Spittin' Chiclets College Hockey Rankings (Week 11)
1.) Massachusetts
2.) St. Cloud State
3.) Denver
4.) Ohio State
5.) Quinnipiac
6.) Minnesota Duluth
7.) Providence
8.) Minnesota State
9.) Notre Dame
10.) Northeastern
After a few weeks off, it feels good to have college hockey back. The winter break has concluded and most teams are back in action this upcoming weekend. We’ve got some changes to the top-10 since the last time we did the rankings in mid-December, including a new #1 and a new school added to the rankings.
First off, we have a new #1. Once again, UMass sits atop the rankings as the best team in the country. The suffered a tough 2-1 loss to UMass Lowell this past weekend on Friday night but bounced back Saturday night with a big 6-1 win over American International. The Minutemen will welcome UVM to the Mullins center this upcoming weekend and then have a home and home with #10 Northeastern the weekend after. I have talked a ton about Cale Makar this year, but man….Sophomore forward Mitchell Chaffee is having himself a year. In 18 games this season the Rockford, Michigan native has 22 points (12g, 10a).
Denver jumps from #8 to #3 in this week’s rankings. The Pios have rattled off 5 straight wins after a weekend sweep at Wisconsin. Denver doesn’t have the toughest road ahead, so if they can pile up some wins in the next few weeks I think they’ll essentially be a lock for the tournament. Keep an eye on Freshman Emilio Pettersen for the Pios. The Manglerud, Norway native is just getting use to the college style of play and I expect him to have a big second half. The kid is already averaging a ppg with 18 points (5g, 13a) in 18 games.
Quinnipiac drops from #3 to #5 this week after a tough weekend where they fell to Colgate on Friday night 5-4 and tied Cornell 2-2 on Saturday night. QU has Dartmouth and Harvard next weekend, two very winnable games. I wonder about the Bobcats though. Are they benefitting from an easy first half schedule? I guess we’ll see in the second half of the season if they can continue to beat bad ECAC teams.
Notre Dame drops from #7 to #9 this week after beating BC 4-0 but then getting spanked by Michigan in the College Winter Classic. Notre Dame and Michigan played at Notre Dame stadium with the Wolverines coming out on top 4-2. Toughhhhhh loss for the Irish. Never want to lose an outdoor game on your own campus. But again, like I’ve been saying all season…this team is good and I’m not worried. Come tournament time they’ll put it all together.
Northeastern comes in at #10 this week and joins the rankings for the first time all season. After riffling off 8 straight wins, the Huskies finally lost in a close on to Merrimack last Saturday night 1-0. They’ll head to Maine this weekend for what should be an easy weekend series. I’m keeping my eyes on Northeastern vs UMass next weekend though. Two top-10 teams that can battle and each get a home game. Two very tough arenas to play in too. I’m shocked Northeastern is having as good of year as they are, but they might as well keep the foot on the gas pedal.
GOAL OF THE WEEKEND
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You score from your own blue line, you 100% deserve the goal of the weekend. Joesph Cecconi ov Michigan put one in from his own blue in at Notre Dame stadium in the outdoor game against the Irish en route to a 4-2 victory.