As the regular season nears its end, the top
teams in nation are proving their value. A split between Michigan
and Michigan State were the only losses suffered by the top
seven teams in the INCH Power Rankings, thus keeping our magnificent
seven unchanged from a week ago.
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. |
 Michigan |
— |
Red Berenson coached his 1,000 game behind the Wolverine
bench Friday in East Lansing. Odds are he'll probably
find Saturday's win over Michigan State at Joe Louis Arena
more memorable. |
| 26-4-4 (19-3-4
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Michigan State, 5-2; W vs. Michigan
State 5-2 (Detroit). THIS WEEK: vs. Ferris State, at Ferris
State. |
| 2. |
 Colorado
College |
— |
Minnesota Duluth must think Richard Bachman is the second
coming of Georges Vezina. In four starts against the Bulldogs
this season, the freshman goalie has blanked UMD three
times. |
| 23-8-1 (18-5-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Minnesota Duluth, 3-0; W at Minnesota
Duluth, 4-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota State, vs. Minnesota
State. |
| 3. |
 North
Dakota |
— |
The Fighting Sioux have regular season series remaining
against Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State. NoDak split
with both the Bulldogs and Huskies in the previous meetings
with them this season. |
| 21-8-2 (16-7-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Bemidji State, 5-1; W vs. Bemidji
State, 1-0. THIS WEEK: at Minnesota Duluth, at Minnesota
Duluth. |
| 4. |
 New
Hampshire |
— |
UNH clinched the Hockey East regular-season title with
its sweep of Boston College, its second straight and seventh
in school history. |
| 21-7-2 (17-4-2
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W at Boston College, 2-0; W vs.
Boston College, 5-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Merrimack, at Merrimack. |
| 5. |
 Miami |
— |
In six games since returning from a two-month injury
layoff, senior forward Nathan Davis has 2-6—8, including
a goal and two assists in an 8-1 rout of Western Michigan
Saturday. |
| 27-6-1 (19-6-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Western Michigan, 2-0; W vs. Western
Michigan, 8-1. THIS WEEK: at Ohio State, vs. Ohio State. |
| 6. |
 Michigan
State |
— |
After going 13 games from Dec. 29-Feb. 9 without a goal,
junior forward Tim Kennedy has scored in three of the
Spartans' last four outings, including goals in both games
against Michigan this past weekend. |
| 21-9-5 (17-6-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan, 5-2; L vs. Michigan,
5-2 (Detroit). THIS WEEK: vs. Bowling Green, at Bowling
Green. |
| 7. |
 Denver |
— |
Freshman forward Tyler Bozak scored his fifth short-handed
goal of the season Friday, tying him for the national
lead in that category with another Front Ranger, Colorado
College's Chad Rau. |
| 21-10-1 (15-8-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Alaska Anchorage, 4-2; W vs. Alaska
Anchorage, 3-1. THIS WEEK: at Michigan Tech, at Michigan
Tech. |
| 8. |
 Clarkson |
 2 |
Nick Dodge scored the ninth short-handed goal of his
career in the win at Rensselaer, setting a new Clarkson
record in that category. |
| 18-10-4 (13-4-3
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: T at Union, 3-3 ot; W at Rensselaer,
3-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Princeton, vs. Quinnipiac. |
| 9. |
 Boston
College |
 1 |
The last time that Boston College lost back-to-back
games this season, they responded with a five-game winning
streak. In order to duplicate that, they'll need to score
more than the 1.75 goals per game they're averaging in
their last four contests. |
| 16-9-7 (10-7-6
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L vs. New Hampshire, 2-0; L at
New Hampshire, 5-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Providence, at Providence. |
| 10. |
 Minnesota
State |
1 |
The Mavericks, off last weekend, took the
advice of a similarly named fighter pilot from "Top
Gun," hitting the brakes and watching one of the
teams previously ranked ahead of them fly right past them
… uh, make that slide below them. |
| 16-11-4 (10-10-4
WCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Nebraska-Omaha, at
Colorado College, at Colorado College. |
| 11. |
 Notre
Dame |
2 |
The Fighting Irish have lost seven of their last 16
games. From the start of the 2006-07 campaign to Dec.
