You get extra credit if during the preseason
you thought that the Denver-Niagara and Lake Superior State-Notre
Dame series in mid-January would feature four teams in the
top 15 of the 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. |
 Minnesota |
— |
The streak, the naysayers believe, will end during this
three-week stretch in which the Gophers face Wisconsin,
Denver, and North Dakota. Of course, they said the same
thing prior to that November run against St. Cloud State,
Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Michigan. |
| 19-1-3 (11-0-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Minnesota State, 5-1; W vs. Minnesota
State, 1-0. THIS WEEK: at Wisconsin, at Wisconsin. |
| 2. |
 Maine |
 1 |
Teddy Purcell is the most dominant freshman to come
through Maine since Michel Léveillé. And
they're on a line together? That just doesn't seem fair. |
| 14-3-2 (7-3-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W at UMass Lowell, 4-2; W at UMass
Lowell, 5-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston University, vs. Boston
University. |
| 3. |
 St.
Cloud State |
1 |
The Huskies are 11-0-2 in their last 13 games against
non-WCHA teams, a streak that dates back to last season's
opening game against Northen Michigan. |
| 14-3-3 (8-3-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Alaska-Anchorage, 4-2; W vs. Alaska-Anchorage,
4-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota State, vs. Minnesota State. |
| 4. |
 New
Hampshire |
1 |
The Wildcats play their annual game with Dartmouth at
the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday. These tend to
be some of the most bizarre contests on the national slate
every single year. |
| 16-3-1 (12-1-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W at Vermont, 7-1; W at Vermont,
2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Dartmouth. |
| 5. |
 Notre
Dame |
 3 |
Is the loss to Robert Morris embarrassing? Well, maybe.
But unlike the Sugar Bowl, it wasn't on national television. |
| 17-4-1 (11-2-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Robert Morris, 6-2; L vs. Robert
Morris, 4-2. THIS WEEK: at Lake Superior State, at Lake
Superior State. |
| 6. |
 Clarkson |
1 |
Saturday's exhibition win might prove costly for the
Golden Knights, as captain Nick Dodge was given a game
disqualification for a high-sticking penalty and will
miss Friday's tilt against Colgate. |
| 13-5-1 (5-2-0
ECACHL) LAST WEEK: W vs. McGill, 4-2 (Ex.). THIS WEEK:
vs. Colgate, vs. Cornell. |
| 7. |
 Miami |
1 |
The RedHawks, 11-4-1 in the CCHA, play just their sixth
and seventh league road games as they travel to Western
Michigan this week. |
| 16-7-1 (11-4-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan State, 5-2; L vs. Michigan
State, 4-2. THIS WEEK: at Western Michigan, at Western
Michigan. |
| 8. |
 Denver |
— |
Let's get this straight: Niagara leaves snowless Buffalo
in mid-January for two games at Denver, where they've
had more than three feet of snow in the last five weeks. |
| 15-7-2 (9-5-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Wisconsin, 3-1; L vs. Wisconsin,
4-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Niagara, vs. Niagara. |
| 9. |
 Boston
College |
2 |
It was nearly four years to the day (Jan. 3, 2003) since
BC had last lost to Northeastern ... prior to Friday's
3-2 overtime defeat. |
| 10-6-1 (7-4-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L at Northeastern, 3-2 ot; W vs.
Providence, 3-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Merrimack, at Merrimack. |
| 10. |
 Boston
University |
— |
The Terriers may want to visit The Red Sky down in Faneuil
Hall because they may be forgetting what red lights look
like. |
| 8-4-6 (5-3-5 Hockey
East) LAST WEEK: W at Providence, 5-1; T vs. Northeastern,
0-0 ot. THIS WEEK: at Maine, at Maine. |
| 11. |
 Colorado
College |
— |
"It wasn't just one or two guys that looked slow
and irresponsible with the puck," coach Scott Owens
said following the Tigers' 2-1 loss to North Dakota Saturday.
"It looked like it was a collective team effort and
that was very disappointing." |
| 13-8-1 (9-5-0
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. North Dakota, 1-0; L vs. North
Dakota, 2-1. THIS WEEK: at Minnesota Duluth, at Minnesota
Duluth. |
| 12. |
 Michigan |
— |
Capricorns like things to follow patterns, and a pair
of them — Jack Johnson (Jan. 13) and Billy Sauer
(Jan. 6) — will need to be great the rest of the
way to keep Michigan's 16-year streak of NCAA Tournament
participation alive. |
| 13-8-0 (8-5-0
CCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Bowling Green, vs.
Northern Michigan, vs. Northern Michigan. |
| 13. |
 Michigan
State |
1 |
Saturday's 4-1 win at Miami was the 700th career victory
for Spartan coach Rick Comley. |
| 12-8-1 (8-6-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Miami, 5-2; W at Miami, 4-1. THIS
WEEK: vs. Alaska, vs. Alaska. |
| 14. |
 Lake
Superior State |
3 |
The Lakers host Notre Dame this weekend — the
first visit to the Soo for ex-LSSU coach Jeff Jackson
with his new team. |
| 13-6-3 (7-4-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: T vs. Nebraska-Omaha, 4-4 ot; W vs. Nebraska-Omaha,
3-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Notre Dame, vs. Notre Dame. |
| 15. |
 Niagara |
3 |
The Purps are 10-1-2 in their last 13 games and are
outscoring their opponents 22-9 during their current five-game
winning streak. |
| 13-6-3 (6-1-3
CHA) LAST WEEK: W at Colgate, 3-2; W at RIT, 5-3. THIS
WEEK: at Denver, at Denver. |
| 16. |
 Cornell |
3 |
The Big Red finished the non-league portion
of their schedule with a 4-3-0 record, and their remaining
14 games are all ECACHL contests. |
| 9-5-1 (5-2-1 ECACHL)
LAST WEEK: L vs. Sacred Heart, 2-1. THIS WEEK: at St.
Lawrence, at Clarkson. |
| 17. |
 Bemidji
State |
3 |
The Beavers rank 21st nationally in offense, and 35th
in defense, but have the ninth-best winning percentage. |
| 12-5-3 (7-2-3
CHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Wayne State, 3-2; W vs. Wayne State,
7-5. THIS WEEK: at Michigan Tech, at Michigan Tech. |
| 18. |
 Vermont |
4 |
The two-goal effort over two nights was Vermont's lowest-scoring
two-game weekend since being blanked on back-to-back nights
by Boston College last year. |
| 11-8-1 (6-4-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L vs. New Hampshire, 7-1; L vs.
New Hampshire, 2-1. THIS WEEK: at Northeastern, at Northeastern. |
| 19. |
 Sacred
Heart |
NR |
Sacred Heart is 10-1-3 in its last 14 games after starting
the year 2-3-1. |
| 12-4-4 (9-2-4
Atlantic Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Cornell, 2-1. THIS WEEK:
at American International, vs. RIT, vs. RIT. |
| 20. |
 Quinnipiac |
4 |
All-American defenseman Reid Cashman scored his first
goal of the season in Thursday's loss to RIT. |
| 9-5-4 (6-2-3 ECACHL) LAST WEEK:
L vs. RIT, 3-2; W at Princeton, 2-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Princeton,
vs. Brown, at Yale. |