Who do you guys think the best goaltenders are in our league?

Silver- mike stier from mck
Gold- prob msu's started

Mike Poepping of MSU has the nod, he's kept the team in the games when he had to.

From What i hear Kansas has a really good goaltender. Like i said this is only what i have heard. Never seen it for myself.

From What i hear Kansas has a really good goaltender. Like i said this is only what i have heard. Never seen it for myself.

Brian Blake EIU as a contender

How about the midget Chuckie Cheese goalie from SLU? Him and the rink midget from Affton pure comedy.

Kansas goalie Brent Pitts was an outstanding goalie when he was a midget playing for Russell Stover. Russell Stover took 3rd in Nationals that year. I'm not sure how his collegiate career is going. But I would imagine he is still pretty solid.

Dude, really? Are we really talking about good goalies in this league.

In all the gaolies that I see listed I see no stats to back up who they say is good.

Really, how about some GAA and Save% stats before you proclaim yourself "Worlds Tallest Midget". In other words, no matter how you purfume the pig it's still a pig. This is middle to lower tier D2 ACHA Club Hockey at best. When was the last time any teams goalie backstopped them to the ACHA D2 National Tournament out of this league?

Dude, really?

Dude! Here are your stats: Looks like of the goalies mentioned, Poepping is still the best.

# Goalie, MINS, GAA , SO , GA

1 Venker Lucas
SIUE, 239.25 , 3.51 , 0, 14

30 Poepping Michael
Missouri State, 753.37, 2.47, 1 , 31

39 Stier Michael
McKendree, 300.00, 5.40, 0, 27

36 Blake Brian
EIU, 109.40, 3.29, 0 , 6

35 Pitts Brent
Kansas, 721.48, 4.99 , 1, 60

Here are my stats I wish i have played more compared to everyone else. Everyone else has played a lot more games already


Min Record GA GAA SA Saves
239:15 (3-1) 14 3.51 153 139


Save % SO PIM
90.8 0 2

please tell me this is a joke. We mine as well ask who the biggest bender is in the MACHA. Honestly really? First we have biggest hitter, now best goalies. This is a joke, but have fun comparing stats. Maybe central scouts will get a hold of this thread and put some of these goalies/scorers on their radar.

Sure talk a huge game for not showing your name at all. Who did you play for superstar. I didn't get the opportunity as others to play anywhere else. I quit after high school and then started going to SIUE for school and learned they had a hockey team. I still enjoy playing and working as hard as i can. The ACHA has come a long way from when it has started and in my opinion is some decent hockey. Not the best in the world, but better than beer league. Maybe you are not playing anymore or never played. Maybe i will see you in Beer League in two years and we can play one on one ANONYMOUS. I will ask around for that name see if i can find you.

Michael Poepping has a save percentage of above 92 percent and Missouri State has played... D1 Iowa State, RMC Chicago(always in regionals), Davenport (defending national champs), Sienna (#1 in their conference), Florida Gulf Coast(#1 in their region), and Lindenwood
Id have to say his save percentage and the teams he's played against gives him the edge over all others. Just wait till they play teams of lower caliber.

So back to the original question, what goalies in this league ever backstopped an MACHA team to the ACHA D2 Nationals? Not Regionals, Nationals. I can name the last MACHA goalies that did. Do you know your MACHA history?

Lets see if you do. Go ahead take a guess.

Does it really matter who did in the past??? Its about who's going to get them there this year. If you're living in the past thats your own problem

No actually, to know and understand the history of the MACHA will make you better appreciate what it takes to get to a National Tournament from a goaltending perspective. First, here's the answers on the goalies.

For two consecutive seasons 97-98 and 98-99, Saint Louis University appeared in the ACHA D2 Nationals.

