 pick) and last week’s tip to trade away Taylor Heise (Minnesota, $24.8, 9 SP, 3.1 WP, 8 picks) providing support.
• Wisconsin v Bemidji State (x2) — KRACH: 0.959; actual: Wisconsin 5-0, 3-0. Good job KRACH! Wisconsin scored by committee, with Sophie Shirley (Wisconsin, $30.6, 14.8 SP, 2.6 WP, 15 picks) their best skater. Bemidji, on the other hand, didn’t score at all (<— harsh). Emily Clark (Wisconsin, $36.4, 8 SP, 1.2 WP, 3 picks) is finally back from injury, which should bolster the Badgers’ offense.
• Clarkson @ Yale: KRACH: 0.967; actual: Yale 5-1. Good job KRACH NO WAIT OMG OMG OMG. Clarkson’s goalie Kassidy Sauvé (Clarkson, $51.2, 13.25 SP, 0 WP, 11 picks) is apparently out with a concussion and backup Marie-Pier Colombe didn’t get her team charged up (it’s a pun!) but this result is still inexplicable, probably the biggest upset since Vermont beat Minnesota last January or maybe even since Vermont beat defending and future champions Clarkson (yes!) last November. I have been unable to track down the coach’s comments and I assume that’s because he wants it that way./

(Provisional) Weekly Awards

Individual

• Most points: Maureen Murphy (Providence, 6.2 points this week (WP), 23.5 points this season (SP)), from Skylar Podvey (5.7 WP) and Abigail Levy (5.4 WP)
• Most overlooked (highest scoring player that no-one picked): Claire Thompson (Princeton, 5.4 WP, 12.6 SP)
• Biggest boost (highest scoring player that only one manager picked): Skylar Podvey (SLU, 5.7 WP, 15.1 SP)
• Biggest contribution (highest value of points this week * number of teams they’re on): Elizabeth Giguère (Clarkson, 4.1 points * 15 picks = 61.5 total contribution)
• Best Freshman: Abigail Levy (Minnesota State, 5.4 WP, 20.25 SP)
• Best Sophomore: Maureen Murphy (Providence, 6.2 WP, 23.5 SP)
• Best Junior: Claire Thompson (Princeton, 5.4 WP, 12.6 SP)
• Best Senior: Kelly Pannek (Minnesota, 5.1 WP, 12.9 SP)
• Best D: Skylar Podvey (SLU, 5.7 WP, 15.1 SP)
• Best F: Maureen Murphy (Providence, 6.2 WP, 23.5 SP)
• Best Goalie: Abigail Levy (Minnesota State, 5.4 WP, 20.25 SP)/

Team of the week

• Roster: Maureen Murphy (Providence, F, 6.2), Skylar Podvey (SLU, D, 5.7), Abigail Levy (Minnesota State, G, 5.4), Claire Thompson (Princeton, D, 5.4), Kelly Pannek (Minnesota, F, 5.1), Megan Keller (BC, D, 5), Jesse Compher (BU, F, 5), Carly Jackson (Maine, G, 4.2), Elizabeth Giguère (Clarkson, F, 4.1), Tia Stoddard (Clarkson, F, 4.1), Jincy Dunne (OSU, D, 4.1), Kalie Grant (SLU, F, 4), Emma Polaski (Syracuse, F, 4), Tatum Skaggs (OSU, F, 3.8), Rachel McQuigge (Princeton, G, 3.75)
• Score: 69.85
• Cost: 489.30/

That’s (provisionally) it for now

Trade tips will be here on Thursday, Thanksgiving, along with the week’s final fantasy standings and the final team of the week. If you’re brave enough to trade before seeing the trade tips, get your trades to me at tigFantasyHockey@gmail.com. A light weekend next weekend: Bemidji, Colgate, Merrimack, OSU, Princeton, RIT, and St. Cloud are all off, and BU, Brown, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, Northeastern, and Union all only play one game. But that one Northeastern game is the Tuesday night clash with Boston College, which will be one to savor.

Have a good week everyone!