College Hockey:
Yale takes over at top of men’s poll

USCHO Staff Report • Dec. 7, 2010

For the first time in the program’s history, Yale is the top-ranked team in this week’s USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll.

With 34 first place votes, the Bulldogs also become the first ECAC Hockey team to be the No. 1 team in the country since the end of the 2002-2003 season when Cornell was atop the rankings heading into the NCAA Tournament.

Minnesota-Duluth falls to No. 2, New Hampshire leaps from No. 5 to No. 3, Boston College jumps four places from No. 8 to No. 4 and North Dakota is up to the fifth rank, up two from last week, to round out the top five.

Finishing out the top ten has Miami holding steady at No. 6, Boston University at No. 7 after being No. 2 a week ago, Maine up one spot to No. 8, Denver up one to No. 9 and Nebraska-Omaha, swept by fellow WCHA newcomer Bemidji State, down to No. 10 after being fourth the last two weeks.

The bottom ten sees Notre Dame at No. 11 and Michigan at No. 12, trading places from a week ago, Union (No. 13) and Alaska (No. 14) as they were a week ago, Rensselaer up one notch to No. 15 and switching with No. 16 Wisconsin, Merrimack jumping a rank to No. 17, Ferris State up two places to No. 18 and Western Michigan down a spot to No. 20.

New to the rankings this week is Dartmouth as the Big Green enter at No. 19.

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TheWeasel
Thats great. Who have they played? Union? that was a nice loss to a team that isn’t even in the top 25. This team won’t be on top for long.
- redgopher
  Mr. Weasel, don’t be to quick to make that assumption until you have seen Yale Play, I grew up watching hockey in Minnesota, and this Yale Team is one of the strongest Offensively skilled teams I have seen in the last 45 years of watching college hockey. I don’t know what your experience is, but I have been to alot of college games and have seen alot of hockey over the years.
  - al
    Any decent team could put up those numbers playing Yale’s schedule…
    - Anonymous
      Totally agree… if you want to see an amazing offensive team go look at UMD Bulldogs top line. They move the puck better than any line I’ve seen in a long time.
      - guest
        You haven’t seen Yale’s top two lines then.
      - Debonvine
        Best line may be House, Nyquist & Abbott at least since Kariya, Montgomery & Ingraham
      - NHLWild
        No, he may not have but I have. Yes, Yale has some talented players but when your playing B-leauge they look better then they are. UMD is the real deal.
  - Yale19
    Any team could move the puck like Yale’s top two lines when they’re playing kids from the Make A Wish Foundation. And where did you grow up watching Minnesota hockey…Ely? You must be Hellen Keller because you obviously haven’t watched good hockey because Yale is a dusty team that can’t even blowout the terrible teams they’ve played so far…
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Anonymous
Would have to agree…. their season is a joke. They play 30 games all season most teams have around 35-40 games and almost everyone they play is unranked and below .500. Any team would kill for Yale’s pushover schedule. Im not saying they are not a good team, but by no means should be a #1 team at this point in the season with so many other teams only having losses to ranked teams and lots of big wins. Prime examples would be UMD, BC, and UND. If you dont believe me at ease of schedule look at the last 3 weeks of last year’s season before the game between Yale and UND. From March 5th to March 27th UND played 9 games, and Yale played 5. 7 of UND’s 9 were against ranked teams and were playoff games. 2 of Yale’s 5 were against ranked teams.
- redgopher
  There is a reason that Yale started the season ranked 5th before they played a game, The poeple who follow the game seriously and objectively and who vote in the polls know approximately who is who each year with the exception of one or two surprises. Yale is for real, time will show. Have any of you saying Yale is over ranked, seen Yale play yet?
  - Anonymous
    You also have to realize that this USCHO.com staff claimed a few weeks ago that the rankings were based solely on record alone, yet teams with better records were clearly not favored to some teams. They dont take into account difficulty in schedule just who looks hot from week to week and as soon as you lose a game or two regardless on how you played or what the score was, you still drop down significantly. Examples…. BU dropping after losing to BC a great team, Maine losing to BC, and UND losing to Maine. I have not seen any real consistencies to these so called “educated poles”
  - al
    Nobody is saying that Yale is a bad team, they deserve to be ranked relatively high and I’m sure we’ll see them in the tournament. But when a team’s toughest OOC opponent is Colorado College…yikes.
    - Robertdayarchitect
      RPI & Union have to be taken seriously this year if you follow hockey. Dartmouth/ Brown/ or Princeton, one of these may make the field of 16 this year as well, all quality good teams that hustle and play smart. go watch them play and then see what you think Al. I have no idea if you know anything about hockey or your just a fan who looks at the stats and standings.
