College Hockey:
Minnesota unseats Quinnipiac, takes over top spot in D-I men’s poll

USCHO Staff Report • March 18, 2013

Despite getting just 22 first-place votes, Minnesota has unseated Quinnipiac at the top of the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll.

Minnesota, ranked No. 2 last week, advanced to the WCHA Final Five with a series win over Bemidji State last weekend, while Quinnipiac, now at No. 2 after getting 27 first-place votes, heads to the ECAC semifinals after getting by Cornell in three games.

Miami won its series with Michigan State and is off to the CCHA semifinals and remains third in the poll, Boston College is up one to No. 4 after defeating Vermont in their Hockey East quarterfinal playoff series and Massachusetts-Lowell earned one first-place vote to move up one notch to No. 5 after sweeping Maine in their Hockey East quarterfinal.

North Dakota, despite advancing to the WCHA Final Five with a series win over Michigan Tech, drops two to No. 6, while St. Cloud State is up one to No. 7 after sweeping Alaska-Anchorage, Minnesota State rises two to No. 8 with a WCHA series win over Nebraska-Omaha, Notre Dame jumps three to No. 9 with a CCHA quarterfinal win over Bowling Green and New Hampshire falls three spots to No. 10 after losing its Hockey East quarterfinal to Providence.

Yale rises two to No. 11 after taking both from St. Lawrence in their ECAC quarterfinal, Western Michigan was swept by Michigan and falls three to No. 12, Denver lost its WCHA quarterfinal to Colorado College and drops two spots to No. 13, Wisconsin holds steady at No. 14 after sweeping Minnesota-Duluth and Niagara swept the Rochester Institute of Technology to advance to the Atlantic Hockey semifinals and remains 15th in this week’s rankings.

Providence is up one to No. 16, Boston University rises one to No. 17 after sweeping Merrimack in the Hockey East quarterfinals, Union is up one to sit 18th with a sweep of Dartmouth in the ECAC quarterfinals, Rensselaer tumbles three to No. 19 after losing to Brown in the ECAC quarterfinals and Michigan enters the rankings this week at No. 20.

The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll consists of 50 voters, including 28 coaches from the Division I conferences and 22 beat writers and sports professionals from across the country.

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http://www.facebook.com/justin.moore.311056 Justin Moore
Who the heck voted for Lowell?
- Anti-NCAA
  Lowell’s coach did. Who else? lol
  - Bob Neal
    Is Miami better than Lowell ? Lowell topped Hockey East and Miami was the best CCHA team. Which conference is better? Not a tough question. Basically the same record and Lowell has been on fire since December.
- Bob Neal
  Why not? Just the hottest team in the country.
- Joseph Crowley
  Lowell, Miami, Quinnipiac and Minnesota all have legitimate cases to be VOTED number one by a writer or coach.
  - jdhockeyboyz
    Agreed. With Minnesota and Quinnipiac both having some recent blemishes, I am surprised that only 3 schools received first place votes. I’m a little uncomfortable with my Gophers donning the bulls-eye, no need to give conference foes any more motivation.
  - Bob Neal
    As a Lowell fan I still think they need more offense. Minnesota probably is the best team as the WCHA is a touch better than Hockey East this year. BC will be a factor as they can put up 5 or 6 goals at any time. Quinnipiac, really?? If ECAC gets 5 teams that would be a farce.
Anti-NCAA
Notice how conveniently the votes pop BC up enough spots to help them stay much closer to home JUST IN TIME for next week’s final poll? Hmmmm, convenient.
- Bob_McNotmyrealname
  The polls have absolutely nothing to do with tournament seeding and regional placement.
  - Anti-NCAA
    Really? Then why does the bracketology after saturday’s games result in BC getting a #1 seed instead of UMass-Lowell?
