January 16, 2011
INCH Power Rankings

We didn't take the time to formally research and validate it, but as the proprietors of the Inside College Hockey Power Rankings we're pretty sure that this is the first time in the last eight-plus years that the top five teams in our rankings all suffered at least one loss on the same weekend. What does that mean? Not much, as those teams all held their ground this week.

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.	Yale	—	In both of Yale's losses this season, including Sunday at Brown, they've scored early in the third period only to have the lead slip away. In Saturday's 5-2 win, Yale scored three unanswered goals in the third period.
15-2-0 (9-1-0 ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Brown, 5-2 L at Brown, 3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Clarkson, vs. St. Lawrence.
2.	North Dakota	—	Down 1-0 early on Saturday and facing an upset home sweep against the rival Gophers, it took Evan Trupp just 34 seconds to respond with an unassisted breakaway goal to turn the momentum North Dakota's way.
17-6-2 (12-4-0 WCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Minnesota, 3-2; W vs. Minnesota, 4-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Nebraska-Omaha, vs. Nebraska-Omaha.
3.	New Hampshire	—	Before there was such a thing as Hockey East, New Hampshire played in a league called the ECAC. These days, those memories might not be so pleasant, as the Wildcats are just 1-2-1 in four games this season against the current members of ECAC Hockey.
12-4-4 (10-1-2 Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L vs. Dartmouth, 5-4 (at Manchester, N.H.). THIS WEEK: vs. Providence, vs. Boston University.
4.	Boston College	—	Not only does Boston College have the nation's best penalty-killing percentage at 89.8 percent, the Eagles have also turned those situations into offense, with seven short-handed goals. Only Notre Dame (12) has more.
15-6-0 (11-5-0 Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L at Maine, 4-1. THIS WEEK: at Boston University, vs. UMass Lowell.
5.	Minnesota Duluth	—	Despite a third period in which they had all four power plays, all seven shots and two goals, the Bulldogs suffered their fourth conference loss of the season Saturday night, 3-2 to Wisconsin
15-5-3 (10-4-2 WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Wisconsin, 2-0; L vs. Wisconsin, 3-2. THIS WEEK: at Michigan Tech, at Michigan Tech.
6.	Denver	—	The NFL has the Tuck Rule; Friday at Mankato, the Zucks ruled. Denver's Jason Zucker scored at 17:48 of the second period, followed 24 seconds later by the Mavericks' Eli Zuck.
14-5-5 (10-3-3 WCHA) LAST WEEK: T at Minnesota State, 4-4 ot; W at Minnesota State, 4-3 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Alaska Anchorage, vs. Alaska Anchorage
7.	Michigan	—	Making an adjustment, perhaps? The Wolverines were 0-for-6 on the power play against Ferris State in Friday's 3-2 win. In Saturday's 6-1 rout, U-M was 2-for-7 with the man advantage.
15-6-4 (12-4-1 CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Ferris State, 3-2; W at Ferris State, 6-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Alaska, vs. Alaska.
8.	Union	2	Union's power play is clicking at better than 32 percent for the season. What's the key, head coach Nate Leaman? "I think we've got five good players out there, 10 good players," he said.
15-6-3 (7-2-1 ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Colgate, 2-1, W at Cornell, 5-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Dartmouth, vs. Harvard.
9.	Merrimack	3	Merrimack is outscoring its opponents by a 26-9 margin on its current five-game winning streak, the longest such streak in the country.
12-4-4 (6-4-3 Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Alabama-Huntsville, 5-4; W vs. Alabama-Huntsville, 7-0 (at Nashville, Tenn.). THIS WEEK: vs. Boston University, vs. UMass Lowell.
10.	Rensselaer	2	Talk about ending a game under strange circumstances: RPI's C.J. Lee was assessed a five-minute major penalty in overtime, but the Engineers still beat Colgate, 2-1. Chase Polacek scored on a penalty shot after he was hooked down on a breakaway during the penalty kill.
