Miami hasn't stumbled often in the CCHA, but
dropped a game against Nebraska-Omaha this weekend. That,
coupled with Denver's sweep of Michigan Tech, elevated the
Pioneers back to the top spot in this week's INCH Power Rankings.
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. |
 Denver |
 1 |
The Pioneers, who've won eight in a row and are 11-1-2
since Jan. 1, can lock up the WCHA regular-season title
with a sweep at Minnesota State this weekend. |
| 22-6-4 (16-4-4
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan Tech, 5-2; W vs. Michigan
Tech, 5-3. THIS WEEK: at Minnesota State, at Minnesota
State |
| 2. |
 Miami |
 1 |
Saturday's loss to Nebraska-Omaha not only snapped the
RedHawks' eight-game winning streak and 11-game unbeaten
streak, it also curtailed their 23-game CCHA unbeaten
streak. Miami's last league loss came against Michigan
State on Oct. 24. |
| 23-5-6 (20-2-4
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Nebraska-Omaha, 6-2; L vs. Nebraska-Omaha,
4-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Ohio State, at Ohio State |
| 3. |
 Yale |
1 |
The Bulldogs broke out of a 4-1 deficit with three goals
in a 51-second span and went on to an overtime victory
over Clarkson Saturday, which included a hat trick from
Broc Little. |
| 18-6-3 (14-4-2
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. St. Lawrence, 7-5; W vs.
Clarkson, 5-4 ot. THIS WEEK: at Princeton, at Quinnipiac |
| 4. |
 Wisconsin |
1 |
For a team that's 11 games on the good side of .500,
the Badgers haven't been streaky at all. UW hasn't lost
consecutive games this season, but on the flip side, they
haven't won more than three in a row. |
| 19-8-4 (14-7-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. St. Cloud State, 5-1; W vs. St.
Cloud State, 7-4. THIS WEEK: at Michigan Tech, at Michigan
Tech |
| 5. |
 St.
Cloud State |
— |
The Huskies haven't lost very often lately—just
three times since Jan. 1—but when they do, they
get their money's worth. In those three second-half defeats,
they've allowed a total of 21 goals. |
| 20-10-4
(15-8-3 WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Wisconsin, 5-1; L at Wisconsin,
7-4. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 6. |
 North
Dakota |
4 |
Maybe Mario Lamoureux should drop the gloves more often.
After serving a one-game suspension Friday for his pre-empted
tete-a-tete with St. Cloud State's Aaron Marvin, he returned
to the lineup Saturday and scored twice in the Fighting
Sioux's 5-1 win over Minnesota Duluth. |
| 16-11-5
(11-10-3 WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Minnesota Duluth, 5-2;
W vs. Minnesota Duluth, 5-1. THIS WEEK: at Colorado College,
at Colorado College |
| 7. |
 Cornell
|
— |
A two-goal lead in the last 10 minutes for Cornell is
a done deal. Not so fast my friend. Dartmouth scored three
times in the last half of the third period to hand the
Big Red its first loss when leading after two periods
in 12 games this year (10-1-1). |
| 16-8-3 (13-5-2
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Harvard, 3-0; L at Dartmouth,
5-4. THIS WEEK: vs. Union, vs. Rensselaer |
| 8. |
 Michigan
State |
— |
The Spartans haven't won back-to-back games since reeling
off five straight wins from Dec. 11-Jan. 8. That streak
started with a pair of wins against Bowling Green, who,
coincidentally, is MSU's opponent this weekend. |
| 18-11-5
(13-8-5 CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Ferris State, 4-1; W vs.
Ferris State, 3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Bowling Green, at Bowling
Green |
| 9. |
 Bemidji
State |
3 |
Big weekend for the Beavers: BSU clinched its third
straight College Hockey America regular-season championship
Friday by beating Niagara. The following night, the Beavers
played the final game at John Glas Fieldhouse, their home
for 43 seasons. |
| 21-7-2 (13-3-0
CHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Niagara, 3-2; W vs. Niagara, 6-1.
THIS WEEK: at Nebraska-Omaha, at Nebraska-Omaha |
| 10. |
 Union |
3 |
Mario Valery-Trabucco set Union's single-season scoring
record with his 39th point of the year in Friday's win.
