Our top 20 teams worked time and a half this
weekend, as they were involved in a total of 10 overtimes
between them. North Dakota's overtime win on Sunday completed
a weekend sweep of Minesota Duluth and moved the Fighting
Sioux into 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. |
 North
Dakota |
 2 |
St. Cloud State, this weekend's opponent, is the last
team to beat the Fighting Sioux, way back on Jan. 4. |
| 23-8-2 (18-7-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Minnesota Duluth, 2-0; W at Minnesota
Duluth, 2-1 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. St. Cloud State, vs. St.
Cloud State. |
| 2. |
 Michigan |
 1 |
The Wolverines' 4-3 loss to Ferris State Saturday was
their first OT defeat since Feb. 25, 2006, when Michigan
was on the short end of a 4-3 decision against ... Ferris
State. |
| 27-5-4 (20-4-4
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Ferris State, 5-3; L at Ferris
State, 4-3 ot. THIS WEEK: Off. |
| 3. |
 Colorado
College |
1 |
Tigers uber-sniper Chad Rau has six short-handed goals
this season, which is equal to the amount of penalty minutes
he's amassed in 33 games. |
| 24-9-1 (19-6-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Minnesota State, 5-2; L vs. Minnesota
State, 3-2 ot. THIS WEEK: at Denver, vs. Denver. |
| 4. |
 New
Hampshire |
— |
Great goaltending continues at New Hampshire. One night
after Kevin Regan made 29 saves in a 2-1 win, understudy
Brian Foster had 34 saves in a 1-1 tie. That's a .969
save percentage for the weekend. |
| 22-7-3 (18-4-3
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Merrimack, 2-1; T at Merrimack,
1-1 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Vermont, vs. Vermont. |
| 5. |
 Miami |
— |
By beating Ohio State twice this past weekend, the RedHawks
finished the regular season with 29 wins. That's the most
in school history, topping the previous mark of 27 wins
first set in 1992-93 and equalled in 1996-97. |
| 29-6-1 (21-6-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Ohio State, 2-1; W vs. Ohio State,
4-3. THIS WEEK: Off. |
| 6. |
 Michigan
State |
— |
The Spartans downed Bowling Green twice this past weekend,
ending a streak of six straight series between the two
teams dating back to the start of the 2002-03 season that
ended in splits. |
| 23-9-5 (19-6-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Bowling Green, 6-3; W at Bowling
Green, 4-0. THIS WEEK: Off. |
| 7. |
 Clarkson |
1 |
Nick Dodge's power-play goal on a redirection with 8:17
left in the third period on Friday completed Clarkson's
comeback. That win over Princeton was the Cleary Cup-clinching
victory for the Golden Knights, their first regular-season
ECAC Hockey title since 2001. |
| 20-10-4 (15-4-3
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Princeton, 4-3; W vs. Quinnipiac,
8-0. THIS WEEK: Off. |
| 8. |
 Denver |
1 |
By backtopping the Pioneers' 1-0 win against Michigan
Tech in Houghton Friday, goaltender Peter Mannino became
DU's all-time leader in that category with 14, passing
Gerry Powers for the honor. |
| 22-11-1 (16-9-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Michigan Tech, 1-0; L at Michigan
Tech, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Colorado College, at Colorado
College. |
| 9. |
 Minnesota
State |
1 |
"Definitely, we needed it more than they did,"
sophomore forward Kael Mouillierat, hero of Saturday's
3-2 OT win at Colorado College, told the Mankato Free
Press. "We played desperate hockey." |
| 17-13-4 (11-11-4
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Colorado College, 5-2; W at Colorado
College, 3-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan Tech, vs. Michigan
Tech. |
| 10. |
 Boston
College |
1 |
Boston College has just one win in its
last three weekends of Hockey East play and has fallen
into a tie for fourth place with Providence, a team that
currently holds the tiebreaker over the Eagles in the
standings. |
| 16-10-8 (10-8-7
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L vs. Providence, 3-2; T at Providence,
2-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Northeastern, at Northeastern. |
| 11. |
 Notre
Dame |
— |
Senior forward Mark Van Guilder set a school record
by playing in his 154th straight game Saturday vs. Western
Michigan, and celebrated by scoring his 11th goal of the
season in the Fighting Irish's 3-1 win. |
| 22-12-4 (15-9-4
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Western Michigan, 3-0; W vs. Western
Michigan, 3-1. THIS WEEK: Off. |
| 12. |
 Wisconsin |
1 |
Saturday's loss at St. Cloud State ended the Badgers'
14-game unbeaten streak (11-0-3) against the Huskies,
which dated back to Oct. 18, 2003. |
| 15-14-7 (11-12-5
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at St. Cloud State, 2-1; L at St. Cloud
State, 3-2. THIS WEEK: Off. |
| 13. |
 St.
