INCH Power Rankings

1. Minnesota Duluth
2. Minnesota
3. Merrimack
4. Boston College
5. Ohio State
6. Colgate
7. Notre Dame
8. Colorado College
9. Western Michigan
10. Union
11. Boston University
12. Ferris State
13. Cornell
14. Denver
15. UMass Lowell
16.Michigan State
17. Lake Superior State
18. Nebraska-Omaha
19. North Dakota
20. Northeastern
Dropped out: Yale, Providence
Bubble-licious: Air Force, Michigan Tech, Michigan, Providence

As always I include the INCH Power Rankings because I find them interesting. I don't see anything that sticks out in this week's power rankings. 

Related articles

• WCHA Power Rankings - December 5 (insidehockey.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings - November 28 (insidehockey.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings - November 21 (insidehockey.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings - November 13 (insidehockey.com)

INCH Power Rankings

As always I include the INCH Power Rankings because they are ussually good for a chuckle or two. I find this week's just as amusing as some of the other additions of the INCH Power Rankings. Really 4 ECAC teams in the top 20? 

1. Merrimack
2. Notre Dame
3. Boston College
4. Minnesota
5. Minnesota Duluth
6. Colorado College
7. Ferris State
8. Ohio State
9. Union
10. Colgate
11. Denver
12. Yale
13. Western Michigan
14. Lake Superior State
15. Boston University
16. Miami
17. Cornell
18. Michigan State
19. Michigan Tech
20. Nebraska-Omaha

Dropped out: Michigan
Bubble-licious: Clarkson, UMass Lowell, Michigan

Related articles

• College Hockey Power Rankings: Merrimack Remains on Top (bleacherreport.com)
• You: College Hockey Power Rankings: Minnesota Claims Top Spot (bleacherreport.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings - November 21 (insidehockey.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings - November 13 (insidehockey.com)
• Series Preview: Sioux vs. Tigers (insidehockey.com)

INCH Power Rankings

As always I include the INCH Power Ranking because I find them thought provoking and well interesting. My first question is, why is BU ranked only 20th after schooling B.C. yesterday? There are five teams from the ECAC in the power rankings. Alright!

1. Merrimack
2. Minnesota
3. Boston College
4. Colorado College
5. Yale
6. Ferris State
7. Notre Dame
8. Michigan
9. Western Michigan
10. Minnesota Duluth
11. Denver
12. Union
13. Ohio State
14. Lake Superior State
15. Colgate
16. Michigan Tech
17. Providence
18. Cornell
19. Dartmouth
20. Boston University
Dropped out: Quinnipiac, Clarkson, Northern Michigan
Bubbelicious: Clarkson, UMass-Lowell, Nebraska-Omaha, New Hampshire, Quinnipiac

Related articles

• WCHA Power Rankings - November 13 (insidehockey.com)
• You: College Hockey Power Rankings: Minnesota Claims Top Spot (bleacherreport.com)
• Minnesota Duluth-Bemidji State Preview (insidehockey.com)
• Union cracks top 10 in national poll (timesunion.com)

INCH Power Rankings

Image via WikipediaAs always I include the INCH Power Rankings and I think you will find them amusing, Yale who has played two games against ECAC foes is ranked 5th. 6 ECAC teams in the two twenty power rankings.

Are we to glean from these rankings that the ECAC is the best conference in college hockey?

1. Boston College
2. Colorado College
3. Minnesota
4. Michigan
5. Yale
6. Merrimack
7. Union
8. Denver
9. Notre Dame
10. Western Michigan
11. Ferris State
12. Lake Superior State
13. Colgate
14. Boston University
15. Dartmouth
16. Quinnipiac
17. North Dakota
18. Michigan Tech
19. Clarkson
20. Northern Michigan
Dropped out: Miami
Bubble-licious: Harvard, Maine, Minnesota Duluth

INCH Power Rankings

As always I include the INCH Power Rankings because I find them interesting. I don't think you can rank a team like Yale in the top three when they haven't played a game yet. Also, I think Union is ranked a bit high.

1. Boston College
2. Colorado College
3. Yale
4. Michigan
5. Denver
6. Minnesota
7. Union
8. North Dakota
9. Miami
10. Merrimack
11. Notre Dame
12. Western Michigan
13. Boston University
14. Colgate
15. Dartmouth
16. Alaska Anchorage
17. RIT
18. Providence
19. Michigan Tech
20. Ferris State

Dropped out: Minnesota Duluth, New Hampshire, Maine, Alaska, Air Force
Bubble-licious: Alaska, Bowling Green, Lake Superior State, Quinnipiac

Friday morning reading...

