March 13, 2011
INCH Power Rankings

Related Links
Last Week's INCH Power Rankings
USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Poll
USCHO.com/CSTV Poll

The latest INCH Power Rankings could be subtitled "A Tale of Two Halves" based on the results of this past weekend. Of the top 11 teams from a week ago, all but one advanced in their respective league tournaments. Only three of the nine teams ranked 12th or lower moved on in the conference playoffs, however.

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. North Dakota
Friday must've been a profitable night at the Ralph Engelstad Arena team store; forwards Matt Frattin and Jason Gregoire both netted hat tricks in the Fighting Sioux's 8-0 rout of Michigan Tech in the first game of the WCHA playoff series between the two teams.
28-8-3 LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan Tech, 8-0; W vs. Michigan Tech, 3-1 (WCHA First-Round Series). THIS WEEK: at WCHA Final Five (St. Paul, Minn.)
2. Boston College
The last Eagles-Huskies matchup at the Garden (a 7-6 BC overtime win in the Beanpot) had fans begging for more. And your silly parents always told you not to beg.
28-7-1 LAST WEEK: W vs. Massachusetts, 4-1; W vs. Massachusetts, 4-2 (Hockey East Quarterfinals). THIS WEEK: at Hockey East Championship (Boston, Mass.)
3. Miami
2
Just as they have done come tournament time each of the last two years, the Redhawks got timely goals from atypical sources in a sweep of Alaska, with Patrick Tiesling, Cameron Schilling and Vincent Loverde all lighting the lamp.
21-9-6 LAST WEEK: W vs. Alaska, 4-1; W vs. Alaska, 4-1 (CCHA Quarterfinals). THIS WEEK: at CCHA Championship (Detroit, Mich.)
4. Michigan
2
Junior forward David Wohlberg opened the scoring for the weekend with his 15th goal of the year in Friday's first period, but was likely lost for the season with a collarbone injury later in that same game. Wohlberg's absence makes the potential return of Louie Caporusso for the CCHA Championship that much more important.
25-9-4 LAST WEEK: W vs. Bowling Green, 5-1; W vs. Bowling Green, 4-1 (CCHA Quarterfinals). THIS WEEK: at CCHA Championship (Detroit, Mich.)
5. Yale
1
Yale was stretched to three games by St. Lawrence in a quarterfinal series, but it might have only been one bad period that extended the Bulldogs' weekend. They actually led 3-1 in the third period of Friday's loss.
25-6-1 LAST WEEK: L vs. St. Lawrence, 4-3 ot; W vs. St. Lawrence, 5-2; W vs. St. Lawrence, 4-0 (ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals). THIS WEEK: at ECAC Hockey Championship (Atlantic City, N.J.)
6. Merrimack
1
With all eyes on Stephane Da Costa (and his knee), the third line of Ryan Flanigan, Carter Madsen and Elliott Sheen totaled seven goals and nine assists in two games to dispatch Maine.
24-8-4 LAST WEEK: W vs. Maine, 5-4; W vs. Maine, 6-2 (Hockey East Quarterfinals). THIS WEEK: at Hockey East Championship (Boston, Mass.)
7. Union
4
We're most surprised by this series result on the weekend, but Union can get a mulligan after closing its season so impressively with a 14-1-1 run over the last two months of the ECAC Hockey season.
26-9-4 LAST WEEK: W vs. Colgate, 4-1; L vs. Colgate, 4-2; L vs. Colgate, 4-3 ot (ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals). THIS WEEK: Off
8. New Hampshire
Each member of the all-senior Wildcat first line has at least 40 points, making them one of five teams nationwide and the only one East of Miami with three 40-point scorers (Miami, Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota and Wisconsin are the others).
21-9-6 LAST WEEK: W vs. Vermont, 3-1; W vs. Vermont, 4-3 (Hockey East Quarterfinals). THIS WEEK: at Hockey East Championship (Boston, Mass.)
9. Denver
The Pios showed a flair for the dramatic in their first-round sweep of Minnesota State, scoring four third-period goals en route to a 4-2 over the Mavs Friday and closed out the series Saturday when Jason Zucker scored 1:27 into OT to give DU a 3-2 win.
23-10-5 LAST WEEK: W vs. Minnesota State, 4-2; W vs. Minnesota State, 3-2 ot (WCHA First-Round Series). THIS WEEK: at WCHA Final Five (St. Paul, Minn.)
10. Minnesota Duluth
1
