Notre Dame clinched the CCHA regular-season
championship with a pair of one-goal wins at Alaska, and retained
the top spot in 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. |
 Notre
Dame |
— |
Not only did the Fighting Irish capture their first-ever
CCHA regular-season championship, but the weekend sweep
at Alaska gave them 26 wins, one shy of the school record
set in 1987-88 during the program's quasi-club/independent
days. |
| 26-5-3 (20-3-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Alaska, 1-0; W at Alaska, 3-2 ot.
THIS WEEK: vs. Ferris State, vs. Ferris State |
| 2. |
 Minnesota |
 2 |
Minnesota has four games with Huskies (the SCSU and
MTU varities) left. By winning one of them, the Gophers
will clinch a second straight WCHA crown. |
| 25-5-3 (17-4-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Colorado College, 3-2; W at Colorado
College, 3-2. THIS WEEK: at St. Cloud State, vs. St. Cloud
State |
| 3. |
 New
Hampshire |
 1 |
The once potent UNH offense is averaging just 2.25 goals
per game over its last eight outings. |
| 22-6-2 (17-4-2
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L vs. Boston University, 4-2;
T at Boston University, 3-3 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Providence,
at Providence |
| 4. |
 Boston
University |
2 |
Since the team's 0-0 shutout tie against Northeastern,
Peter MacArthur has built a five-game point streak with
four goals and two assists. |
| 17-5-9 (12-4-8
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Boston College, 2-1 ot (Beanpot);
W at New Hampshire, 4-2; T vs. New Hampshire, 2-2 ot.
THIS WEEK: vs. Vermont, vs. Vermont |
| 5. |
 St.
Cloud State |
1 |
It looks like the program's first WCHA title will have
to wait another year. Getting the program's first NCAA
tourney win this year would mean more to most Husky fans. |
| 18-6-6 (12-6-6
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Wisconsin, 3-1; T at Wisconsin,
2-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota, at Minnesota |
| 6. |
 Clarkson |
1 |
Matt Beca's goal with 3.3 seconds remaining gave the
Knights a tie against visiting Rensselaer on Saturday. |
| 20-7-5 (12-4-4
ECACHL) LAST WEEK: W vs. Union, 6-2, T vs. Rensselaer,
3-3 ot. THIS WEEK: at Princeton, at Quinnipiac |
| 7. |
 Denver |
2 |
The Pioneers are on a humble 2-4-1 streak recently,
but remain in third place (by one point) thanks to CC
getting swept. |
| 20-11-3 (12-9-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. North Dakota, vs.
North Dakota |
| 8. |
 Miami |
3 |
It was a big weekend for junior forward Ryan Jones,
who scored five goals and added two assists in the RedHawks'
non-conference sweep of a Robert Morris club that had
won its previous five games. |
| 22-10-4 (15-7-4
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Robert Morris, 7-3; W at Robert
Morris, 5-3. THIS WEEK: at Northern Michigan, at Northern
Michigan |
| 9. |
 North
Dakota |
3 |
The Sioux are 10-1-2 since Christmas and will need all
of that momentum to stay in the league's top five, with
four tough road games remaining. |
| 17-11-4 (11-9-4
WCHA) LAST WEEK: T vs. Minnesota Duluth, 2-2 ot; W vs.
Minnesota Duluth, 1-0. THIS WEEK: at Denver, at Denver |
| 10. |
 Michigan |
— |
We're not sure which ex-Wolverine had a worse Saturday:
Flyer Mike Knuble (broken cheekbone and orbital bone in
a collision with Brendan Shanahan) or Flame David Moss
(checked face first into boards by Colorado's Ossi Vaananen
in first period and didn't return). |
| 22-11-1 (17-8-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Lake Superior State, 3-2; W vs.
Lake Superior State, 3-1. THIS WEEK: at Ohio State, at
Ohio State |
| 11. |
 Boston
College |
2 |
The 11 goals scored by BC is the most in a two-game
weekend series since the Eagles put 11 past Massachusetts
on Dec. 9-10, 2005. |
| 18-11-1 (14-8-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L vs. Boston University, 2-1 ot
(Beanpot); W vs. Maine, 5-2; W vs. Maine, 6-5. THIS WEEK:
at UMass Lowell, at UMass Lowell |
| 12. |
 St.
Lawrence |
2 |
The Saints earned all eight possible points in the league
standings with four wins in four home games over the last
two weeks. |
| 19-11-2 (15-4-1
ECACHL) LAST WEEK: W vs. Rensselaer, 6-3; W vs. Union,
5-2. THIS WEEK: at Quinnipiac, at Princeton |
| 13. |
 Maine |
6 |
Flavor of the month Dave Wilson got yanked halfway through
the game on Thursday. |
| 19-10-2 (12-10-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L at Boston College, 5-2; L at
Boston College, 6-5. THIS WEEK: vs. Merrimack, vs. Merrimack |
| 14. |
 Michigan
State |
9 |
The Spartans lost three in a row once already this season,
but falling at Michigan, at Minnesota, and at Wisconsin
certainly sounds more tolerable than losing at Ferris
State, at Western Michigan, and against Western Michigan
in East Lansing. |
| 18-11-3 (14-9-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Ferris State, 2-1; L at Western
Michigan, 4-3; L vs. Western Michigan, 2-0. THIS WEEK:
at Bowling Green, vs. Bowling Green |
| 15. |
 Colorado
College |
— |
Just 17 shots on Friday. Nearly double that (33) on
Saturday, but the result remained the same — a 3-2
loss to Minnesota. |
| 16-13-3 (12-10-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Minnesota, 3-2; L vs. Minnesota,
3-2. THIS WEEK: at Minnesota State, at Minnesota State |
| 16. |
 Vermont |
— |
Joe Fallon has 17 career shutouts in 91
career starts, once every 5.35 games he's started. If
you're an opponent of Vermont, that means you're getting
blanked roughly every third weekend. |
| 16-12-4 (11-8-4
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L vs. Massachusetts, 3-2; W vs.
Massachusetts, 3-0. THIS WEEK: at Boston University, at
Boston University |
| 17. |
 Cornell |
NR |
Five Big Red players — Colin Greening, Evan Barlow,
Mark McCutcheon, Byron Bitz, and Raymond Sawada —
scored two goals each on the weekend. |
| 14-9-4 (10-6-4
ECACHL) LAST WEEK: W vs. Quinnipiac, 2-0; W vs. Princeton,
8-4. THIS WEEK: at Dartmouth, at Harvard |
| 18. |
 RIT |
— |
Who knew that RIT at Bentley in late February would
be a meaningful series? The Tigers need one point to clinch
the Atlantic Hockey regular-season title. |
| 20-10-2 (19-6-1
Atlantic Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Mercyhurst, 6-5; L vs.
Mercyhurst, 3-2. THIS WEEK: at Bentley, at Bentley |
| 19. |
 Sacred
Heart |
— |
Sacred Heart and Army tied in both of their previous
meetings this season. |
| 19-9-4 (16-6-4
Atlantic Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Holy Cross, 5-4; W vs.
Holy Cross, 4-1. THIS WEEK: at Army, vs. Army |
| 20. |
 Niagara |
3 |
Niagara will try to snap a four-game winless streak
against the team (Robert Morris) that swept the Purple
Eagles to start the streak three weeks ago. |
| 17-11-4 (8-4-4 CHA) LAST WEEK:
L at Wayne State, 6-1; T at Wayne State, 4-4 ot. THIS
WEEK: vs. Robert Morris, vs. Robert Morris |