1. Wisconsin
2. Michigan
3. Colorado College
4. Alaska-Fairbanks
5. North Dakota
6. Minnesota
7. Miami
8. Michigan State
9. Northern Michigan
10. Denver
Poll Comments:
Wisconsin moves into the top spot with their impressive series against Colorado College. Michigan had a nice sweep on the road, but I doubt too many Michigan fans will complain that the Wolverines aren't ranked number one.*
The bottom half of the poll is still a mess. Denver looked brutal this weekend and Northern Michigan has now lost four straight, but there's still no one to replace them on the poll. I didn't feel right about putting Minnesota so high, since the only thing keeping them from being a .500 hockey team right now is Alaska-Anchorage being, well, Alaska-Anchorage, and I'd certainly never be one to overrate the Gophers, but again, it's tough to move them down when nobody is really moving up.
*For those that are familiar with college hockey's curse of being ranked number one, and that are aware of my fan allegiances, my choice of Wisconsin as the top team wasn't necessarily based on that. *wink*
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9 comments:
All three of MN's losses are by one goal. One loss to a team that you have above them in your poll and the other losses were on the road against teams that always get up to play them at home. I wouldn't say they are exactly playing crappy. I'd say you have them about where they should be ranked no matter how anybody else is playing.
I get the feeling Wisconsin is going to flame out by year's end. They have too much of the appearance of a team that is gonna peak way too early.
Watching Wisconsin play on Friday night I was incredibly impressed. They came out and totally worked CC in the first ten minutes and really only played less than stellar for the last ten minutes of the third, when Sterling found a hole between Elliot's skates. Their other goal was just a hell of a shot.
Saturday they played even better, or so I was told. I think the most telling thing to glean from the box score is the shots on goal. In the OT on Friday night CC had ZERO shots, and on Saturday the Tigers only managed 5 shots in the third. Tells me the Badgers are already in great shape both mentally and physically.
I think they easily deserve the top spot in your poll, very solid choice.
Craig.. The operant here is three losses...(Three, 3, Tre, III) over rated clap clap ... clap,clap,clap..
"anonymous",
I guess you can consider them overrated if you think the end of the season is in mid-November. However, the season goes until April. If they don't end up at or near the top when the season is over, I guess your comment may have a bit of merit. Right now, it doesn't. If looking good in November meant anything, Craig Dahl would still be coaching hockey for St. Cloud.
Since when were early season rankings supposed to be some kind of prediction of how a team is going to be in April? Rankings are about how a team has done up to that point in the season. Minnesota has, for lack of a more elegant term, sucked so far this year. You can only be handed rankings for so long before you have to actually step up and do something to earn it. If Minnesota can turn around and prove to be a decent team at the end of the season, let them be ranked then. But in the meanwhile, they haven't done a single thing to earn any kind of recognition.
Minnesota has sucked? They lose three one goals games (two on the road in the toughest conference in college hockey) and they suck? Kevin must be a front runner or a Gopher hater.
Either way, his idea of a what a poll states is not universally accepted.
To steal a line from a North Dakota fan, the only "pole" that matters is the one you hang your championship banner on.
Until then, any talk about any team being overrated is about as meaningful as these current polls are.
You can always tell when Minneosta is struggling when their fans start talking about how great a conference the WCHA is.
I'm just saying, you don't hear about other good teams complaining about losing on the road to mid-ranked team.
I actually love the Gopher fans logic. It doesn't matter if you lose, just that you keep games close. By that logic (the Green Bay Packers have actually outscored their opponents this season thanks to one 50 point blowout and five close games) the Green Bay Packers are easily a .500 ballclub. Thanks for the pick-me-up!
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