8 of this season, they dropped 11 of 62 games. |
| 21-11-4 (14-8-4
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Ohio State, 3-1; T vs. Ohio State,
2-2 ot. THIS WEEK: at Western Michigan, at Western Michigan. |
| 12. |
 Princeton |
2 |
Do we really need to wait until the ECAC Hockey awards
banquet? Or can we just award the Coach of the Year to
Guy Gadowsky right now? |
| 17-10-0 (14-6-0
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Colgate, 7-2; W vs. Cornell,
2-1. THIS WEEK: at Clarkson, at St. Lawrence. |
| 13. |
 Wisconsin |
1 |
The Badgers have allowed a total of 13 goals in their
last four games, and are 1-2-1 during that span. Bucky
gave up 15 goals in the nine games prior to that, and
went 5-1-3. |
| 14-13-7 (10-11-5
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Minnesota, 4-2; T at Minnesota,
4-4 ot. THIS WEEK: at St. Cloud State, at St. Cloud State. |
| 14. |
 St.
Cloud State |
NR |
The Huskies were 7-2-2 after their first 11 games, and
then went 4-11-1 in their next 16, only to follow that
stretch with a five-game winning streak that includes
the weekend sweep over Michigan Tech. SCSU has outscored
its foes 16-5 in its last five. |
| 16-13-3 (11-11-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan Tech, 4-1; W vs. Michigan
Tech, 3-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Wisconsin, vs. Wisconsin. |
| 15. |
 Harvard |
NR |
The Crimson are 7-2-0 in nine games since taking their
exam break, and Doug Rogers has 8-6—14 in those
games to take over the team's scoring lead. |
| 13-11-3 (11-7-2
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Yale, 6-1; W vs. Brown,
2-1. THIS WEEK: at Colgate, at Cornell. |
| 16. |
 Union |
2 |
Union can finish as high as third and no worse than
eighth in ECAC Hockey, and is thus guaranteed to begin
the playoffs on home ice for the fifth time in six years. |
| 14-11-6 (9-6-5
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: T vs. Clarkson, 3-3 ot; W vs.
St. Lawrence, 3-1. THIS WEEK: at Yale, at Brown. |
| 17. |
 Boston
University |
NR |
The Terriers return to the INCH Power Rankings for the
first time since our initial Great 58+1 edition in the
preseason. Winning six straight games to move into a tie
for second in Hockey East certainly makes them worthy. |
| 14-14-4 (12-8-3
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W at Northeastern, 7-4; W vs.
Northeastern, 3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Massachusetts; at Massachusetts. |
| 18. |
 Quinnipiac |
3 |
The Bobcats were just 79 seconds away from a couple
of ties, but late OT winners by Cornell and Colgate cost
Quinnipiac two points in the standings. There's no doubt
they'll wish they had those points if they finish fifth
in the league. |
| 17-11-4 (9-7-4 ECAC Hockey)
LAST WEEK: L vs. Cornell, 3-2 ot; L vs. Colgate, 4-3 ot.
THIS WEEK: at St. Lawrence, at Clarkson. |
| 19. |
 Niagara |
2 |
Junior goalie Juliano Pagliero now has four shutouts
on the season, after posting just one goose egg in his
first 31 starts over his freshman and sophomore campaigns. |
| 17-9-4 (9-5-2
CHA) LAST WEEK: W at Alabama-Huntsville, 3-0; L at Alabama
Huntsville, 4-3. THIS WEEK: vs. Robert Morris, vs. Robert
Morris. |
| 20. |
 Ferris
State |
1 |
How's this for late season drama: The Bulldogs are one
of four CCHA teams tied for fifth place in the league
standings heading into the final weekend of the regular
season. |
| 14-13-5 (11-11-4 CCHA) LAST
WEEK: W at Bowling Green, 2-1; L at Bowling Green, 2-1.
THIS WEEK: at Michigan, vs. Michigan. |