By beating St. Cloud State in Saturday's three-overtime marathon, the Bulldogs improved to 6-1-6 this season in games that have been tied at the end of regulation. The 13 OT matches are the most in a single season in school history.
22-9-6 LAST WEEK: W vs. St. Cloud State, 4-2; W vs. St. Cloud State, 3-2 3ot (WCHA First-Round Series). THIS WEEK: at WCHA Final Five (St. Paul, Minn.)
11. Notre Dame
1
Freshman forwards T.J. Tynan and Anders Lee have stolen the headlines with banner campaigns, but classmate Jeff Costello is another name worth knowing, as he continued his own very productive season with his 10th and 11th goals of the year, including the overtime winner in Friday's game.
23-11-5 LAST WEEK: W vs. Lake Superior State, 3-2; L vs. Lake Superior State, 4-3 ot; W vs. Lake Superior State, 4-2 (CCHA Quarterfinals). THIS WEEK: at CCHA Championship (Detroit, Mich.)
12. Western Michigan
2
Western Michigan senior Max Campbell's overtime game-winner sends the Broncos to the CCHA semifinals at Joe Louis Arena for the first time since 1994. In the 1994 semifinal, the Broncos lost to Michigan, their opponent for Friday's game.
18-11-10 LAST WEEK: L vs. Ferris State, 3-1; W vs. Ferris State, 3-1; W vs. Ferris State, 5-4 ot (CCHA Quarterfinals). THIS WEEK: at CCHA Championship (Detroit, Mich.)
13. Colorado College
5
It's hard to believe that prior to beating Wisconsin in the first round of the WCHA playoffs this past weekend, the Tigers had advanced to the Final Five in St. Paul just once since the start of the 2005-06 season.
21-17-3 LAST WEEK: L vs. Wisconsin, 3-1; W vs. Wisconsin, 4-3 ot; W vs. Wisconsin, 2-1. THIS WEEK: at WCHA Final Five (St. Paul, Minn.)
14. Dartmouth
5
Freshman Matt Lindblad has been a big contributor for the Big Green this year, but he was mired in a five-game point-scoring drought. He broke that at the right time, with two goals in the third period of Sunday's comeback win.
18-11-3 LAST WEEK: L vs. Harvard, 3-2; W vs. Harvard, 2-1 ot; W vs. Harvard, 4-3 (ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals). THIS WEEK: at ECAC Hockey Championship (Atlantic City, N.J.)
15. Nebraska-Omaha
3
Despite outshooting visiting Bemidji State by a 91-37 margin this weekend, the Beavers swept the Mavericks to improve to 4-0-1 against UNO this season, including a 3-0-1 mark at the Qwest Center.
21-15-2 LAST WEEK: L vs. Bemidji State, 4-2; L vs. Bemidji State, 3-2 (WCHA First-Round Series). THIS WEEK: Off
16. Boston University
3
The end of the Terriers' schedule looks like a list of Beanpot fourth-place finishers (something BU knows about this season) -- but the joke's on them as NU moves on to the Hockey East semifinals.
19-12-8 LAST WEEK: L vs. Northeastern, 4-2; W vs. Northeastern, 5-2; L vs. Northeastern, 5-4 (Hockey East Quarterfinals). THIS WEEK: Off
17. RIT
3
The Tigers yielded a short-handed goal in the first period of Saturday's game, but that was their only blemish in a pretty easy weekend sweep of AIC in the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals.
18-10-8 LAST WEEK: W vs. American International, 5-0; W vs. American International, 5-1 (Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals). THIS WEEK: at Atlantic Hockey Championship (Rochester, N.Y.)
18. Wisconsin
1
On the day after Thanksgiving, the Badgers tied Michigan at the Kohl Center to start a 16-game stretch during which they went 13-2-1. Since that run ended with a Feb. 11 loss at Nebraska-Omaha, Wisconsin limped to a 2-8-1 record to close to the season.
21-16-4 LAST WEEK: W at Colorado College, 3-1; L at Colorado College 4-3 ot; L at Colorado College, 2-1 (WCHA First-Round Series). THIS WEEK: Off
19. Rensselaer
NR
RPI spent this past weekend scoreboard watching, and will do the same this coming weekend. We're wondering, do people call in out-of-town practice updates for other teams during the week to get the Engineers ready?
20-12-5 LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: Off
20. Air Force
NR
Beginning with a win over Yale in mid-November, Air Force is 16-5-6 and headed back to the Atlantic Hockey championship weekend in Rochester, N.Y.
18-11-6 LAST WEEK: W vs. Sacred Heart, 7-5; W vs. Sacred Heart, 4-0 (Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals). THIS WEEK: at Atlantic Hockey Championship (Rochester, N.Y.)

Dropped out: Minnesota, Maine

Bubble-licious: Cornell