The first trip to Nationals in 97-98 to Somerset, NJ the goalies were Justin Stiehr, Pat Rodgers and Tony Evans. Stiehr and SLU shocked the tournament by beating Indiana, the favorite to win it all in game one. Rodgers got the call in game two but could not get the win against Central CT. This forced SLU to come back with Stiehr on short rest in a third game. SLU lost that game and finished 15th in the nation.

In 98-99 the SLU team appeared in the D2 Nationals in Salt Lake City, UT. Again, Justin Stiehr led a trio of tenders. Dan Wind and Jim Douglas were also strong in net that entire season. The trio nearly pulled the upset of the tournament by pushing Life College to a one goal game and just missing the Semi's. SLU finished 5th in the nation. In that tournament, Stiehr started the first game and notched a win against USC. In the second game the next day, Wind supported well and provided another win. Then in the third game Douglas had the game of his career against Life College. Life barely escaped the SLU team by one goal to move on. The theory was to get three wins and come back with the strongest keeper in the semi's, Stiehr.

While it didn't work out perfectly, now you see why one goalie doesn't cut it boys. You gotta have a strong pair of even three.

By the way, no team from the MACHA has ever made it back to the D2 Nationals. I would like to see it happen but the field of competition is really strong and the voters that rank the teams always seem to have bias toward the Michigan teams.

Now you're livin' in the past!

Sorry, I guess I should have said, no team from the St. Louis area has made it back to Nationals.

Palmer also went to Utah for nationals that year. Interestingly enough if you were to look at Life's roster that season they had a player that had played in the class A- sunshine league in Florida 2 years prior to that trip. He was a key player in Life's strong run from what I understand.

Great memory on this one. Life had more questionable players then any team that I can remember. A bunch of canadian kids that went there for Chiropractics and oh yea they just happened to be great hockey players. They use to be the team to beat for about three or four seasons in D2.

ok, who is it? where are they from? I know that Palmer, ISU, Northern, SLU and Bradley all have had teams make it to nationals while members of the MACHA.

Knowing Poepping, he started this thread

that's great that poepping can post up such great statistics because I guarantee that he hardly ever sees over 30 shots a game with the highly talented team that he has in front of him. I've seen him play and I've never seen anything spectacular. But him in a game against ISU's d1 team and have them throw up 70 shots then we'll have something to talk about

Having only seen the box scores of the Kansas games, Pitts seems to be among the elite netminders in the MACHA. Kid gets bombarded with shots, and they still win or play games tight.

Blake from Eastern has seemed to improve year after year as well, nearly stole one against us last year.

Luke could very easily be 4-0 had we converted on our power play chances at Ferris in game 1; Becker is also better than the 0-3 record he has, averaging over 53 shots per game.

According to anonymous..."Rodgers got the call in game two but could not get the win against Central CT. This forced SLU to come back with Stiehr on short rest in a third game. SLU lost that game"

A goalie coming back on short rest?? what the H are you talking about? evidenty goalies work on rotation huh? quit watching baseball, this is hockey genius, goalies don't need to 'rest' every other game....lol that quote is just hilarious

Hey genius, how many National tournaments have you been to? Besides, the quote you picked up on is the exact "meat" of that whole message. Their saying you CANNOT put the load on just one guy. As soon as some team from the MACHA figures that out and gets a good, at least, pair of goalies then a team may go somewhere. That's why this post Best Goalie in the Leauge is rediculous. Really rediculous. If you want to talk about the best pair of goalies then we may see teams with some depth.

Lighten up Anonymous. The intent of this thread was to talk about who people thought was the best goalie in the MACHA league. Now if you want to break down your rotating goalie thery, which is a good theory, but flawed here....then let's do that.

Teams that have won the Stanley Cup with only one goaltender:

Anaheim Ducks - Jean-Sebastien Giguere
New Jersey Devils - Martin Brodeur
New York Islanders - Billy Smith
Colorado Avalanche - Patrick Roy

I see no reason why an ACHA team can't win with only one goaltender. But then again, that was not the original question, was it?

At this level the chance of a goalie running the table at a tournament is rare. Need a good number 2.

