College Hockey Update:   Last week presented six top twenty matches, starting with Denver holding on to the #1 ranking after traveling east and beating both Boston University and Boston College; this is just the beginning of the story of the woes of BU and BC.  Minnesota moved up two spots to #5 after hosting and sweeping Clarkson, which knocked Clarkson down four pegs to #13.  Providence jumped up six notches to #6 after hosting and beating both . . . . you guessed it, Boston College, and then Boston University (the weekend dropped BU six rungs to #12, and knocked BC out of the top twenty).  Mankato State moved up three spots to #9 after sweeping Michigan Tech, which dropped Tech four slots to #20.

Elsewhere, Harvard held on at #3 after hosting and beating Dartmouth; North Dakota held on at #4 after traveling to, and splitting with, Colorado College; and Wisconsin dropped two pegs to #7 after hosting, and splitting with, St. Lawrence.  Minnesota Duluth rose two notches to #8 after traveling to, and sweeping Maine; Notre Dame dropped two rungs to #10 after hosting, and splitting with, Nebraska-Omaha; and New Hampshire edged up to #13 after settling on a one-game tie with Vermont.  Northeastern jumped up five rungs to #15 after sweeping UMass-Lowell on the road and at home; Ohio State entered the top twenty at #16 after sweeping Robert Morris at home and on the road; Penn State dropped two spots to #17 after hosting, and splitting with, Michigan; and Cornell entered the top twenty at #18 after hosting, and sweeping, Alabama-Huntsville.  Air Force edged down to #19 after traveling to, and splitting with, Canisius; St. Cloud State held at #2 on an idle weekend; and Quinnipiac rose two notches to #11 on their idle weekend.

Last week’s posting featured Denver’s Troy Terry, and he indeed came through again that night.  Last Friday #1 Denver traveled to Boston University.  In a blink the defending NCAA Champion Pioneers had a 2-0 lead on goals by Jake Durflinger three minutes into the first, and then by Colin Staub on a power play a minute later.  A few minutes later BU came to life, played a physical game, and fought back into the game.  A BU goal by Ty Amonte with nine minutes left in the first made it 2-1, and a BU power play goal three minutes later by Bobo Carpenter tied the game at two apiece.  But with two minutes left in the period another Colin Staub power play goal gave Denver the 3-2 lead at the break.  The second played much like the end of the first, and BU goalie Jake Oettinger repelled some great Denver shots, and the period ended, as it started, at 3-2.

In the third the physical play continued, and Dante Fabbro scored for BU, tying the game at three apiece with seven minutes left.  A few minutes later Denver picked up the pace, but BU was effective at repelling the efforts.  Would it be another tie for Denver?  Overtime?  Not so, as last week’s featured player, Troy Terry found the net with only seventeen seconds left to give Denver the 4-3 win.  Another case of BU not being able to close out a game set up a two-loss weekend, and a six game streak with only one win has to have its fans wondering what this season is going to look like.  Meanwhile, Denver flexed again the next night, giving its fans good reason to be looking forward to another strong season.

This season St. Cloud State has had huge help from Junior defenseman Jimmy Schuldt, of Minnetonka, MN, who is currently tied for first in goals on his team, with four, and is also tied for first in assists, with six.  That’s not enough?  OK, he was also just named the Hockey Commissioners’ Association National Division I Player of the Month for October, and why not? He only led the NCAA in points per game and plus-minus last month.  He has been a force since day one for the Huskies:  As a sophomore he was fifth in goals with eight and tied for sixth in assists with eleven; As a freshman he tied for ninth in goals with ten, and was eighth in assists with sixteen.  He also blocked 88 shots last year, and blocked 95 shots as a freshman. The 6′ 1″ 205lb defenseman is joined by an interesting and productive trio of fellow Minnesotans — the Poehling triplets, Jack, Nick, and Ryan, who have no problem finding the net — and Alameda, California’s own Robby Jackson, who also seems to find the net at will.

St. Cloud State is coach by Bob Motzko, a 1987 Alum who is in his thirteenth season at the helm, with a to-date record of 256-183-43.  Motzko has guided the team to the NCAA tournament seven times, including a trip to the Frozen Four in 2013.  This team has really come into its own and perhaps Denver would be wise to see how things progress over in St. Cloud this season.  St. Cloud State is 5-0-0, ranked #2, and hosts #8 Minnesota-Duluth for two games this weekend.  Now let’s say you went to St. Cloud State, and you thought you had something to add to this?  Maybe your last name starts with an M, R, or S.  You know, you could login and comment on this article and then everyone who were to see it after that could read your additional comment down below, know what I mean?

This weekend presents six top twenty matchups.  In addition to the #2/#8 humdinger outlined above, #4 North Dakota travels to play two at #7 Wisconsin; #6 Providence travels to play one at #12 Boston University tonight; #10 Notre Dame travels to play two at #16 Ohio State; #11 Quinnipiac hosts #18 Cornell tonight; and #12 Boston University hosts #15 Northeastern tomorrow night.

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

[table id=154 /]

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

— Tom