Last weekend was a wild one in college hockey as six of the top eight teams were beaten — most held their recent rankings.  #1 Yale is still #1 after splitting with Brown. #2 North Dakota is still #2 after splitting with #21 Minnesota — the opening game saw Minnesota go up early  (as they did in early December when they upset UMD) 2-0 in the first.  #3 BC is still #3 after taking a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Maine, which was ranked #13 at the time and is back in at #10.  The new #4 is Denver, up from #6 after settling on a tie with Mankato, and getting a win the next night; they nearly came out of it with two ties, winning the second game 4-3 in ot. 

#5 Minnesota-Duluth is still #5 after splitting with #9 Wisconsin; UMD’s two goals in the third of the second game was not enough to come back, losing 3-2.  Wisconsin held at #9 in the rankings on the split.  The new #6 is Michigan, up from #7, after taking two from #25 Ferris State.  Down at #7, from the #4 spot, is New Hampshire, after losing to the new #18, Dartmouth; both teams wanted this win badly and scored a total of five in the third, with Dartmouth outscoring UNH 3-2 in the period.  Holding at #8, Notre Dame split with Alaska Fairbanks, which moved Alaska up to #19 from #20.

Miami of Ohio moves up to #11 from  #12 after sweeping Bowling Green, and Union College moves up to #12 from #14 after wins over Colgate and Cornell.  Merrimack moves up to #13 from #15 after sweeping Alabama-Huntsville.  In the first game, Merrimack prevailed 5-4 after a four goal third period.  Since the most recent poll, Merrimack also beat currently #15 Boston University; BU’s two goals in the third were not enough, and Merrimack prevailed 3-2.  BU had moved up to #15 from #16 on a win over Harvard.  Rensselaer dropped to #14 from #10 after a win over Cornell and a loss to Colgate. 

Nebraska-Omaha slipped to #16 from #11 after a tie and loss against Bemidji State.  Western Michigan moved up to #17 from #18 after a win and a tie against Ohio State.  And Princeton, idle last weekend, is new to the top twenty at #20.

This weekend provides several top twenty matchups.  #2 North Dakota will host #16 Nebraska Omaha for two games.  And #15 Boston University will have its hands very full as it hosts #3 Boston College, smarting from last weekend’s drubbing by Maine, and then BU will travel to #7 New Hampshire, who should be plenty angry as well after last weekend’s loss to Dartmouth.  We’ll see if BU can hold up; as if this weekend weren’t enough for the Terriers, they’ll follow this up next weekend with two at #10 Maine.  Dartmouth will also have its hands full this weekend as they travel to play #12 Union and #14 RPI.  And a great in-state rivalry sees St. Cloud State at Bemidji for two games this weekend — our ace contributing field reporter, Greg Schreader will be on hand for at least one of the games, and will send us his account next week.

This provides the top twenty teams, rankings, records, and last weekend’s results:

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That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers!