Denver reclaimed the top spot in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll on the strength of two convincing wins, both games by a 5-3 score, against a visiting Wisconsin. The Pioneers captured 27 first-place votes when last week’s No. 1 team, New Hampshire, dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 7 Boston University and correspondingly fell to No. 3 this week.
While Denver finished with a healthy majority of first-place votes and
with a significant lead over No. 2 Boston College, a whopping eight teams
received at least one first-place vote. Four undefeated teams are in the
top ten, and three received a first-place vote: No. 2 Boston College at
5-0-1 (three first-place votes), No. 5 North Dakota at 6-0-0 (two), No. 10
Providence at 7-0-0 (one). Cornell, with a 3-1 win over battle-tested Ohio
State, improved to 1-0-0 and held steady in the No. 8 slot.
Also receiving first-place votes were No. 3 New Hampshire, which downed
Merrimack 4-3 before the loss to the Terriers; No. 4 Minnesota, which won
a two game set against visiting Alabama-Huntsville; and No. 7 Boston
University, which won a wild 7-6 game against Northeastern before the 3-2
thriller in Durham.
Entering the poll this week is No. 14 Miami, owners of an impressive 8-2
record, including a sweep of then-ranked Northern Michigan two weeks ago.
Coming up this weekend is a WCHA feud as North Dakota travels to the
National Hockey Center to take on No. 15 St. Cloud for two games.
Providence will put it’s newly-found top 10 status on the line with a
home-and-home series with Northeastern, and No. 13 Michigan State returns
to action, hosting Niagara for a set.
The USCHO.com Poll is compiled by U.S. College Hockey Online, and consists
of 40 voters, including 28 coaches from the Division I conferences and 12
beat writers from across the country. The poll is published weekly by the
Associated Press.