    Providence
    13 Niagara vs. 1 Quinnipiac
    12 Minnesota State vs. 5 Yale
    Grand Rapids
    14 Western Michigan vs. 2 Minnesota
    11 St. Cloud State vs. 6 Massachusetts-Lowell
    Toledo
    16 Rensselaer vs. 3 Miami
    9 Notre Dame vs. 8 North Dakota
    Manchester
    15 Union vs. 4 Boston College
    10 Denver vs. 7 New Hampshire
    Read more: http://www.uscho.com/bracketology/2013/03/17/after-the-results-of-march-16/#ixzz2Nui71OwO
    - ILikeMath
      The brackets are based on an objective mathematical algorithm known as the Pairwise ranking. They often (but not always) resemble the completely subjective poll.
    - Mike
      The voters polls have no bearing on the seeding of the NCAA tournament….period. The only things the voters polls really have any influence on are trash talking and bragging rights. Surprising how many people are still unaware of how the PWR works.
    - QU/BC
      Actually, the only thing that matters is Pair Wise… Thats why QU will be the #1 overall seed.
- GRBSPR
  Put another way, notice how UNH’s ‘host’ status allows them to stink up the joint and stay ‘close to home’ no matter what. Convenient. UNH clearly needs a Manchester Regional every other year to save its bacon…and still they can never get out of that building once the NE Regional concludes
  - Afterfurtherreview
    Funny, the past 3 times they have advanced to the FF, it has been through Worcester. Apparently “hosting” doesn’t matter. And, as has been stated many times, anybody can find a building, put in the time and resources and host… most choose not to and then their fans complain about it.
    How about the Gophers at the XCel every year for the WCHA and they don’t even have to do any work to earn it, the WCHA does it for them?
    - Ryan
      Where else would you suggest the Final Five be held?
      - Afterfurtherreview
        I wouldn’t, just making a point. I also have no problem that Boston has the HE tourney every year, as they should. I just don’t like the “UNH has to host to win and still don’t… etc…” They actually put a lot of time and money into hosting. Come this time of year, it doesn’t matter all that much where you play. If you have favorable matchups and come ready to win 2 games, you will advance.
    - William Blake
      You are talking about two different tournaments, a conference tourney and the NCAAs.
      - Afterfurtherreview
        No kidding.
      - William Blake
        ok, i guess you didn’t understand. Your comparison (complaining that UNH getting to stay close to home in the NCAA is similar to the WCHA Final Five always being in St. Paul, so the other poster couldn’t complain about where UNH plays in the NCAA for some reason) doesn’t make any sense. One has nothing to do with the other.
      - Afterfurtherreview
        Thank you again, for the insight. But I do believe they are both run by the NCAA, so they might be related, just slightly. The NCAA tells what the WCHA can and can’t do and it decides who gets regionals too.
      - jdhockeyboyz
        WCHA competition is governed by NCAA rules. But the NCAA doesn’t dictate where the conference tournament is played. When it come to regionals, the NCAA can’t really get too creative, because there isn’t enough casual interest to assure healthy attendance. They keep sending the usual suspect teams to the usual suspect sites, with the hopes of selling tickets.
      - Afterfurtherreview
        Agreed in the fact that there is not enough casual interest. I also know the league is responsible for picking where they play, but they are all governed by the NCAA, so if they saw fit (in other words made enough money), they would make any moves that they wanted to.
    - jdhockeyboyz
      The WCHA tourney at the X is less about the Gophers and ALL about the league milking their cash cow. I hope they put some in the bank for next year when UofM and UND are gone.
  - Bob Neal
    Agreed. UNH always gets home ice even when they are overrated, like this year. How are they 7th in the pairwise?
    - Afterfurtherreview
      They are actually 8th… and 3-0 against the “hottest team in the country.”
      - Bob Neal
        Lowell did lose to UNH 3 times, back in the Fall. UNH has been struggling at this time, the most important time of year. One and done in the NCAA tourney even in their own back yard.
      - Afterfurtherreview
        Is their record 3-0? Thought so. I think UML goes 1 and done before UNH does… but keep yappin’ and making all of HE look bad!