      - al
        Ad hominem attacks don’t really help your argument much. Notice I said “out of conference” opponent. Not to disparage the ECAC, but I would feel more comfortable with Yale at #1 if they played some better teams.
      - Guest
        If some of you watched Yale play your opinions would all be different I think. Again the polls mean nothing it’s only December after all but, I think once tournament time rolls around some people are going to start changing the way they look at this Yale team.
      - http://ndgoon.blogspot.com Goon
        The EZAC isn’t going to have 4 teams in the NCAA tourney.
- Realist
  Yale played fewer games in March because they were upset in the ECAC playoff quarterfinals. It’s that simple. It’s not a scheduling conspiracy.
  As to the Pairwise, if they have a gaudy record they will be atop the Pairwise. Simple math. See Cornell at the end of 2003 regular season.
- redgopher
  I just realized, are you the guy who wrote in last year just about 4 or 5 days before the Yale UND game and described in great detail how Yale was going to be destroyed, didn’t deserve to be in the tournament, and a few other nasty remarks?
  - Anonymous
    Nope was not me, this is my first year of actually blogging on here.
Debonvine
Next up for Yale the Korean WarVeteran Amputees….They have such a lame schedule it isn’t funny. Put them in WCHA or Hockey Eastand see if they would stay in the Top 25…
- redgopher
  classic comment, a fan of your team with no in depth knowledge. Yale vistied Colorado College last month and ran CC out of their own building, CC is still in the WCHA, I believe. I also know CC will probably not finish in the top half of the WCHA this year, but they are respectable. But not bad for Yale flying 2500 miles, gaining 5200 of elevation and playing on a larger sheet of ice then they are used to. Continue to make comments like the above and it just shows you don’t really follow the game or know much beyond your team.
  - Anonymous
    Would love to hear other than their record why you believe Yale should be ranked #1 have not heard an argument for.
    - redgopher
      With the exception of a few teams that come to mind in the last 40 years, most of the national championship teams had 2- 4 players that carried that team. This Yale team is unbelievebly deep, offensive and experienced skill level, team speed (not just a few), their stick handling and play making is off the charts, depth of the team in terms of playing minutes, most of the seniors and and some of the juniors have all logged serious minutes since first first freshman game, (the seniors entered a program as freshman that had effectively started over one year earlier, serious quality playing experience), distribution of scoring, they have 3 great lines that can all score and playmake, overall competency of the defense, the senior goalie is above average, 3 drafted incoming freshman (almost unheard of in the Ivy League), and a smart coach. This all being said, this is the perspective of a guy who has been watching college hockey for 45 years in person, I grew up at Mariucci arena, I am a season ticket holder to the Minnesota State Boys Hockey Tournament and I have only missed a handful of Yale home games since 1984. This Yale is a dream team, I am a hockey fan first and I never thought Yale would have a team like this. oh, also, they are Yale students, not one knucklehead on the team. How many teams can say that
      - TheWeasel
        Still the question is who do they play worth talking about? Not one game on there schedule would be considered a big win for UND or UMD or UofM. Wait UofM would consider Holy Cross a big win. CC would be a win you can talk about if it happened in one of the last five seasons
      - redgopher
        been to many games, do you have any level of reference to other teams or conferences. do your homework and add some objective perspective.
      - Anonymous
        Sadly the only reference anyone needs for an argument would be that the ECAC hasn’t sent someone to the NCAA title game since 1990. Or that their loss came from Air Force a team with a 6-7-2 record in Atlantic Hockey which isnt much different than the ECAC in difficulty. Being a Sioux fan I know our only losses are to UMD ranked #2, UNO ranked #10, Denver #9, and swept by Maine #8. Difficult first half schedule, we still have a 11-5-2 record and anyone that has followed college hockey knows the Sioux are deadly in the second half of the season. This is our best start since 99-00 when we won the NCAA title. If these polls were not solely based on record I would have to say that UND, BC, and UMD would be the top 3 teams without a doubt and the #1 rank would be a toss up between them
      - Realist
        You are really hung up on the ECAC thing. The polls are about teams, not leagues. Do you think the UND players give a damn that Yale is in the the ECAC? They would have been pissed about losing in the first round regardless of who they played. Do you think UNH cares what league RIT is in?
      - Anonymous
        All honesty that’s all I was looking for is someone to finally give me a reason as to why Yale should be ranked other than their record. I am not saying Yale is a bad team, just that with their schedule and the way a lot of other great teams are playing I dont believe they deserve #1. If they had a big ranked sweep under their belts it would be a different story, but it will be awhile before we see something like that with their schedule and the teams they play.
      - Ryan
        they just swept RPI and Union who are both ranked
      - Anonymous
        hence the term “big ranked team” still not convinced that RPI and Union are worthy of being ranked at this point.