Image via WikipediaThe Boston College Eagles are back up and running and are going to be a force to be reckoned with this season. Check out the classic quote by Eagles head coach Jerry York. One think I learned from last weekend is that York always has something witty to say. You have to love the quote about playing cupcakes.

ESPN Boston ---- Last weekend, Boston College sat at No. 5 in the two major national hockey polls. That was before the Eagles swept through the annual Ice Breaker Tournament, downing Michigan State (5-2) and then No. 3 North Dakota (6-2). Coupled with losses by Miami and Notre Dame, those results made the Eagles the overwhelming choice as the nation's No. 1 team in both polls.

"It was a good start for us, but we emphasized all week that it's just a start," said BC coach Jerry York. "We've always tried to schedule teams like Denver or North Dakota early. If you put a cupcake schedule in front of your kids, it can create a sense of false manhood, because they think 'Hey, we're really good, because we're undefeated.' You've got to be tested."

The Eagles passed their first-week exams with flying colors. But things don't get any easier for York's crew, as they host WCHA heavyweight Denver, sitting at No. 3 in both polls, on Friday night, and then travel to No. 15/16 New Hampshire on Saturday. Of course, the same can be said for the Pioneers, who open their 2011-12 campaign with a Northeast swing through the iron of Hockey East, playing at Boston University on Saturday after their stop at BC.

Here is what Rachel Lenzi beat writer of the Maine Black Bears has to say in today's Portland Press Herald. Looks like both teams know what is on the line this weekend when they face off in the Ralph.

Portland Press Herald --- In last Friday's 2-1 loss to Merrimack, the Black Bears (1-1) believed they put forth the effort but didn't assert themselves in front of the opposing goal.

In Sunday's 6-3 win over Northeastern, Maine captain Will O'Neill said his team brought a certain attitude and edge to its game, one that the Black Bears, ranked 17th in the USCHO.com top 20 poll, will have to sustain not just this weekend against North Dakota (1-1) but through the season.

"When we came out Friday night, we thought we were ready," O'Neill said. "We thought we were prepared. We thought we were going to go out there and work. The effort was there Friday night, but we needed to work hard in the right areas.

"On Sunday, we had more focus and we utilized our hard work and our tenacity. It's very difficult to sustain that in sports, but that's what good teams do. Good teams show up every night and very rarely do they lay an egg. That's where we want to be."

The Fighting Sioux represent that standard. The Sioux have won seven national championships and when they face the Black Bears at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D., will return 14 players from last year's team that reached the Frozen Four, losing 2-0 to Michigan in a national semifinal.

UND MEN’S HOCKEY: Sioux eager for another shot against Maine [Grand Forks Herald]

How to watch this weekends games

RADIO: 96.1 The Fox (KQHT-FM) • WEBCAST: www.fightingsioux.com
TV: Fighting Sioux Sports Network, Fox College Sports Central, MidcoSN3,
DirecTV 617 (Friday), DirecTV 623 (Saturday)

Monday Links

Image via WikipediaThis week the Fighting Sioux play the Maine Black Bears and the Sioux have had some bad luck against Maine and Boston College as of late, I broke the numbers down in this article. [Inside Hockey]

The Fighting Sioux have lost 4 games in a row against the University of Maine Black Bears so it's not an understatement to say that the Fighting Sioux are due against the Black Bears. The Fighting Sioux played the Maine Black Bears in Orono, Maine last season and were beaten soundly Friday night (October 22nd, 2010) on national television by a score of  7-4, the Sioux took 10 penalties and had three power play goals scored against them. I think it's safe to that the Fighting Sioux will be looking for  some payback. 

Dan Myer from the College Hockey News previewed the WCHA in a two part series (part one and part two) and had this to say about the Fighting Sioux

Prediction: The Fighting Sioux may struggle early while their kids get used to playing at this level. And, until last season, early season difficulties were sort of the program's M.O. But once guys like Grimaldi and Mattson get going along with the amount of talent and depth always associated with North Dakota hockey, the Sioux will most definitely be a player by season's end. This group will be a tough out in any playoff scenario.

I have to agree with Dan's assessment. I think the Fighting Sioux who played six freshman during the opening weekend are going struggle early and are probably going to take their lumps early. I also predict that the Fighting Sioux will make their patented second half run to set them up for the playoffs.  

Fighting Sioux rookie forward Roco Grimaldi is also one of five players to watch this season. Roco was held out of Friday's game against Air Force Academy with an undisclosed lower body injury and made his season debut against the Boston College Eagles.

