The elite of the INCH Power Rankings found out
just how hard it is to win on the road, as teams ranked in
last week's top 10 combined for seven losses away from home
over the weekend, making it a good time to be playing in front
of friendly crowds. Minnesota and Notre Dame took advantage
of home ice, with three-point weekends turned in by both clubs.
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. |
 Minnesota |
— |
Alex Kangas' first career shutout extends the Gophers
tie-then-win streak to four consecutive weekends. He needs
a dozen more to tie Kellen Briggs' school record of 13
blankings. |
| 6-0-4 (5-0-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: T vs. Michigan Tech, 2-2 ot; W vs. Michigan
Tech, 3-0. THIS WEEK: at Denver, at Denver |
| 2. |
 Boston
University |
— |
Four BU players have five goals on the season to lead
the team in that category. That balance has boosted the
Terriers to a 4.11 goals-per-game average, second nationally
to Air Force. |
| 7-2-0 (4-2-0
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L at Massachusetts, 5-1; W vs.
Northeastern, 3-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Vermont, vs.Vermont |
| 3. |
 Colorado
College |
— |
Slow starters? Tigers have scored 22 goals in five Saturday
games and are 4-0-1 in those. On Fridays they have just
eight goals in six games and are 2-2-2. |
| 7-2-3 (5-2-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Minnesota State, 2-1; W at Minnesota
State, 4-3. THIS WEEK: at Alaska Anchorage, at Alaska
Anchorage |
| 4. |
 Notre
Dame |
 3 |
November Reign: The Fighting Irish are 4-0-1 this month,
after going 9-1-0 in 10 November tilts last season. Four
games remain on this month's schedule — weekend
series against Bowling Green and Western Michigan. |
| 7-3-1 (3-2-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: T vs. Lake Superior State, 3-3 ot; W
vs. Lake Superior State, 5-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Bowling Green,
at Bowling Green |
| 5. |
 Northeastern |
— |
The Huskies have been out-shot by their opponents eight
times in 11 games this year, but it doesn't matter when
you have Brad Thiessen and his .941 save percentage backing
you up. |
| 7-2-2 (5-2-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W at Vermont, 5-3; L at Boston
University, 3-0. THIS WEEK: vs. New Hampshire, at UMass
Lowell |
| 6. |
 Boston
College |
2 |
BC snapped out of a brief offensive malaise with 13
goals on the weekend, led by eight points from Brock Bradford,
including a hat trick in Friday's tie at Merrimack. The
Eagles were down 3-0 to UNH before scoring five straight
second-period goals. |
| 6-3-1 (4-2-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: T at Merrimack, 5-5 ot; W vs.
New Hampshire, 8-6. THIS WEEK: vs. Massachusetts, at Massachusetts |
| 7. |
 Princeton |
2 |
The Tigers have allowed just five goals in six games
this year, and no more than one in any game. Zane Kalemba's
.965 save percentage and 0.83 goals-against average only
trails Cornell's Ben Scrivens nationally in both categories. |
| 5-1-0 (4-1-0
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Quinnipiac, 2-0; W at Rensselaer,
4-1; W at Union, 4-1. THIS WEEK: at St. Lawrence, at Clarkson |
| 8. |
 Denver |
 4 |
The Pioneers hadn't been swept at St. Cloud State since
Feb. 18-19, 2000. Future NHLers Tyler Arnason, Duvie Westcott,
Ryan Malone, Mark Hartigan, Mark Rycroft and Wade Dubielewicz
were on the ice that weekend. |
| 6-4-1 (4-3-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at St. Cloud State, 4-2; L at St. Cloud
State, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota, vs. Minnesota |
| 9. |
 Minnesota
State |
1 |
The split was spurred by sophomore defenseman Kurt Davis,
leading the team with 13 points and a 10-game scoring
streak, and rookie forward Mike Louwerse, who scored his
team-leading sixth goal. |
| 5-3-2 (3-3-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Colorado College, 2-1; L vs. Colorado
College, 4-3. THIS WEEK: at Michigan Tech, at Michigan
Tech |
| 10. |
 New
Hampshire |
5 |
No Brian Foster meant big problems for
the Wildcats, who allowed eight goals on back-to-back