      - http://ndgoon.blogspot.com Goon
        No! Both Union and RPI aren’t very good teams.
      - http://ndgoon.blogspot.com Goon
        That proves nothing either. Who have RPI or Union played?
      - collegehockeyfan
        you can sit here and tell us how good Yale “LOOKS”, but if I were you, I would not say a thing about how good Yale is, because it can blow right up in your face. I would sit back and wait until Yale PROVES themselves in any way shape or form, because the fact of the matter is, they have NOT proved ANYTHING yet.
      - redgopher
        Go back and look at all of my comments, my comments are objective and not based upon a blinder view of my team or the confeence they play in.
        How Yale looks to me is not a view in a vacuum, it it is based upon many years of watching college hockey and seeing many games from other conferences so far this year. it is not based upon their wins, it is based on their talent that they have right now, it has nothing to do with their conference or the history of their conference or the history of other conferences. No where did I say they should be #1 and are better than all the other teams.
        They will have off nights just like ALL other teams do every year, but I feel pretty certain they will be a top 4 team in March. And I will come back and post here at this site win or loose in March
        I
      - redgopher
        Also I meant to ask if you have seen Yale play & how many times this year, and if you havn’t then how can you be so difinitive in your dismissal of the team. That would indicate that you are basing the ability of this team on the history of this team.
        What this team did 4 years ago or 9 years ago for instance has ZERO bearing on how good this team is. The fact they have never won a national championship does not preclude them from winning one in the future.
        Stay tuned Yale is a for real team, if you ever get the chance to watch them you will understand.
      - collegehockeyfan
        I’m not dismissing Yale at all, they score alot, they have potential, but they would never recieve my first place vote until they can prove themselves. I think they are a decent team, but thier goaltending and defense have shown nothing. In the ECAC, they can make up for that with thier offensive ability. I don’t think such an incomplete, unproven team should deserve the right to be called number one until proven so.
    - swisscheese2030
      Every number they put up is consistant with the best teams in the country…PP %, PK %, goals for…their goals against is a bit on the high side, but their defence is stronger than last year, offence is producing more, and their goalie has come out of his shell to play well. Their top scorers are consistant in every category that is significant for a top ranked team.
      - guest
        But, all of these statistics are based on games played versus weak opponents
      - Debonvine
        Exactly weigh it out. Hockey East occupies 4 of the top 8 rankings currently in one poll and 4 of the top 7 in another. WCHA has 3 in the top 9 in both polls. Try playing those teams day in and day out. I had the opportunity to be in Denver a month or so ago and caught the Sat night Denver CC game. Good game but neither team could skate with Maine, BC or even NDak which I also saw play in Maine this year and even they appeared a step slower than Maine. BC spanked Denver in Denver I believe after the same trip and elevation changes. Didn’t see the stats on the game and I bow to BC goalie Muse who when he is on is a certain Hobey finalist. The kid is awesome between the pipes. Let Yale which is a good team I agree but not number 1 at this point prove themselves against some of the current powers in Div I hockey before they are given a number 1 ranking.
  - JLP
    When Yale beat CC, 2 threads were started immediately afterward…One about Yale owning the WCHA (although it actually said WHCA), and one about Yale being the best team in the country.
    Then, when they lost the next night to Air Force, the excuses were because of the travel, altitude, and that it was the second game played in consecutive nights. But it’s funny, and somewhat ironic, that nobody mentioned that CC had played the night before they played Yale, who had that night off. I bet you didn’t see any of the CC fans making excuses for the loss either, did you?
    Maybe Yale would be getting some of that elusive respect you all have been begging for if you acted like you have done something before. (Although having tools like Yaledoc will never help your cause) So they flew 2500 miles and played at altitude…big deal. Bla Bla Bla….. Welcome to life in the WCHA, where it happens every week!
  - Keppel146
    it was one game that they won. and cc is not that good
  - RhoEps
    Of course then they went to Air Force, whom CC had beaten, and suffered their only loss of the season.
    I was at the CC game, and Yale was impressive.
Yale19
Biggest joke in hockey since the Don Lucia era at Minnesota…
- redgopher
  what is the biggest joke?
- Anonymous
  Speaking of joke…. little off topic but has anyone not seen the Tyler Hirsch freak out after a loss to the Sioux? Check it out on Youtube the video is hilarious.
  - UNDalumCHITOWN
    Or Craig Smith from Wisco, out of apparent frustration, absolutely laying out the net vs UND. YouTube “Wisconsin player checking the net”. Classic.
HiFriend45
Ha? If your life depended on it would anyone chose Yale over teams like UNH, BC, MD or most anyone else in the top 10?
