Inside College Hockey | INCH Power Rankings

October 19, 2003
INCH Power Rankings

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Last week's rankings

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As the heavyweights slugged it out in Grand Forks (be sure to check out the INCH Slideshow), plenty of other statements were made this past weekend. Providence and Union remained unbeaten, and earned spots in the rankings, while Ohio State made the biggest move. It gets even better in the weeks ahead, as the Ivies join the party.

Here's how the Inside College Hockey editors and staff ranks the nation's top teams. You can let us know what you think and we'll share your thoughts below.

No.	Team		Notes
1.	New Hampshire	1	Here's hoping that Wildcat students don't get too worked up about a No. 1 ranking.
LAST WEEK: W vs. Merrimack, 4-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Canisius, vs. Niagara (Xerox Punch Imlach College Hockey Showcase).
2.	Boston College	1	North Dakota reminds Boston fans: leads of three are never safe.
LAST WEEK: L at North Dakota, 6-4; W at North Dakota, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Notre Dame, vs. UMass Lowell.
3.	North Dakota	–	Who's that dynamic forward establishing himself as an early Hobey favorite? You're right if you said Brandon Bochenski.
LAST WEEK: W vs. Boston College, 6-4; L vs. Boston College, 2-1. THIS WEEK: Off.
4.	Minnesota	–	We're guessing the word "refocus" came up in practice at some point last week.
LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota Duluth, vs. Minnesota Duluth.
5.	Harvard	–	It's an exhibition game against Guelph Friday, but at least it's a game.
LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Guelph (Ex.).
6.	Maine	1	Colin Shields has three goals in three games, great news for the Black Bears after he struggled late last year.
LAST WEEK: W vs. U.S. Under-18 Team (Ex.), 9-2; W vs. Holy Cross, 7-0. THIS WEEK: at St. Lawrence, at St. Lawrence.
7.	Boston University	1	Just like last year, the Terriers battle to a tie with Vermont.
LAST WEEK: T at Vermont, 2-2 ot. THIS WEEK: at Providence.
8.	Michigan	–	Who'd have thought the Wolverines would be happy to have the Atlantic Hockey portion of the schedule complete?
LAST WEEK: W vs. Quinnipiac, 5-4; W vs. Quinnipiac, 3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Northern Michigan, vs. Northern Michigan.
9.	Massachusetts	–	A win vs. Holy Cross would give the Minutemen a 4-0-0 start for the first time since 1971-72, when they played in Division II.
LAST WEEK: W vs. St. Lawrence, 5-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Holy Cross.
10.	Cornell	–	Freshman goalie David McKee impressed in the team's Red-White Game.
LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. U.S. Under-18 Team (Ex.).
11.	Denver	–	Pioneers, off to a good start, have a bye week to prepare for Halloween showdown at Minnesota.
LAST WEEK: W vs. Northeastern, 5-2; W vs. Northeastern, 6-3. THIS WEEK: Off.
12.	Colorado College	–	Tigers score 14 versus Fairbanks, and were lining up for a field goal when time expired.
LAST WEEK: W vs. Alaska Fairbanks, 6-2; W vs. Alaska Fairbanks, 8-3. THIS WEEK: at Clarkson, at Clarkson.
13.	Dartmouth	1	You need more than an Ivy League degree to write about these Ivy teams at this time of year.
LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. St. Francis (Ex.).
14.	Ohio State	5	Buckeyes posted the first sweep by a visiting team at Munn Ice Arena since 1995.
LAST WEEK: W at Michigan State, 5-0; W at Michigan State, 4-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Mercyhurst.
15.	Providence	NR	Freshman star Chase Watson's dad, Jim, and uncle, Joe, played for the Philadelphia Flyers.
LAST WEEK: W at Minnesota State, 2-1; W at Minnesota State, 5-3. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston University, at Merrimack.
16.	Ferris State	3	It's a lot easier to pile up the victories when you fly in under the radar. That ain't happenin' this year.
LAST WEEK: L at Colgate, 5-3; W at Colgate, 3-1. THIS WEEK: at Alaska Fairbanks, at Alaska Fairbanks.
17.	Northern Michigan	1	And we thought high-scoring overtime games meant good things for Northern Michigan (see NCAA title game, 1991).
LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan Tech, 4-3 ot; L at Michigan Tech, 7-6 ot. THIS WEEK: at Michigan, at Michigan.
18.	Minnesota Duluth	3	The defending national champs' home opener is a bad place to look for your first win.
LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: at Minnesota, at Minnesota.
19.	Union	NR	The penalty kill has been perfect for new coach Nate Leaman, and the 26.3 percent power play helps, too.
LAST WEEK: W vs. Merrimack, 3-1; W vs. American International, 6-3. THIS WEEK: at Bowling Green, at Bowling Green.
20.	Alaska Anchorage	NR	Don't make room to display the MacNaughton Cup at Darwin's Theory just yet, but tripling last year's win total is a good start.
LAST WEEK: W vs. Air Force, 5-4; W vs. UMass Lowell, 1-0. THIS WEEK: Off.