The goalies you mention are paid huge amounts of money to play and do this year round as their job. No comparison.

I think if I was putting a Gold team together I would feel really comfortable with Luke Venker in my net every night, the guys a natural competitor and hard worker which I've seen in working with Luke the small bits I did this summer...the guys a monster and his improvement in the past couple years is astounding...And I'll take Mike from McK along with him...These two guys are determined winners on and off the ice...a lot of the other goalies i have not a had that great of a chance to witness first hand. so no disrespect....Casey K. Sucks

thanks buddy

I would agree with Dryer and add Andris from MSU.One of the best goalies in the league.

I appreciate all the good comments. Win or lose I will keep working hard to make a difference in each game.

What other goalie has gone more than 203:32 without giving up a goal? Not a bad record for MSU's Mike Poepping. (And, no I'm not Poepping. I just appreciate his play.)

He's a hot dog - as much as they have him in the nets, tehy beter hope he doesn't get hurt. Who knows what the other goalies offer the team. For some reason, the coaches don't seem to want to give the others some playing time, even in blowout games just to get experience. We'll see if that pays off in the long run

Umm.....yes they did give other goalies a chance. Remember the Vermont game? He didn't even dress and MSU lost 6-2. Geezz....they can't win in your eyes, can they?

this is an honest question and i mean no disrespect, but how long has poepping(sp?) been in the league. i feel like he has been playing forever or atleast 5 years or so...is this it for him?

and i know you get 5 years of eligibility

Thank God someone finally got the point of my posts about needing two or three goalies. This is not the NHL.

Poepping is a JR. He has at least 2 more years after this. Twice during the past two school years he did not play for one semester each. That was also when MSU had three quality goaltenders on the team.

so how long has he attended msu? and how do those years not count as years of eligility? i think they would if this were not a club sport, correct?

Maybe the WSR guys can shed some light on this one. A Google search shows a Michael Poepping as a Freshman goalie for the UMSL (no longer in existence) Ice Hockey team in 11/2003. (I don't know if they were ACHA or if that even matters. This is his 4th year with MSU but he did miss at least one semester because of grades.

I don't know how the league counts eligibility and I know you get 5 years of eligibility. Is a year's eligibility used up by playing at all in that calendar year? I know that teams have had to forfeit games because unintentionally using ineligible players so I would think that every team would want to have their arms around this issue.

I know he also played junior hockey out east, so this one's a bit fragmented in terms of years in ACHA.

4. A Mens Division II Student athlete shall have ten (10) semesters of ACHA
eligibility.

Looks like it is really a semester countdown requirement regardless of how many calendar years are involved.

If it is the same person as at UMSL and they were registered with the acha that entire year then he loses one year if he was listed on the scoresheet for 20% of their games. The only time Jr.'s would change this is if it were Major Junior in Canada. As far as missing due to grades, I am not sure if you lose that semester of eligiblity or not. That isn't specified in the ACHA policies and procedures manual.

Anonymous 2:02 is correct as stated in the 2007 ACHA manual.

the fact that he is a jr is irrellevent. it only matters how much he has played. if you play all 1st semester for ten years and are never eligible 2nd semester then you still use up that one semester and you never move up grade wise. he was playing when i was a soph and i am now a year and a half removed from college. so him having played even before that at umsl makes this a fishy situation...

It's only fishy if you set the bait on the hook. Get off it. Everyone that plays is eligible through the schools academic policy, and they will enforce it. Plus I'm sure MSU's academic adviser (to the team) knows who's eligible and who's not, and how much time they have left.

