The top-10 teams in this week's INCH Power Rankings
took care of business, accumulating an aggregate record 12-1-2,
and the two ties and loss were the result of the series between
current No. 4 Boston University and No. 9 Boston College.
That's not to say there wasn't any movement among the top
10, and we also welcome Minnesota Duluth to the rankings after
a win and tie at Colorado College.
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. |
 Notre
Dame |
— |
The Irish are currently in the midst of a seven-game
road winning streak during which they've allowed a total
of eight goals. |
| 12-3-2 (8-2-2
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Ferris State, 3-1; W at Ferris State,
1-0. THIS WEEK: at Bowling Green, vs. Bowling Green |
| 2. |
 Minnesota |
— |
Was the Gophers' 11-game unbeaten start to the season
deceiving? Despite the early success, Minnesota has yet
to win more than two games in a row. |
| 7-2-5 (6-1-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Colorado College,
vs. Colorado College |
| 3. |
 Denver |
 1 |
We had Joe Colborne (15 points in 17 games) and Patrick
Wiercioch (14 points in 15 games) pegged as top incoming
freshmen. We didn't see Luke Salazar (10 goals, 15 points
in 16 games), however … and it's not because he's
5-7. |
| 11-5-1 (7-4-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W at Michigan Tech, 6-0; W at
Michigan Tech, 6-1. THIS WEEK: at Minnesota State, at
Minnesota State |
| 4. |
 Boston
University |
1 |
It's not the best way to judge a rivalry, but nine sets
of matching minors or misconducts over two nights shows
a little bit of the intensity that rises when BU and BC
get together. |
| 10-4-1 (5-4-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: T vs. Boston College, 1-1 ot;
W at Boston College, 3-1. THIS WEEK: vs. UMass Lowell |
| 5. |
 Princeton |
1 |
Zane Kalemba's stats in three games against Quinnipiac
this year: three wins, .977 save percentage, 1.50 goals-against
average. |
| 10-2-0 (7-1-0
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Quinnipiac, 4-1. THIS WEEK:
Off |
| 6. |
 Miami |
3 |
Sophomore forward Carter Camper had a hat trick in the
RedHawks' 7-3 win at Western Michigan Sunday. We weren't
there, but we assume he was a happy Camper. |
| 10-3-3 (10-2-2
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Western Michigan, 4-2; W at Western
Michigan, 7-3. THIS WEEK: vs. Rensselaer, vs. Rensselaer |
| 7. |
 Northeastern |
— |
Want another reason to believe that Northeastern won't
leave these rankings anytime soon? Only five of their
first 16 games have been played at home. They're 4-0-1
in those games including wins over BC and UNH. |
| 11-3-2 (8-2-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Maine, 3-2 ot. THIS WEEK:
Off |
| 8. |
 Vermont |
— |
Coach's take on the exhibition win: "I thought,
to be honest with you, we had one really good line tonight;
we had pieces, parts of other lines," Vermont head
coach Kevin Sneddon said. "... I don't think we
sharpened the saw as we wanted to do, to be honest with
you. We did some OK things offensively, but I don't
think we had enough players take advantage of this game."
|
| 9-3-2 (6-3-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. USNTDP Under-18s, 6-4 (Ex.).
THIS WEEK: at St. Lawrence |
| 9. |
 Boston
College |
 6 |
After a 5-1-0 start, Boston College is a .500 team over
their last 10 games at 4-4-2, and for the second time
this season were held to just one goal in each of back-to-back
games. |
| 9-5-2 (5-4-2
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: T at Boston University, 1-1 ot;
L vs. Boston University, 3-1. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 10. |
 Cornell
|
3 |
The Big Red have won four straight games
at home, which might not seem like a lot at Cornell-friendly
Lynah Rink, but they haven't posted four straight Ws at
home since a 2006 playoff series against Clarkson and
the first three regular-season games of 2006-07 season. |
| 7-1-2 (6-0-2
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Clarkson, 4-1; W vs. St.
Lawrence, 1-0. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 11. |
 Air
Force |
1 |
Saturday's overtime loss to RIT snapped the Falcons'
15-game home unbeaten streak. The last time AFA lost at
home? Jan. 12, 2008, dropping a 4-3 OT decision to …
RIT. Ah, the circle of life. |
| 14-2-0 (11-1-0
Atlantic Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. RIT, 2-0; L vs. RIT,
3-2 ot. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 12. |
 Michigan |
2 |
The line of Louie Caporusso, Aaron Palushaj, and David
Wohlberg combined for 4-9—13 in the Wolverines'
weekend sweep of Michigan State. |
| 11-7-0 (7-5-0
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan State, 6-1; W at Michigan
State, 5-3. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 13. |
 Colorado
College |
2 |
Eight days after getting pulled when he allowed four
goals on 17 shots in a loss to Air Force, Dallas Stars
prospect Richard Bachman was yanked after giving up five
goals on 18 shots in a loss to UMD. Blame Sean Avery. |
| 9-5-4 (6-4-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: T vs. Minnesota Duluth, 1-1 ot; L vs.
Minnesota Duluth, 7-4. THIS WEEK: at Minnesota, at Minnesota |
| 14. |
 Minnesota
State |
2 |
Things will change, obviously, but as of right now,
the Mavs have just two games remaining against sub.-500
opposition – and those are against 7-8-1 North Dakota
in Grand Forks. |
| 8-5-3 (5-5-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. St. Cloud State, 4-2; L at St.
Cloud State, 6-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Denver, vs. Denver |
| 15. |
 Dartmouth |
— |
How to spend some time in December during a long break
between games? Head to Europe for a little hockey and
a little culture. The Big Green are heading to Sweden
and Denmark this month. |
| 6-4-0 (5-2-0
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 16. |
 Wisconsin |
4 |
We're rooting for the Badgers to extend their current
winning run to seven games, just so someone, somewhere
has to look up the last time a team had a seven-game winless
streak and a seven-game winning streak in the same season. |
| 9-7-2 (7-5-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Alaska Anchorage, 3-2; W vs. Alaska
Anchorage, 7-2. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 17. |
 Ohio
State |
1 |
The Buckeyes have won games in Pittsburgh, and Cleveland
this season, which puts them ahead of the Cincinnati Bengals
in the AFC North. |
| 9-6-1 (6-5-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Robert Morris, 7-4. THIS WEEK:
vs. Bentley, vs. Bentley |
| T-18. |
 Alaska
 Nebraska-Omaha
|
TIED |
Is it just us, or does the idea of settling a 0-0 tie
with a shootout seem counterproductive? |
| ALASKA:
8-4-4 (6-3-3 CCHA) LAST WEEK: T at Nebraska-Omaha, 0-0
ot; T at Nebraska-Omaha, 1-1 ot. THIS WEEK: Off |
| NEBRASKA-OMAHA:
9-4-3 (5-4-3 CCHA) LAST WEEK: T vs. Alaska, 0-0 ot; T
vs. Alaska, 1-1 ot. THIS WEEK: at Lake Superior State,
at Lake Superior State |
| 20. |
 Minnesota
Duluth |
NR |
A tie and win at Colorado College gave the Bulldogs
a five-game unbeaten streak, their longest since going
4-0-1 between Feb. 19-March 5, 2005. |
| 7-4-5 (4-4-4
WCHA) LAST WEEK: T at Colorado College, 1-1 ot; W at Colorado
College, 7-4. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan Tech, vs. Michigan
Tech |