Yale faced its biggest test of the season and
suffered back-to-back losses for just the third time in the
last three seasons. Boston College moves into the top spot
in the INCH Power Rankings this week, with three WCHA teams
also stacked among our top five.
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
College |
 1 |
Don't let the score fool you. Saturday's victory at
UMass Lowell was a 2-1 game in the third period, but BC
salted things away with two goals in a 27-second span
late in the game. Oh, and Cam Atkinson had two more goals,
including one short-handed. |
| 18-6-0 (14-5-0
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W at UMass Lowell, 5-1. THIS WEEK:
vs. Massachusetts |
| 2. |
 Yale |
 1 |
The Bulldogs entered the weekend averaging 4.79 goals
per game, but scored just four total goals in losses to
Union and RPI. All four of those came on the power play. |
| 17-4-0 (11-3-0
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: L at Union, 3-2; L at Rensselaer,
5-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Harvard, vs. Dartmouth |
| 3. |
 Denver |
2 |
He may be tied for fourth on the team in scoring, but keep
close tabs on senior forward Kyle Ostrow, who has 10 points
(5 goals, 5 assists) in the Pioneers' last six games. |
| 16-5-5 (12-3-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: at Colorado College,
vs. Colorado College |
| 4. |
 North
Dakota |
1 |
Senior defenseman Chay Genoway was hurt in Friday's
loss at Colorado College and didn't play Saturday; his
replacement, sophomore Joe Gleason, scored his first career
goal in Saturday's 6-0 rout. |
| 19-8-2 (14-6-0
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Colorado College, 4-2; W at Colorado
College, 6-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Alaska Anchorage, vs. Alaska
Anchorage |
| 5. |
 Minnesota
Duluth |
1 |
Bulldog opponents would be wise to keep freshman J.T.
Brown off the scoresheet; UMD is 7-0 in games in which
he scores a goal and 12-1 when he records a point. |
| 17-5-3 (12-4-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota, vs. Minnesota |
| 6. |
 New
Hampshire |
1 |
Mike Sislo became the latest member of UNH's 100-career-point
club with three points Friday at Providence. Bobby Butler
was the previous member, and he also achieved that milestone
at Providence's Schneider Arena. |
| 15-5-4 (13-2-2
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W at Providence, 5-2; W vs. Providence,
5-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Maine, vs. Maine |
| 7. |
 Rensselaer |
1 |
RPI scored three straight goals in a six-minute span
over the final three minutes of the second period and
first three minutes of the third period to take a 4-1
lead. That allowed the Freakout! fans to celebrate for
the rest of the contest. |
| 17-6-3 (9-5-0
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Brown, 3-0; W vs. Yale,
5-2. THIS WEEK: at Quinnipiac, at Princeton |
| 8. |
 Union |
1 |
Some of Union's younger players have bolstered the team's
scoring this season, but senior Adam Presizniuk came through
this weekend. He scored the game-winning goal against
Yale and added two more tallies against Brown. |
| 18-7-3 (10-3-1
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Yale, 3-2; W vs. Brown,
4-2. THIS WEEK: at Princeton, at Quinnipiac |
| 9. |
 Michigan |
3 |
The Wolverines have scored a total of 10 goals in their
seven losses this season; Michigan fired 35 shots at Michigan
State goalie Will Yanakeff Saturday, but only beat him
once in a 2-1 loss. |
| 17-7-4 (14-5-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Michigan State, 2-1 (Joe Louis
Arena, Detroit). THIS WEEK: at Miami, at Miami |
| 10. |
 Merrimack |
— |
Freshman Mike Collins had a hat trick Saturday. He has
shown a knack for getting his points in bunches. The last
five games in which he's recorded at least one point,
four of those games have been multi-point efforts. |
| 15-5-4 (9-5-3
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Vermont, 2-1; W vs. Vermont,
7-1. THIS WEEK: at Northeastern, vs. Massachusetts |
| 11. |
 Wisconsin |
— |
The Badgers have applied the clamps to their opponents,
and haven't allowed more than two goals against in their
last six games. Wisconsin now owns the nation's best overall
scoring defense, yielding just 2.00 goals per game. |
| 19-8-3 (11-7-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Michigan Tech, 4-2; W at Michigan
Tech, 4-1. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 12. |
 Notre
Dame |
— |
Freshmen Anders Lee and T.J. Tynan each scored two goals
in the series against Miami; both now have 18 on the season.