- Bulldog07
  Absolutely.
Bulldog07
I gotta back up what redgopher’s been saying here. I’ve worked in both collegiate and professional hockey for 8 years now and this Yale squad is legit. I’d give more weight to the “who have they played” arguments if it wasn’t for the fact that they’re BLOWING OUT every one of their games. 5-1 against CC, 5-0 against Union…the Bulldogs are averaging over five goals a game and are winning their contests by a margin greater than two. If they were squeaking by (like by winning a slew of lucky one-goal OT wins, such as the previous #1), then SOS would be more important. But right now, Yale is doing all you can ask of them and more.
The team’s got three outstanding scoring lines (which includes their energy line…that line actually starts most games and forechecks better than any team I’ve ever seen), and a fourth line of rookies capable of scoring when needed. The D is solid, and gets considerable support from the front lines’ backchecking. Rondeau has finally settled into a groove and has made some major stops when needed. Oh, and they’re coached by the man the US has selected to lead our juniors into action.
Finally, the Bulldogs comfortably beat the Sioux last year and put up more of a fight against BC than any other team it faced…in fact, Yale scored more on BC and Muse than the other three teams the Eagles faced combined.
So for all you out there calling this ranking a joke? Get over yourselves and your conference. The ECAC has a better out-of-conference winning percentage than Hockey East this year and leads the WCHA 4-3-3 head-to-head. It’s about time the Bulldogs get some respect.
- SiouxperFan
  Strength of schedules:
  Yale. 31
  UMD 4
  UNH 23
  BC 6
  UND 1
  Strength of schedule counts folks 10-1 against the the 31st of 58 toughest strength of schedule isnt anything to be proud of just yet. Its december
- Goalie Fan
  I agreeYale is a good team. Comfortably beating the Sioux last year 3-2? Doubt it! Every1 knows that if they had to play teams like Denver,Duluth,Wisconsin, Minnesota, Miami, BC,BU or any team whos barn contributes to a successful season, would agree that overated may be the case…. Only time will tell! Long season ahead but I dont see Yale’s schedule getting any harder hahaha
  - Egbert58
    I have seen Yale Play and I have seen some of the other teams play,but as far as schedules, i think the WCHA has one of the toughest in any conference. Looking at the competion that Yale faces and how they play fewer games during the season and how they are raked so high in the polls so quick before they have even played a game, it looks like a political voe to many of us.
    And to the people talking about last years games, well that is last year , not this year. see you at the frozen four.
    - redgopher
      A political vote??? Yale a political power in hockey? are you kidding.
- DirtyDave
  Hey, I went to Yale and am thrilled that they are ranked #1. But, I don’t think we’ll know how good they are until they play some top ten teams. (Which looks like will probably be in the tournament.) I think Rondoux (sp?) looks a little shaky in net. He is making the saves, but just doesn’t look that confident. I think Boston College is the team to watch. I don’t know how they lost five games early on, but in the last two weeks, they played Maine twice when Maine was I think #3, and wooped them 4-1 and 4-0. Then, played BU twice who was ranked #2 and smokey them 9-5 and 6-2. Whoever were the three voters who put BU as number 1, I think, have it right.
- Robertdayarchitect
  whats funny is that everyone’s argument below says the ranking of #1 is a joke, and they base that on their strength of schedule argument, and the strength of scheudle is in part based upon rankings. well said above
  - Realist
    “strength of scheudle is in part based upon rankings”
    It is? I thought it was just based on opponents’ winning percentage and opponents’ opponents.
  - je
    sure…. if you were talking to a bunch of math geeks, then i’d buy that argument – which assumes these rankings are better than common sense and your own two eyes. but you’re not commenting to a bunch of geeks. you’re commenting to a bunch of college hockey fanatics who know who is good, and who is soft, and who plays weak arse opponents. let’s see…. what do you think would turn more heads… if any ECAC team were to sweep (even in down years) minnesota and wisconsin, or if one of those two teams were to sweep ECAC leaders princeton and yale? if you answer the latter, congrats, you’re a math geek. the former, you actually know college hockey.
- Bulldog07sucks
  How’s their competition compared to UMD’s moron? They’re playing kids that other schools pick up off the streets only experience in skating is rollerblading. And congrats on the stat of being 4-3-3 against the WCHA, you’re playing the worst teams in it. Your Bulldogs should stick to doing coke in their dorm rooms and ruining our country in the White House…
Tim
It doesnt matter anyway. These rankings mean nothing, the only thing that matters it who gets in the tournament and who can win in the tournament. All of these teams everyone is arguing about will get in anyway so lets save the arguments until march.
hockeyfan21
You can not judge Yale either negatively or postively until they actually play someone. It is very difficult to judge a team who has such a weak schedule. Polls don’t mean anything anyways, as far as I know playing such a weak schedule will come back to bite them in the rear ends anyways when they start playing teams like BC and UND in the playoffs.
