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:
- Minnesota
- Michigan State
- Boston College
- Maine
- Denver
- Western Michigan
- Providence
- St. Cloud State
- Colorado College
- UMass Lowell
- Michigan
- Minnesota State
- Cornell
- Quinnipiac
- Boston University
- Ohio State
- North Dakota
- Arizona State
- UMass
- 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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