13-6-3 (5-5-0 ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: L at Cornell, 5-1; W at Colgate, 2-1 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Harvard, vs. Dartmouth.
11.	Notre Dame	—	With their 4-1 loss to Alaska at the Joyce Center Saturday, the Fighting Irish dropped to 1-6-0 this season when allowing four or more goals.
15-8-3 (12-5-1 CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Alaska, 2-1; L vs. Alaska, 1-4. THIS WEEK: at Ohio State, at Ohio State.
12.	Miami	2	Senior forward Carter Camper has been held scoreless in two of the RedHawks' last four games. That matches the number of times he was kept off the scoresheet In Miami's first 20 games this season.
13-8-3 (10-6-2 CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Bowling Green, 5-1; W vs. Bowling Green, 3-1. THIS WEEK: at Michigan State, at Michigan State.
13.	Wisconsin	—	The only team to score more than two goals against the Badgers in the last 11 games was Canisius in the Badgers' 6-5 OT win last weekend at the Kohl Center.
15-8-3 (7-7-2 WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Minnesota Duluth, 2-0; W at Minnesota Duluth, 3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota State, vs. Minnesota State.
14.	Maine	1	Maine got back in the win column for the first time since a Dec. 30 consolation game at its holiday tournament in Florida by posting a pair of Hockey East victories. Maine has scored four goals or more in nine of its 11 wins this season.
10-6-4 (7-4-2 Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Providence, 4-3 ot; W vs. Boston College, 4-1. THIS WEEK: at Northeastern.
15.	Nebraska-Omaha	6	Dean Blais ventures to the visiting bench at the Ralph this weekend, his first return to Grand Forks as an opposing coach. Think he'll get a warm reception from the home fans?
12-8-2 (9-5-2 WCHA) LAST WEEK: T vs. Bemidji State, 2-2 ot; L vs. Bemidji State, 3-2 ot. THIS WEEK: at North Dakota, at North Dakota.
16.	Boston University	—	After a midweek game against Merrimack was postponed due to weather, Boston University now faces an especially difficult week, with three games against top-10 opponents in a span of five days.
10-5-6 (7-3-4 Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Harvard, 5-2. THIS WEEK: at Merrimack, vs. Boston College, at New Hampshire.
17.	Western Michigan	—	With a win and tie against Ohio State in Kalamazoo, the Broncos extended their current unbeaten streak to seven games and improved to 8-3-2 at home this season.
12-6-6 (6-5-5 CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Ohio State, 4-2; T vs. Ohio State, 2-2 ot. THIS WEEK: at Lake Superior State, at Lake Superior State.
18.	Dartmouth	NR	Dartmouth capped its non-league schedule in style with a 5-1 home victory over Connecticut and a 5-4 win over New Hampshire in the RiverStone Cup game in Manchester. The Big Green finished its regular season with a 4-2-1 record in non-league games, although three of those were against fellow ECAC Hockey clubs.
10-5-2 (6-3-1 ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Connecticut, 5-1; W vs. New Hampshire, 5-4 (at Manchester, N.H.). THIS WEEK: at Union, at Rensselaer.
19.	Alaska	1	Saturday's 4-1 win at Notre Dame marked just the second time this season that the Nanooks had two periods in the same game in which they scored two or more goals.
10-8-4 (7-7-4 CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Notre Dame, 2-1; W at Notre Dame, 4-1. THIS WEEK: at Michigan, at Michigan.
20.	Ohio State	2	Western Michigan ended the Buckeyes six-game winning streak Friday, OSU's longest unbeaten stretch since an 11-0-2 run in 2008-09—that streak was also curtailed by Western Michigan.
12-9-2 (7-7-2 CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Western Michigan, 4-2; T at Western Michigan, 2-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Notre Dame, vs. Notre Dame.

Dropped out: Colorado College

Bubble-licious: Minnesota, Princeton, RIT, Robert Morris