Anonymous
It is obvious that most of you have not watched Yale play. I don’t care if they don’t play the best teams around. All that matters is that when playoffs start, Yale will continue to win. They have such a wide variety of talented players that each game talented players are forced to sit out. Their offense is so strong that almost any of them could start at any school
Anonymous
It is obvious that most of you have not watched Yale play. It doesn’t matter if they play the best teams. All that matters is that when playoffs start, Yale will continue to win. They have such a wide variety of talented players that each game a few talented players are forced to sit out. Their offense is so strong that almost any of them could start at any school. This weekend one play had four assists, and this player isn’t even on the first line. These players are consistently stepping it up. They beat weak teams such as Quinnipiac, and they’ve beat better teams like Union, RPI, and Colorado College. They are incredible players, unlike any college team I’ve ever watched. I would like to see you actually watch a Yale game and then try to say they don’t deserve to be number one.
Arcticman
Everyone settle down. We are only 2 months into the season, and I believe all pre-mid-season polls are rubbish. Yale deserves to be highly ranked, and this comes from a Sioux fan who witnessed first hand Yale’s prowess last year in the Worcester, MA NCAA regional. The Sioux have had the toughest schedule so far this year according to KRACH and have played well, as have UMD, UNO, DU, BC (pains me to say that) and yes, Yale. I love the way this year is shaping up and look forward to some kick-a$$ second half hockey.
- Guest
  Exactly! People need to get over their conference being so much better then everyone else’s. How about last year in the tournament after everyone was crying about the rankings? RIT was in the frozen four and Yale was beating the big bad Sioux. Yale has the talent to be #1 in the country and deserve to be there.
  - collegehockeyfan
    they do not, look at bemidji state…. They have fared well by being in a better conference, if yale were in the WCHA, CCHA, or HE, they would be a non-existing team, its easy to pick it up once a month, these teams in these conferences have to bring their A game every week, or they end up like Bemidji State and become the new basement of the conference… and sadly, Yale will probably end up #1 at the end of the year by riding the dead beat schedule to the Tournament
  - http://ndgoon.blogspot.com Goon
    Really 8/10 teams who have the strongest strength of schedule are from the WCHA.
Jon
The bottom line is there is a bullseye on Yale’s back now. Yes, their schedule has been VERY weak. 31st most difficult. Are they deserving of the number 1 ranking? Maybe not. Play them against the other teams in the top 10 ten and they probably lose half of those games, at least against NoDak, BC and UMD. But are they a top 6 or 7 team? Absolutely. They are deep, fast and have strong goaltending. A number one ranking in December means nothing. Lots of hockey left to play.
- goober
  People keep bringing up how Yale would never beat a team like North Dakota. Yale dominated the play against them last year in the NCAA tournament and beat them 3-2. Yale tied the national runner up in Wisconsin last year in their own building. Yale put up 7 goals on the eventual national champion in the tournament last year. Yale has played big time games before and now they are one year older, experienced and talented. No one ever thinks a good team can come out of the east away from their beloved WCHA. Open you eyes fellas!
  - guest
    What do Yale’s results versus UND and UW last year have to do with their ranking this year. BU won the national title two years ago and then followed it up by going 18-17-3 last year and did not make the tournament. As was stated earlier, Yale can’t be judged as good or bad until they actually play some teams that are going to be relevant in the end.
  - collegehockeyfan
    yale didn’t dominate play, if you were watching the game, North Dakota has shown that they take 2 periods to show up when they play out east. If there was another 5 minutes in that game i bet Yale would have lost by 3. didn’t matter anyway, Yale got destroyed by BC the next game, so the game in fact was worthless to Yale hockey, enough bringing up that game that meant nothing.
Yale19
Yale being #1 is a joke. They play teams most midget and high school tams could beat. Just a bunch of Hockey East rejects who are straight benders…
- Anonymous
  Are you an idiot? That statement was just immature and wrong. You are a joke!
Brickwall0419
all these people are just bitter cause there team is not #1 its too bad actually
James
Look, the fact of the matter is that the people voting in this poll (and the USA TODAY poll) are coaches and writers who watch the entire league and know the MOST about EVERY player out there. They have clearly seen enough in this Yale team and its players to vote them the strongest team AT THIS POINT in the season. Union is a very strong team–I don’t care what conference they are in–with legitimate players and depth, and Yale blew them up 5-0.
That said, there is a hell of a lot of hockey left to play, including a big tournament at the end to determine a final winner. Let’s see where every armchair coach’s team is then.