Rocco Grimaldi, North Dakota (Fr., F) — The hands-down favorite for WCHA Rookie of the Year, Grimaldi, spent the past two seasons with the U.S. National Team Development Program. Despite his size (5-foot-6, 165 pounds), Grimaldi has a unique scoring ability. Besides, the last time the Fighting Sioux had a 5-foot-6 player on its roster he turned out to be a Hobey Baker Award winner (Ryan Duncan in 2006-07) in his second season. [Joshua Berhow; College Hockey News]

This past Saturday night when the Fighting Sioux were getting beaten by the Boston College Eagles, some Sioux fans didn't take the loss real well. Check out some of the comments on the Fighting Sioux chat. It's a long season and NCAA Championships "are not" won in October, November and December. In fact, NCAA Championships are won in April and the Fighting Sioux could very well be in the mix come tournament time.

None of us like to see the Fighting Sioux get beaten like they were on Saturday night. That being said, there are probably 56 other teams that would like to have the Fighting Sioux's record the past seven seasons and would love to be in the Fighting Sioux's predicament.

I like, most people, are tired of watching the Boston College Eagles dance around the Fighting Sioux defense and score six goals on the Fighting Sioux goaltenders. There is no way to sugar coat it; that sucks.  Eventually things will change for the Sioux against Boston College just for the record, Jerry York is 66 years old, will be in the US Hockey hall of fame some day, and has an impressive record of 882–547–93. So it's safe to say that York has been coaching for a very long time, personally, I would call him the God Father of college hockey. 

On the flip side of that equation, Dave Hakstol is 43 years old (23 years younger than York) and has a record of 187-92-27. I predict that Coach Hakstol's day will eventually come where he leads his team to a national title and the naysayers will be running to jump on the Fighting Sioux bandwagon. 

In their last five games against the Eagles, the Fighting Sioux have gone an unimpressive 0-4-1 and have had six goals scored on them four times (6-2, 6-1, 0-0, 6-4, 6-5). It's also been almost seven years since the Fighting Sioux last beat the Eagles and that was during Dave Hakstol’s first season as head coach (2004-05 season) when the Fighting Sioux had to play in the Bean Pot Regional to make the Frozen four.

. 

The Numbers; Hakstol vs. Hockey East

This is an article that I submitted for Inside Hockey.

This past weekend the Fighting Sioux lost the championship game of the Ice Breaker Championship to the Boston College Eagles 6-2. While some of the Fighting Sioux faithful have panicked a bit after their team lost another game against the Boston College Eagles 6-2. Some have suggested with the Maine Black Bears coming to town this weekend, that it could be another long weekend for the Fighting Sioux. Looking at the numbers things aren’t really as bad as they seem.

Since Fighting Sioux head coach David Hakstol took over the coaching duties at the beginning of the 2004-05 season, the Fighting Sioux have a record of 11-12-4 against the Hockey East teams.   I think one could classify that as a respectable record against Hockey East teams since three of the last four NCAA titles have come out of Hockey East; Boston College 2008 and 2010, and Boston University 2009.

During that time period (2004-11), there are two teams that have the Fighting Sioux’s number,  coach Hakstol’s teams  have compiled a 1-4-1 record against the Boston College Eagles and a 2-4-0 record against the Maine Black Bears for a cumulative record 3-8-1.  Putting that record aside, Coach Hakstol teams have a 8-4-3 record against Merrimack College, Northeastern University, University of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  For some reason those two Hockey East teams have coach Hakstol’s number. Fighting Sioux fans hope that their team’s fortunes change this weekend against the Black Bears.

Since becoming the head coach of the Fighting Sioux eight years ago coach Hakstol has a coaching record of 188-94-27 and a 113-64-19 record against the WCHA.  Coach Hakstol’s teams have been to the NCAA playoffs seven times and his teams have also qualified for the Frozen Four five times. During that same time period the Fighting Sioux have won two MacNaughton Cups and three Broadmoor Trophies.

In recent years (2004-2011) the Fighting Sioux have had “some” success against Hockey East teams albeit the Fighting Sioux have a losing record of 11-12-4 that has been compiled against some of the tougher teams of Hockey East.  The first two seasons that Hakstol coached for the Fighting Sioux he had a  7-2-3 record against Hockey East teams.

Here are the stats broken down by  year.