  - Joseph Crowley
    Let UNH host. It sure helped them beat BU in 2009 and got them to the Frozen Four….oh, wait.
    - Afterfurtherreview
      I think secretly, you guys paid Pollastrone to push the puck into his own net. Kidding, great game and UNH played well after using everything they had to beat No. Dakota in OT. It was definitely BU’s year. Good luck this week, too bad it looks like York won’t be able to attend in the last match up with Jackie.
GeauxSioux
Who is still voting for Quinny?
- Bob Neal
  Ivy leaguers who are in the ECAC. Money and power.
  - QU/BC
    WCHA fans need to learn: You aren’t as good as Hockey East. And you are only slightly better than the ECAC… Don’t think you are so high and mighty.
    - Joseph Crowley
      This Hockey East fan knows that any team from any league can win in the tournament. Real fans need not diminish other teams or other leagues. I enjoy WCHA, ECAC, CCHA and AHA players and teams just as much as I do my own team.
      - Afterfurtherreview
        Agreed Joseph. Always like the classy posts… even though you bashed the ‘Cats down the list a ways! :)
      - Joseph Crowley
        We can always kid about past outcomes that did not work out well. With so many games between coaches Umile, York and Parker in the books, I am sure they have laughs about many things.
    - GeauxSioux
      I didn’t say anything about any conference QU/BC.
    - jdhockeyboyz
      This observer’s opinion: Union made me a believer last year and I respect QU and the ECAC. The teams at the top of the polls and PWR have shown some inconsistencies lately, pointing out that there is no team riding the wave like BC a year ago. Two teams I would really watch out for: Michigan and
      Wisconsin. They have hit their stride. The irony here is that as well as they are playing, neither can afford a slip-up if they intend to make the field of 16. I think any team in the top 10 can get hot and win it all.
      - Bob Neal
        Union was good last year, but the bottom half of the ECAC is a joke. Nobody cares as shown by the attendance in that league. A 5th or 6th place team in HE or the WCHA would win the ECAC tournament.
      - RapidRunner
        You need to do more research man. Princeton was sold out constantly but the rink holds only about 1000. Yale was sold out a lot and so was Quinnipiac, but the rinks hold under 3700. The attendances in some of the ECAC venues is just fine. If you want to say some of the ECAC teams haven’t done well in the tournaments, fine, but this anti-Ivy and not factually supported blanket statement stuff doesn’t make you look good.
      - Bob Neal
        Again I am sorry to put facts out there, man. Did you go to Woodstock? Cornell had the best attendance and that would have been 5th in HE. ECAC is a nice league that has 5 or 6 teams that are not competitive. The top teams are good, but not like a UND, Minnesota, BC or Miami. I am a HE fan, but it is a shame that the WCHA won’t be the same with Minnesota and Wisconsin leaving. I like the Ivy league as I was a big fan of Harvard in the 80′s. The fact is that until an ECAC team wins the NCAA, most people will not take them seriously. See all the WCHA fans dumping on Quinnipiac.
      - patrickolson
        Agreed. Wisconsin looks very good right now. Both BC and Minnesota peaked early (BC at the start, Minny right after Christmas). Both have struggled to be consistent since then. Even QU losing a game to Cornell shows some inconsistency.
    - whiada
      Just want to point out that Hockey East has a losing record against the WCHA this year… and an even worse record when facing the CCHA
      - Afterfurtherreview
        Again, anybody can beat anybody on any given day. UNH hasn’t played a CCHA team, but is 4-0-1 against the WCHA with 3 of those wins against SCSU and Denver.
      - whiada
        Absolutely. I totally agree with you and don’t mean to take anything away from any team in particular. Just had to point out a glaring statistical inaccuracy in this…”WCHA fans need to learn: You aren’t as good as Hockey East.” It’s anyone’s tournament this year and its gonna be a fun one to watch!
      - Afterfurtherreview
        Sorry whiada, I totally overlooked that because I try not to put down any conferences and enjoy the season. I think the tournament will be as wide open as it has ever been since it went to 16!