Jonathan Zelig
Here is the bottom line: (1) the ECAC isn’t as weak as everyone claims. They’ve gone 4-3-3- against the WCHA this year, and are 22-18-9 overall in non-conference matchups. (2) Union and RPI were very strong opponents, and Yale trounced them both. I was at both games. The Union game was a consummate team performance. It was a total thrashing. (3) Yale’s one loss came in an away game that featured their back-up goaltender and some very, very suspect officiating that gave Air Force a tremendous power-play advantage, (4) Yale is the highest-scoring team in the nation, (5) Rondeau had 30 saves against Union, including several point-blank opportunities during a 5-3 advantage, (6) Yale beat ND last year after everyone said they wouldn’t, (7) Yale scored 7 goals on B.C. last year (and yes, gave up more, I know), (8) In Yale’s 10 wins, they have yet to win by fewer than 2 goals. Yes, you read that correctly
So, until I hear some argument that is better than, “Well, Yale never plays anyone who is from my part of the country and I have an unsupported belief that teams from my part of the country are better at hockey this year like they have been other years,” everyone can shut it.
- hockeyfan21
  Why doesn’t Yale’s athletic director or coach schedule some games on their schedule against some elite programs? My guess is probably because they are realist and know they can not compete night in and night out against those schools. For you out there who think Union and RPI are elite programs, you are out of your mind. Everyone can make the same argument about Union and RPI as they do for Yale and that is, Look at the strength of schedule! You can talk all you want about what Yale did in the past, every year is considerably different. Yale can shut everyone up by actually scheduling tough opponents.
  - Student Athlete
    Actually they can’t just schedule tough opponents. The Ivy League has very strict rules regarding scheduling, and Yale is obviously doing everything they can do to play as many highly ranked teams as possible. Is it there fault they flew all the way to Colorado just to play a shitty cc team? They have no idea who they will rise up in the rankings and who will fall when they make their schedules.
- guest
  That record of 4-3-3 against the wcha consist of the following:
  Wins against CC (1),SCSU (2), AA (1)
  Losses against UNO (1), CC (1), and SCSU (1)
  Ties against CC (1), and MSU (2)
  UNO 9-4-1 .679
  CC 8-7-1 .531
  MSU 6-6-4 .500
  AA 5-9-2 .375
  SCSU 5-9-2 .375
  Wouldn’t call those wins versus the cream of the WCHA crop
  - SiouxperFan
    Exactly
    - guest23
      And yet for years we have endured claims like the WCHA is so great that the sixth place team from the WCHA could easily win the ECAC.
      - FightingSioux4ever
        How many titles does the ECAC have? Oh thats right. O. Since 2000 alone WCHA has claimed 5. Half the decade.
      - http://ndgoon.blogspot.com Goon
        No EZAC team has won an NCAA title since 1989 when Harvard beat Minnesota.
      - Realist
        The past has nothing to do with how Yale is ranked TODAY. Don’t they teach logic at North Dakota?
      - je
        speaking of…. not sure what, um, logic one might use to justify just how high Yale is ranked when it’s a mystery to most (since they’ve played no one of note to date). must be that impressive 6-4 win over perennial hockey powerhouse Colgate.
      - Realist
        And you completely failed to address how you WCHA guys are always saying how great your league is top to bottom yet try to claim that the ECAC record is is against your weakest teams.
- redgopher
  well said
- FightingSioux4ever
  Tired of hearing about last year. Yes, it was a great upset for Yale, but they lost their next game. Lets see the result of that one in played in a neutral rink (not East coast). Call it sour grapes, but that was almost a home game. It doesn’t seem to matter, though, so I’ll stick to my guns and say that Yale won’t make it out of the first round of the Frozen 4. The Sioux will be there, with a ranking, and I can
  only hope for a re-match.
  - Realist
    Sad. You UND guys called it whining when the Yale fans tried to brush off the loss to Air Force as due to travel and yet here you are whining about travel. Pathetic. Face it. Your team wasn’t that great. You even split with Cornell twice in two seasons. What’s your excuse for that?
dubs
i love the….”if any of you watched Yale play your opinions would change”….no mine DIDN’T. the FACTS are that their schedule is weak, meaning weak opponents that makes them look better than they actually are. They play a soft and short schedule and never have any real grind to their season. Yes, they can win games. Yes they were preseason picked high, but what was St. Cloud State preseason…4? those “expert” writers sure got that one spot on with their 5-9-2 record so far. Its all biased no matter where u go so cheers to Yale for beating up on Brow…..er Dart….er Quinn…..er Colg…. er Corn….wow, the writers i’m sure will one up this and find a Hobey Baker candidate on Yale’s squad. Good luck
18SecondsBeforeSunrise
I just wanted to remind everyone that it’s a LONG season. While Yale seems to have all of the ingredients to make a legitimate run at the 2011 NCAA Hockey Title, they are not alone.
