Maine Trust for Local News sports columnist Travis Lazarczyk is a voter in the U.S. College Hockey Online men’s poll. Each week he will share his top 20 votes, as well as hit on a few items of interest in the sport.

Here’s how I voted this week:

  1. Minnesota
  2. Michigan State
  3. Boston College
  4. Maine
  5. Denver
  6. Western Michigan
  7. Providence
  8. St. Cloud State
  9. Colorado College
  10. UMass Lowell
  11. Michigan
  12. Minnesota State
  13. Cornell
  14. Quinnipiac
  15. Boston University
  16. Ohio State
  17. North Dakota
  18. Arizona State
  19. UMass
  20. Dartmouth

The Black Bears inch up: Since a pair of losses to Boston College the first weekend of November, Maine has gone 6-0-1. Granted, four of those wins came over inferior opponents RPI and Stonehill, but with Denver losing three of its last four, I felt OK about dropping the Pioneers to No. 5. Had Denver not won in overtime Saturday against Western Michigan, I would have slid Western Michigan up to No. 5. Still, the Broncos moved up one spot to No. 6 with the Denver split. Maine is now off until Dec. 29, when it plays Bentley at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland. Then comes the big two-game series with Denver at Alfond Arena on Jan. 3-4.

The Gophers are No. 1: With Michigan State splitting a pair of Big Ten games with Wisconsin, Minnesota was an easy choice to take the top spot. The Gophers swept Michigan (6-0 and 2-0) last weekend. I dropped the Wolverines out of the top 10, from No. 6 to No. 11, as a result (Michigan dropped to No. 8 in the full voting). Minnesota is 5-0-1 since a Nov. 16 loss to Bemidji State. The No. 1 spot is up for grabs again this weekend, with the Gophers hosting Michigan State for games Friday and Saturday.

What to do with Dartmouth: Around mid-week last week, I started to have second thoughts about where I had placed Dartmouth on my ballot. I had the Big Green at No. 15. The other voters thought more highly of Dartmouth, which ended up No. 13. Maybe I had put too much weight on the loss to Boston College. After all, Dartmouth wasn’t the first team to see a third-period lead evaporate against the Eagles, right Maine fans? Plus, Dartmouth has wins over Cornell and Quinnipiac. Then the Big Green lost a home games this weekend to St. Lawrence and Clarkson. With three losses in its last four games, I kept Dartmouth in the top 20, but barely. The Big Green host New Hampshire in a cross-state rivalry game Friday.

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