Another collection of random (and not-so-random) thoughts after the ninth week of the season:
* Just when I start to question Miami’s fitness as the No. 1 team in the country, the RedHawks shut out Notre Dame for the weekend.
Thanks for clearing that up.
* Something Michigan Tech coach Jamie Russell said in the wake Saturday of yet another loss marked by too many penalties and too many power-play goals against stood out to me.
He said the Huskies aren’t a bad team 5-on-5, and I’m inclined to believe him. They’re not great, mind you, but they’re not as bad as that 3-11 record makes them look.
But when you add 19.8 penalty minutes per game (third in the nation) and a penalty kill that’s at 62.2 percent (by far the worst in the nation), and yes, the Huskies’ record is representative of what they put on the ice.
Throw some key injuries in there to really push the depth, and it’s not a pretty picture.
* So the Quinnipiac offensive bubble has burst. All season, the Bobcats had been able to post at least three goals per game.
Until Saturday, when Brown held them to one goal in a 2-1 victory that dropped Quinnipiac to 12-3.
Brown has an average defense in terms of goals against, so who knew it would be the one to put the clamps on the Quinnipiac offense?
* Colorado College was on its way to a sweep at the hands of rival Denver and losing its grip on the Gold Pan until Mike Testwuide restored a little bit of hope for the Tigers in the annual competition in a highly unusual manner.
Down 4-3, CC was awarded a penalty shot in the final minute when Matt Donovan was called for intentionally pushing the net off the pegs. Testwuide, already with two goals to his name in the game, beat Marc Cheverie to — after overtime — earn CC a point.
Here’s another rarity: There has been a penalty shot in three of CC’s 16 games this season.
* In case you haven’t noticed, part 1: Boston College is unbeaten in its last five games and is 8-3-2 on the season.
The Eagles didn’t have a great start to the season, but they’ve lost only once in their last nine games. I don’t think it’ll ever be a surprise to see BC in the top 10 mix, but the designation again seems fitting now.
* In case you haven’t noticed, part 2: New Hampshire has pulled above .500 at 7-6-3. Not bad for a team that was 2-6-2 not too long ago.
* Ferris State has added a ranked team to the list of teams it has swept out of Ewigleben Ice Arena this season. Two victories over Nebraska-Omaha made the Bulldogs 10-0 at home.
Say what you will, but it’s getting harder to make the case against them being a top team this season.
* Here’s how I voted in the USCHO.com poll this week:
1. Miami
2. Denver
3. Bemidji State
4. North Dakota
5. Boston College
6. Colorado College
7. Quinnipiac
8. Massachusetts-Lowell
9. Cornell
10. Ferris State
11. Yale
12. Michigan State
13. Massachusetts
14. Minnesota-Duluth
15. Alaska
16. Wisconsin
17. St. Cloud State
18. New Hampshire
19. Vermont
20. Notre Dame
