We always emphasize the importance of winning
regular-season championships, and after being upset in their
conference tournaments New Hampshire and Yale have that to
fall back on. Their work in the regular season might be enough
to get them into the NCAA Tournament.
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 |
The Pioneers are like dandelions — you think you've
got them all taken care of, and then another pops up.
This weekend's hero was forward Jesse Martin, who scored
goals in both wins against Michigan Tech and assisted
on Kyle Ostrow’s insurance goal Saturday. |
| 27-7-4 LAST
WEEK: W vs. Michigan Tech, 2-1; W vs. Michigan Tech, 4-2
(WCHA First Round Series). THIS WEEK: vs. North Dakota
or Minnesota Duluth (WCHA Final Five) |
| 2. |
 Miami |
 1 |
The RedHawks won their CCHA quarterfinal series against
Ohio State last weekend, but it wasn’t easy. The
Buckeyes, who scored a total of four goals in four regular-season
meetings against Miami, picked up eight in the three-game
series at Goggin 2.0. |
| 26-6-7 LAST
WEEK: W vs. Ohio State, 6-2; L vs. Ohio State, 5-4 ot;
W vs. Ohio State, 2-1 (CCHA Quarterfinal Series). THIS
WEEK: vs. Michigan (CCHA Semifinal) |
| 3. |
 Wisconsin |
— |
Senior forward Aaron Bendickson scored three goals in
the Badgers' sweep of Alaska Anchorage, giving him eight
goals in his last 13 games, a run that was preceded by
a 10-game stretch during which he had no points. |
| 24-9-4 LAST
WEEK: W vs. Alaska Anchorage, 4-1; W vs. Alaska Anchorage,
7-2 (WCHA First Round Series). THIS WEEK: vs. St. Cloud
State (WCHA Final Five) |
| 4. |
 Boston
College |
2 |
The Eagles finished 14-2-0 at Kelley Rink, matching
their most home wins in Jerry York's tenure. |
| 23-10-3
LAST WEEK: W vs. Massachusetts, 6-5; W vs. Massachusetts,
5-2 (Hockey East Quarterfinal Series). THIS WEEK: vs.
Vermont (Hockey East Semifinal) |
| 5. |
 North
Dakota |
1 |
The favorite to win WCHA Rookie of the Year honors,
forward Danny Kristo had a goal and two assists in the
Fighting Sioux's series win against Minnesota to extend
his current point streak to a season-high 10 games. |
| 22-12-5
LAST WEEK: W vs. Minnesota, 6-0; L vs. Minnesota, 4-2;
W vs. Minnesota, 4-1 (WCHA First Round Series). THIS WEEK:
vs. Minnesota Duluth (WCHA Final Five) |
| 6. |
 Cornell
|
2 |
Freshman Nick D'Agostino scored twice in Friday's win.
He came into the weekend with two goals all year. |
| 19-8-4 LAST
WEEK: W vs. Harvard, 5-1; W vs. Harvard, 3-0 (ECAC Hockey
Quarterfinal Series). THIS WEEK: vs. Brown (ECAC Hockey
Semifinal) |
| 7. |
 St.
Cloud State |
— |
Big finish to the weekend for junior forward Garrett
Roe. He scored two goals and an assist Saturday as the
Huskies avoided elimination from the WCHA playoffs with
a 3-2 win against Minnesota State, then picked up a goal
and an assist in SCSU’s 3-2 OT win in Sunday’s
rubber match. |
| 22-12-5
LAST WEEK: L vs. Minnesota State, 5-4 ot; W vs. Minnesota
State, 3-2; W vs. Minnesota State, 3-1 (WCHA First Round
Series). THIS WEEK: vs. Wisconsin (WCHA Final Five) |
| 8. |
 Union |
4 |
Union eased its dubious distinction of being the team
that lost the two longest games in NCAA history by winning
its quarterfinal series against Quinnipiac and advancing
to the ECAC Hockey championship weekend for the first
time. |
| 20-11-6
LAST WEEK: L vs. Quinnipiac, 3-2 5ot; W vs. Quinnipiac,
3-1; W vs. Quinnipiac, 2-1 (ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal Series).
