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It's been a while since I did a NCAA update, mostly because of the break over the holiday season but that has all come to an end now and so we're back at it again. In case you missed it, there was also an outdoor NCAA game at Fenway Park and the first round of candidates for the Hobey Baker Award have been released.
Here is a look at how the Top 20 looked coming into this past weekend:
1 Denver (45)
2 Miami ( 3)
3 Wisconsin
4 North Dakota ( 2)
5 Yale
6 Ferris State
7 Michigan State
8 Colorado College
9 Cornell
10 Minnesota-Duluth
11 Bemidji State
12 Boston College
13 Union
14 St. Cloud State
15 Mass.-Lowell
16 Maine
17 Quinnipiac
18 Vermont
19 Massachusetts
20 New Hampshire
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#3 Wisconsin also posted a 4-0 victory on Friday night. The Badgers took it to the #8 Colorado College Tigers and featured a 3-point night from WJC captain Derek Stepan. Former AJHL netminder Scott Gudmandson earned the shutout, his 2nd of the season. Saturday the tables were turned and Colorado College outlasted Wisconsin in an 11-goal red light festival. Gudmandson was yanked after the first period after allowing 4 goals on 17 shots against. Brian McMillin and Andrew Hamburg each scored twice for CC while several skaters recorded two points for the visiting Badgers.
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Despite allowing 5 goals against from one of the weakest teams in NCAA hockey, #5 ranked Yale might move even higher up the ladder after they survived a 8-5 slugfest with Brown. Only Harvard has fewer wins this year than Brown; 3 including one just last weekend over Yale. The Bulldogs sit tied for third in the ECAC standings but somehow are ranked highest on the National pole. I am not convinced.
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#9 Cornell beat Clarkson 3-1 but then tied St.Lawrence 1-1 the next night. Big Red keeper Ben Scrivens, yes another former AJHL goalie, made 53 stops on the weekend allowing just two pucks past him.
#10 Minnesota-Duluth got past Minnesota State in a pair of 1-goal games. Friday's 2-1 meeting ended in regulation time but Saturday's rematch went to extra time before Duluth pulled through courtesy of a Mike Connolly goal.
#11 Bemidji State split with Niagara after the Purple Eagles scored 6 times on Friday to welcome back the Beavers from a month away from their CHA rivals. The Beavers exacted revenge on Saturday with a 4-3 win but the loss will have a negative impact on their ranking (or it should).
Boston College is a team that should jump into the top 10 from their #12 spot after earning two victories in the last 6 days. First the Eagles beat Providence by a 4-1 margin last Tuesday and then really took it to Maine with a 6-1 spanking on Friday. Joe Whitney enjoyed a 5-point week for BC. It was a tough weekend for Maine, ranked #16 coming in, because they were beaten soundly by BC and then slipped up against Providence and 3-2. The Black Bears were enjoying a 9-game unbeaten streak but crashed back down to reality in a big way with the two losses.
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#14 St. Cloud and #17 Quinnipiac squared off with the Huskies taking both games from the Bobcats by 3-1 and 3-2 scores. A few St. Cloud players had a two-point weekend and goalie Mike Lee collected his 2nd consecutive win since returning to NCAA action after the gold medal win at the 2010 WJC.
#19 Massachusetts swept past #15 Mass.-Lowell with a 3-2 home win on Friday and a 2-1 edging on the road on Saturday. James Marcou held onto his NCAA scoring lead with a 3-point weekend.
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Also worth mentioning is that the NCAA has revealed their 70-man list of Hobey Baker award nominees. Now it's up to the fans to vote and whittle that number down to 10 names for the second round of voting. The 10 finalists will be revealed on March 18th with the Hobey Hat Trick of three finalists being announced on April 1st. The winner will be awarded College hockey's top individual prize on April 9th during the Frozen Four festivities in Detroit.
Notes from the ridiculously long list:
- Breakdown by position: 8 goalies... 14 defencemen... 48 forwards.
- 25 of the 70 players are Canadian, that would be 35.7% of the list. Roughly 25% of NCAA rosters are Canadian.
- There are 4 Europeans on the list including Michigan's Carl Hagelin of Sweden and Merrimack freshman Stephane Da Costa from France.
- There are 5 former AJHL players: Mike Schreiber (Union/Ft. McMurray), Justin Fontaine (Duluth/Bonnyville), Everett Sheen (Holy Cross/4 teams including Okotoks), Dion Knelsen (Alaska-Fairbanks/Drumheller), Ben Scrivens (Cornell/Calgary Canucks).
- Other notable Canadians include Denver goalie Marc Cheverie, Ohio State's Zac Dalpe, North Dakota captain Chay Genoway, Cornell's leading scorer Colin Greening, and Wisconsin blueliner Brendan Smith.
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