Some interesting results over a not very busy weekend.  In our most heralded matchup, last week’s #9 team, North Dakota, took on Notre Dame, last week’s #11, and North Dakota came out with a win and a tie, elevating the Sioux to #7 in the rankings, and dropping Notre Dame to #12.  The #11 spot is now held by Michigan, after they tied Wisconsin and lost to Minnesota.  And taking the #10 spot from Michigan is Denver, up from #12, on the strength of its two wins over Lake Superior State and Alaska-Fairbanks.

In other action, we have this year what I call a ranking-wrecker.  Years ago it was a Northeastern team that rose continually to beat highly ranked teams.  This year it is Merrimack, and last weekend’s victim was Boston College.  BC managed a win over Vermont the next night, but dropped from #7 to #8.  Meanwhile, Brown managed two ties against BU and New Hampshire.  BU held on to #2, but with fewer votes, now shares that spot with Yale, up from #3 on the strength of a win over Sacred Heart.  New Hampshire rose from #6 to #5 in the rankings with a win over Merrimack.  Miami of Ohio split with Western Michigan, dropping the Redhawks from #5 to #6.  The other top ten teams were idle.

And this week’s human interest story is the Connolly brothers of Duluth, playing on teams currently ranked #1 and #2.  Jack Connolly plays on the Minn-Duluth Bulldogs and with five goals is tied for fifth on the team; with his eleven assists, he has a total of 20 “points,” which ties him for first on the team.  His older brother, Chris, has five goals for BU, tied for first on the team, and with his seven assists, he has a total of 12 “points,” for fourth on the team.  As you might ascertain from the numbers, UMD has scored more goals per game (about four) so far this year than BU (about three per game).

So what’s up this week?  A couple of very big top ten matchups.  First, #1 ranked UMD will host #10 Denver for a pair of games.  Should be huge as these are the only two teams in the top twenty that have reached double digits in the wins column.  Next it’s the Battle of Commonwealth Avenue, as #2 BU will host #8 BC Friday night, then “travel” 3.5 miles up the street to play at BC on Saturday.  It’s two teams that should provide carnage on the ice as they try to assert their position and the the direction they are going in.  Seems like a pivotal weekend for BU which of late has amassed a number of ties, and now has five, the most of any top twenty team.  Have to admit, I’d love to be there for at least one of these.  And I’d love to see one of the UMD games as well — oh heck, I get to see them next week anyway!

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

[table id=6 /]

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

 — Tom