The Current season 2011-12 with the loss last Saturday night, the Fighting Sioux’s record against Hockey teams is 0-1 (Boston College 0-1-0) 11-12-4

During the 2010-11 season the Fighting Sioux went 0-2 against Hockey East teams (Maine 0-2-0) 11-11-4

During the 2009-10 season the Fighting Sioux went  2-0 against Hockey East teams (Merrimack College)  2-0)  11-9-4

During the 2008-09 season the Sioux went 0-3 against Hockey East teams (Boston University 0-1, UMass 0-1 and University of New Hampshire 0-1-0)   9-9-4

During the 2007-08 season the Fighting Sioux went 2-1-1 against Hockey East (University of New Hampshire  1-1-0, Boston College  0-1-1 and Northeastern University  1-0-0) 9-6-4

During the 2006-07 season the Fighting Sioux went 0-3-0 against Hockey East (Maine 0-2-0, Boston  College 0-1-0)  7-5-3

During the 2005-06 season the Fighting Sioux went 3-1-1 against Hockey East (Northeastern University 2-0, University of New Hampshire 1-0-1,  Boston College 0-1-0) 7-2-3

During the 2004-2005 season the Fighting Sioux went  4-1-2  (Maine 2-0-0, Boston College 1-1-1, Boston University, 1-0-0, Northeastern 0-0-1)  4-1-2

Here is the Fighting Sioux’s record against the individual Hockey East teams since the 2004-05 season.

Merrimack College  2-0-0

Boston College 1-4-1

Maine 2-4-0

Boston University 1-1-0

Northeastern University 3-0-1

New Hampshire  2-2-1

Quotes from day one of the Ice Breaker Tourney

Image via WikipediaHere are some of the quotes from day one of the Ice Breaker tourney.

This is what first year head coach Tom Anastos had this to say about his Michigan State University Spartan after their loss to the Boston College Eagles.

“I thought our guys showed a good energy level to compete, you know we certainly made our share of mistakes and against a team of this caliber they usually end up in our net and they did. There were definitely a number of good things that we can take away from the game but you know we have a long way to go."

"I think we have to make sure for sixty minutes we make good decisions all over the ice. At times tonight we did make good decisions and at other times we made some bad choices and made it easier to play against us. So we have to be a hard team to play against for sixty minutes we weren’t all night tonight.”

Boston College Eagles Head Coach Jerry York had to say this after his team beat the Spartans 5-2.

“For our club we haven’t had an exhibition game, it was our first real opportunity to play a game we say a lot of positive signs. One of which was [Parker] Milner who looked very self assured in the net and I think that half the battle with goaltender he made some key saves, he just looked his poise is improved his confidence level is improved. That’s certainly a big plus for our team.

State battled, it was a hard, two - one and they tied it two – two. Chris Kreider he has just become such a force for us and we call it a run of day light and he comes down and cuts across and he is hard to stop he is 225 pounds, he’s strong. Having said that I think State is a good club and I think we have a good club it’s early so we will see how it plays out.”

This is what Fighting Sioux junior forward Corbin Knight had to say about the game against the Air Force Academy Falcons and their rough second period.

“It was just a combination of things; we were playing a little bit of pond hockey out there, we weren’t really playing Sioux hockey. So, guys were running around we just weren’t moving our feet and playing Sioux tough. We knew we needed to make a few adjustments and we were able to make those in the third and we had a strong third. So it was a good learning experience for us.”

This is what Fighting Sioux Head Coach Dave Hakstol had to say about last night’s third period against the Falcons.

"I thought Air Force was doing a really good job early in the period we didn’t get a whole going. You know everything, any possession we had was perimeter, the shift we had with [Mario] Lamoureux, [Carter] Rowney and one of their line mates turned the tide of that period at bit, they got a puck to the net, they jammed a couple of pucks to the crease they seemed to create a little momentum for us. We needed to find a way to generate some momentum after a pretty soft second period."

This is what coach Hakstol had to say on playing the Boston College Eagles in the Championship game of the Ice Breaker Tourney.

"For this early in the year, you know what are we are playing our second game of the year. It’s going to be a fun game; there is a lot of importance on the line, for us we first of all look within our dressing room and make sure that we are improving in a lot of the little areas. You know I said coming into this year we have to build depth and build experience. Hopefully we took a real small step towards that tonight and we have to do the same thing tomorrow."

Game one of the Ice Breaker; B.C. 5 - MSU 2 Final.

