Miami's eight-game unbeaten streak came to end
when Bemidji State upended the RedHawks at the Subway Holiday
Classic in Grand Forks. Miami came back the next night to
tie North Dakota, but it wasn't enough to keep the RedHawks
atop the INCH Power Rankings. Denver is our new No. 1 team.
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. |
 Denver |
 1 |
Perhaps the most meaningless note for a new no. 1 team
in INCH Power Rankings history: In eight of the Pioneers'
last 10 games, one team has scored three goals. |
| 9-4-1 (7-2-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. St. Cloud State, 5-3; L vs. St.
Cloud State, 3-2. THIS WEEK: at Colorado College, vs.
Colorado College |
| 2. |
 North
Dakota |
2 |
The Fighting Sioux have scored a total of 41 goals in
their eight wins and two ties—including nine against
Ohio State and Miami last weekend—but have just
five goals in their four losses. |
| 8-4-2 (5-4-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Ohio State, 4-1; T vs. Miami, 5-5-
ot. THIS WEEK: at Minnesota Duluth, at Minnesota Duluth |
| 3. |
 Miami |
 2 |
Fact 1: Miami has gone to overtime in seven of its 16
games so far. Fact 2: The RedHawks' draw at North Dakota
Saturday was their second 5-5 tie of the season; the first
was against New Hampshire in Durham Oct. 17. |
| 9-2-5 (6-1-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Bemidji State, 3-2; T vs. North
Dakota, 5-5 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Notre Dame, vs. Notre Dame |
| 4. |
 Quinnipiac |
5 |
Quinnipiac's eight-game winning streak is the nation's
longest, and if they can keep it intact after Friday's
game at Yale, it might go on through the new year. Their
next five opponents following the Bulldogs are a combined
11-36-7 on the year. |
| 12-1-0 (7-0-0
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Princeton, 5-1; W vs. Massachusetts,
5-4 ot. THIS WEEK: at Yale, at Brown |
| 5. |
 Cornell
|
1 |
Saturday's game against BU at Madison Square Garden
included television timeouts, even though it wasn't televised,
and according to the officials instant replay wasn't available. |
| 6-2-1 (5-2-0
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Colgate, 4-2; T vs. Boston
University, 3-3 ot. THIS WEEK: at Rensselaer, at Union |
| 6. |
 Bemidji
State |
1 |
Chris McKelvie, a fourth-liner at the Frozen Four last
year, channeled some of the Beavers' March magic with
a goal and an assist in the rematch with Miami. |
| 11-2-1 (6-0-0
CHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Miami, 3-2; L vs. Ohio State, 2-1
ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Niagara, vs. Niagara |
| 7. |
 Colorado
College |
2 |
Alaska Anchorage snapped the Tigers' six-game winning
streak Saturday in Colorado Springs with a 3-2 OT triumph.
CC's three losses this season have all occurred at home
and were one-goal decisions. |
| 10-3-1 (7-2-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Alaska-Anchorage, 5-0; L vs. Alaska-Anchorage,
3-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Denver, at Denver |
| 8. |
 UMass
Lowell |
5 |
A banner season for UMass Lowell hit a speed bump last
week. They were held under three goals in a game for the
first and second time all season in two losses. |
| 8-4-1 (4-3-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L at Providence, 4-2; L vs. Maine,
3-1. THIS WEEK: at New Hampshire, vs. Massachusetts |
| 9. |
 Massachusetts |
1 |
There's no sophomore slump for Casey Wellman, who had
11 goals and 33 points as a freshman in 39 games. This
year he's got 11 goals and 20 points in the first dozen
games for the Minutemen. |
| 9-3-0 (5-2-0
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W at Vermont, 6-2; L at Quinnipiac,
5-4 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston College, at UMass Lowell |
| 10. |
 Yale |
1 |
The Bulldogs have taken care of business in their last
three outings against Brown, Sacred Heart and Holy Cross,
averaging 7.0 goals per game in that span. Things get
tougher in a busy week against three teams that have appeared
in the INCH Power Rankings so far this year. |
| 5-2-2 (2-1-2
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Sacred Heart, 8-2; W at
Holy Cross, 7-3. THIS WEEK: at Vermont, vs. Quinnipiac,
vs. Princeton |
| 11. |
 Michigan
State |
3 |
The Spartans, who entered their series with Notre Dame
two weekends ago on a seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1),
are now in the midst of a four-game winless streak (0-3-1)
during which they've never held a lead over their opponent. |
| 9-5-2 (6-2-2
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Wisconsin, 7-3; L vs. Minnesota,
2-1. THIS WEEK: at Northern Michigan, at Northern Michigan |
| 12. |
 Alaska |
— |
Each of the Nanooks' last three games have gone into
OT. The scores at the end of regulation: 2-2, 3-3, and
4-4. We expect 5-5 and 6-6 duels after 60 minutes in your
series at Western Michigan this weekend, boys. |
| 8-3-3 (5-3-2
CCHA) LAST WEEK: T vs. Northern Michigan, 3-3 ot; T vs.
