Last week saw two big series involving ranked
teams end in splits — Vermont at Northeastern and Colorado
College at Wisconsin. Two more power series are on tap this
week, as Denver visits North Dakota and New Hampshire and
Boston University play a home-and-home.
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. |
 Notre
Dame |
— |
Almost all-conference: Forward Christian Hanson, the
Fighting Irish's leading scorer, has scored 12 of his
14 goals and 24 of his 26 points this season against CCHA
foes. |
| 19-3-3 (13-2-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Lake Superior State, 3-2; T at Lake
Superior State, 3-3 ot. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 2. |
 Cornell
|
 1 |
In seven games for Cornell since being left off of Canada's
roster for the World Junior Championship, Riley Nash has
eight points on four goals and four assists. |
| 13-1-3 (8-0-2
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Union, 4-1; W vs. Rensselaer,
3-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Yale, vs. Brown |
| 3. |
 Boston
University |
 1 |
The Terriers have two wins and a tie this year against
their rivals from Boston College and have outscored the
Eagles 9-4 in those meetings – a nice rebound from
last year's 0-3-1 mark against BC and Tuesday's loss to
Providence. |
| 16-5-1 (9-5-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L vs. Providence, 4-2; W at Merrimack,
4-1; W vs. Boston College, 5-2. THIS WEEK: vs. New Hampshire,
at New Hampshire |
| 4. |
 Denver |
— |
Travelin' man: Former Pioneer Brett Skinner was traded
by the Islanders to Atlanta, which immediately assigned
him to its American Hockey League affiliate in Chicago
– the sixth AHL team he's played for in less than
four seasons as a pro.
|
| 15-6-2 (11-4-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: at North Dakota, at North
Dakota |
| 5. |
 Northeastern |
— |
The Huskies' 3-1 win on Friday night behind Brad Thiessen's
32 saves was just the first time all year that Vermont
was held under two goals in a game. |
| 15-5-2 (11-3-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Vermont, 3-1; L vs. Vermont,
4-2. THIS WEEK: at Providence, vs. Providence |
| 6. |
 Vermont |
— |
Viktor Stalberg factored on four of Vermont's five goals
this weekend, including two goals and an assist in Saturday's
win. The Huskies and Catamounts combined for 98 penalty
minutes in the series. |
| 13-5-3 (8-4-2
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L at Northeastern, 3-1; W at Northeastern,
4-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Massachusetts, vs. Massachusetts |
| 7. |
 Minnesota |
1 |
This past weekend's sweep of St. Cloud State could go
down as the breakout series for Gopher defenseman Aaron
Ness, who had four assists and plus-minus rating of +3
in the two wins. |
| 12-5-5 (9-4-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. St. Cloud State, 5-1; W at St.
Cloud State, 8-6. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 8. |
 Michigan |
1 |
Billy Sauer sighting! The senior, who hadn't made a
start since a Nov. 29 loss at Wisconsin, turned aside
all 19 shots he faced in a 1-0 shutout of Bowling Green
Saturday. |
| 16-8-0 (10-6-0
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Bowling Green, 3-0; W at Bowling
Green, 1-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan State (Joe Louis Arena),
vs. Michigan State |
| 9. |
 Princeton |
— |
Here's a reason for optimism while Princeton waits to
break its three-game losing streak. The Tigers' next four
opponents are a combined 15 games under .500 (22-37-14),
for a winning percentage of just .397. |
| 13-5-0 (8-4-0
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 10. |
 Ohio
State |
2 |
The Buckeyes' 11-game win streak was halted
Saturday thanks to a goal by Ferris State's Zach Redmond,
who scored the tying goal in a 2-2 draw with 57 seconds
left in regulation. |
| 16-6-2 (9-5-2
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Ferris State, 6-2; T at Ferris State,
2-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Western Michigan, vs. Western Michigan |
| 11. |
 Miami |
— |
Crazy eights: Three RedHawks – forwards Andy Miele,
Justin Mercier, and Gary Steffes – boosted their
goal totals on the season to eight in Saturday's 6-1 rout
of Michigan State. |
| 13-8-3 (11-5-2
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Michigan State, 4-1; W vs. Michigan
State, 6-1. THIS WEEK: at Nebraska-Omaha, at Nebraska-Omaha |
| 12. |
 Colorado
College |
1 |
Coach Scott Owens, trying to get his inconsistent Tigers
untracked after Friday's 6-1 drubbing at Wisconsin, benched
freshman defenseman Gabe Guentzel and senior forward Scott
McCulloch for Saturday's rematch. The team took note,
eking out a 4-3 win. |
| 13-8-5 (9-7-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Wisconsin, 6-1; W at Wisconsin,
4-3. THIS WEEK: vs. St. Cloud State, vs. St. Cloud State |
| 13. |
 New
Hampshire |
2 |
The Wildcats are unbeaten in seven games (6-0-1) heading
into this weekend's series against Boston University.
