Editor’s note: NESN’s Tom Caron is on the 50-member USCHO ranking committee, and you can find his votes and thoughts on the college hockey week that was every Monday on NESN.com.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year — unless you’re in college. Then you’re about a week away from the most wonderful time of the year. Before you get to that winter break, you’ve got to hammer your way through finals.
For college hockey players that means balancing final exams with the final games of the first half of the season. These are important games to build upon; lose the final couple of games before break and a team can head home for Christmas fighting confidence issues.
At Harvard, grades are paramount, so Ted Donato’s team has a longer break from game action than most. The Crimson haven’t played since Dec. 6, and won’t line up against an opponent again until the Dec. 28 exhibition against the Russian Red Stars. Harvard takes a six-game winning streak into the break, and after North Dakota’s loss to the University of Denver on Friday night, I’ve got the Crimson as the top team in the nation in my USCHO.com poll this week.
With just one loss on the season, Harvard has proven itself with a 4-0-1 record against ranked opponents.
Meantime, it’ll be a quiet week for college hockey. Over the next 12 days there are just two games involving Hockey East teams as Northeastern travels to Amherst for a non-conference game against UMass on Dec. 16 while Boston University hosts the U.S. National Junior Team in an exhibition game Dec. 19.
Then, it’s a short break for the holidays before tournaments blossom around the country. Before you know it we’ll be back to the rinks for the start of the stretch run into the playoffs. January is right around the corner, so enjoy the break and take stock in where your team sits at the mid-point.
There have already been plenty of surprises in the college hockey season, and there will undoubtedly be even more in the second half.
Here’s my official USCHO.com ballot for the week of Dec. 15:
1. Harvard
2. Boston University
3. North Dakota
4. Massachusetts-Lowell
5. Minnesota State
6. Miami
7. Minnesota
8. Michigan Tech
9. Vermont
10. Minnesota Duluth
11. Denver
12. Bowling Green
13. Boston College
14. Providence
15. Colgate
16. Union
17. Nebraska-Omaha
18. Merrimack
19. Penn State
20. Quinnipiac
And here is the USCHO top 20:
1. Boston University
2. North Dakota
3. Minnesota State
4. Harvard
5. Michigan Tech
6. Miami
7. Minnesota Duluth
8. Minnesota
9. Massachusetts-Lowell
10. Vermont
11. Denver
12. Nebraska-Omaha
13. Bowling Green
14. Quinnipiac
15. Boston College
16. Providence
17. Colgate
18. Merrimack
19. Robert Morris
20. Penn State
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@ECACHOCKEYMWD1