IMHO, a team’s ranking matters about as much as “shots on net”. Want proof….When is the last time the #1 ranked team at the end of the regular season went on to win the NCAA title?
One of my favorite college hockey threads was entitled (something like) “Best Team NOT to Win the NCAA Hockey National Title”. I bet we all could add to the list.
And just because I like stories…..The best college hockey team that I’ve ever seen play an entire season was the 92-92 Maine team (with Kariya, Montgomery, etc.). So much talent, but they needed a 3rd period miracle against Lake Superior State to end up with the hardware.
Thanks for listening.
Anonymous
Lets be honest… this ranking system at this point in the season is completely bogus. There is no guideline about how they came to reach these rankings other than coaches and analysts are the voters. Strength of schedule is not considered. IF it was then Yale’s 31st on the list of tough schedules. UND = #1, Bemidji #2, Denver #3, UMD #4, and Alaska – Anchorage #5. This validates pretty much the majority of arguments that people are saying as to why the WCHA is the toughest conference this year. But i will agree that this poll matters nothing and I cant wait until the PairWise comes out to show the true strength of a lot of teams under and overranked.
- UNDalumCHITOWN
  Check the PairWise and KRACH on collegehockeynews.com, they use the same mathematical formulas.
- UNDalumCHITOWN
  PairWise and KRACH are already out on the college/hockey/news website and they use the same mathematical formulas
  - RhoEps
    Actually they use different formulas (significantly different) and Yale is #1 in both of them.
Anonymous
Well I’m glad to see the many people out there that feel like I do. Yale plays a weak schedule on a weekly basis and we’ll all say we told ya so when playoff time comes. Look at who they play! Notice they stay away from most hockey east powers? Not impressed with Yale or the league that they are in.
- redgopher
  To say your not impressed with Yale says clearly one or more of the following, (1) you don’t know the difference between a forecheck & a backcheck (2) you know hockey & your a hopeless homer (3) you havn’t seen Yale Play. (4) you didn’t get into Yale.
- je
  they stay away from both premiere college hockey leagues – hockey east and the wcha.
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UNDalumCHITOWN
Clearly we are going to see what happens and of course there is a lot of hockey to be played. As a UND/WCHA fan, I am obviously compelled to argue that I am right and you are wrong, just as a Yale/ECAC or a BC/HE fan would. The fact of the matter is, we are all obsessed with college hockey in general and are all subliminal (or not so subliminal) bigots; “what we like is the best and what you like can’t compare to us”. Blogs are excellent.
Even though Yale has a marginal schedule, both thus far and in the future, they are #1 across the boards. Most importantly, the completely objective ratings purposed by the KRACH, which adjusts for a teams solid record vs. weak opponents, puts them at #1. But that is partially due to Yale being EXPECTED to beat weak teams, which they have been feasting off of. If Yale loses a few games to teams with schedule strengths in the bottom half, they will drop significantly – this cannot be counteracted by wiping the floor with other weak teams. I do agree that, in the future, top-notch ECAC team(s) should start scheduling games against other nationally ranked teams. This would bring a bit more conformity to the subjective ranking systems.
In finally getting to my point, Yale is good, BC is good, UMD is good, UND is good and Denver is good. Cheers to Yale being ranked #1 for the first time in school history – us UND fans would love more than anything (second to keeping our name) to see you again at the end of the season. My apologies for the lengthy post.
- Bulldog07
  No apologies need UND…I thought this post was spot on, and am glad you brought KRACH into it. If a team is top in the PWR, top in KRACH, and top in RPI, then why on earth should it not be top in the polls?
  In regards to Yale scheduling harder teams I agree too…though I also think Yale “lucked” into (for good or ill, personally I think ill) a weak non-conference slate. I don’t think anyone would have expected a Vermont team that made the NCAA’s twice in a row to only have one win this late into the season, Air Force nearly made the Frozen Four two years ago, and CC was a name on everybody’s list of teams to watch last year. The Connecticut teams are played because they’re easy-to-schedule mid-week contests (plus Allain’s relationship to Maratollo at Sacred Heart (which won 20+ last year too)), and the Ivy Shootout is a way for the Ivy teams to “get into gear” when everyone else has played three weeks of hockey. Is it Yale’s fault that they don’t play as many games as other teams? Yes, but that’s par for the course for Ivy teams and if anything it makes their task more difficult, because a loss is magnified that much more.
  Look, do I think Yale’s going to be #1 going into the tourney? Not really, no. Do I think they’ll be the top seed at Bridgeport? Absolutely. And I would definitely consider them a team with a heavily realistic chance of holding the championship hardware in Minny this spring. But we’ve got a lot more hockey to watch, don’t we? I can’t wait!
  - http://ndgoon.blogspot.com Goon
    Yale isn’t going to win a national title… I would bet money on it. They won’t surprise anyone this time around.
Ox77
What’s the number 1 ranking for? Best team on any given day, or best team over the course of a season? The Coaches and and voters must think Yale has a great chance to win the NCAAs.
Yale has a super talented team, tons of upperclassmen that only lost a few guys from last year’s team (that did pretty well in the NCAAs, you might recall), and they will compete with any team in the country and can beat anyone at any time.
But… and it’s not their “fault,” but they do play fewer games and have a weaker strength of schedule… they just arent getting hammered by HUGE western teams week in and week out.
There’s a great parallel to this convo- take a look at the BCS poll and TCU/Boise state. IMO Yale is a lot like TCU or Boise. Great team but different. Capable of winning huge games, but their record would definitely look different (and thus their ranking) in a couple of other conferences.
- collegehockeyfan
  great concept bringing up the TCU/Boise topic, but throughout the year Boise and TCU usually play a ranked opponent? and usually blow them out of the water, Yale has nothing on their resume, and last time i checked, boise or TCU never made it to #1 even proving themselves.
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Arthur Swersey
Yale led the nation last year in goals per game and lead in that category this year by a wide margin. They have great skaters and scorers. Last year they won the ECAC regular season inspite of the fact that their goaltending was the worst in the conference. If Rondeau hold up in goal, what out.
- http://ndgoon.blogspot.com Goon
  They lead the nation in goal beating cup cakes. Still not impressed.
- je
  I think you meant EZ-AC
http://ndgoon.blogspot.com Goon
Blowing out the weak sisters of the poor proves nothing.
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clank
Let’s see how all of you Yale fans defend your #1 ranking with some sound losses in the next couple of months. Think before you post!
Keppel146
we all know yale has a super easy schedule. they probably dont get tired out there cause they are playing squirt teams basically. to be serious though, they should be ranked highly but just not number one. umd, du or und would probably go the season undefeated if they had that schedule. it doesnt matter much to me though. as long as my umd bulldogs get to the tournament this year ranked fairly well thats all i care about because thats where it matters most
- je
  mostly agree. unfortunately rankings do play a part in seeding and who’s in and who’s out. but if the team is ranked that high, yeah, you’re right, don’t matter much.
  - RhoEps
    Rankings don’t count in the seedings, it’s (mostly) from the pairwise. Currently Yale is #1 with the pairwise, Krach and the polls. I don’t think they’ll be there at the end of the year, but they have as creditable a case for being there NOW as anyone else…
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Anonymous
Yale’s 1st true challenge of the season comes in…. oh what do you know? March at the Regional playoffs in which they will probably get home advantage because of their ranking and the EZ schedule they had. Now read this weeks WCHA blog on how Bemidji is holding up in the WCHA. Now I challenge any Yale fan to look at ANY WCHA schedule and tell me that theirs is tougher. Bottom line is ECAC’s season starts at playoff time and WCHA, CCHA, and Hockey East battle through nearly 5 months of competition before reaching the playoffs.
- je
  here, here. there’s a reason it’s called the easy ac.
- http://ndgoon.blogspot.com Goon
  Exactly! If Yale played in the WCHA and played the schedule our teams played they wouldn’t be number one.
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MN what a joke
What an amazing bunch of whining by UND and Minnesota, etc. No one complains about your lack of academics interfering with practice time or recruiting. Your schools are irrelevant without hockey. And most of you are irrelevant. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
fan
EZAC RPI TAKES OUT HOCKEY EAST #7 BU 4-1 A EZ WIN FOR THE HOCKEY EAST REJECTS
Chris
I love how everyone is talking about Yale, North Dakota, BC, and UMD and not even UNH. UNH is arguably the best college hockey team in the nation. They’ve had the toughest schedule this season and especially the non-conference too. No one ever expected them to be were they are now and if Yale and UNH were to face off with each other. UNH would dominate Yale big time.
- http://twitter.com/gtcorbett Grant Thomas Corbett
  Not only did you come out of left field on this one, you came bearing lies. NH does not have anything even close to the toughest schedule in the country – they are 23rd (comparable to Yale at 29) out of 58 teams on that list. I certainly give NH more credit (as compared to Yale) due to their conference and opponents, but there is no way they are arguably the best team in the nation. Ties at UMass, Brown and Northeastern don’t look good to anyone unless you are a UMass, Brown or Northeastern fan. I honestly like NH and they style of hockey they play – at least they will be a bit more relevant than Yale come tournament time.
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