This run of good play follows a stretch where they won
just once in eight games (1-5-2). |
| 11-6-4 (7-4-3
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Dartmouth, 6-4. THIS WEEK:
at Boston University, vs. Boston University |
| 14. |
 Boston
College |
4 |
Sophomore defenseman Nick Petrecki plays with an edge,
but got sat down for Saturday's game against BU after
committing 19 minutes in penalties against UMass Lowell.
Petrecki's 91 PIMs are 13 more than the next-most penalized
player. Only four other players in the country have more
than 70. |
| 9-8-3 (5-7-3
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L vs. UMass Lowell, 4-3 ot; L
at Boston University, 5-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Maine, vs. Maine |
| 15. |
 Wisconsin |
2 |
Junior forwards Andy Bombach and John Mitchell have
each scored 10 points in the Badgers' last eight games.
Mitchell had a goal and four assists in the split with
Colorado College this past weekend. |
| 13-10-3
(10-6-2 WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Colorado College, 6-1;
L vs. Colorado College, 4-3. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 16. |
 North
Dakota |
2 |
The Fighting Sioux head into this weekend's series against
Denver unbeaten in their last six games (5-0-1), and have
outscored their opponents 28-13 during that span. |
| 14-10-2
(9-5-2 WCHA) LAST WEEK: T at Michigan Tech, 3-3 ot; W
at Michigan Tech, 5-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Denver, vs. Denver |
| 17. |
 Dartmouth |
1 |
The Big Green can put some goals on the board. They've
scored four or more in 10 of their 17 games. In the other
seven, they've been blanked once and limited to just one
goal five other times. |
| 10-7-0 (7-4-0
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: L vs. New Hampshire, 6-4. THIS
WEEK: at Holy Cross, vs. Harvard |
| 18. |
 Air
Force
|
4 |
The Falcons are just 2-3-1 in their last six league
games and have seen RIT move into first place in Atlantic
Hockey by virtue of their nine-game winning streak. |
| 15-6-1 (12-3-1
Atlantic Hockey) LAST WEEK: L vs. Canisius, 5-4; L vs.
Canisius, 4-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Army, vs. Army |
| 19. |
 Alaska |
NR |
The possibility of Alaska grabbing a first-round bye
in the CCHA playoffs is becoming very real. The Nanooks'
remaining series are at cellar dwellers Northern Michigan
and Western Michigan and home sets with Ferris State and
Ohio State. |
| 11-8-5 (9-7-4
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Nebraska-Omaha, 2-0; T vs. Nebraska-Omaha,
1-1 ot. THIS WEEK: at Northern Michigan, at Northern Michigan |
| 20. |
 Minnesota
Duluth |
NR |
In his first career start for the Bulldogs, freshman
goaltender Brady Hjelle stopped 23 of 25 shots he faced
in UMD's 4-2 win against visiting Bemidji State. |
| 11-7-6 (5-6-5
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Bemidji State, 3-2; W vs. Bemidji
State, 4-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota State, vs. Minnesota
State |