Michigan State Lines

10 Tanner Sorenson - 11 Brett Perlini 8 - Chris Forfar
9 Daulton Leveille - 21 Anthony Hayes (A) - 4 Trevor Nill (A)
16- Dean Chelios - 22 Lee Reimer - 86 Greg Wolfe
18 Kevin Walrod 24- Justin Hoomian - 25 Brent Darnell

Defense Pairings

44 Torey Kurg (C) - Brock Shelgren
17 Matt Crandell - 7 Tim Buttery
42 Jake Chelios - 23 Matt Grassi

Goalies

29 Drew Palmisano
37 Will Yanakeff

The Two Chelios boys are sons of former Badger and NHL player Chris Chelios.

Boston College lines

9 Barry Almeida (A) - 12 Kevin Hayes - 22 Paul Carey (A)
19 Chris Kreider - 24 Bill Arnold - Destry Straight
13 Johnny Gaudreau - 11 Pat Mullane - 21 Steven Whitney
28 Tommy Atkinson - 23 Patrick Brown - 10 Danny Linell

Defense Pairings 

4 Tommy Cross (C) - Patch Alber
2 Brian Dumoulin - 8 Edwin Shea
7 Issac MacLeod - 6 Patrick Wey

Goalies

35 Parker Milner
30 Chris Venti
1 Brian Billett

Period one 

No Scoring.

Period two

BC	1 - 1	Patrick Brown	, Tommy Cross	04:17	EV
MSU	1 - 1	Perlini, Brett,	Chelios, Jake, Leveille, Daultan	10:32	SH
BC	1 - 2	Patch Alber,	Chris Kreider, Bill Arnold	19:05	EV

Period three 

MSU  - Trevor Nill    Unassisted                                        10:53 EV

 BC  - Chris Kreider,   Destry Straight                                11:43 EV

 BC  - Steven Whitney, Pat Mullane                                   16:27 EV

  BC  - Paul Carey, Unassisted                                             18:59 EV                                                  

Breaking the ice at the Ice Breaker, chat and links.

Today the 2011-2012 season kicks off with the Ice Breaker Tourney at the Ralph Englestad Arena. I will be hosting a chat during the first game of the Ice Breaker tourney between Boston College and Michigan State University, feel free to stop by if you would like. In the Evening game the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux take on the Air Force Academy Falcons at 7:37 pm.

Links for the tourney.

Notes from the Wednesday Press Conference. [Click to link]

Pre Gaming, Ice Breaker edition! [Tim Boger]

ICE BREAKER INVITATIONAL: Get to know the teams [Grand Forks Herald]

ICE BREAKER INVITATIONAL: Coachs' paths cross again [Grand Forks Herald]

UND President Robert Kelley, Grand Forks, letter: Engelstads made a 'priceless' gift [Grand Forks Herald]

In case anyone cares, the Don Lucia Radio show [click to listen]


Listen to Goon's World favorite Gopher homer Ryan Cardinal on KFAN radio with Paul Allen. This interview took place on October 5th, 2011 . Ryan talked with Paul Allen about the Gophers, the Ice Breaker, Notre Dame vs. UMD.

Peters; If Hockey East gets the Irish it's a stiff slap in the face and a stumble out of the gates...

I usually love what Chris Peters owner of the United States of Hockey has to say and probably agree with what he has to say about 85 percent of the time but I couldn't disagree more with this recent blog post.

Let's break this down further; five of the top ten teams in all three preseason polls (CHN, USCHO, USA Today) are going to be in the newly formed NCHC to start the 2013-14 season. The teams that make up the NCHC have a combined 17 NCAA titles (DU 7, UND 7, UMD 1, C.C. 2). Tell me what leagues is currently more stacked than the NCHC is? The B1G is only other league that is going to have more NCAA titles (Michigan 9, Wisconsin 6, and Minnesota 5). Whether you want to admit it the NCHC has the making of being a pretty good hockey league.

Chris Peters; United States of Hockey --- From where I sit, the NCHC needs Notre Dame more than Hockey East does. The eight teams within the NCHC do not possess the national recognition required to garner a lucrative television deal, which presumably was a reason for forming the new league. Hockey East at the very least has the Boston media market pinned down, to go along with nationally known Boston College.

So, as tough a pill as it would be to swallow for perennial hockey powers at North Dakota and Denver, conceding some to Notre Dame is not the worst thing in the world. Without Notre Dame, was it worth breaking up the WCHA? Will the NCHC reach it’s full potential as it currently stands?

If the Irish get what they want from Hockey East, it’s by no means a fatal blow to the NCHC, but it’s a stiff slap in the face and a stumble out of the gates for the new league.

Lastly, I want to say that say again that I respect Chris Peters and his awesome work and this isn't personal what-so-ever but the new league hasn't even played a game yet and we have some people (not Chris) writing an eulogy before the NCHC has even played their first game.  

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