By Arthur Lane
After another strange week in college hockey, we have a new No.1 team in the land, North Dakota. The best way to explain the parity in college hockey is seven different teams received first place votes in this week’s USCHO.com poll.
Minnesota State jumps five spots into second, leapfrogging Boston University who lost two of three games throughout the week. The biggest mover of the week belongs to the Harvard Crimson, who beat then No.1 BU and No. 4 UMass-Lowell. They received the second most first place votes (6), and are still ninth. This means there are many voters who have Harvard very low in their polls. Interesting, as Robert Morris and Harvard are the only teams with one loss.
This outlines my biggest problem with the USCHO poll. People can’t let go of what they expected to happen at the beginning of the year, case in point Minnesota still has two first place votes! They lost to Northeastern and two people still voted them the No.1 team in the country. Insanity. Luckily, I get to make my own:
Minnesota St. takes over my top spot. In the midst of a six game win streak, this Maverick’s team has won when everyone around them has lost. But that is not the only reason they take the top spot, this team can flat out score. To sustain success, the defense must continue to play well in front of Stephon Williams. Williams has been stellar posting a 11-1 record with a .931 save percentage. Senior forward Matt Leitner is on pace for another 40 point season.
North Dakota gets leapfrogged by Minnesota St. after tying and beating Nebraska-Omaha. North Dakota hasn’t impressed lately going 3-2-1 in their last six. Not enough for me to put them No. 1.
A big welcome to the Crimson of Harvard. An apology is due here. The Crimson should’ve been in my top 10 last week. I held off because a lack of games due to the late start of all Ivies. Well, no one can hold off on this Harvard team any longer after they defeated No.1 BU and No.4 Lowell this week. Junior forward Jimmy Vesey has been huge as well as Steve Michalek, who has started all 10 games in net for Harvard. I get to see the Crimson play this weekend, very excited to see them in person.
Boston University drops to No. 4 after dropping two of three this week. The Terriers didn’t look particularly poor this week, maybe a little tired on Sunday after playing their fifth game in 10 days. Nonetheless, the Terriers were “manhandled” by Dartmouth according to coach David Quinn.
Miami stays put after being idle for the weekend. Next up for the Redhawks, NCHC foe Nebraska-Omaha.
Michigan Tech moves up a spot after sweeping Alabama-Hunstville down south. The Huskies get this week off before getting Minnesota-Duluth at home in two weeks.
Minnesota-Duluth moves up a spot as well after being idle for the week. The Bulldogs face a struggling Colorado College team at home next weekend.
Minnesota free falls to No. 8 in my poll. Losing three of four will do that to a team. Especially when you lose to Northeastern. While Northeastern has a couple high skill guys, mainly Kevin Roy, it’s still an eye opening loss for the Golden Gophers. A win against Boston College isn’t going to wow many people this year, especially me. Minnesota drops to eighth.
Nebraska-Omaha moves up a spot for me even after a tie and a loss to North Dakota. Maybe I respect North Dakota too much but the end of this top 10 is a struggle to pick after subpar performances from many teams this week. It’s hard to pick another matchup outside Omaha and Miami as my games of the week next week.
Vermont reappears in my top 10. Winners of the last four, Vermont has quietly put themselves in prime position in Hockey East play. The Catamounts have seen solid play from both of their goalies and have received huge offensive production from senior defenseman Mike Paliotta who has 15 points on the year, good for a share of the best on the team.
Game of the week:
I want to take a break from the NCHC matchup as my games of the week. As I looked through this coming weeks games, this one stood out. Merrimack has played some solid hockey this year. The Warriors have been led by some underclassman on the offensive side. Freshman Brett Seney leads Merrimack with 14 points followed by sophomore Hampus Gustafson with 13. The Warriors want some respect and what better way to do it than knock off Hockey East favorite BU before the Christmas break.
Boston University on the other hand is trying to put on the brakes after a couple setbacks last week. Goalie Matt O’Connor continues to play well in net (LaCouvee took the loss to Dartmouth). The Terriers offense has been led by Jack Eichel but don’t forget about his line mates Danny O’Regan and Ahti Oksanen who each have eight goals as well.
Will Merrimack make a statement before Christmas break? Or will Eichel and the Terriers reassert themselves as the team to beat in Hockey East?
