Some say that Sundays are a day of rest, but
don't tell that to the teams that were involved in one of
11 Division I games across the country. Among those 11 games,
four went to overtime and of those four, three required more
than 20 minutes for a winner to be determined. Niagara (ranked
16th) and Air Force (18th) were the first two teams to earn
automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Tournament and will find
out their opponents and destinations on Sunday. Meanwhile,
upset victims Michigan State, Clarkson, and Minnesota State
are hoping for good news next weekend.
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. |
 Colorado
College |
 1 |
A trio of goals by sophomore Mike Testwuide (including
the OT-winner on Saturday) sets up a family reunion in
St. Paul. Older brother J.P. is a junior defenseman at
Denver. |
| 28-9-1. LAST WEEK:
W vs. Alaska Anchorage, 4-1; W vs. Alaska Anchorage, 3-2
ot. THIS WEEK: WCHA Final Five (St. Paul, Minn.). |
| 2. |
 Michigan |
1 |
Welcome back, Kolarik: In his first game since going
on the shelf with a wonky hamstring Feb. 22, senior forward
Chad Kolarik scored a hat trick in the Wolverines' 10-1
romp against Nebraska-Omaha Friday. |
| 29-5-4. LAST WEEK:
W vs. Nebraska-Omaha, 10-1; W vs. Nebraska-Omaha, 2-1.
THIS WEEK: CCHA Semifinal vs. Northern Michigan (Detroit). |
| 3. |
 North
Dakota |
 2 |
How healthy is T.J. Oshie? Healthy enough for three
goals and an assist for the weekend as the Sioux put away
the pesky Huskies. |
| 25-9-4. LAST WEEK:
W vs. Michigan Tech, 4-0; L vs. Michigan Tech, 3-2 ot;
W vs. Michigan Tech, 2-1. THIS WEEK: WCHA Final Five vs.
Denver (St. Paul, Minn.). |
| 4. |
 Miami |
— |
Welcome back, Carter: In his first games since going
on the shelf with an ankle injury Feb. 8, freshman center
Carter Camper recorded a goal and two assists in the RedHawks'
weekend sweep of visiting Bowling Green. |
| 31-6-1. LAST WEEK:
W vs. Bowling Green, 4-1; W vs. Bowling Green, 4-2. THIS
WEEK: CCHA Semifinal vs. Notre Dame (Detroit). |
| 5. |
 New
Hampshire |
— |
Jerry Pollastrone had four goals in Hockey East play
during the regular season, but surpassed that with a two-goal
effort and his first career hat trick in the Wildcats'
series sweep of UMass. |
| 25-8-3. LAST WEEK:
W vs. Massachusetts, 4-1; W vs. Massachusetts, 7-2. THIS
WEEK: Hockey East Semifinal vs. Boston College (Boston). |
| 6. |
 Denver |
2 |
Peter Mannino's 15th career shutout was the Pioneers'
third notable 1-0 playoff win since 2004. If you can't
name the others, your Pioneer Fan Club membership is hereby
revoked. |
| 24-13-1. LAST
WEEK: W vs. Minnesota Duluth, 6-3; W vs. Minnesota Duluth,
1-0. THIS WEEK: WCHA Final Five vs. North Dakota (St.
Paul, Minn.). |
| 7. |
 Michigan
State |
1 |
By losing their best-of-three quarterfinal series to
Northern Michigan this past weekend, the Spartans fail
to advance to the Joe Louis Arena portion of the CCHA
tournament for the first time since 1991. |
| 24-11-5. LAST
WEEK: W vs. Northern Michigan, 5-1; L vs. Northern Michigan,
2-1; L vs. Northern Michigan, 3-2 ot. THIS WEEK: Off. |
| 8. |
 St.