        Oh yeah… and every conference and team shows up with the insults, which is totally uncalled for.
      - Bob Neal
        Not in the NCAA tournament. I guess the regular season means more to you than the playoffs.
      - whiada
        Obviously the playoffs are what it’s all about, but why make a comment like that withouth the facts? Since Hockey East’s inception, two conferences have more NCAA titles…
      - Bob Neal
        In the last 20 the CCHA is well below HE and the WCHA is about even. The next 15 look to have HE dominance with HE adding Notre Dame and UConn and the WCHA losing Minnesota and Wisconsin. Time will tell as we are all speculating.
      - Terrier Hockey
        Anyone can pick a frame of reading that makes their league look better. For example. How have WCHA teams done in the finals against hockey east in the last 5 years? 0-2. Also what person out there cares about the last 20 years or even the last 10 years of a sport’s results. We won in 2009 and that’s becoming less important by the day. Recent history matters more than 10 years ago especially given BC’s dynasty status.
      - whiada
        I was actually trying to avoid picking a biased reading frame by looking at the whole history of the league. Notwithstanding, while I certainly agree that past (even last year’s) results have no bearing on what will happen in this season and those to come, I disagree that no sports fan cares about those results. I’d like to think there a lots of fans of, for example, Lake Superior State or Maine that care pretty deeply about what happened 10 or 20 years ago. As I mentioned above, I’m not trying to take anything away from any team/league. I’m certainly not trying to say that any particular league is the “best”. I’m simply pointing out that these sorts of declarations about the comparative “value” of one league over another are complicated and, in my opinion, lack value themselves.
      - Goldenchild
        east to say when your conference trails 37-12 in titles
      - Bob Neal
        More games are played at the home of the WCHA team than the HE team. How about the last 5 years??
    - http://www.facebook.com/jon.kindschi Jon Kindschi
      WCHA is so much better than hockey east. Hockey east is a joke compared to our quality competition.
      - Bob Neal
        Four out of the last 5 titles…… Hockey East.
      - http://www.facebook.com/john.gilligan.92 John Gilligan
        Yep lets keep looking in the past Bob. Then we can say back to back (almost 3 peat) for the gophers twice in their storied history. Hockey east is junior to WCHA. LETS SEE UMMMM Gophers 8-1 over B.C.
      - Afterfurtherreview
        I wouldn’t say HE is JR… but the conference supremacy is silly… much like Bob’s posts.
      - Bob Neal
        Wait a couple of weeks and then we will all know.
      - Afterfurtherreview
        But you already do, Bob… just ask you…
      - Goldenchild
        here’s what we do know:Since 1951, teams representing the WCHA have earned a record 37 men’s national championships, WCHA also leads in Hobey Bakers with 15. in 2010/11, the WCHA led the way in attendance with 7 of the top 10, led by Wisconsin. the WCHA also boasts 93 Alumni logging ice time in the NHL in 2010/11
      - Bob Neal
        Hockey East was formed in the mid 1980′s so lets go from there. Last 10 years in the NCAA Tournament: HE 41-28, 59%; WCHA 54-39, 58%. Pretty even as WCHA always gets more teams. One year they were soo good that the NCAA gave them too many teams ( As always ). In 2008 the WCHA had 6 teams and not one made it to the Frozen Four as they went 3-6. That is hard to do, but they accomplished it. I haven’t checked, but I would bet that HE has about the same NHL players. Bottom line is that the 2 leagues are about equal, but the WCHA fans cannot see that pont.
      - Bob Neal
        The Russians beat the US badly before the 1980 Olympics, but when it counted ……..
      - Goldenchild
        when it counted they sent 9 gophers and 13 wcha players to win gold
      - Terrier Hockey
        BC beat Minnesota when it mattered. 6-1 in the semifinals of the national tournament. Which game weighs more? The tournament game of course. How did Wisconsin do against BC in the NC?