He added another goal Saturday, his 19th of the year. |
| 18-8-6 (12-4-4
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Princeton, 4-1; W vs. Quinnipiac,
7-3. THIS WEEK: at Cornell, at Colgate |
| 11. |
 Boston
College |
1 |
Some of it is due to a glut of weeknight games, but
the Eagles haven't won two games in the same weekend since
Dec. 4-5 – something they'll have to do in the next
month to advance in Hockey East playoffs and an NCAA regional. |
| 18-10-2
(13-8-2 Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L at Northeastern, 3-2;
W vs. Northeastern, 7-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Merrimack, at
Massachusetts |
| 12. |
 Minnesota
Duluth |
3 |
The Bulldogs lost seven games in the 100 days between
their Oct. 9 season opener and an overtime win at Minnesota
State. Following this past weekend's pair of losses at
North Dakota, UMD has lost six times in the last 30 days. |
| 18-13-1
(14-9-1 WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at North Dakota, 5-2; L at
North Dakota, 5-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota, vs. Minnesota |
| 13. |
 Colorado
College |
3 |
This weekend's series against North Dakota in Colorado
Springs will have a playoff feel—the Tigers and
the Sioux are tied for fifth place in the WCHA standings.
And with CC facing Denver and NoDak getting Michigan Tech
to end the regular season, expect the hosts to play with
urgency. |
| 17-12-3
(11-10-3 WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Minnesota, 3-0; L at Minnesota,
7-4. THIS WEEK: vs. North Dakota, vs. North Dakota |
| 14. |
 Ferris
State |
— |
With one more win, the Bulldogs will reach 20 victories
for the first time since the 2002-03 season when Chris
Kunitz and Co. won 31 games and led Ferris to its first
CCHA regular-season championship and NCAA tournament berth. |
| 19-11-4
(13-9-4 CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan State, 4-1; L
at Michigan State, 3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Western Michigan,
at Western Michigan |
| 15. |
 New
Hampshire |
1 |
The Wildcats have certainly received enough scoring
to win, scoring at least two goals in every game since
the start of November, after being held to one goal three
times in October (all losses). |
| 15-10-5
(14-5-4 Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Vermont, 5-4 ot;
T vs. Vermont, 3-3 ot. THIS WEEK: at Northeastern, vs.
Northeastern |
| 16. |
 Maine |
1 |
Saturday's loss to UMass Lowell snapped a nine-game
Maine winning streak at Alfond Arena. The Black Bears
are 10-3-1 at home this season. |
| 15-12-3
(12-9-2 Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. UMass Lowell, 8-4;
L vs. UMass Lowell, 4-2. THIS WEEK: at Merrimack, at Merrimack |
| 17. |
 Nebraska-Omaha |
— |
The odds of the Mavericks being part of a scoreless
tie are negligible. Among CCHA teams, only Miami (119)
and Michigan (106) have scored more goals than UNO's 105
this season, but only Bowling Green (119) has given up
more than the Mavs' 103. |
| 17-13-6
(13-12-3 CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Miami, 6-2; W at Miami,
4-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Bemidji State, vs. Bemidji State |
| 18. |
 Alaska |
NR |
You can't win if you can't score: that's the philosophy
the Nanooks have used during their current six-game unbeaten
streak. Led by goaltender Scott Greenham, Alaska has allowed
a total of six goals during that span. |
| 14-9-9 (11-9-8
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Lake Superior State, 4-0; W vs.
Lake Superior State, 5-1. THIS WEEK: at Alaska Anchorage,
at Alaska Anchorage |
| 19. |
 RIT |
NR |
RIT's win over Air Force Friday clinched
the Tigers their third Atlantic Hockey regular season
title in the last four years, with Tyler Mazzei scoring
in overtime. Goalie Jared DeMichiel earned his fifth shutout
of the year Saturday. |
| 20-11-1
(20-5-1 Atlantic Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Air Force, 3-2
ot; W vs. Air Force, 3-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Canisius, vs.
Canisius |
| 20. |
 Boston
University |
1 |
The Terriers are currently in position for a home-ice
playoff series in the Hockey East quarterfinals, which
is a good thing because BU is 6-1-0 in its last seven
home games. |
| 14-13-3
(11-10-2 Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L at Providence, 5-4;
W vs. Providence, 2-1. THIS WEEK: at Vermont, at Vermont |