Cloud State |
1 |
How long had it been since the Huskies had beaten Wisconsin?
Consider that the goalies of record for that contest were
Bernd Brückler for the Badgers and Adam Coole for
SCSU. |
| 17-14-3 (12-12-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Wisconsin, 2-1; W vs. Wisconsin,
3-2. THIS WEEK: at North Dakota, at North Dakota. |
| 14. |
 Harvard |
1 |
The Crimson are now 5-1-0 in their last six games against
Cornell, including two wins at Lynah Rink on the Big Red's
Senior Night to close the regular season. |
| 14-11-4 (12-7-3
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: T at Colgate, 3-3 ot; W at Cornell,
3-1. THIS WEEK: Off. |
| 15. |
 Princeton |
3 |
A stat to keep an eye on during playoff time —
Princeton is a .500 team in one-goal games, at 6-6-0.
When the margin is two or greater, the Tigers are 11-6-0. |
| 17-12-0 (14-8-0
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: L at Clarkson, 4-3; L at St. Lawrence,
3-2. THIS WEEK: Off. |
| 16. |
 Niagara |
3 |
Robert Morris actually held a 2-0 lead in Friday's game,
but Niagara outscored the visiting Colonials 13-2 the
rest of the way in two lopsided victories. |
| 19-9-4 (11-5-2
CHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Robert Morris, 6-3; W vs. Robert
Morris, 7-1. THIS WEEK: at Wayne State, at Wayne State. |
| 17. |
 Union |
1 |
Union's fourth-place finish in ECAC Hockey was its highest
ever since joining the league in the 1991-92 season. The
reward? A weekend off to prepare for a quarterfinal series
at home. |
| 15-12-6 (10-7-5
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Yale, 2-1; L at Brown, 2-0.
THIS WEEK: Off. |
| 18. |
 Boston
University |
1 |
Freshman forward Nick Bonino has at least one point
in eight of his last 10 games, and has 7-4—11 in
that stretch. More importantly, BU is 8-2-0 in those games. |
| 15-15-4 (13-9-3 Hockey East)
LAST WEEK: W vs. Massachusetts, 3-0; L at Massachusetts,
5-1. THIS WEEK: at Providence, vs. Providence. |
| 19. |
 Ferris
State |
1 |
Thanks to Saturday's thrilling overtime win against
Michigan in Big Rapids, the Bulldogs can claim the distinction
of being the only CCHA team with wins over Michigan, Miami,
and Notre Dame. |
| 15-14-5 (12-12-4
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Michigan, 5-3; W vs. Michigan, 4-3
ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Western Michigan (Best of three). |
| 20. |
 Army |
NR |
With the sweep of Sacred Heart, Army clinched the outright
Atlantic Hockey regular season title. The Black Knights
had 12 power-play chances in each game and the teams combined
for 168 penalty minutes on the weekend. |
| 17-13-4 (17-8-3 Atlantic Hockey)
LAST WEEK: W at Sacred Heart, 6-1; W vs. Sacred Heart,
3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. American International (Best of three). |