      - nogofer
        I am not a conference snob. I have two favorite teams; The Fighting Sioux and whomever is playing the umtc gofers (no matter what league they call home)…
      - Goldenchild
        25 more and you catch WCHA
      - Bob Neal
        Stop taking drugs. Check out NCAA records in the last 10 years, HE vs. WCHA. Look at the # of players, especially goalies in the NHL from Hockey East. Believe what you want to believe. I think WCHA IS better this year, but I remember a few ( 2 or 3 ) years ago when the WCHA had 5 teams and none made it to the Frozen Four. Again 4 of the last 5 champs from HE.
    - patrickolson
      Seems like a pretty narrow sighted (and minded comment).
    - jmsptrk
      if you’re going to be silly with this silly pissing match, you’re not going to like the result. would you like to compare hardware? (hint: it’s not going to be in HE’s favor.) listen up son, WCHA and HE are both great leagues. deal with it.
  - Guest
    Not a lot of money and power in Ivy League sports, bro. I mean maybe there is, arguably, to the extent former ivy league hockey players go on to work securities desks at Goldman Sachs et al., granted. But Goldman executives don’t vote in the polls.
  - Sleeping Giant
    this doesn’t make any sense. If you think Yale for example is ever going to rank Quinnipiac high, you don’t understand the dynamic. You have this comment below about Goldman Sachs, etc., what does that have to do with college hockey polls of current hockey coaches. What’s up with you? If in the seeding, Yale gets an at large or AQ if they win the ECAC are you going to scream and start yelling Ivy League, Ivy League, even though they’ll be the only Ivy team in the tournament (Brown has to win the ECAC outright to make it). What’s your issue?
GeauxSioux
Better scorers or worse goalies? Six of the nation’s top 10 scorers will be at the WCHA Final Five – Kristo, Knight, LeBlanc, Haula, Schwartz, Leitner.
- QU/BC
  Quinnipiac doesn’t have a 20 goal scorer. Yet, they have more wins than anyone else. And a tougher schedule than Minnesota. Stop crying… You aren’t that good… BTW You aren’t the fighting Sioux anymore, your just plain old North Dakota :)
  - Guest
    HAHA!! QU with a tougher schedule?!?!?! Thats laughable at best! QU wont make it past the first round. QU and MN have the same amount of wins and if MN played the teams that QU played im sure they would ave even more. Enjoy your 15 minutes now because you will be forgotten by the second round!
    - http://www.facebook.com/tparaiso601 Trevor Paraiso
      Wait wait… QU/BC is right! look it up :) Have fun in the Big Joke conference. That’s not what I call hockey. You must be sick of getting smacked around by the St. Clouds, Miamis, and Ferris States of the world… Ever heard of Quinnipiac? Well they are coming to get you!
      I’ve watched Boston College for years (and mind me, they have smacked you WCHA and CCHA teams) and Quinnipiac is similar. Slightly slower, slightly less skilled, yet so much more passionate and goal oriented. Watch out North Dakota, Minnesota, and yes, you Boston College.
      The Bobcats are on a roll!
      - GeauxSioux
        :)
      - Isaiah
        who got smacked 8-1 this year by Minnesota? I don’t think any relevant team in the WCHA is afraid of QU right now
      - http://www.facebook.com/tparaiso601 Trevor Paraiso
        Isaiah, I don’t think they should be. Have you actually seen a highlight of a Quinnipiac game? Doubt it.
        About Boston College, that was a terrible showing. They are having an off year. But I’m pretty sure you know how well BC has done in the last 10 years…
      - http://www.facebook.com/bgilbert99 Bryan Gilbert
        On a roll? They barley beat Cornell!! Anyway, good luck QU. You will surely need it!!
      - http://www.facebook.com/jon.kindschi Jon Kindschi
        Yea they need luck because they are not very good. Hope the Gophers get to play them and stomp them.
      - jdhockeyboyz
        All hail the Poll-Cats
      - Bazgret
        Really? Quinnipiac more passionate than Minnesota? Don’t ever come to Mariucci with that mind set. We breed hockey in Minnesota, it sucks that we won’t be with UND next year, cause those two schools have the most passion about hockey than any others.
