There’s been plenty to celebrate for the UMaine hockey players, who have three straight wins against top-10 opponents and have risen to No. 4 on Travis Lazarczyk’s ballot. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

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.

A lot of movement on my ballot this week:

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

Big wins bolster Black Bears. By sweeping UMass Lowell (ranked No. 8 is last week’s poll), Maine returned to the top five on my ballot. The Black Bears have three consecutive victories over a top-10 opponent (UMass Lowell and Denver). These three victories also improved Maine to third in the PairWise rankings, a formula that essentially ranks teams on the basis of wins and strength of schedule. It also mimics the formula the NCAA uses to determine the tournament field. Next up for Maine is a pair of games against a hot UConn team coming off a sweep of UNH. The Huskies come to Orono on a three-game win streak. The sweep of the Wildcats was enough for me to add UConn to my ballot at No. 16.

Hockey East is flexing its muscles. I have seven Hockey East teams in my top 20, including three in the top five, and it’s not just a case of familiarity. The data bears it out. Those seven teams are each ranked in the top 13 in the PairWise rankings. I don’t expect that to continue through the end of the regular season and conference tournaments. These teams will beat each other up in head-to-head competition. Just this weekend there are three matchups scheduled between six of these teams: UConn at Maine; Providence and Boston College play a home-and-home series; as do Boston University and UNH.

I considered dropping Boston College a little more after it split a pair of games with Merrimack, but its sweep of Maine earlier this season has to count for something. So the Eagles are No. 3 and Providence moves up to No. 2.

Colorado College and St. Cloud State are floundering. I had both Colorado College and St. Cloud State in my top 10 earlier this season, but since the break both have struggled. Since an exhibition win over UNLV on Dec. 29, Colorado College has lost four straight, getting swept back-to-back weekends by Augustana and Omaha. St. Cloud State is 1-4 in its last five, sandwiching a win over St. Thomas between losses to North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth. It doesn’t get easier for the Saints, who will host Arizona State this weekend. Colorado College hosts Minnesota Duluth. I dropped the Tigers from 10 to 17 on my ballot this week, and the Saints from 12 to 18.

Quinnipiac heats up. The Bobcats, who swept a pair of games from Princeton over the weekend, have won seven of their last eight games. I moved Quinnipiac up from No. 20 to No. 15 on my ballot, but it’s the only team from the ECAC that I ranked this week. Others in the league are just grinding away at each other (something I expect will happen in Hockey East to a degree in the coming weeks). Clarkson, Cornell, Union, Dartmouth or Colgate could make a run and climb back onto my ballot. The Bobcats host Colgate on Friday and Cornell on Saturday, so I’m interested in seeing if they stay hot or slip back to the ECAC pack a little.

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