THIS WEEK: vs. St. Lawrence (ECAC Hockey Semifinal) |
| 9. |
 Ferris
State |
5 |
Ferris State completed its sweep of Nebraska-Omaha Saturday
when senior forward Casey Haines scored 23 seconds into
overtime, leading the Bulldogs to a 3-2 win. Haines leads
Ferris with five game-winning goals, three of which were
scored in OT. |
| 21-11-6
LAST WEEK: W vs. Nebraska-Omaha, 3-1; W vs. Nebraska-Omaha,
3-2 ot (CCHA Quarterfinal Series). THIS WEEK: vs. Northern
Michigan (CCHA Semifinal) |
| 10. |
 Yale |
5 |
Yale fired 44 shots and didn't capitalize on five power
plays in Sunday's loss to Brown. |
| 20-9-3 LAST
WEEK: L vs. Brown, 3-2; W vs. Brown, 6-3; L vs. Brown,
1-0 (ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal Series). THIS WEEK: Off |
| 11. |
 Northern
Michigan |
7 |
The Wildcats are somewhat of an oddity. They'll make
the trip to Joe Louis Arena for the CCHA tournament for
the seventh time in eight seasons, but haven’t earned
an NCAA Tournament berth since 1999. |
| 19-11-8
LAST WEEK: W vs. Alaska, 4-3; W vs. Alaska, 5-1 (CCHA
Quarterfinal Series). THIS WEEK: vs. Ferris State (CCHA
Semifinal) |
| 12. |
 Bemidji
State |
2 |
Prior to Friday's 5-4 loss at Niagara in the first round
of the CHA tournament, the Beavers were 20-1-1 in games
in which they scored three or more goals. The lone blemish?
A 6-4 loss to — you guessed it — Niagara at
Dwyer Arena on Jan. 15. |
| 23-9-4 LAST
WEEK: L vs. Niagara, 5-4 (CHA Semifinal); T vs. Robert
Morris, 3-3 ot (CHA Third Place). THIS WEEK: Off |
| 13. |
 Minnesota
Duluth |
1 |
All but one of the Bulldogs' 10 goals in UMD's series
win against Colorado College was scored by a forward with
10 or more goals on the season. The outlier was Jordan
Fulton, who notched his fourth of the year in the second
period of Saturday’s 5-3 loss to the Tigers. |
| 22-16-1
LAST WEEK: W vs. Colorado College, 3-2 ot; L vs. Colorado
College, 5-3; W vs. Colorado College, 4-0 (WCHA First
Round Series). THIS WEEK: vs. North Dakota (WCHA Final
Five) |
| 14. |
 Michigan
State |
5 |
It's hard to believe the Spartans will miss out on a
trip to Joe Louis Arena and the CCHA tournament for the
third straight year, and that this past weekend's two
losses to Michigan mark the second time in three years
MSU has been knocked out of the league playoffs by losing
a series at home. |
| 19-13-6
LAST WEEK: L vs. Michigan, 5-1; L vs. Michigan, 5-3 (CCHA
Quarterfinal Series). THIS WEEK: Off |
| 15. |
 Alaska |
4 |
When the Nanooks were swept by Northern Michigan in
a CCHA quarterfinal series, it marked just the second
time this season that UAF lost back-to-back games. The
other time it happened was when the Nanooks followed a
2-1 loss at Nebraska-Omaha on Jan. 9 with a 6-0 loss at
Michigan six days later. |
| 18-11-9
LAST WEEK: L at Northern Michigan, 4-2; L at Northern
Michigan, 5-1. THIS WEEK Off |
| 16. |
 New
Hampshire |
3 |
The Wildcats scored five times in the last 22 minutes
Friday night, then dropped two 1-0 games Saturday and
Sunday. Brian Foster stopped 74 shots in the two losses. |
| 17-13-7
LAST WEEK: W vs. Vermont, 7-4; L vs. Vermont, 1-0; L vs.
Vermont, 1-0 ot (Hockey East Quarterfinal Series). THIS
WEEK: Off |
| 17. |
 RIT |
— |
Dan Ringwald gets lots of attention, but his freshman
D partner Chris Tanev is a team-best plus-29 on the season. |
| 24-11-1
LAST WEEK: W vs. Connecticut, 4-3 ot; W vs. Connecticut,
4-1 (Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinal Series). THIS WEEK:
vs. Canisius (Atlantic Hockey Semifinal) |
| 18. |
 Michigan |
NR |
The Wolverines, winners of six of their last seven,
are heating up and so is Louie Caporusso. The junior forward
had two goals and two assists in his team’s sweep
of Michigan State, giving him 7-4—11 during his
current five-game point streak and 14 points in U-M's
last seven outings. |
| 23-17-1
LAST WEEK: W at Michigan State, 5-1; W at Michigan State,
5-3 (CCHA Quarterfinal Series). THIS WEEK: vs. Miami (CCHA
Semifinal) |
| 19. |
 St.
Lawrence |
NR
|
The Saints have played in seven straight
one-goal games and are 5-2-0 in that stretch. SLU has
scored the game-winning goal in the last five minutes
of the third period in three straight wins. |
| 19-14-7
LAST WEEK: W at Colgate, 2-1; W at Colgate, 4-3 (ECAC
Hockey Quarterfinal Series). THIS WEEK: vs. Union (ECAC
Hockey Semifinal) |
| 20. |
 Boston
University |
NR |
The two worst defensive teams in Hockey East this season
-- Boston University and Maine -- both advanced to the
Garden and each posted a shutout this weekend. |
| 18-16-3
LAST WEEK: W vs. Merrimack, 3-2; L vs. Merrimack, 3-2
ot; W vs. Merrimack, 3-0 (Hockey East Quarterfinal Series).
THIS WEEK: vs. Maine (Hockey East Semifinal) |