February 6, 2011
INCH Power Rankings

Related Links
Last Week's INCH Power Rankings
USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Poll
USCHO.com/CSTV Poll

Boston College remains on top of the INCH Power Rankings and Miami moved back into the top 10 following a sweep of Michigan.

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. Boston College
BC's Beanpot tuneup was a 5-0 win over UMass that included two goals and an assist from defenseman Philip Samuelsson. Now the Eagles seek their fourth win of the season against BU in the Beanpot semifinals Monday.
19-6-0 (15-5-0 Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Massachusetts, 5-0; THIS WEEK: vs. Boston University (Beanpot Tournament), at Providence
2. Yale
Even though the teams reside at opposite ends of the standings, it still means a lot when Yale beats Ancient Eight-rival Harvard. Even more for senior Jimmy Martin, who scored the only goal in a 1-0 win.
19-4-0 (13-3-0 ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Harvard, 1-0; W vs. Dartmouth, 4-2. THIS WEEK: at St. Lawrence, at Clarkson
3. Minnesota Duluth
2
With five goals in Saturday’s 6-4 win against Minnesota, Bulldog forward Mike Connolly tied the school record for most goals in one game, equaling the mark set by Steve "Pokey" Trachsel against Lake Superior State on Nov. 17, 1972.
18-5-4 (13-4-3 WCHA) LAST WEEK: T vs. Minnesota, 2-2 ot; W vs. Minnesota, 6-4. THIS WEEK: vs. St. Cloud State, vs. St. Cloud State
4. North Dakota
The series between the Fighting Sioux and Alaska Anchorage, this weekend’s opponent, has been surprisingly close in recent years. Since the start of the 2006-07 season, NoDak owns a 7-4-2 edge on the Seawolves.
19-8-2 (14-6-0 WCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Alaska Anchorage, vs. Alaska Anchorage
5. Denver
2
Call it a Shore Trick: Nick Shore scored a pair of goals and older brother, Drew, scored during a second-period power play in the Pioneers’ 5-3 win against Colorado College Saturday.
17-6-5 (13-4-3 WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Colorado College, 3-2; W vs. Colorado College, 5-3. THIS WEEK: at Minnesota, at Minnesota
6. New Hampshire
UNH's top line of Mike Sislo, Paul Thompson and Phil DeSimone gets most of the attention, but the Wildcats got goals from three lines in both wins over Maine this weekend.
17-5-4 (15-2-2 Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Maine, 6-3; W vs. Maine, 5-4. THIS WEEK: vs. Merrimack, at Merrimack
7. Union
1
Union has won five straight and nine of their last 10 to reach the 20-win plateau for the season, the first team in college hockey to achieve that feat. Friday's win saw the Dutchmen rally from a 4-1 deficit and score the game's last six goals.
20-7-3 (12-3-1 ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Princeton, 7-4; W at Quinnipiac, 3-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Cornell, vs. Colgate
8. Rensselaer
1
RPI overcame an injury to starting goalie Allen York and a couple of significant third-period delays due to ice issues at Baker Rink to get a 5-2 win over Princeton. Tyler Helfrich had four points in the victory.
18-6-4 (10-5-1 ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: T at Quinnipiac, 3-3 ot; W at Princeton, 5-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Colgate, vs. Cornell
9. Merrimack
1
There was no shortage of highlights in an 11-2 win for Merrimack. Chris Barton had points on the Warriors' first four goals, and capped the night by scoring the team's 11th. Barton also had four assists in a 4-3 ot win over Merrimack.
17-5-4 (11-5-3 Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W at Northeastern, 4-3 ot; W vs. Massachusetts, 11-2. THIS WEEK: at New Hampshire, vs. New Hampshire
10. Miami
3
The RedHawks’ special teams played a huge role in their sweep of Michigan in Oxford last weekend. Miami was a perfect 12 of 12 on the penalty kill and scored three power-play goals in 13 chances.
16-9-5 (13-7-4 CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan, 4-2; W vs. Michigan, 3-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Western Michigan, vs. Western Michigan
11. Wisconsin
The Jan. 28-29 series at Michigan Tech started a stretch of six road games over the final five weeks of the regular season for the Badgers, which played a total of eight road games between an Oct. 22-23 trip to Denver and a Jan. 15-16 visit to Minnesota Duluth.
19-8-3 (11-7-2 WCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: at Nebraska-Omaha, at Nebraska-Omaha
12. Michigan
3
Saturday’s 3-0 shutout loss to Miami marked just the second time in the 97 meetings between the two teams that the Wolverines had been blanked by the RedHawks.
17-9-4 (14-7-1 CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Miami, 4-2; L at Miami, 3-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Ohio State, vs. Ohio State
13. Notre Dame
1
Last week marked the first time in school history the Fighting Irish men’s and women’s basketball and hockey teams simultaneously appeared in the top-10 in their respective national rankings.
16-9-5 (13-6-3 CCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Bowling Green, vs. Bowling Green
14. Western Michigan
The Broncos scored a total of four goals in its win and tie against Bowling Green last weekend. That equals the number of catches Kalamazoo native and WMU alum Greg Jennings had in Green Bay’s win over Pittsburgh in Sunday’s Super Bowl XLV.
15-6-9 (9-5-8 CCHA) LAST WEEK: T vs. Bowling Green, 1-1 ot; W vs. Bowling Green, 3-1. THIS WEEK: at Miami, at Miami
15. Boston University
BU is riding a three-game unbeaten streak into the first Beanpot Monday, and even though the Terriers haven't managed a win against BC this year, the games have been closer each time.
13-7-7 (10-5-5 Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. UMass Lowell, 3-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston College (Beanpot Tournament), at Massachusetts
16. Nebraska-Omaha
3
In Friday’s 3-0 shutout of visiting St. Cloud State, the Mavericks scored thrice in a 3:25 span of the second. In UNO’s 4-3 win over the Huskies Saturday, the Mavs rallied with three third-period goals in 3:30.
16-10-2 (12-6-2 WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. St. Cloud State, 3-0; W vs. St. Cloud State, 4-3. THIS WEEK: vs. Wisconsin, vs. Wisconsin
17. Dartmouth
1
The Big Green have put together a pretty solid NCAA Tournament resume with notable wins over Union and New Hampshire, and five of Dartmouth's seven losses have come against top-10 teams Yale and Rensselaer.
13-7-3 (9-5-2 ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Brown, 3-0; L at Yale, 4-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Quinnipiac, vs. Princeton
18. Colorado College
2
Three times this season, the Tigers have climbed to four games above .500 but failed in their attempt to go five over the break-even mark. With its 5-3 win at home against CC Saturday, Denver is the latest team to keep the Tigers from getting to plus-five.
16-13-1 (10-10-0 WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Denver, 3-2; L at Denver, 5-3. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota State, vs. Minnesota State
19. RIT
NR
RIT fans are getting their money's worth if they're paying by the minute. The Tigers have played four consecutive overtime games and four straight home games have gone to the extra session.
14-8-7 (13-3-6 Atlantic Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Air Force, 1-0 ot; T vs. Air Force, 5-5 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Canisius, at Canisius
20. Maine
2
Maine hangs on to the last spot by default after another pair of losses, but the Black Bears' schedule is more manageable over the next four games, as it includes six games against Vermont, UMass Lowell and Massachusetts.
11-9-6 (8-7-4 Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L at New Hampshire, 6-3; L at New Hampshire, 5-4. THIS WEEK: vs. Vermont, vs. Vermont

Dropped out: Princeton

Bubble-licious: Cornell, Princeton, Robert Morris