November 12, 2006
INCH Power Rankings

There are no new teams in this week's edition of the INCH Power Rankings, but there was significant movement among those teams pegged as the top 20. Despite Maine's loss to New Hampshire, we've still got them pegged as No. 1, largely due to the fact that they have already beaten the one team that truly can make a case for taking over that spot.

Here's how the Inside College Hockey editors and staff rank the nation's top teams (along with a note for each team).

No.	Team		Of Note
1.	Maine	—	What's worse? Shanking a potential game-tying extra point and losing 10-9 in football, or giving up eight goals to archrival UNH in your own barn for your first loss of the season?
8-1-1 (3-1-1 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: W vs. UMass Lowell, 4-1; L vs. New Hampshire, 8-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston College.
2.	Minnesota	—	Two more goals for Jay Barriball, who is looking like the Gophers' best #26 of the past two seasons anyway (sorry Phil).
8-1-2 (4-0-2 WCHA). LAST WEEK: T vs. St. Cloud State, 5-5; T at St. Cloud State, 3-3. THIS WEEK: vs. Wisconsin, vs. Wisconsin.
3.	Michigan State	1	Calgary Flames owner and head of the NHL Board of Governors Harley Hotchkiss, a former Spartan skater, will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto Monday.
5-2-1 (3-2-1 CCHA). LAST WEEK: T vs. Ferris State, 2-2 ot; W at Ferris State, 6-0. THIS WEEK: at Notre Dame, vs. Notre Dame.
4.	North Dakota	2	While the hockey team rested, a judge ruled the school can still use the "Fighting Sioux" name — until an April trial begins anyway.
6-3-1 (4-1-1 WCHA). LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: at Alaska Anchorage, at Alaska Anchorage.
5.	Boston College	2	Inconsistency is the mark of a young team. Heading into the season, though, this didn't look like your ordinary young team.
6-3-0 (3-1-0 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: L vs. Harvard, 4-0; W vs. Merrimack, 3-1. THIS WEEK: at Northeastern, at Maine.
6.	Miami	1	Junior forward Nathan Davis was held scoreless in Friday's loss at Lake Superior State, ending stretch of multiple-point games at five.
8-4-0 (5-3-0 CCHA). LAST WEEK: L at Lake Superior State, 2-1; W at Lake Superior State, 4-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Nebraska-Omaha, vs. Nebraska-Omaha.
7.	Boston University	—	The Terriers haven't won a game in over three weeks, but they've only lost one out of four games during that stretch.
2-1-4 (2-1-3 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: T at New Hampshire, 4-4 ot. THIS WEEK: at Vermont, vs. Providence.
8.	Michigan	2	Others get the pub, but junior forward Kevin Porter quietly shares the team lead in scoring with 19 points and ranks tied for third nationally with 10 goals.
7-3-0 (4-2-0 CCHA). LAST WEEK: W vs. Nebraska-Omaha, 6-4; W vs. Nebraska-Omaha, 5-1. THIS WEEK: at Ferris State, at Ferris State.
9.	Notre Dame	2	At 8-1-1, the Fighting Irish are off to their best start since opening the 1998-99 campaign with the exact same mark.
8-1-1 (3-0-1 CCHA). LAST WEEK: W vs. Bowling Green, 5-2; W vs. Bowling Green, 4-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan State, at Michigan State.
10.	Denver	2	Score one for the veteran as Ryan Dingle netted two in regulation and set up the OT winner on Saturday as the Pioneers swept in Madison.
6-4-0 (4-2-0 WCHA). LAST WEEK: W at Wisconsin, 2-0; W at Wisconsin, 4-3 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan Tech, vs. Michigan Tech.
11.	New Hampshire	4	The Wildcats haven't lost (3-0-1) since dropping back-to-back games against UMass and Yale to close out October.
5-2-1 (3-1-1 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: T vs. Boston University, 4-4 ot; W at Maine, 8-2. THIS WEEK: at UMass Lowell, vs. UMass Lowell.
12.	Dartmouth	2	The Big Green held Colgate and Cornell to a combined 1-for-23 on the power play over the weekend.
4-2-0 (3-2-0 ECACHL). LAST WEEK: W at Colgate, 6-3; W at Cornell, 3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Yale, vs. Brown.
13.	Cornell	3	Mitch Carefoot had a penalty shot saved by Dartmouth goalie Mike Devine in the second period of Saturday's game.
5-1-0 (3-1-0 ECACHL). LAST WEEK: W vs. Harvard, 3-2; L vs. Dartmouth, 3-2. THIS WEEK: at Princeton, at Quinnipiac.
14.	Clarkson	5	An ominous start to an 0-2 weekend: Clarkson trailed 2-0 just 2:09 into Friday's game against Quinnipiac.
6-3-1 (2-2-0 ECACHL). LAST WEEK: L vs. Quinnipiac, 6-4; L vs. Princeton, 3-2. THIS WEEK: at St. Cloud State, at St. Cloud State.
15.	Wisconsin	7	The hits just keep on coming. Highly-regarded recruit Nigel Williams left the team earlier in the week, and then Denver left town with four valuable WCHA points.
4-6-2 (3-4-1 WCHA). LAST WEEK: L vs. Denver, 2-0; L vs. Denver, 4-3 ot. THIS WEEK: at Minnesota, at Minnesota.
16.	Massachusetts	2	The Minutemen are winning the games they're supposed to and sitting pretty alone atop Hockey East.
5-1-1 (4-1-0 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: W vs. Northeastern, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Connecticut.
17.	Rensselaer	—	Oren Eizenman had three points on Sunday against Merrimack and took over the team's scoring lead.
4-1-3 (1-0-1 ECACHL). LAST WEEK: W vs. Merrimack, 4-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Sacred Heart.
18.	Alaska	5	Playing it close to the vest: In their last eight games, the Nanooks have two one goal wins, two one-goal losses, three ties, and a two-goal win with an empty-net tally.
5-2-3 (3-1-2 CCHA). LAST WEEK: T at Northern Michigan, 2-2 ot; L at Northern Michigan, 3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Lake Superior State, vs. Lake Superior State.
19.	Colorado College	—	Home cooking ahead. Tigers play only three road games (versus nine home games) in the next two months.
5-4-1 (2-2-0 WCHA). LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota State, vs. Minnesota State.
20.	Michigan Tech	—	Tech's three-point weekend (keeping them unbeaten at home) included the school's first 0-0 tie since an identical score vs. NoDak in March 1968.
6-3-1 (3-2-1 WCHA). LAST WEEK: T vs. Minnesota Duluth, 0-0 ot; W vs. Minnesota Duluth, 4-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota Duluth, vs. Minnesota Duluth.

Dropped out: None

Bubble-licious: St. Lawrence, Northern Michigan, Sacred Heart, St. Cloud State