I don't think anything is fishy at all. Worst case is these are his final semesters of eligibility. I'm guessing that is not the case. I doubt he played two semesters at UMSL because he went out east to play juniors. And if the semester(s) he was grade ineligible don't count, he probably has a year after this one. I'm sure the WSR guys will set the record straight but I'm sure nothing sinister is going on here.

ha a year after this even?? how long is he going to play?? he would have started his acha career in 2003 and ended his COLLEGE career 2010! that is a career my man...i know the rules and i understand this is club hockey. i guess im a little surprised that this can happen, i mean a guy playing a collegiate sport for a span of 7 years. i think this may be the probmlem with the legitimacy of the league and trying to represent itself as a college sport. i believe this would let it be classified as an activity or extra cirricular activity, and maybe it is taken this way. and HP relax buddy, i think people are trying to keep your league ledgit so pipe down and dont be so angry. no one is saying that your boy is ineligble, simply the facts are rare of a college sport. this is great that a kid can play this long and i am not against it, juts not for a league trying to justify their legitimacy.

He wouldnt be the longest...you boys at McK know who Im talking about.

10:19 Post - that's only 1 game...They've lost other games with him in the nets, so we're blaming the other goalies for the Vermont loss and because of that, they shouldn't get other chances in blowout games? Seems like he missed the bus on a recent trip, another goalie played and MSU won. Yet that goalie didn't get the next start against the same team. Guess they reward the guy for missing the bus by letting him play the second game, against a team they beat the night before. Oh well.

As far as the eligibility stuff, I assumed your eligibility begins your first semester and then 5 years from that date. By what's on this site, it appears that is not correct. So if I start in fall 2008, don't go back the spring semester, take 6 years off of school, and go back to finish, I can play 9 more semesters even though I'm 6 years older? Just a question.

R-men ice hockey ties games vs. SLU
Gretchen Moore
Issue date: 11/3/03 Section: Sports



The Rivermen ice hockey team faced up with the Billikens of St. Louis University on Oct. 24 and 25, for a two-game series. UM-St. Louis came out with both a 2-2 and 5-5 tie. Coach Neal Diepenbrock reflected on the Rivermen's games. "We need stronger finishes. We have a strong defense and great team unity. We just need to work on breakouts and balanced scoring."
Freshman goalie Mike Poepping thought the communication among the team was good. " We played very strong, but need to work on conditioning. We are only getting better as time goes on."

1. Does the phrase, "seven years of college down the drain" ring a bell to anyone? Toga, toga, toga!

2. Can the host please reset the settings so that the next post is not indented? I feel like my face is caught in an elevator.

Oh and props to Luke for speaking his mind and putting his name behind it. It's refreshing to read someone's opinion and have it backed up by his sig. Keep up the fun/hard work young man.

Oh, and I can't cuz I'm a dad and my son would kill me if I ID'd myself.

Peace and good luck to all.

I believe in 2003 SLU had two teams a D1 and a D2 so my guess is that the Rivermen played the SLU D2 team. If this guy gets six years of ACHA D2 eligibility isn't he about done? Come on Blutarski give it up man. There's a job out there with your name on it. Or you may want to transfer to Lindenwood you have not played there yet. Your about the right aget to be a freshmen there. lol

Ok, so here's what I think I figured out...

If you respond to the initial message, your post won't get squished over to the right side. Hitting "Respond.." now to see if it works.

I might be old (and ugly) but I'm not stewpitt.

May I suggest everyone scroll up to the initial message to avoid the right margin squeeze?

Carry on...

SLU HAS A GOALTENDER WITH GOOD LEAGUE STATS. HE IS A FRESHMAN.

MINS W - L GAPG SPCT
258:28 4 - 0 2.55 .920

Please list all of his games not just D2 wins. His GAA is over 7.00. It's not entirely his fault if the teams not playing in front of him against tougher competition he is alone. But, you have to count all games that you play goal in.

Poepping is the best goalie ever, just ask him! He is just trying to hold out for a contract so give him a break.

i want to fight a goalie, i'll let you use your blocker. any takers?

im in, lets do this richie...

2003? So does MACHA let you have 10 semesters even though they may all be years apart? Semester here, semester there....

Are we sure it's the same Poepping? I smell scandal!

