By Arthur Lane
The USCHO has released its rankings for this week:
Courtesy of USCHO.com
We have a new No. 1 team in USCHO.com’s weekly poll. The Michigan Tech Huskies take the top spot after the team’s 10-0 start. While the Huskies have been fairly untested, they are deserving of the top spot in the poll. Jamie Phillips has been a wall in net for “Tech” posting a 10-0 record to go with a 1.20 GAA and a .957 save percentage. With a balanced scoring attack led by Tanner Kero (4G, 8A) and Alex Petan (5G, 5A), the Huskies face their biggest test of the season this weekend against ninth-ranked Minnesota State. We’ll talk more about that matchup later.
North Dakota and Miami stay put at second and seventh, respectively. The teams split their weekend series (which were my games of the week). North Dakota has Mark MacMillan back and he made an immediate impact this weekend with a goal and two assists. Yet, Drake Caggiula was the standout for North Dakota this weekend scoring three goals and notching two assists. Zane McIntyre had a decent weekend in net turning away 51 of 55 shots faced.
Miami’s two offensive stars, Riley Barber and Austin Czarniak, were held pointless on the weekend. Depending on how you look at it, this could be a good sign or a bad sign. A good sign being the Redhawks beat the second ranked team in the country without production from their two best players. The bad sign being Czarniak and Barber were pointless against the best team Miami has faced thus far and have struggled this season. Remember this team was a lot better in the second half last year as well.
Boston University takes the third spot in the poll. Having only lost once this season, the Terriers are an attractive team. They are so young. This makes me like them even more. This team will continue to blossom as the season progresses. Of course Jack Eichel’s point production will dip at some point, I just don’t think it will dip as much as we see most freshmen production after the Christmas break. Matt O’Connor has been absolutely stellar this year and faces an average of 28 shots a game with a 1.51 GAA. If he can keep that up, then this Terrier team will compete for a Frozen Four berth.
Now for my top 10:
Something I want to implement for the rest of the year is an explanation of my top 10. BU is my No. 1 because they have been great this year and they will only become better as time goes on. I really like their upside.
North Dakota stays at my No. 2 after splitting with Miami. If they swept Miami, they’d be without a doubt No. 1.
Minnesota is a far better team than Michigan Tech. If the two teams met it wouldn’t be close. So why would I put Minnesota behind them? Michigan Tech is undefeated, I understand. But their best win has been Ferris State. Not doing it for me. This weekend will be a chance for Tech to impress me.
Minnesota-Duluth has been on fire the past couple weeks. They face another tough weekend at Nebraska-Omaha, if they sweep, they will continue to rise in all polls.
I like Miami’s squad. They underachieved last year and their big names decided to come back to try to right the ship. This team is hungry and has the offensive firepower to be an elite team. Riley Barber and Austin Czarnaik haven’t even gotten going yet offensively.
Lowell needs to figure a couple things out still. Their goaltending is a little suspect and they are a young teach that overachieved in my eyes early in the year. They will be a top Hockey East team.
Minnesota St. had the past weekend off. Bryce Gervais has been brilliant for the Mavericks early and is tied for first in the nation with nine goals. I expect this team to continue to play well.
Quinnipiac really is a top 10 team in my eyes. The defensive and goaltending problems at the beginning of the year have started to sort out. The top line of Matthew Peca, Sam Anas, and Landon Smith could be one of the best in the nation. This team is young and has the potential to become an elite team in the nation if the defense and goaltending holds up.
Game of the Week:
This is a huge game for both of these teams. Neither of these teams get many chances to prove themselves worthy of high rankings, so when they get a chance, they must seize it. The stakes are high for both teams and Michigan Tech will take the ice for the first time as the number one team in the nation. Will Jamie Phillips continue to assert himself and keep Tech on top? Or will Bryce Gervais continue his red hot start for the Mavs? MacInnes Arena will be the place to be this weekend. Thanks for reading.
