Four of the top five teams in the INCH Power
Rankings won twice last week, so there was no change among
that bunch. Princeton, Wisconsin and Yale also got a pair
of victories and moved up - the same as Rankings newcomers
Air Force and Niagara.
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. |
 Boston
University |
— |
The Terriers are averaging 4.14 goals per game during
their current seven-game winning streak. Getting a four-spot
past Northeastern's Brad Thiessen on Monday would be almost
as impressive as winning their 29th Beanpot. |
| 21-5-1 (13-5-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Harvard, 4-3 (Beanpot);
W vs. UMass Lowell, 5-3. THIS WEEK: vs. Northeastern (Beanpot
Championship); at Maine, at Maine |
| 2. |
 Notre
Dame |
— |
Friday’s thrilling win at Ohio State – the
Irish tied the score on a goal with one second left, then
got the winner 49 seconds into OT – may prove to
be costly. Forwards Christian Hanson and Ryan Thang were
both injured; neither played in Sunday’s 4-1 loss.
|
| 21-5-3 (15-4-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Ohio State, 4-3 ot; L at Ohio State,
4-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Northern Michigan, vs. Northern Michigan |
| 3. |
 Michigan |
— |
The Wolverines have the nation’s 11th-best scoring
offense, averaging 3.37 goals per game, which is remarkable
considering they rank 42nd in the country in power play
success at 14.3 percent. |
| 21-9-0 (15-7-0
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Lake Superior State, 6-2; W vs.
Lake Superior State, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Nebraska-Omaha,
vs. Nebraska-Omaha |
| 4. |
 Northeastern |
— |
Monday's Beanpot final against the Terriers has more
immediate relevance, but in the grand scheme, the Huskies'
upcoming home-and-home set with BU on Feb. 20-21 could
determine the Hockey East regular season title. |
| 19-6-2 (14-4-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Boston College, 6-1 (Beanpot);
W vs. Merrimack, 4-3. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston University
(Beanpot Championship), at Massachusetts, vs. Massachusetts |
| 5. |
 Vermont |
— |
Vermont just keeps winning, and taking care of business
in the games where they're favored. The Catamounts are
5-5-2 against other teams in these Power Rankings, and
11-1-2 against non-ranked teams. |
| 16-6-4 (11-5-3
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Providence, 4-1; W vs. Providence,
4-1. THIS WEEK: at Merrimack, at Merrimack |
| 6. |
 Miami |
 2 |
Sophomore forward Carter Camper has five goals and three
assists in six games since sitting out the RedHawks’
Jan. 11 loss at Michigan. |
| 16-8-4 (14-5-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: at Lake Superior State,
at Lake Superior State |
| 7. |
 Princeton |
2 |
Princeton realized there's a fine line between zero
and four. An overtime goal at Colgate and last-minute
rally at Cornell meant four points in the league standings
when they easily could've headed back to New Jersey with
nothing. |
| 17-6-0 (11-5-0
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Colgate, 3-2 ot; W at Cornell,
2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Clarkson, vs. St. Lawrence |
| 8. |
 Denver |
 2 |
St. Patrick the Second? Freshman defenseman Patrick
Wiercioch has averaged nearly a point per game since Jan.
1, with 3-6—9 in 10 matches in 2009. |
| 17-9-3 (13-7-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Minnesota Duluth, 4-3; L at Minnesota
Duluth, 4-2. THIS WEEK: at Colorado College |
| 9. |
 Cornell
|
2 |
We've always known the Big Red can limit their opponents'
scoring chances, but there's got to be some doubt about
their own offensive production. Cornell has just one even-strength
goal in their last four games. |
| 15-4-4 (10-3-3
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Quinnipiac, 2-1 ot; L vs.
Princeton, 2-1. THIS WEEK: at Dartmouth, at Harvard |
| 10. |
 North
Dakota |
— |
A Grand Forks Herald article on
senior defenseman Joe Finley’s return from a concussion
earlier this season is titled, “Finley: Listen to
your body.” At 6-foot-7 and 245 pounds, he must
do more listening than Frasier Crane. |
| 16-11-3
(11-6-3 WCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota
State, vs. Minnesota State |
| 11. |
 Wisconsin |
4 |
“Get Jamie McBain on the top of your Hobey charts
right now,” an e-mailer implored to us late Saturday.
