It's that time of the year when the top teams
need to step up and establish themselves as the truly elite
class of college hockey. The top four teams in the Inside
College Hockey Power Rankings got that message. They went
a perfect 8-0-0 over the weekend, outscored their opponents
36-8 and posted three shutouts. As a result, you won't see
much change in the top of the latest edition of 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. |
 Notre
Dame |
— |
Goaltender Jordan Pearce picked up career wins 54 and
55 this weekend in the Irish's sweep of Michigan State.
He's one shy of the school's record set by Lance Madson. |
| 27-5-3 (21-4-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan State, 5-0; W at Michigan
State, 2-1. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 2. |
 Boston
University |
— |
Consistent. Hot. The Terriers have just one loss in
their last 23 games (18-1-4) and still aren't even in
first place in their own conference, because ... |
| 25-5-4 (16-5-4
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Massachusetts, 6-3; W vs.
Massachusetts, 7-2. THIS WEEK: at Providence, vs. Providence |
| 3. |
 Northeastern |
— |
... the Huskies maintained their Hockey East lead with
a sweep of UMass Lowell. Brad Thiessen made 56 saves on
57 shots faced. Freshman center Mike McLaughlin had a
goal in each win. |
| 22-8-4 (17-5-3
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. UMass Lowell, 3-0; W at
UMass Lowell, 3-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston College, at Boston
College |
| 4. |
 Michigan |
— |
It's the college hockey equivalent of adding Chris
Pronger at the trading deadline: Captain Mark Mitera,
in his first games since injuring his knee on Oct. 10,
had a goal and an assist in the Wolverines' sweep of
Ferris State. |
| 26-10-0
(20-8-0 CCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Ferris State, 6-1; W vs.
Ferris State, 4-0. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 5. |
 North
Dakota |
— |
The Fighting Sioux, one point from winning the WCHA
regular-season title, are 12-1-3 since Jan. 1. With their
penchant for second-half success, maybe Dave Hakstol should
schedule all 36 games after Christmas from here on out. |
| 21-11-4
(16-6-4 WCHA) LAST WEEK: T vs. Colorado College, 4-4 ot;
W vs. Colorado College, 4-3 ot. THIS WEEK: at Wisconsin,
at Wisconsin |
| 6. |
 Denver |
— |
Already playing without high-scoring forward Tyler Bozak,
the Pioneers may have suffered another blow when forward
Rhett Rakhshani, the team's second-leading scorer, was
injured in Friday's win vs. St. Cloud State and missed
Saturday's rematch. |
| 16-8-3 (20-10-4
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. St. Cloud State, 3-1; L vs. St.
Cloud State, 2-1 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Colorado College |
| 7. |
 Vermont |
 2 |
Justin Milo has 10 goals on the season. Four of them
are game-winners, including Saturday's decisive tally
with 4:20 remaining at Maine. |
| 19-8-5 (14-7-4
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W at Maine, 3-2; W at Maine, 2-1.
THIS WEEK: vs. New Hampshire, vs. New Hampshire |
| 8. |
 Miami |
— |
Salute to round numbers: Justin Mercier's empty-net
goal with 60 seconds left in Saturday's 7-5 win at Ohio
State was his 10th of the season and his 100th career
point in his 150th career game. |
| 19-10-5
(17-7-4 CCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Ohio State, 6-2; W at Ohio
State, 7-5. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 9. |
 Yale |
1 |
Yale won ECAC Hockey with 32 points, but a 3-1-0 record
in the four head-to-head games against Cornell and Princeton
was the difference between the top three in the ECACH
standings. |
| 20-7-2 (15-5-2
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Cornell, 4-2; L vs. Colgate,
3-2 ot. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 10. |
 Princeton |
 3 |
Have no fear, Princeton fans. The Tigers
lost their last two regular-season games last season too,
then went on to win the ECAC Hockey playoff title. |
| 20-9-0 (14-8-0
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: L at Dartmouth, 2-0; L at Harvard,
3-2. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 11. |
 New
Hampshire |
1 |
The Wildcats have taken 11 of a possible 12 points in
their last six Hockey East games. Four of the five wins
were by one goal, or a two-goal margin that included an
empty-net goal. |
| 18-9-5 (14-7-4
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W at Merrimack, 4-3; W vs. Merrimack,
1-0. THIS WEEK: at Vermont, at Vermont |
| 12. |
 Cornell
|
1 |
The Big Red scored two goals in the last 12 minutes
of the third period on Saturday at Brown to tie the game,
then got an overtime power-play goal from Blake Gallagher
to beat the last-place Bears and clinch second place in
the league. |
| 18-7-4 (13-6-3
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: L at Yale, 4-2; W at Brown, 3-2
ot. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 13. |
 St.
