Inside College Hockey | INCH Power Rankings

January 25, 2004
INCH Power Rankings

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The Power Rankings welcome new blood this week, with three teams jumping in to the top 20. Colgate, winner of four in a row, makes its first appearance of the season at No. 14, with Michigan State and Mercyhurst returning to the rankings.

Here's how the Inside College Hockey editors and staff rank the rest of the nation's top teams (along with movement since last week and a note). You can let us know what you think, including your name and hometown, and we'll share your thoughts below.

No.	Team		Of Note
1.	North Dakota	–	Zach Parise, called for a high stick on Saturday's apparent game-tying goal, said "That's a huge point they screwed us out of.'' Not huge enough, however, to knock the Sioux from No. 1.
18-3-2 (12-2-2 WCHA). LAST WEEK: W at Minnesota, 4-2; L at Minnesota, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Denver, vs. Denver.
2.	Boston College	–	It's nearly impossible to expect a team to manage without Ben Eaves (knee injury) for a month or more. But it helps to have his brother around.
18-3-3 (11-1-2 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: W at Providence, 2-1 ot, W at Northeastern, 4-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Providence.
3.	Michigan	2	Pivotal series against Western Michigan last weekend. Wolverines outscore Broncos 11-1. Thanks for dropping by the booth.
16-7-1 (11-4-1 CCHA). LAST WEEK: W at Western Michigan, 4-1; W vs. Western Michigan, 7-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Lake Superior State, vs. Lake Superior State.
4.	Maine	1	Troubling Saturday night signs: back-to-back 1-0 losses, both marred by penalty-filled fisticuffs.
17-6-1 (9-4-1 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: W at Boston University, 8-4; L at Boston University, 1-0. THIS WEEK: vs. New Hampshire, vs. New Hampshire.
5.	Minnesota	1	When did Mariucci hire the ice crew from Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum?
14-9-3 (9-8-1 WCHA). LAST WEEK: L vs. North Dakota, 4-2; W vs. North Dakota, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Wisconsin, vs. Wisconsin.
6.	New Hampshire	1	Primary Colors: Presential hopeful John Kerry suits up for old-timers game in Manchester wearing a Wildcats sweater.
15-7-3 (7-3-3 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: W at Merrimack, 9-1. THIS WEEK: at Maine, at Maine.
7.	Minnesota Duluth	1	Bulldogs, who have won eight straight, probably don't want this week off. But next up in two weeks is Minnesota State, which has allowed 36 goals in five games.
17-8-2 (13-5-0 WCHA). LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan Tech, 3-1; W vs. Michigan Tech, 8-3. THIS WEEK: Off.
8.	Wisconsin	2	Think Badgers are the feel-good story of the year? Ask us in three weeks when they finish series with Minnesota, North Dakota and St. Cloud State.
15-7-6 (9-4-5 WCHA). LAST WEEK: W at Colorado College, 4-2; L at Colorado College, 3-1. THIS WEEK: at Minnesota, at Minnesota.
9.	Denver	–	The folks in Quebec City won't like this – now they've lost the son of the Nordiques' best player to Denver, with Paul Stastny committing to the Pioneers.
16-9-3 (6-9-3 WCHA). LAST WEEK: W vs. Alaska Anchorage, 2-1 ot; L vs. Alaska Anchorage, 5-3. THIS WEEK: at North Dakota, at North Dakota.
10.	Miami	4	Betcha didn't know the RedHawks have three of the CCHA's top six point-getters, three of its top seven goal scorers and four of the top 14 in assists.
14-9-3 (11-5-2 CCHA). LAST WEEK: T vs. Nebraska-Omaha, 2-2 ot; W vs. Nebraska-Omaha, 7-1. THIS WEEK: at Michigan State, at Michigan State.
11.	St. Cloud State	1	Think Huskies will address defense during their bye week? They've allowed 18 goals in their last three games.
14-9-3 (10-7-3 WCHA). LAST WEEK: W vs. Minnesota State, 8-5; L vs. Minnesota State, 7-6. THIS WEEK: Off.
12.	Colorado College	–	That breeze from the west you felt was Tiger fans exhaling after their team snapped a seven-game WCHA losing streak Saturday against Wisconsin.
12-9-3 (5-7-2 WCHA). LAST WEEK: L vs. Wisconsin, 4-2; W vs. Wisconsin, 3-1. THIS WEEK: at Michigan Tech, at Michigan Tech.
13.	Brown	3	The Bears, 6-1-1 at home, welcome Harvard back to the college hockey world Saturday night after the Crimson's exam break.
11-5-4 (9-3-1 ECAC). LAST WEEK: W vs. Merrimack, 6-2; W at UMass Lowell, 3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Harvard.
14.	Colgate	NR	The Raiders are 5-1-1 since Jan. 1 and 5-1-0 on the year against other teams in the top half of the ECAC standings.
13-8-3 (8-4-0 ECAC). LAST WEEK: W vs. Dartmouth, 3-1; W vs. Vermont, 9-4. THIS WEEK: at Cornell, vs. Cornell.
15.	Notre Dame	4	Fresh off invigorating win and tie at Wisconsin, Irish slip in U.P. by losing two to Northern Michigan ... one in OT, the other by a 1-0 count.
12-9-3 (8-8-2 CCHA). LAST WEEK: L at Northern Michigan, 4-3ot; L at Northern Michigan, 1-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Alaska-Fairbanks, vs. Alaska-Fairbanks.
16.	Massachusetts	2	Thomas Pöck has gone five games without a goal. And that's not notable for any other defenseman in the country.
11-7-5 (7-5-2 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Northeastern, vs. Merrimack.
17.	Dartmouth	–	The Rangers hang on to the promising Hugh Jessiman ... for now.
8-5-6 (6-2-4 ECAC). LAST WEEK: L at Colgate, 3-1; W vs. Cornell, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Rensselaer, vs. Union.
18.	Cornell	5	The Big Red can't seem to turn on the red light: five goals in their last five games.
8-5-6 (6-3-3 ECAC). LAST WEEK: W vs. Vermont, 2-0; L vs. Dartmouth, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Colgate, at Colgate.
19.	Michigan State	NR	Trick or treat: Spartans get their first series sweep since Halloween weekend.
15-12-1 (11-6-1 CCHA). LAST WEEK: W at Ohio State, 4-2; W at Ohio State, 3-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Miami, vs. Miami.
20.	Mercyhurst	NR	Holy Cross is still at the top of the standings, but all Atlantic Hockey eyes are on the series between the conference's traditional powers in Erie this weekend.
13-9-1 (10-3-0 Atlantic Hockey). LAST WEEK: W at Connecticut, 7-4; W at Connecticut, 5-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Quinnipiac, vs. Quinnipiac.