Hey you guys are finally figuring it out. Eastern Michigan, Iowa State and others on all levels D1 and D2 have abused the ACHA this way for years. It's easy to do if you have "cement heads" as players that really have no goal as to when or if they get their degree. The ACHA doesn't have the staff to check on this stuff or they choose not to. So all you recruiters go find yourselves some players that don't give a damn about their education and win the club championship.

Teams do get called on it now...two examples related to our league..


1. DePaul a few years ago finally got caught and had to forfeit games.

2. Palmer last season had one player that had played clud at Ohio, and then two players that played 4 years of D3 NCAA in New York. One of those players even had a short tryout contract with a United Hockey League team. In Palmers case they decided that if they couldn't have their good players then they would lose. So instead of losing they chose to just quit the league.

I think the points that are being made here are a joke. Lets look at the facts.

We know he played as a freshman in 2003-2004, we don't know if he played one or two semesters. We then know that he transferred to Missouri State in 2004.

So he is a 5th year college student at this point. Do you know how many kids graduate in 4 years? (According to the National Education Council 56% of Bachelor Degree graduates in Missouri do so in their 6th year.)

He missed a semester or two of hockey because of grades but he remained enrolled in college and has not had that issue for the past two years. So like many freshman he didn't have his priorities straight but he addressed that problem. (Missouri State's hockey program assists their players in this regard with a support group.)

So he sounds like a pretty typical college student, playing hockey within the rules that he didn't create.

The ONLY question remains is how many more semesters of eligibility does he have. Not that he has done anything wrong or that he doesn't understand why he is in college.

You're right. But I think that once a player has appeared in even one game in a season you have competed for a season. It does not go my semester. I think that he would have to petition the ACHA to extend his playing days.

While that may seem logical to you and me. That is not what the rule states.

4. A Mens Division II Student athlete shall have ten (10) semesters of ACHA
eligibility

As far as just playing in one game....this may help there....


8. A Mens Division 2 student athlete participating in less than 20% of his teams
games (including preseason & exhibition) shall not lose a year of ACHA Mens
Division 2 eligibility in any one season. Red-Shirted student athletes names
must be submitted at the beginning of the season along with the teams
registration form

You can tell the ACHA expected situations like the one with the young man at MSU because of this rule...


10. No student athlete may participate in more than five (5) national
tournaments (including regional tournaments). [2006]

It is so difficult to police and enforce all this stuff because not everyone is complately honest and some people will do anything to win. I DO NOT feel it is like that at MSU, not at all.

can you not count...03 to present is 6 years, not 5. maybe we have a whole other problem in this league, counting.

You are correct. (Now starting with your pinky finger "count" 3 to the middle of your hand.)

WSR what say you?

Good thing nobody of official capacity looks at or takes his forum seriously. Please investigate your "facts" before speculating. I'm sure there is no way MSU would jeopardize losing their "top goalie, who is ready to sign an NHL contract, that hardly ever sees over 30 shots a game with the highly talented team that he has in front of him, who is a hot dog, who probably started this thread?....." because they messed up on knowing how much eligibility he has?? Again, I think not.

I see it's moved from picking on coaches to picking on the team...which is playing better, to picking on individual players. This shows how unclassy the rest of you are. Keep it going though. Have you ever stopped to think that no one from MSU even cares to respond? Although, I think there is one Bears fan that does.

doesn't matter how many years someone is in school, it matters how many they are rostered. That's the ONLY math that matters for this topic.

this whole blog has gotten so ridiculous...cheers to michael poepping's 7 year career at a educationally dog**** school

Trashing the academics of Missouri State if your affiliated with any MACHA school is comical as you clearly have no clue.

As an example of how stupid your comment is consider the fact that Forbes in August rated Missouri State higher than St. Louis University, oh and it costs about 1/4 as much.

I don't really want to debate the merits of any MACHA school's academics but to trash any of them is shallow and I guess we just got a good look into your intellectual depth.