Lawrence |
4 |
The Saints had not recorded a single shutout all season,
but senior goalie Alex Petizian blanked both Union and
Renssealer over the weekend. The last time SLU shut out
back-to-back opponents? Also RPI and Union, in November
of 1997. |
| 19-11-4
(11-7-4 ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Union, 2-0; W at
Rensselaer, 2-0. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 14. |
 Ohio
State |
1 |
Should the Buckeyes get past Bowling Green this weekend
in the first round of the CCHA playoffs, their reward
will be a trip to Fairbanks – the second in roughly
six weeks – for a quarterfinal series against Alaska. |
| 20-12-4
(13-11-4 CCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Miami, 6-2; L vs. Miami,
7-5. THIS WEEK: vs. Bowling Green (CCHA First Round Series) |
| 15. |
 Colorado
College |
1 |
The Tigers played their 10th and 11th overtime contests
of the season this weekend at North Dakota, but Sunday's
loss to the Fighting Sioux was the first time CC ended
up on the wrong side of the ledger. |
| 16-10-9
(12-9-6 WCHA) LAST WEEK: T at North Dakota, 4-4 ot; L
at North Dakota, 4-3 ot. THIS WEEK: at Denver |
| 16. |
 Minnesota |
2 |
Backup goaltender Kent Patterson made his first career
start Friday against Minnesota Duluth and earned a 2-2
tie by stopping 34 of the 36 shots he faced. Starter Alex
Kangas returned Saturday to make 28 saves in a 5-3 win. |
| 14-11-7
(11-10-5 WCHA) LAST WEEK: T vs. Minnesota Duluth, 2-2
ot; W vs. Minnesota Duluth, 5-3. THIS WEEK: at Michigan
Tech, at Michigan Tech |
| 17. |
 Minnesota
Duluth |
4 |
He did his part: Forward MacGregor Sharp scored three
goals over an 18-minute stretch of Saturday's game at
Mariucci, turning a 2-0 Minnesota lead into a 3-2 Bulldog
edge early in the third period before the Gophers rallied
to win. |
| 16-10-8
(10-9-7 WCHA) LAST WEEK: T at Minnesota, 2-2 ot; L at
Minnesota, 5-3. THIS WEEK: vs. Alaska Anchorage, vs. Alaska
Anchorage |
| 18. |
 St.
Cloud State
|
1 |
The Huskies have put together a little bit of a run
over the last 10 games, going 6-3-1 during that span as
they make a late push for a home-ice berth in the first
round of the WCHA playoffs. |
| 18-14-2
(13-12-1 WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Denver, 3-1; W at Denver,
2-1 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota State, at Minnesota State |
| 19. |
 Boston
College |
NR |
Seven different players scored BC's nine goals on the
weekend. That's the type of offensive balance that can
make the Eagles dangerous. We'll see if they can keep
it going against Northeastern, the nation's eighth-best
defensive team. |
| 15-12-5
(10-10-5 Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Providence, 5-1;
W at Providence, 4-3 ot. THIS WEEK: at Northeastern, vs.
Northeastern |
| 20. |
 Wisconsin |
6 |
How much do Badger fans hate to see games knotted at
the end of regulation? In the last two seasons, Bucky
has lost six overtime games, the latest coming Friday
at Mankato against Minnesota State. |
| 16-14-4
(13-10-3 WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Minnesota State, 4-3 ot;
T at Minnesota State, 3-3 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. North Dakota,
vs. North Dakota |