      - mahogma
        So is butter.
    - Bob Neal
      Too many bad ECAC teams are in the TUC top 30. A real joke. The last ECAC team to win it all was …….. 24 years ago. Maine would be a top 5 team in the ECAC. Check out the record of ECAC teams in the NCAA the past 10 years. Lousy.
  - http://www.facebook.com/bgilbert99 Bryan Gilbert
    HAHA!! QU with a tougher schedule?!?!?! Thats laughable at best! QU wont make it past the first round. QU and MN have the same amount of wins and if MN played the teams that QU played im sure they would have even more. Enjoy your 15 minutes now because you will be forgotten by the second round!
  - GopherBulldogHockey
    QU having a tougher schedule is a joke, you obviously didn’t look it up before you made this post because QU is down in the lower 30s bud.
    - Afterfurtherreview
      Not true. I am not a QU fan, but check the RPI. QU’s SOS is #13 and Minny is #28.
      - stod_2
        Odd, the RPI has QU at 13 and MN at 28 for SOS but the Krach has QU at 39 and MN at 17. Not sure how that could be, one of them must be off somehow.
      - Paul B
        The RPI is not the same as strength of schedule. KRACH lists the strength of schedule separately and Minnesota’s schedule is ranked 17th and Quinnipiac schedule is ranked 39th. It is not even close.
      - Afterfurtherreview
        No, the RPI is not strength of schedule, but one of the factors is… strange that they are so far off.
      - GopherBulldogHockey
        Wrong, KRACH is the more accurate sos rater because it factors in more, and look at the teams QU plays, then look at the gophers, its not even logical to think their schedule should be harder.
      - Afterfurtherreview
        Nobody said they agreed with it, but the fact is that the RPI does figure an SOS that has QU higher, so the statement I made is not wrong. I like the KRACH system better, but the PWR must be doing something right (and uses the RPI and their SOS) because the NCAA keeps using it.
http://www.facebook.com/tparaiso601 Trevor Paraiso
I’ll give it to you, Minnesota. You are very good. But I don’t think any of you M fans have actually watched some Quinnipiac hockey. I don’t think you care. But I do think they will make some noise. I doubt you have heard of them much before this year. Its just adding fuel to their fire.
The ECAC is underrated. That Cornell team was a great team, with some high end prospects and a spectacular goaltender. I wouldn’t discredit any team they have played. Much like Michigan and Michigan State, they are having a down year, but they were fighting very hard for their lives and definately were underachievers all year. They looked like a tournament team for sure this past weekend.
Quinnipiac could have played better. They dominated Game 1 and 2, and the later stages of Game 3. Its a dangerous game to play when you claim to know how good a certain team is when you haven’t seen them play. Of course you would say Boston College is great because they have been great, but you gotta treat everyone pretty much equally in the postseason or you WILL get upset.
Good luck Minnie, you’ll need it. ‘Cuz here comes Quinny!
- Bazgret
  I watched a couple games midseason and thought their passing was a bit off and they are slower team. They play as a team which makes them good, but I don’t think they can handle the speed and power of teams like minny, scsu, und, etc. Hopefully we meet up with you guys in the frozen four and put this debate to rest
  - http://www.facebook.com/tparaiso601 Trevor Paraiso
    Did you see their games against UNO?
    I feel they have had nights where they are just a 1-and-done team, and I have seen nights where they look like they are the best team in Hockey East (A BC, BU, or UNH). I really think they have to play at the top of their game to get to Pittsburgh.
    - keebs11
      Who are these high end prospects that you speak of? 1 fourth, 1 fifth, 2 sixth, and 3 seventh rounders are not what I would call high end talent.
    - GopherBulldogHockey
      Have you seen how UNO has played this year. Bulldogs kicks the crap out of them last weekend and the Bulldogs are having an off year, so I wouldn’t get too hyped up about that one.