nights, the most goals they've allowed since BU hung a
nine-spot on them in the 2006 Hockey East playoffs. |
| 4-4-3 (2-2-2
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L at UMass Lowell, 8-3; L at Boston
College, 8-6. THIS WEEK: at Northeastern, vs. Providence |
| 11. |
 Air
Force |
1 |
The Falcons returned to action after a week off and
kept on with the same ol' same ol'. Two more wins have
them as the only unbeaten, untied team in the nation and
they did it with balance, as all four forward lines contributed
a goal in Saturday's win. |
| 10-0-0 (8-0-0
Atlantic Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Holy Cross, 1-0 ot; W
at Holy Cross, 5-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Sacred Heart, vs. Sacred
Heart |
| 12. |
 Cornell
|
1 |
The Big Red trailed for the first time all season on
Saturday in their home opener, but two goals in a span
of 24 seconds in the third period to take some of the
sting out of an 0-for-10 |
| 2-0-2 (2-0-2
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Colgate, 4-1; T vs. Colgate,
2-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Harvard, vs. Dartmouth |
| 13. |
 Miami |
2 |
Seven different goal scorers accounted for the eight
Miami tallies at Michigan State. Justin Mercier scored
a goal in each game and now has five for the season —
tied for second on the team with Gary Steffes, one behind
Pat Cannone and Carter Camper. |
| 6-3-3 (6-2-2
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Michigan State, 5-1; W at Michigan
State, 3-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan, vs. Michigan |
| 14. |
 Michigan |
3 |
The Wolverines have won seven straight games at Western
Michigan's Lawson Ice Arena. Their last loss there came
in 2003. |
| 8-4-0 (5-3-0
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Western Michigan, 2-1; W at Western
Michigan, 5-0. THIS WEEK: at Miami, at Miami |
| 15. |
 Vermont |
1 |
Since joining Hockey East, Vermont is 7-1-2 against
Merrimack after Sunday's victory. The 2-1 final was par
for the course in this series, as six of the 10 games
were decided by one goal or tied. |
| 5-3-2 (2-3-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L vs. Northeastern, 5-3; W vs.
Merrimack, 2-1. THIS WEEK: at Boston University, at Boston
University |
| 16. |
 Dartmouth |
NR |
Since dropping its first two games, the Big Green have
gone a perfect 4-for-4 in ECAC Hockey action and have
scored 19 goals in those four games. Not too shabby for
a team that was picked to finish 11th in the preseason
polls. |
| 4-2-0 (4-1-0
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. St. Lawrence, 4-3 ot; W
vs. Clarkson, 5-1. THIS WEEK: at Colgate, at Cornell |
| 17. |
 Nebraska-Omaha
|
1 |
Only Air Force (10) and Michigan (8) have won more games
than the Mavericks. UNO's seven-win total is tied for
third best nationally with five other teams. |
| 7-2-1 (3-2-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Ferris State, 3-2; W vs. Ferris
State, 4-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan State, vs. Michigan
State |
| 18. |
 St.
Cloud State |
NR |
East met West in the Huskies' sweep as freshmen Travis
Novak (from Alberta) and Nicholas Rioux (from Quebec)
recorded their first collegiate goals on Saturday. |
| 7-4-0 (2-3-0
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Denver, 4-2; W vs. Denver 2-1.
THIS WEEK: vs. Wisconsin, vs. Wisconsin |
| 19. |
 UMass
Lowell |
NR |
The River Hawks showed both sides of the coin on the
weekend, with an explosive offense leading to a big win
over UNH and a steady defense helping UMass Lowell to
a win on the road. |
| 5-4-0 (3-2-0
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs New Hampshire, 8-3; W at
Massachusetts, 2-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Providence, vs. Northeastern |
| 20. |
 Massachusetts |
— |
UMass Lowell's third period power-play goal was the
first PPG allowed in 29 opponents extra-man chances, dating
back to a game on Oct. 21 at Rensselaer. |
| 5-3-1 (3-2-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Boston University, 5-1;
L vs. UMass Lowell, 2-0. THIS WEEK: at Boston College,
vs. Boston College |