Minnesota College Hockey Update 1/13/2015
Division 1 college hockey teams are back from break and back to conference play. For some of the teams in the State of Hockey, this past weekend may well prove to be a pivotal one by the time the season comes to an end.
More from Sporting Sota
- Minnesota Twins bullpen will be their downfall
- Top 5 Minnesota Twins Pitching Prospects
- Kyle Rudolph signing gives stability to Minnesota Vikings offense
- Jake Odorizzi’s emergence fueling Twins starting staff
- Former Minnesota Twins player David Ortiz shot
For starters, the Minnesota State-Mankato Mavericks have achieved their first ever USCHO.com Poll number one overall ranking. The are also tops in the Pairwise Rankings. This was partially due to the help of a couple of the other teams in the state, which I will get to momentarily. That said, the Mavericks took advantage of the opportunity presented to them by sweeping Lake Superior State at home over the weekend. Their first chance to defend the top ranking will be against Ferris State in Big Rapids, MI, followed by the North Star College Cup.
One of the best match ups nationwide last weekend took place in Grand Forks, ND, pitting the then-7th ranked Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs against the then top-ranked North Dakota team. The series ended predictably, with UMD winning 4-1 Friday and UND coming back to win 5-2 Saturday. Neither game was particularly close, but it was fun watching what may well be the best two teams from the best conference in college hockey battle it out. This series led to a lot of shake up in the top ten, with UND dropping to #3 and the 2011 National Champion (not that it is relevant to this roster, I just like saying it) Bulldogs moved up to #5, receiving four first place votes along the way. Despite being 13-7-0, the Bulldogs are also up to third in the NCAA selection-mimicking Pairwise Rankings, by virtue of playing the toughest schedule in the nation to this point and earning no worse than a split in any weekend this season so far. This weekend, the Bulldogs will take on Western Michigan at home.
More from Minnesota Sports
- Top 5 Minnesota Twins Pitching Prospects
- The Twins Should Sign Closer Craig Kimbrel
- Minnesota Vikings Kyle Rudolph Conundrum
- Minnesota Timberwolves: enough is enough — Jimmy Butler has to go
- Minnesota Twins: the incredible career of Joe Mauer — a tribute
The St. Cloud State Huskies helped both the Mavericks and Bulldogs climb the polls (and helped UMD in the NCHC as well) by sweeping the formerly 5th ranked Miami Redhawks at home. The Huskies are still below .500 for the year, but still have time to make an NCAA run if they keep winning in the second half as well as the NCHC Playoffs. Bemidji State is also under .500 thus far, although they managed to sweep Alabama-Huntsville over the weekend.
Finally, the Minnesota Gophers continued their free-fall. When they took on the Bulldogs in the middle of November in a home-and-home series, the Gophers were the top-ranked team in the nation going into the series. The Bulldogs swept them, and Minnesota has not looked the same since. They spent this past weekend in Ann Arbor getting swept by a Michigan Wolverines team that, while generally a power in college hockey, only got to the #19 ranking in the USCHO poll after sweeping the Gophers. Minnesota, one of the presumptive pre-season favorites to make the Frozen Four might not even make the NCAA tournament. They have fallen to #16 in the USCHO poll and tied for 15th in the Pairwise. Only the top 16 make the NCAA tournament at the end of the season, but all conference champions get an automatic bye, so generally it is more likely the top 12 or 13.
The stretch run in the state should be a lot of fun. Look back here in a couple of weeks for a rundown of the North Star College Cup.