By Arthur Lane

The USCHO.com pollers have followed in my footsteps from last week (let me believe it at least) and put Boston University in the top spot of this week’s poll.

Courtesy of USCHO.com

The Terriers needed freshman sensation Jack Eichel to lift them over Maine on Friday in overtime and took care of a good UConn team on Saturday night. There is no denying BU’s high octane offense, which is ranked third in the nation with 3.7 GPG. My biggest concerns continue to revolve around Matt O’Connor  and Eichel cooling off. Eichel has showed no signs of cooling off to this point as he is tied for the lead in points with RIT’s Matt Garbowsky. Yes, Eichel is a top two pick in the upcoming NHL Draft, yet he is still a freshman. O’Connor has showed some signs of slowing down from his hot start but is still playing very solid in net for the No. 1 Terriers. Credit is also due to the Terriers’ defense.

The other big topic is of course Michigan Tech. I made many new friends last week in Houghton after questioning the Huskies strength of schedule (sarcasm of course). I won’t say “I told you so,” because I truly believe they are a very good team that became victim to the No. 1 ranking. This further draws my comparison of this team to the 2012-2013 Quinnipiac team, who lost to St. Lawrence in their first game as the No. 1 team. Pollers quickly jumped off the Husky bandwagon after a weekend sweep at the hands of Minnesota St. That all being said, I expect this Husky team to continue to make noise going forward. Duluth awaits them in two weeks.

My top 10:

1)    Boston University

2)    North Dakota

3)    Minnesota

4)    Miami

5)    Minnesota St.

6)    Michigan Tech

7)    Minnesota-Duluth

8)    St. Cloud State

9)    UMass-Lowell

10)  Nebraska-Omaha

I keep BU at the top after squeaking one out against Maine and a pesky UConn team. Still clearly my No. 1 team.

North Dakota splits with a very solid St. Cloud team. No reason for me to drop them from the second slot. Another big weekend ahead against Omaha.

Minnesota stays at three after having the weekend off from NCAA play.

Miami moves up for me after sweeping Western Michigan. Riley Barber and Austin Czarniak looked a little better this past weekend which is a great sign after a relatively slow start to their own standards.

Minnesota St. swept USCHO.com No. 1 ranked Michigan Tech this past weekend. The Mavericks are battle tested having played Nebraska-Omaha, Duluth, Bowling Green, and Michigan Tech and winning games against all of them.  The only problem is they’ve only swept Michigan Tech out of all the teams.

Michigan Tech did get swept by Minnesota State but it didn’t warrant a big drop. The Huskies are a solid team who I believe let the No. 1 ranking get to them this weekend. I will chose not to take too much stock in this past weekend. A loss to Alabama-Hunstville would certainly change my mind.

Duluth splitting with Nebraska-Omaha is certainly not the end of the world as Nebraska-Omaha has played well early. What made me drop them, was a much different game Saturday then Friday. Advantage Omaha on the weekend.

St. Cloud State split with North Dakota although it was on their home ice. I let Lowell slide behind St. Cloud because a split with North Dakota outweighs a win and a tie with Notre Dame in my book. I’ve been high on St. Cloud all year as they have played one of the toughest schedules in the country.

Lowell takes a step back for me after winning and drawing with a weaker Notre Dame game. The Riverhawks came flying out of the gates and have shown some signs of slowing down. Really looking forward to their game against Harvard on Saturday.

Finally Nebraska-Omaha takes over the tenth spot in my poll after splitting with Duluth. The Mavericks have beaten all their opponents this season at least once including the likes of Minnesota St. and Minnesota-Duluth. This team will have a shot to make a statement this weekend in Grand Forks, which are my games of the week.

Game of the Week:

Nebraska-Omaha at North Dakota

It seems that I pick a NCHC game every week. That’s how deep the NCHC is this year after a slow start to the conference’s existence last year. I look for North Dakota to flex their muscles this week and remind everyone who the sheriff of the NCHC is. But let’s not sleep on this Nebraska-Omaha team anchored by senior goaltender Ryan Massa (6-1-1, 1.48 GAA, .951 SV%) and sophomore Austin Ortega who has had a great start to his second season. Can red hot Drake Caggiula put a couple past Massa and bring North Dakota closer to first place Miami? Or will Nebraska-Omaha continue to steal games from the NCHC elite and assert themselves as elite? Thanks for reading and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter. Have a great Holiday week!

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