Dropped out: Ohio State, Western Michigan, UMass Lowell

Bubble-licious: Rensselaer, Ohio State, Bemidji State, Alaska Anchorage, Holy Cross

Feedback

Why!? How does Minnesota drop after losing 1 game to the #1 team in the
country while North Dakota stays #1 after losing to the #5 team?

Jeff, Minneapolis

Minnesota dropped because they lost one game and almost another at home in front of 10,000 rabid Gopher fans. The truth will come out this weekend, as they can’t afford even one home loss against the hated Badgers in order to maintain or gain.

Joe, Boston

How does Michigan just up 2 spots after beating 2 unranked teams?

Joel, Minneapolis, Minn.

Tell Jeff in Minneapolis if the Gophers had a decent sheet of ice they may get a serious rating.

Larry, Edmonds, Wash.

By virtue of scheduling the Engineers dropped out of the USA Today poll. At least you kept them bubblicious.

Look for a sweep of Vermont and Dartmouth this weekend to put the Engineers in your poll.

Adam, Troy, N.Y.

Ummmmm, not that I'm going to jump to the Gophers' defense too often as a Sioux fan, but I've got to question dropping the Gophers any spots as they played the Sioux very tough (I'm not getting into the disallowed goal with 14.4 seconds left on Sat. night, the Sioux were outplayed and can't continually expect 3rd period miracles so they should take the loss with grace and leave it at a series played that met all expectations). How does Michigan beat up on an inferior team and move up 2 spots???? Playoffs start tomorrow and I'm taking the Gophers as my second team behind UND and throw out either UMD or Alaska Anchorage as a third team nobody wants to play....Michigan is always tough in Michigan (they seem to get "home ice" a lot in the 1st round of the playoffs even though it's supposed to be "neutral" sites), but they are not the 4th best team in the country. I'm not positive, but didn't the Gophers beat Michigan in head to head competition over the holiday tournament? Sorry Goldie, but I think you got hosed this week.

Mike, Grand Forks, ND

I am in total agreement with Becquer and Mike from Anchorage. While the Seawolves' record doesn't show it isn't spectacular, they have beat or tied all but 1 team that they've played in your top 20. Tied NoDak, beat Minnesota, beat and tied Denver, beat and tied St. Cloud, beat CC, and beat UMass Lowell. Wake up buddy, Anchorage is for real.

Andy Kronschnabel, Philadelphia

Even though the Gophers played real well this past weekend it looks like they will be slipping down the PR very soon because of the injury bug. Grant Potulny is one of their best players and for him to go down like that is going to hurt them in this last stretch of games.

I don't think Anchorage is for real yet because even though they beat all them teams in the PR only 3 of them teams are in the National Poll. The teams they beat are not even considered good teams I mean come on, you think beating teams like Air Force and Alaska Fairbanks is going to get you into the spotlight. Wake up and smell the coffee ANDY!

Ryan, Grand Forks, ND

Go 'gate!!!

Colgate is starting to peak at just the right time, the meat of the ECAC schedule. A sweep of the Big Red this weekend might silence the non-believers.

Rich Adler, Fayetteville, N.Y.

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