Cloud State |
3 |
All that hype about the offense, then goalie Jase Weslosky
has a "what about me" weekend, with a Friday
shutout and a 46-save overtime win in the series clincher. |
| 19-14-5. LAST
WEEK: W vs. Wisconsin, 3-0; W vs. Wisconsin, 4-3 ot. THIS
WEEK: WCHA Final Five vs. Minnesota (St. Paul, Minn.). |
| 9. |
 Boston
College |
1 |
Forget the Brian Gionta comparisons for Nate
Gerbe. More like Ryan
Shannon. |
| 19-11-8. LAST
WEEK: W vs. Providence, 5-1; W vs. Providence, 5-1. THIS
WEEK: Hockey East Semifinal vs. New Hampshire (Boston). |
| 10. |
 Minnesota
State |
1 |
After 14 periods of hockey, the Mavs can
almost claim to have lost the first five-game playoff
series in WCHA history. |
| 19-16-4. LAST
WEEK: W vs. Minnesota, 1-0 2ot; L vs. Minnesota, 2-1 ot;
L vs. Minnesota, 3-2 2ot. THIS WEEK: Off. |
| 11. |
 Clarkson |
4 |
Steve Zalewski scored a goal on Clarkson's first power-play
opportunity of the weekend, but the Golden Knights were
0-for-10 the rest of the way, including an 0-for-8 in
Sunday's Game 3 loss against Colgate. |
| 21-12-4. LAST
WEEK: W vs. Colgate, 1-0; L vs. Colgate, 4-3; L vs. Colgate,
3-2 2ot. THIS WEEK: Off. |
| 12. |
 Notre
Dame |
— |
The Irish bounced back from a series-opening loss to
Ferris State to win consecutive games for the first time
since Jan. 25-26, when they took both ends of a home-and-home
series against Bowling Green. |
| 24-13-4. LAST
WEEK: L vs. Ferris State, 2-1; W vs. Ferris State, 6-3;
W vs. Ferris State, 2-1. THIS WEEK: CCHA Semifinal vs.
Miami (Detroit). |
| 13. |
 Harvard |
1 |
Harvard scored 11 goals on Friday. They had 10 goals
during the month of December (six games) and 10 more in
January (five games). |
| 16-12-4. LAST
WEEK: W vs. Quinnipiac, 11-0; L vs. Quinnipiac, 7-4; W
vs. Quinnipiac, 3-1. THIS WEEK: ECAC Hockey Semifinal
vs. Cornell (Albany, N.Y.). |
| 14. |
 Princeton |
1 |
Goalie Zane Kalemba matched his regular-season total
with two shutouts on the weekend against Yale. The good
news continues for Princeton, who drew Colgate in the
semifinals. Princeton has a three-game winning streak
against the Raiders. |
| 19-13-0. LAST
WEEK: W vs. Yale, 3-0; L vs. Yale, 4-3; W vs. Yale, 4-0.
THIS WEEK: ECAC Hockey Semifinal vs. Colgate (Albany,
N.Y.). |
| 15. |
 Boston
University |
2 |
The Terriers entered their last Garden tournament five
games under .500 and lost the first night. They are 11-2-0
since then. |
| 19-16-4. LAST
WEEK: W vs. UMass Lowell, 5-3; L vs. UMass Lowell, 4-1;
W vs. UMass Lowell, 4-2. THIS WEEK: Hockey East Semifinal
vs. Vermont (Boston). |
| 16. |
 Niagara |
3 |
College Hockey America tournament MVP Ted Cook extended
his goal-scoring streak to six games with a power-play
tally in the Purple Eagles' title game victory over regular-season
champion Bemidji State. |
| 22-10-4. LAST
WEEK: W vs. Robert Morris, 6-3; W vs. Bemidji State, 3-2
(College Hockey America Championship - Niagara Falls,
N.Y.). THIS WEEK: Off. |
| 17. |
 Cornell |
NR |
If you haven't read about one of the feel-good stories
of the season so far, check out the INCH
Newsstand for the tale of what some Cornell players
did during an ice storm in Ithaca last weekend. |
| 18-13-3. LAST
WEEK: W vs. Union, 3-2; W vs. Union, 3-2. THIS WEEK: ECAC
Hockey Semifinal vs. Harvard (Albany, N.Y.). |
| 18. |
 Air
Force |
NR |
By winning the Atlantic Hockey playoff championship,
the Falcons ensure that for the first time ever, Colorado's
three Division I hockey teams will appear in the NCAA
tournament field simultaneously. |
| 21-11-6. LAST WEEK: W vs. RIT,
5-0; W vs. Mercyhurst, 5-4 ot (Atlantic Hockey Championship
- Rochester, N.Y.). THIS WEEK: Off. |
| 19. |
 Minnesota |
NR |
Since the first round of the WCHA playoffs went to a
best-of-three format in 1988, there have been 100 series
played. The Gophers join Denver in 1989 as
the only teams to win a series on the road after losing
the first game. |
| 17-15-9. LAST
WEEK: L at Minnesota State, 1-0 2ot; W at Minnesota State,
2-1 ot; W at Minnesota State, 3-2 2ot. THIS WEEK: WCHA
Final Five vs. St. Cloud State (St. Paul, Minn.). |
| 20. |
 Ferris
State |
2 |
Despite the disappointing end to the season, the future
looks bright in Big Rapids. Most of the offense returns,
as the Bulldogs' five seniors combined to score just 40
points, and 27 of them were provided by center Adam Miller. |
| 18-16-5. LAST WEEK: W at Notre
Dame, 2-1; L at Notre Dame, 6-3; L at Notre Dame, 2-1.
THIS WEEK: Off. |