College Hockey Update:  Last weekend presented one top-fifteen matchup and Friday night North Dakota scored early in the first, and again early in the second; Miami of Ohio scored midway through the second, and the two stalemated for the next period and half, as North Dakota took the win.  Miami worked hard, outshooting North Dakota 44 to 27, but they couldn’t convert against some hot goal tending.  Saturday night North Dakota scored first midway through the first, and Miami responded late in the first, and again twice early in the second only 47 seconds apart. North Dakota scored midway through the second, and then Miami scored again late in this busy second period.  North Dakota scored early in the third, and Miami responded a minute later with a score; late in the period North Dakota put an extra attacker on the ice, but Miami found the empty net to take a three-goal win.  North Dakota held onto the #1 ranking, and Miami held on to #5.

Elsewhere, Mankato State split with Bemidji State, and Mankato held onto the #2 spot, while Michigan Tech swept Northern Michigan and held onto #4.  Minnesota-Duluth split with Western Michigan and held onto #6, as Denver split with St. Cloud State and held onto #7.  Nebraska-Omaha bagged a tie and a win over Colorado College and held onto #8; Bowling Green swept Alabama-Huntsville and held onto #13; and Minnesota split with Ohio State and held onto #15.  All the idle teams held onto their rankings from last week:  #3 Boston University, #9 Boston College, #10 Providence, #11 Quinnipiac, #12 Yale, and #14 UMass-Lowell.

Speaking of Yale, the 2013 NCAA Champion, they’ve sort of had a strange up and down year, and are sort of quietly at #12 with a 17-7-5 record, and they stand in third place in the ECAC standings.  This weekend they will host #18 Harvard for a best two out of three opening round in the ECAC Tournament.  This is a team that entered the 2013 NCAA Tournament as the #15 seed, and only got in the tournament because of losses by other teams in their tournaments.  Yale will be counting on guys such as sophomore forward Chris Izmirlian, of Highland Beach, FL.  He is tied for 15th on the team in goals scored, with three, and is tied for 14th in assists with four.  Prior to Yale he was with the Middlesex Islanders of the EJHL, and in 2012-13, he scored 23 goals and had 3 assists.  He captained the Westminister School team in 2011-12, contributing 20 goals and 28 assists.

This weekend five conferences either continue with, or start their tournament play.  The only one playing their last weekend of regular season games is the little six.  All conference play at this time is a best two of three series.  With so many teams active, let’s focus on matchups of top fifteen teams, and top fifteen teams matched with other ranked teams.  The killer of the bunch has to be #6 Minnesota-Duluth traveling to play at #7 Denver.  In addition, #9 Boston College will host #17 Vermont, and as discussed above, #12 Yale will host #18 Harvard.

With teams “on the bubble” in the system that picks teams for the NCAA Tournament, the question is whether these lower-ranked teams can break through this weekend and next, and make it to the NCAA Tournament.  Is your favorite team one of these?  Will they make it?

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

[table id=109 /]

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

— Tom