- stod_2
  I have watched Qu play twice this year and they are a good team but I have watched MN play about 8 games this year and if I were a betting man (and I am) I would put it all on the Goophs and that is hard to say as I hate them. But QU would have very little chance in that game. They just don’t have the speed to stay with MN this year. MN is big, fast, strong, they all move the puck well and they are deep. Deep like they can bring any of the scratches out for a game and they get plenty of playing time deep.
  The one chance that a QU would have is that depth in the national tourney isn’t as important. You go through the whole season and in many cases there are very few televised games and all of a sudden there are all kinds of TV timeouts and it means that you don’t necessarily need to play your 4th line. That is where the WCHA and HE and the CCHA have the advantage is in that depth of talent. But in the national tourney it isnt as important but I still think that if MN and QU were to meet up which is highly unlikely that MN would not have a problem with that game.
  I’d like to see the conferences start to play more out of conference games and now that there are two conferences with only 6 and 8 teams in each maybe that will happen. The only way to know if QU could compete with the MN, Miami’s, BC’s, UND’s of the world is to play the games.
  Lets all start to push the conferences for some more out of conference games. How great would it be to mimic what the BIg 10 and ACC do on basketball for the Big 10 and NCHC in hockey or NCHC and HE or whatever. Get some early games where there are inter conference games. Would be great and then this whole debate could be silenced once and for all.
wet_socks
Does this mean we’ll no longer need to endure the whining Mini fans? Doubt it. Let’s see…. what was all that talk about how the rankings system is flawed? So, now that goldie is on top, I suppose the flaws have magically vanished.
- Isaiah
  when idiots like you, wet_socks ask for gopher fans to complain i’m sure none of us will have a problem getting under your east coast skin a little more
http://www.facebook.com/jon.kindschi Jon Kindschi
Bout time the right team is on top. If Quinnipiac played in the WCHA they wouldn’t even be in the top 25. Go Gophers
http://www.facebook.com/ganderson9754 Gregg Anderson
It should be an interesting Tournament. I have feet in two camps, so to speak; I’m a MN alum (and fan) who is a UMASS season ticket holder. I never saw Quinnipiac as a #1- losses to AIC, Colgate and Robert Morris? On the other hand the Gopher doesn’t seem to be lighting it up down the stretch, either. And as happy as I was to see BC get pasted by the Gopher the Eagles were missing Johnny G, who may be the best player in the country. I don’t think there’s much difference between HE and the WCHA- I watch a lot of both; and I think the top halves of the ECAC and CCHA are just as good. mToo bad it all goes away next year! I’m so excited about playing Penn State and OSU 8 times instead of UND, UMD, and DU, not to mention CC and St. Cloud!
- Chrisgal
  BC also had to play 5 freshmen on D that Minnesota game, including 2 whose first ever college games were the night before against Alabama. And one of those 2 is really a forward they moved to D due to injuries…….
  - Ryan
    Having freshman on D doesn’t account for an 8 to 1 drubbing. BC didn’t produce any offense that game and while Gaudreau was gone, you have to have other guys step up. No team can be successful as a one man team
    - Chrisgal
      True. Just stating the facts. But I would like to see BC get another shot at Minny, if only to shut up the loud-mouthed announcer who made a something-like “You can forget about Tampa” crack late in the game…..
John
Minnesota or Quinnipiac being first really seems inconsequential, that’ll be settled in the tournament, but how can anyone vote for a Michigan team that has a loosing record to be a top 20 school?!?
http://twitter.com/Auzy_88 Austin Simonson
WCHA is the best league in college hockey this year, hands down. I’d LOVE to see the Gophs play the Quinnipiac.. We all know who would win. Anything can happen, but I’m predicting a WCHA national champ this year.
sioux rule
Its like a bunch of 10 year olds on here saying my daddy can beat up your daddy. Who cares what happened 50 years ago let alone last year. Live in the present. Get in the tourney and anything can happen. The past has nothing to do with it.

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