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January
21, 2007
INCH Power Rankings
Among the top-five teams in last week's INCH
Power Rankings, only St. Cloud State managed a perfect weekend,
with a sweep of Minnesota Duluth. The others didn't move much,
because most of the top teams split their games. The big impressions
came from a few teams chasing the top spots in their respective
conferences — Boston University and Vermont in Hockey
East, and Michigan State and Michigan in the CCHA.
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 |
— |
Mike Vannelli’s hat trick was the headline, but
Kyle Okposo’s first goal since before his trip to
Sweden might be bigger news for a team that was in an
offensive funk. |
| 21-3-3 (13-2-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Denver, 1-0; W vs. Denver, 5-4.
THIS WEEK: vs. North Dakota, vs. North Dakota. |
| 2. |
 New
Hampshire |
— |
New Hampshire was shut out for the first time since
last year's NCAA Tournament, when Michigan State defeated
them 1-0 in Albany. |
| 18-4-1 (13-2-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Massachusetts, 5-1; L at
Massachusetts, 3-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Providence. |
| 3. |
 St.
Cloud State |
 1 |
The offense stretched its legs a bit before heading
into the lair of the WCHA’s top goalie tandem, putting
up 11 goals versus a hard-luck Minnesota Duluth club. |
| 16-4-4 (10-4-4
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Minnesota Duluth, 5-0; W vs. Minnesota
Duluth, 6-5. THIS WEEK: at Denver, at Denver. |
| 4. |
 Notre
Dame |
 1 |
Saturday's shutout of Western Michigan gave the Irish
20 wins this season, just the seventh time since 1968-69
and only the fourth time as a full-fledged varsity program
they've reached that plateau. |
| 20-5-1 (14-3-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Western Michigan, 3-2; W at Western
Michigan, 3-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Miami, vs. Miami. |
| 5. |
 Denver |
1 |
Gutsy weekend for the Pioneers, becoming the first visitors
to win in Mariucci in more than a year, then refusing
to go away on Saturday, twice rallying from three down. |
| 18-8-2 (10-6-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Minnesota, 1-0; L at Minnesota,
5-4. THIS WEEK: vs. St. Cloud State, vs. St. Cloud State. |
| 6. |
 Boston
University |
2 |
The Terriers are 6-0-1 in their last seven games, and
undefeated in 2007. |
| 12-4-6 (9-3-5
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W at Merrimack, 3-0; W at Merrimack,
2-1. THIS WEEK: at Boston College, vs. Boston College,
at Massachusetts. |
| 7. |
 Miami |
3 |
The RedHawks are 12-3-1 at the new Goggin and 5-4-1
in road games this season. Why is that important? Because
Miami plays its next four and seven of its final 10 away
from Oxford. |
| 18-8-2 (13-5-2
CCHA) LAST WEEK: T at Ohio State, 4-4 ot; W vs. Ohio State,
2-1. THIS WEEK: at Notre Dame, at Notre Dame. |
| 8. |
 Clarkson |
1 |
Sophomore forward Shea Guthrie missed both of last weekend's
games due to sickness. |
| 14-6-3 (6-3-2
ECACHL) LAST WEEK: W at Rensselaer, 4-1; L at Union, 2-1
ot. THIS WEEK: at St. Lawrence, vs. Dartmouth, vs. Harvard. |
| 9. |
 Maine |
5 |
Josh Soares has scored in five of Maine's last seven
games. The other two were shutout losses. |
| 15-6-2 (8-6-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L at Providence, 3-0; W at Providence,
2-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Northeastern, vs. Northeastern. |
| 10. |
 Michigan
State |
1 |
Forward Bryan Lerg registered his fifth and sixth game-winning
goals as the Spartans swept Lake Superior State this
weekend. He leads the nation in that category. |
| 16-8-1 (12-6-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Lake Superior State, 3-2 ot; W
vs. Lake Superior State, 4-0. THIS WEEK: Off. |
| 11. |
 Vermont |
3 |
If anyone picked up an extra one of those paper goalie
masks they handed out at Friday's game against BC, we'd
love to have one at the INCH World Headquarters. E-mail
us and we'll talk. |
| 14-8-2 (9-4-2
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Boston College, 3-2; W vs.