Dropped out: Minnesota State, Wisconsin, Michigan State

Bubble-licious: Clarkson, St. Cloud State, Western Michigan, Mercyhurst

Feedback

Fellas,
What's the deal here. No Tech on the list? I tried to make up some reasons why we weren't up there and here's what I came up with.
1) Didn't hear about Tech-Northern games. Conclusion: Nope. You have the scores listed under Northern.
2) Didn't want to take the time to make a little Husky icon to put on the list, figuring you wouldn't need it for the rest of the season. Conclusion: Not that either. I see UAA got some love from you.
3) Bias against schools with Huskies for a mascot. Conclusion: Possible, but even SCSU is "bubble-licious".
4) Figured that engineers don't use this thing called the "internet" and would never know. Conclusion: Uh....... No.
5) You're waiting for a couple more wins to put is in a more respectable position higher in the list. Conclusion: Yeah, that must be it.

—Jeff Kusowski
Hollywood, CA

As a Bulldog fan and alumni I have to say that I think you guys are being very charitable to Ferris this year. There big guns aren't scoring and they have had way too many goals scored against them. I'm not sure they are a top 20 team at this point. There's plenty of time to get things going but compared to the way they jumped out of the gates last year I'm wondering if they're as hungry as they were then. I hope Bob Daniels can find a way to get their focus back. With a weekend in Fairbanks and MSU/UM back to back they better find it quick. Thanks, appreciate your efforts in covering college hockey.

how can you rank harvard above Maine, BU, Michigan, Denver and CC?

For Union to be in the top 20 is ubsurd. The beat Merrimack , who is mediocre, and American International who is terrible. I agree with Michigan State dropping out of the top 20 with a humiliating 2 game sweep by Ohio State, in which they were outscore 9-1. Denver needs to be moved up. They are underrated exteremly. The swept Northeastern , who is mediocre. Also, you have Dartmouth at number 13?! They haven't played anybody yet. Watch for a Minnesota collapse in a couple weeks against Denver. They will also lose January 2nd and 3rd against BU. I picked BU against North Dakota in this years championship game with North Dakota prevailing. Watch out for that.

—John Lucas

Hi guys!

With Michigan struggling to get past Quinnipiac, and Cornell being idle; why doesn’t Denver move past both of them after two convincing wins over Northeastern?

Thanks!

—Raymond Juan, Jr.

UNH No. 1? with big wins over Merrimack and UVM? PLEASE!!!! with Ayers in net and the rest of their talent, they may very well prove themselves to be No. 1 at times during the season, but they have proven nothing yet!!

Go BC!!!

—Mark Gallagher

I like the rankings but come on! Where did the MSU mavericks go? I know they dropped a pair of games against providence, but give them some credit. They are much better than alaska and union. Gotta represent the mavericks up there!

—Dustin Gaffke

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