College Hockey Update:  Last weekend presented two top fifteen matchups, and St. Cloud State’s train kept-a-rollin’ as they had two convincing wins over Nebraska-Omaha, which kept St. Cloud State at #3, and edged UNO down to #13; what a sensational season for the Huskies of St. Cloud State with a whopping 25 wins (and it’s still February!) and ending hot with nine wins in their last ten outings.  Providence College likewise pulled off a sweep of Notre Dame, and the Friars held on to #5, while Notre Dame dropped three spots to #11; Providence is also having a heck of a follow-up to their national championship season with 23 wins already, and ending hot on a six game winning streak.

Quinnipiac beat Rensselaer and managed a tie with Union College, holding on at #1; Quinnipiac has seen a lot of overtime lately, with nine of its last twelve games going into the extra frame — the Bobcats are 6-1-5 over that stretch.  Boston College swept Vermont and held on at #2; Boston College is another team with 23 wins, and if you want to talk about hot, how’s this — BC has not lost a game since December 29th, and is 10-0-4 over that stretch. North Dakota swept Minnesota-Duluth and held at #4 — the Hawks have 24 wins.  Michigan beat Ferris State and held at #6 — Michigan started out not so good but in fourteen games since December 29, they are 11-1-2.  Yale beat both St. Lawrence and Clarkson, and edged up to #7; Yale’s start to the season was similar to Michigan’s, and, like Michigan, they have a heck of a story in their sixteen games since December 11 — they are 13-1-2 over that stretch. Denver swept Colorado College and moved up two slots to #8, and Boston University managed a tie with, and then beat New Hampshire, and held at #9.  Harvard managed a tie with Cornell and beat Colgate, edging up to #12, Michigan Tech split with Bemidji State and held at #14, and Penn State split with Ohio State, and held at #15.

Last weekend Yale got huge help from its junior forward, John Hayden, of Greenwich Connecticut, who scored a goal and added and assist in his team’s 4-3 win Friday night against St. Lawrence, and he tallied two assists in his team’s 3-1 win Saturday night against Clarkson. The 6’3″ 217b forward is first on his team in goals scored with fifteen, and is tied for sixth in assists with seven.  Last year he was third on the team in goals with seven, and added eleven assists; as a freshman he scored six goals and made ten assists.  He also played on the US Development Team in 2012-13, and he scored fifteen goals and added fourteen assists in 45 games.  He was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the third round with the 74th pick overall in the 2013 NHL entry draft.  Yale is on a major league hot streak, is 18-5-4, is ranked #7, and plays at Princeton Friday night, and at #1 Quinnipiac Saturday night.

Hayden’s hometown of Greenwich, CT., is home to 61,000 residents who are spread out among its 48 square miles.  It is also home to a large number of financial and hedge fund companies.  It was settled in 1640, and it was chartered as a township in 1665.  The thirty-five miles between it and Manhattan are normally driven in about fifty-five minutes.  It is the hometown of Glenn Close, Shelly Hack, and a seemingly countless number of other blonde actresses.  The forty-seven miles between Greenwich and Yale are normally covered in about a one hour drive, so one can hope that John Hayden can get home from time to time, and that his parents can likewise see some of his games.

This weekend is the last weekend of regular season play for Atlantic Hockey, the ECAC, and Hockey East; it is the penultimate weekend of regular season play for the NCHC and the WCHA; and the Big Ten/Six has two more weeks of regular season play after this weekend. This weekend presents four top fifteen matchups and right off the bat #1 Quinnipiac’s tendency toward overtime will be tested by #7 Yale’s hot streak Saturday night on the Quinnipiac ice, an eleven mile trip for Yale.  #2 Boston College will have a home-and-home series with #11 UMass-Lowell — a thirty-two mile trip for each team, and #4 North Dakota will travel to play two at Nebraska-Omaha.  #9 Boston University will travel to play two games at #10 Notre Dame, a team that is probably still smarting from last weekend’s sweep by Providence, that would like to end the season by adding to its impressive 10-3-3 home ice record.  All of these games look like major battles and I’m sure everyone would love to see them — the Boston University/Notre Dame games on both Friday and Saturday are scheduled to be broadcast on NBC Sports Network at 4:30pm Pacific Time Friday and at 4:00pm Pacific Time on Saturday.

The conference tournaments are quick upon us, and then before we know it, it’ll be time for the NCAA Tournament.  Who will make it to the Frozen Four?  Have any strong feelings about that at this point?  Feel free to comment on the blogsite about it, or to comment on anything else college hockey-wise for that matter.

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

[table id=127 /]

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

— Tom