Northern Michigan, 4-4 ot. THIS WEEK: at Western Michigan,
at Western Michigan |
| 13. |
 Minnesota
Duluth |
— |
Alumni report: Former Bulldog Mason Raymond scored a
goal and two assists in Vancouver's rout of Calgary Saturday.
Raymond has 1-6—7 in his five games prior to Sunday's
tilt against San Jose. |
| 9-4-1 (6-3-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. North Dakota, vs.
North Dakota |
| 14. |
 Boston
College |
3 |
BC is doing it with balance. The Eagles rank sixth nationally
in scoring with 3.82 goals per game, yet don't have a
single player among the nation's top 50 individual point
producers. |
| 6-3-2 (4-3-2
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Clarkson, 6-5. THIS WEEK:
at Massachusetts, at Boston University |
| 15. |
 Wisconsin |
1 |
Don't look now, but the allegedly systems-oriented,
defensive-minded Badgers have scored six or more goals
four times this season and four or more goals in eight
of their 14 games. |
| 8-5-1 (5-4-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Michigan State, 7-3; L at Michigan,
3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan Tech, vs. Michigan Tech |
| 16. |
 Notre
Dame |
2 |
It may be the least impressive five-game unbeaten streak
in college hockey history, but the Fighting Irish are
2-0-3 in their last five. Wins and ties will be harder
to come by in December, as series with Miami and Michigan
loom. |
| 7-5-4 (4-2-4
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Bowling Green, 2-1 ot; T vs. Bowling
Green, 4-4 ot. THIS WEEK: at Miami, at Miami |
| 17. |
 Vermont
|
2 |
After earning back-to-back wins over Denver and Boston
College in the opening weeks of the season, the Catamounts
haven't managed to win two in a row since, and are just
3-4-1 in their last eight games. |
| 5-5-1 (4-4-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L vs. Massachusetts, 6-2; W at
Northeastern, 3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Yale, at Boston University,
vs. New Hampshire |
| 18. |
 Ferris
State |
— |
Senior forward Blair Riley enters the weekend with 12
goals in 15 games. He entered the season with 24 goals
in 107 career appearances. |
| 9-3-2 (4-2-2
CCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Nebraska-Omaha, vs.
Nebraska-Omaha |
| 19. |
 Nebraska-Omaha |
— |
By sweeping visiting Western Michigan last
weekend, the Mavericks ended a six-game slump during which
they posted a 1-4-1 mark and won back-to-back games for
the first time since the season-opening IceBreaker Tournament. |
| 7-4-3 (4-4-2
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Western Michigan, 4-3; W vs. Western
Michigan, 4-2. THIS WEEK: at Ferris State, at Ferris State |
| 20. |
 St.
Cloud State |
NR |
The Huskies earned a third straight "good split"
against a ranked opponent. This weekend it's about time
for the first sweep of the season. |
| 6-6-2 (5-4-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Denver, 5-3; W at Denver, 3-2. THIS
WEEK: at Alaska Anchorage, at Alaska Anchorage |