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HockeyBuzz NCAA Top-10 Power Rankings |
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Welcome to the HockeyBuzz NCAA Top-10 Power Rankings.
With Minnesota State’s 7-0 shutout over Northern Michigan on Saturday, Mavericks’ goalie Dryden McKay becomes the men’s hockey NCAA career shutout leader, passing Ryan Miller with 27. The Mavericks began conference play with a sweep of the Wildcats.
After sitting out the entire 2020-21 season after the Ivy League pulled the plug on winter sports last season, Harvard played their first hockey game since March 14, 2020, Friday night. The weekend could not have gone better for the Crimson, taking down Dartmouth 9-3 Friday and Bentley 7-3 Saturday.
Here are this week’s HockeyBuzz NCAA Top-10 Power Rankings:
1) St. Cloud State 6-2 (0-0 NCHC) | Last Week: 1
The Huskies had the weekend off and will begin conference play this coming weekend, traveling to Colorado for a pair of games at Colorado College. Because they did nothing to be dethroned from their top ranking, I’ll keep the Huskies atop the chart.
2) Minnesota State 4-2 (2-0 CCHA) | Last Week: 3
As mentioned above, the Mavericks had another dominating weekend in their sweep of Northern Michigan with McKay breaking Miller’s men’s career shutout record. With Ferris State on tap for the upcoming weekend, there’s a good chance Minnesota State jumps St. Cloud in next week’s rankings and McKay adds to his shutout totals.
3) Michigan 6-2 (1-1 Big Ten) | Last Week: 2
The Wolverines split their weekend series for the second week in a row, this time in their Big Ten conference opening series with Wisconsin. Michigan looked very much like itself on Friday, shutting out the Badgers 3-0. But Saturday’s effort was much less spirited, ultimately coming up short 4-2 in the loss.
4) Minnesota Duluth 5-1 (0-0 NCHC) | Last Week: 4
Like St. Cloud, the Bulldogs had the weekend off and is preparing to kick off conference play this upcoming weekend. The task ahead for Duluth is a difficult one, hitting the road for a weekend series against the red-hot Western Michigan Broncos.
5) Western Michigan 5-1 (0-0 NCHC) | Last Week: 8
It’s a big jump for Western Michigan, but one that is well deserved. Trailing 5-0 to Colgate on Friday, the Broncos stormed back for six goals to earn the victory. The Broncos followed their emotional win up with a 2-1 victory Saturday, completing the sweep.
6) Minnesota 5-3 (2-0 Big Ten) | Last Week: 5
After being swept by Minnesota Duluth, the Golden Gophers bounced back over the weekend sweeping Notre Dame, looking more like themselves. As they prepare for three straight weekends of conference play, Minnesota will look to prove they belong in the upper echelon of college hockey.
7) Quinnipiac 5-1-2 (0-0 ECAC) |Last Week: 6
Quinnipiac’s weekend against AIC is nothing to be concerned about, but with how well they played entering the weekend, you certainly expected more. After skating to a 2-2 tie on Friday, the Bobcats responded with a 2-1 win in overtime Saturday. Likely just an off weekend, Quinnipiac opens conference play on the road this weekend, Friday at Yale and Saturday at Brown.
8) Providence 6-3 (3-1 Hockey East) | Last Week: 9
Providence’s jump up from nine is more about what other teams did, or didn't do, than what the Friars did. After an easy 6-1-win Friday over New Hampshire, Providence suffered it’s first conference loss Saturday at New Hampshire, 2-1 in overtime.
9) Harvard 2-0 (1-0 ECAC) | Last Week: NR
Yes, Harvard has played just two games against two teams that are not expected to make much noise in college hockey, but as a team with a talented roster and high expectations, their opening weekend was fantastic. In wins over Dartmouth and Bentley, the Crimson scored a combined 16 times with offense coming from all over the lineup.
10) North Dakota 4-3 (0-0 NCHC) | Last Week: 7
It’s been a very inconsistent year thus far for North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks played just once this weekend, a “neutral site” contest—that saw mostly North Dakota fans in the stands—at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville where they fell to Penn State 6-4. I still believe the Fighting Hawks are a contender in the NCHC, but they need to start stringing together more consistent efforts.
Previously ranked teams missing the cut: UMass
Other teams considered: Omaha, Denver, Northeastern
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