A lot of fans circled the upcoming series between
Miami and Michigan on their calendars earlier this season.
The Wolverines have gone four straight without a win, but
the RedHawks maintain the top spot in the INCH Power Rankings
after having last 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. |
 Miami |
— |
With apologies to Peter King, here's a factoid that
may interest only us: The RedHawks have outscored their
opponents in the third period this season by a 52-8 margin. |
| 25-3-0 (17-3-0
CCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan, vs. Michigan. |
| 2. |
 Colorado
College |
 5 |
Kobe Bryant is envious. Mike Testwuide had 12 shots
on goal — two of them successful — in the
Tigers' 5-2 win against Clarkson Friday. |
| 20-7-1 (15-4-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Clarkson, 5-2; W vs. Clarkson,
6-1. THIS WEEK: vs. St. Cloud State, vs. St. Cloud State. |
| 3. |
 Michigan
State |
 1 |
Jeff Lerg allowed seven goals in the Spartans' split
with Nebraska-Omaha this past weekend after giving up
10 goals in eight January starts. |
| 18-6-5 (14-3-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Nebraska-Omaha, 5-4 ot; W vs. Nebraska-Omaha,
4-2. THIS WEEK: at Northern Michigan, at Northern Michigan. |
| 4. |
 Michigan |
1 |
For the first time in the history of the school's hockey
program — that's 2,490 games dating back to 1922-23
— the
Wolverines have skated to three consecutive ties. |
| 22-3-3 (15-2-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: T vs. Northern Michigan, 3-3 ot; T vs.
Northern Michigan, 3-3 ot. THIS WEE: at Miami, at Miami. |
| 5. |
 North
Dakota |
2 |
How did Ryan Duncan, tossed for checking from behind
seven seconds into the first period of Saturday's game
at Minnesota, enjoy watching the rest of the match from
the press box? "I was on the edge of my seat the
entire game," he told Bruce Brothers of the St. Paul
Pioneer Press. |
| 17-8-2 (14-7-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Minnesota, 2-1 ot; T at Minnesota,
1-1 ot. THIS WEEK: Off. |
| 6. |
 New
Hampshire |
1 |
Matt Fornataro has six points in his last four games
against Maine, and is likely looking forward to this weekend's
trip to Orono. |
| 16-7-1 (12-4-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W at Vermont, 5-1. THIS WEEK:
at Maine, at Maine. |
| 7. |
 Denver |
3 |
The Pioneers have lost four of their last five. An even
bigger concern is Brock Trotter — the team's leading
scorer
didn't make the trip to Mankato this past weekend for
an undisclosed
reason, and his return is up in the air. |
| 18-8-0 (12-6-0
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Minnesota State, 5-1; L at Minnesota
State, 3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota, vs. Minnesota. |
| 8. |
 Notre
Dame |
— |
Combined record of the Irish's four remaining regular-season
opponents: 33-65-12. That's a .355 winning
percentage. |
| 20-9-1 (13-6-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. USNTDP Under-18s, 2-1 ot (Ex.).
THIS WEEK: vs. Ferris State, vs. Ferris State. |
| 9. |
 Providence |
2 |
Matt Taormina scored with 4:27 left in the third period
to give Providence its first win at Boston College in
five seasons. |
| 12-9-3 (9-5-3
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W at Boston College, 3-2; T at
Merrimack, 1-1 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Vermont, vs. Vermont. |
| 10. |
 Clarkson |
1 |
The bright side? After being swept on the
road at a WCHA school last year Clarkson went on to win
its next seven games. |
| 15-9-2 (10-3-1
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: L at Colorado College, 5-2; L
at Colorado College, 6-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Cornell, vs.
Colgate. |
| 11. |
 Boston
College |
1 |
The Eagles lead the nation in power-play conversion
rate at 24.6 percent and has at least one PPG in 20 of
its 25 games. |
| 12-6-7 (8-4-6
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L vs. Providence, 3-2. THIS WEEK:
vs. Boston University (Beanpot), at Massachusetts. |
| 12. |
 Quinnipiac |
1 |
Eric Lampe had a hat trick in the win at Rensselaer,
including the eventual game-winning goal with five minutes
remaining in the third period. |
| 15-7-4 (7-3-4
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Rensselaer, 3-2; T at Union,
3-3 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Yale, vs. Brown. |
| 13. |
 Wisconsin |
1 |
Saturday's loss to UMD was the Badgers' sixth OT game
this season. Since Mike Eaves took over as coach in 2002-03,
Bucky has averaged about eight OT games a season, or roughly
one in every five games he's been behind the bench. |
| 12-11-5 (8-9-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Minnesota Duluth, 3-1; L vs. Minnesota
Duluth, 2-1 ot. THIS WEEK: at Michigan Tech, at Michigan
Tech. |
| 14. |
 Princeton |
2 |
Two wins this week for the Tigers, but the loss might
have been most noteworthy as Princeton began pulling its
goalie with more than seven minutes left and pulled to
within one at Union after trailing 4-0. |
| 12-9-0 (9-5-0
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Robert Morris, 5-2; L at
Union, 4-3; W at Rensselaer, 4-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Brown,
vs. Yale. |
| 15. |
 Minnesota |
1 |
That's an area code, not a won-loss record: The Gophers'
Alex Kangas, who owns a 2.16 GAA and a .923 save pct.,
enters this weekend's series at Denver with a 5-5-6 mark. |
| 12-12-6 (6-10-4
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. North Dakota, 2-1 ot; T vs. North
Dakota, 1-1 ot. THIS WEEK: at Denver, at Denver. |
| 16. |
 UMass
Lowell |
1 |
Blaise MacDonald signed
a four-year contract extension earlier this week. |
| 12-9-4 (7-7-4
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Maine, 3-2; L at Vermont,
3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston University. |
| 17. |
 Union |
1 |
The Dutchmen held on for a one-goal win on Friday and
scored a late goal to get a tie against Quinnipiac on
Saturday. You get the feeling that the Dutchmen are getting
the hang of these close games. |
| 12-9-4 (7-4-3
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Princeton, 4-3; T vs. Quinnipiac,
3-3 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Harvard, vs. Dartmouth. |
| 18. |
 Minnesota
Duluth |
1 |
Call us crazy, but it's hard to believe that a 7-8-5
conference record is good enough for a tie for fourth
place in the WCHA standings. The Bulldogs and Wisconsin
share that spot following last weekend's split in Madison. |
| 11-9-6 (7-8-5 WCHA) LAST WEEK:
L at Wisconsin, 3-1; W at Wisconsin, 2-1 ot. THIS WEEK:
Off. |
| 19. |
 Minnesota
State |
NR |
Since getting swept at Denver Nov. 16-17, the Mavericks
have posted a 10-4-3 record and a 6-3-3 mark in conference
play. |
| 13-10-4 (7-9-4
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Denver, 5-1; W vs. Denver, 3-2.
THIS WEEK: vs. Alaska-Anchorage, vs. Alaska-Anchorage. |
| 20. |
 Northeastern |
— |
The great thing about the first day of the Beanpot following
Super Bowl Sunday is that a hockey win can make up for
football disappointment. |
| 12-8-3 (9-7-2 Hockey East) LAST
WEEK: W vs. Massachusetts, 1-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Harvard
(Beanpot), at Merrimack. |