After watching the junior defenseman’s dominating
performance against Minnesota, we might have to agree. |
| 16-11-3
(13-7-2 WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Minnesota, 3-2; W at Minnesota,
5-4. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 12. |
 Yale |
4 |
Not only did Yale move into first place in ECAC Hockey
with a sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth, the Bulldogs also
clinched their first outright Ivy League title since 2001. |
| 17-5-1 (12-3-1
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Harvard, 5-1; W vs. Dartmouth,
3-1. THIS WEEK: at Union, at Rensselaer (Big Red Freakout!) |
| 13. |
 Ohio
State |
— |
After scoring two goals and five assists in the Buckeyes’
first 12 games, sophomore forward John Albert has 8-18—26
in his last 18 games, including a goal and an assist in
OSU’s win against Notre Dame Sunday. |
| 18-9-3 (11-8-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Notre Dame, 4-3 ot; W vs. Notre
Dame, 4-1. THIS WEEK: at Michigan State, at Michigan State |
| 14. |
 New
Hampshire |
2 |
UNH saw a six-game winning streak against Maine come
to an end in Saturday's loss at Manchester, and the Wildcats
are just 1-4-0 in their last five games at the Verizon
Wireless Arena — where they would play NCAA Tournament
games next month if they make the field. |
| 13-9-4 (9-7-3
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Maine, 4-1; L vs. Maine
1-0 (Manchester, N.H.). THIS WEEK: vs. Providence, at
Providence |
| 15. |
 Minnesota |
4 |
Being on the wrong end of sweeps against Minnesota State
and Wisconsin the last two weekends has left the Gophers
with their first four-game losing streak since Nov.-Dec.
2001. |
| 12-9-5 (9-8-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Wisconsin, 3-2; L vs. Wisconsin,
5-4. THIS WEEK: vs. Alaska Anchorage, vs. Alaska Anchorage |
| 16. |
 Boston
College |
2 |
Friday's 21-save shutout of UMass was a nice redemption
game for sophomore goalie John Muse. He was yanked for
the first time in his career during a dodgy performance
against Northeastern in Monday's Beanpot semifinal. |
| 12-9-4 (8-7-4
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L vs. Northeastern, 6-1 (Beanpot);
W vs. Massachusetts, 2-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Harvard (Beanpot
Third Place), vs. UMass Lowell, at UMass Lowell |
| 17. |
 Colorado
College |
— |
Senior forward Chad Rau has just six points (three goals,
three assists) in the Tigers’ last 12 games after
scoring 10-14—24 in his first 18 outings. |
| 14-9-7 (10-8-4
WCHA) LAST WEEK: T at Michigan Tech, 2-2 ot; W at Michigan
Tech, 4-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Denver, vs. US NTDP Under-18s
(Ex.) |
| 18. |
 Minnesota
Duluth |
— |
Not to take anything away from the kids on the current
roster, but do you think UMD fans ever ask themselves
what the Bulldogs would look like if NHLers Matt Niskanen
and Mason Raymond didn’t leave in 2007 with two
years of eligibility left? |
| 15-9-6 (9-8-5
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Denver, 4-3; W vs. Denver, 4-2.
THIS WEEK: Off |
| 19. |
 Air
Force |
NR |
Forward Jacques Lamoureux, who had been quiet for a
few weeks, notched his second hat trick of the season
in Saturday’s 4-1 win over UConn in front of a sellout
crowd at Clune Ice Arena. |
| 19-7-2 (16-4-2
Atlantic Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Connecticut, 3-2; W
vs. Connecticut, 4-1. THIS WEEK: at Bentley, at Bentley |
| 20. |
 Niagara |
NR |
The Purps are 5-1-1 in their last seven games, including
this past weekend's sweep of future Atlantic Hockey cohorts
Robert Morris. |
| 14-10-2
(7-2-1 CHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Robert Morris, 4-2; W vs.
Robert Morris, 6-3. THIS WEEK: at Alabama-Huntsville,
at Alabama-Huntsville |