Our top five teams did enough to hold on to
their spots this week, but only one of them (New Hampshire)
won both of its games. Notre Dame, St. Cloud State, and Michigan
State got a win and a tie, while Minnesota stayed put despite
having the weekend off.
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. |
 Notre
Dame |
— |
With Friday's faceoff at Alaska set for 11:05 p.m. EST,
the Fighting Irish could have the CCHA regular-season
title sewn up prior to warm-ups, based on results of other
games played earlier that night. |
| 24-5-3 (18-3-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Nebraska-Omaha, 4-2; T vs. Nebraska-Omaha,
2-2 ot. THIS WEEK: at Alaska, at Alaska |
| 2. |
 New
Hampshire |
— |
The Wildcats can win the Hockey East regular-season
crown with three points against BU this weekend. |
| 22-5-1 (17-3-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Merrimack, 3-1; W at Merrimack,
4-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston University, at Boston University |
| 3. |
 Minnesota |
— |
The Gophers, owners of the WCHA's best road record at
9-1-1, travel to Colorado Springs to face Colorado College,
the team with the league's best home mark at 9-2-0. |
| 23-5-3 (15-4-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: at Colorado College,
at Colorado College |
| 4. |
 St.
Cloud State |
— |
Junior forward Andrew Gordon scored two goals in Saturday's
tie against Colorado College, giving him 11-8—19
in the Huskies' 12 games since Christmas. |
| 18-5-5 (12-5-5
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Colorado College, 3-1; T vs. Colorado
College, 2-2 ot. THIS WEEK: at Wisconsin, at Wisconsin |
| 5. |
 Michigan
State |
— |
One night after making 33 saves in the Spartans' 2-1
overtime win against Ferris State in East Lansing, sophomore
goaltender Jeff Lerg stopped 54 shots in his team's 3-3
draw against Michigan at the Joe. |
| 18-8-3 (14-6-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Ferris State, 2-1 ot; T vs. Michigan,
3-3 ot. THIS WEEK: at Ferris State, at Western Michigan,
vs. Western Michigan |
| 6. |
 Boston
University |
 2 |
John Curry had a shutout streak of 156:52 snapped in
the second period of Friday's win over UMass. |
| 15-5-8 (11-4-7
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Northeastern, 4-0 (Beanpot);
W at Massachusetts, 3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston College
(Beanpot), at New Hampshire, vs. New Hampshire |
| 7. |
 Clarkson |
2 |
Junior captain Nick Dodge returned to the Clarkson lineup
and had a point in both games, as Clarkson posted a pair
of five-spots. |
| 19-7-4 (11-4-3
ECACHL) LAST WEEK: W vs. Brown, 5-3; W vs. Yale, 5-1.
THIS WEEK: vs. Union, vs. Rensselaer |
| 8. |
 Maine |
2 |
Ben Bishop might be hoping he didn't just get Wally
Pipped. |
| 19-8-2 (12-8-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Vermont, 5-1; W vs. Vermont,
1-0. THIS WEEK: at Boston College, at Boston College |
| 9. |
 Denver |
 4 |
Friday's 2-1 loss to Michigan Tech marked the first
time the Pioneers left MacInnes Student Ice Arena on the
short end of the score since Dec. 13, 1997. |
| 20-11-3 (12-9-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Michigan Tech, 2-1; T at Michigan
Tech, 4-4 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. North Dakota, vs. North Dakota |
| 10. |
 Michigan |
4 |
One person's guess: Any good vibes generated from Saturday's
third-period rally to tie Michigan State at Joe Louis
Arena pale in comparison to the lingering disappointment
over Friday's loss to a Bowling Green team that hadn't
won since Jan. 5. |
| 21-10-1 (16-7-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Bowling Green, 3-2; T vs. Michigan
State, 3-3 ot. THIS WEEK: at Lake Superior State, vs.
Lake Superior State (Joe Louis Arena) |
| 11. |
 Miami |
— |
The upcoming series against Robert Morris, which once
appeared to be a welcome late-season break from the CCHA
grind, now looks like a tough home-and-home series against
a team that has won five in row. |
| 20-10-4 (15-7-4
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Lake Superior State, 4-1; W vs.
Lake Superior State, 3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Robert Morris,
at Robert Morris |
| 12. |
 North
Dakota |
— |
Jonathan Toews had four goals and two assists in the
Fighting Sioux's three-point weekend. He has seven goals
and 16 points in the team's last six games. |
| 16-11-3 (10-9-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Minnesota State, 8-4; T vs. Minnesota
State, 4-4 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota Duluth, vs. Minnesota
Duluth |
| 13. |
 Boston
College |
2 |
Welcome back to Boston, Chuck Kobasew. Now, he gets
to see what it's like to lose in Beantown. |
| 16-10-1 (12-8-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Harvard, 3-1 (Beanpot);
W at Providence, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston University
(Beanpot), vs. Maine, vs. Maine |
| 14. |
 St.
Lawrence |
2 |
The Saints are assured of a top-four finish in the ECAC
Hockey League and a bye in the first round of the playoffs. |
| 17-11-2 (13-4-1
ECACHL) LAST WEEK: W vs. Yale, 4-1; W vs. Brown, 2-1 ot.
THIS WEEK: vs. Rensselaer, vs. Union |
| 15. |
 Colorado
College |
1 |
Junior forward Scott McCulloch, the Tigers' leading
goal scorer, has 15 goals in 30 games. Last year's leading
goal-getter, Brett Sterling, scored 17 power-play goals
in 41 games. |
| 16-11-3 (12-8-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at St. Cloud State, 3-1; T at St. Cloud
State, 2-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota, vs. Minnesota |
| 16. |
 Vermont |
3 |
UVM is on a three-game skid and is 1-3-2
since sweeping Boston College. |
| 15-11-4 (10-7-4
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L at Maine, 5-1; L at Maine, 1-0.
THIS WEEK: vs. Massachusetts, vs. Massachusetts |
| 17. |
 Niagara |
— |
The last time Niagara lost two games in a row (at Denver),
the Purple Eagles responded with four straight wins. |
| 17-10-3 (8-3-3
CHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: at Wayne State, at Wayne
State |
| 18. |
 RIT |
1 |
You probably know about RIT goalie Jocelyn Guimond,
but Louis Menard is the hot goalie right now. He replaced
a struggling Guimond on Friday and got the win, and then
started and won on Saturday against Air Force. |
| 19-9-2 (18-5-1
Atlantic Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Air Force, 5-4; W vs.
Air Force, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Mercyhurst, vs. Mercyhurst |
| 19. |
 Sacred
Heart |
NR |
Alexandre Parent played in his 100th career game on
Saturday night, and assisted on Sacred Heart's first goal
— picking up his 95th career point. |
| 17-9-4 (14-6-4
Atlantic Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Mercyhurst, 5-2; W at
Mercyhurst, 4-2. THIS WEEK: at Holy Cross, vs. Holy Cross |
| 20. |
 Quinnipiac |
NR |
The Bobcats have been outshot by their opponent just
once in the last 15 games. |
| 14-10-5 (9-5-4 ECACHL) LAST
WEEK: W vs. Bentley, 6-1; L vs. Dartmouth, 5-4. THIS WEEK:
vs. American International, at Cornell, at Colgate |