Dave Poulin (28 goals in 1978-79) is the school's leader
in goals by a rookie. |
| 16-9-5 (13-6-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: T vs. Miami, 5-5 ot; T vs. Miami, 2-2
ot. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 13. |
 Miami |
— |
Senior forward Andy Miele is now the nation's
leading scorer, surpassing teammate Carter Camper for
that honor. Miele has 49 points, including 16 in the RedHawks'
last seven games. |
| 14-9-3 (11-7-4
CCHA) LAST WEEK: T at Notre Dame, 5-5 ot; T at Notre Dame,
2-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan, vs. Michigan |
| 14. |
 Western
Michigan |
2 |
The Broncos extended their unbeaten streak to 11 by
sweeping Northern Michigan in Kalamazoo. During that run,
WMU has outscored its foes by a 2-to-1 (36-18) margin. |
| 14-6-8 (8-5-7
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Northern Michigan, 5-2; W vs. Northern
Michigan, 6-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Bowling Green, vs. Bowling
Green |
| 15. |
 Boston
University |
2 |
It doesn't quite match the 10-game unbeaten streak the
Terriers posted to start the year, but BU has responded
from back-to-back losses with two wins and a tie on the
road to move into third place in Hockey East. |
| 12-7-7 (9-5-5
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W at Maine, 4-3; T at Maine, 1-1
ot. THIS WEEK: vs. UMass Lowell |
| 16. |
 Dartmouth |
2 |
Dartmouth is all about balanced scoring as eight different
players accounted for the nine Big Green goals this weekend.
Eight players have 12 points or more this season in Dartmouth's
21 games. |
| 12-6-3 (8-4-2
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: T vs. Cornell, 2-2 ot; W vs. Colgate,
7-3. THIS WEEK: at Brown, at Yale |
| 17. |
 Princeton
|
2 |
Welcome back from break. Princeton returned to the ice
after its January exam period and rattled off three straight
wins. Kevin Lohry capped the week with the game-winner
at Clarkson, just nine seconds into overtime. |
| 14-6-1 (9-4-1
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Sacred Heart, 7-1; W at
St. Lawrence, 5-3; W at Clarkson, 4-3 ot. THIS WEEK: vs.
Union, vs. Rensselaer |
| 18. |
 Maine |
4 |
Maine hasn't been able to get on a roll since the start
of November. The Black Bears' longest win streak in that
time is just two games, and they're starting to jeopardize
their NCAA Tournament at-large chances. |
| 11-7-6 (8-5-4
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L vs. Boston University, 4-3;
T vs. Boston University, 1-1 ot. THIS WEEK: at New Hampshire,
at New Hampshire |
| 19. |
 Nebraska-Omaha |
4 |
The Mavericks started the season by winning eight of
their first nine. Since then, they've won seven of 17
and haven't posted consecutive wins in six weeks. |
| 14-10-2
(10-6-2 WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Alabama-Huntsville, 4-0;
L vs. Alabama-Huntsville, 2-1 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. St. Cloud
State, vs. St. Cloud State |
| 20. |
 Colorado
College |
NR |
Leading the Tigers in their 4-2 win against North Dakota
Friday were four freshman goal scorers (Dakota Eveland,
Alexander Krushelnyski, Jeff Collett, William Rapuzzi)
and a sophomore goalie (Joe Howe matched a season high
with 38 saves). |
| 15-12-1
(9-9-0 WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. North Dakota, 4-2; L vs.
North Dakota, 6-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Denver, at Denver |