By Arthur Lane
USCHO.com released this months national rankings this afternoon. Check them out below:
After a wild week in college hockey, Minnesota holds on to the top spot in the USCHO.com poll after splitting with St. Cloud State over the weekend. St. Cloud stayed put at seven in the poll. My games of the week lived up to the hype. In the first game, St. Cloud closed the first period with two goals in the last six minutes. The Huskies added two power play goals before Minnesota could tally their only goal of the game early in the third. The series shifted to Minneapolis Saturday. After a scoreless first, Justin Kloos scored only 12 seconds into the second period on the power play. St. Cloud answered with two goals before Kloos scored the equalizer with 12 seconds left in the second. Yes, he scored 12 seconds into the period and with 12 seconds left in the period. He wasn’t done as he scored the game winner in overtime for the hat trick after the Huskies tied it in regulation. You can check out the highlights of that game below.
I was surprised to see St. Cloud not move in the polls after giving the Golden Gophers everything they could handle over the weekend including Minnesota’s first loss of the year. They will move up in mine as we saw St. Cloud’s offense produce goals against one of the best defenses and goalie in the country.
Elsewhere, Boston College leapfrogs Colgate to the third spot in the poll. With only one quality win, I think Boston College’s reputation has a lot to do with their ranking. They showed this weekend they can win a big game on the road but that doesn’t warrant the three seed for me.
Union was the big surprise of the weekend after getting swept by rival RPI by a combined score of 8-2. Colin Stevens was pulled in the first game after allowing four goals on 14 shots (remember what I said about him). In my opinion, Union’s defense remains the big question. The offense has transitioned well as I noted last week but they ran into a brick wall otherwise known as RPI goalie Jason Kasdorf. Kasdorf has the ability to take any game away from any team in the ECAC as we saw this weekend.
Michigan Tech jumps into the top 10 after another impressive weekend. The only team in the nation that has won every game, they took care of the 15th ranked Michigan this weekend. I really like this Husky team, they just haven’t faced stiff enough competition to warrant a higher ranking from me. Jamie Phillips has been fantastic in net posting a .952 save percentage and a 1.34 GAA. Keep an eye out for the upstart Huskies Michigan Tech Huskies.
Here is my poll for the week:
Game of the week:
Not the hardest debate I’ve had when it comes to selecting the game of the week. Boston University makes the short trip to Conte Forum for Round 1 this year. Like I said before, BC hasn’t done enough for me to be a top three team. I still have huge questions about the offense after losing the best line in college hockey to the pros. The Eagles haven’t scored more than two goals in the three games they’ve played against quality teams. The defense has been solid in front of Thatcher Demko, who can keep them in close games with quality opponents like we saw this past weekend against Denver. Boston College can help me be a believer with a good offensive output against a Terrier defense anchored by goalie Matt O’Connor. O’Connor anchors the nation’s second best defense statistically, and is fourth in the country in GAA and save percentage. Jack Eichel has not disappointed as he leads the country in points per game. Can BC’s offense prove themselves after losing the top line in the country against one of the nation’s hotter goalies? Will Eichel continue to replace Johnny Gaudreau from the minds of Boston hockey fans? We’ll find out Friday night on NBCSN.