Boston College, 4-2. THIS WEEK: at Merrimack, at Merrimack. |
| 12. |
 Michigan |
1 |
Red-hot forward Andrew Cogliano has 10 goals and 12
points during his current eight-game scoring streak, which
he extended over the weekend with a goal in each of the
Wolverines' wins at Alaska. |
| 17-9-0 (12-6-0
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Alaska, 6-2; W at Alaska, 5-2. THIS
WEEK: vs. Ferris State, vs. Ferris State. |
| 13. |
 Colorado
College |
1 |
After playing the hero with two goals in the Tigers’
come-from-behind win in Duluth, Braydon Cox put up a goal
and two assists versus the U.S. NTDP Under-18 team. |
| 14-9-1 (10-6-0
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. U.S. Under-18s, 5-1 (Ex.). THIS
WEEK: at Michigan Tech, at Michigan Tech. |
| 14. |
 Boston
College |
5 |
Since the start of the 2005-06 season, Boston College
has an even 13-13-2 record in road games, which makes
it a good week to have two home games on the schedule. |
| 12-8-1 (9-6-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L at Vermont, 3-2; L at Vermont,
4-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston University, at Boston University,
vs. UMass Lowell. |
| 15. |
 Niagara |
— |
The Purps are undefeated (9-0-1) at Dwyer Arena this
season, and people are noticing. Saturday's crowd was
the largest of the season. |
| 15-8-3 (6-1-3
CHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Quinnipiac, 5-2; W vs. Quinnipiac,
3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Wayne State, vs. Wayne State. |
| 16. |
 St.
Lawrence |
1 |
Four of Mike McKenzie's seven goals this
year are game-winners. |
| 12-9-2 (8-2-1
ECACHL) LAST WEEK: W at Union, 3-2; T at Rensselaer, 3-3
ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Clarkson, vs. Harvard, vs. Dartmouth. |
| 17. |
 North
Dakota |
NR |
Welcome back, North Dakota. Don’t look now, but
your club is on a 6-1-1 run heading into its date with
the Golden Gophers this weekend. |
| 13-11-2 (7-9-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Bemidji State, 3-2; W vs. Bemidji
State, 6-3. THIS WEEK: at Minnesota, at Minnesota. |
| 18. |
 Lake
Superior State |
2 |
Deja vu all over again? The Lakers were 14-7-5 on Feb.
1, 2006, but closed the season with a 1-7-2 record. This
season, LSSU was 13-6-3 on Jan. 6, but has since lost
four in a row. |
| 13-10-3 (7-8-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Michigan State, 3-2 ot; L at Michigan
State, 4-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Ohio State, vs. Ohio State. |
| 19. |
 Dartmouth |
NR |
The Big Green won three games against Atlantic Hockey
opponents last week, and averaged nearly five goals a
game. That's a nice momentum builder for their last 10
games of the year, all of which are in ECACHL action. |
| 9-8-2 (5-5-2 ECACHL)
LAST WEEK: W vs. Holy Cross, 4-0; W vs. Canisius, 6-3;
W vs. Sacred Heart, 4-3. THIS WEEK: at Clarkson, at St.
Lawrence. |
| 20. |
 RIT |
— |
Two of RIT's four losses in Atlantic Hockey came in
overtime, and both of those were on home ice. |
| 14-8-2 (13-4-1 Atlantic Hockey)
LAST WEEK: L vs. Connecticut, 4-3 ot; W vs. Connecticut,
4-2. THIS WEEK: at American International, at American
International. |
Dropped out: Quinnipiac,
Cornell
Bubble-licious:
Wisconsin, Sacred Heart, Bemidji State, Massachusetts, Quinnipiac
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