It was another wild week in college hockey.
The action has heated up in a major way since players returned to the ice following the holiday break. Game action is intensifying as the postseason quickly approaches, and the nominees for the 2022 Hobey Baker Award also were announced Wednesday with a field of 77 players.
There are some changes to this week’s national polls after the exciting week. Minnesota State unsurprisingly remains at No. 1 followed by Quinnipiac at No. 2 and Western Michigan at No. 3, but Michigan jumped back into the mix after an impressive week to earn the No. 4 spot and St. Cloud State drops down one spot to No. 5. North Dakota was at No. 5 in last week’s poll but sank all the way to No. 10 this week after being swept last weekend by Cornell.
There’s plenty to look out for after this week.
Who’s Playing Well?
Minnesota State is the top team in the country for a reason. The No. 1-ranked Mavericks extended their win streak to nine after sweeping Ferris State in impressive fashion. Minnesota State netted 14 goals during the two-game series sweep and allowed just one on the weekend.
They’ll try to extend their win streak to double digits beginning with a two-game road series at Northern Michigan on Friday night.
Local Spotlight
With the Beijing 2022 Olympics beginning in February and NHL players no longer traveling for the games, college hockey players will represent the United States and there’s plenty of local talent making the trip. Nick Abruzzese (Harvard), Sean Farrell (Harvard), Marc McLaughlin (Boston College), Drew Helleson (Boston College), Aaron Ness (Providence) and Drew Commesso (Boston University) all were selected to Team USA.
McLaughlin also is even more local than just playing in Boston as he’s a native of Billerica, Mass. The Olympics are set to kick off Feb. 4th in Beijing, China.
National News
After a short rough stretch, Michigan got back on track in convincing fashion by sweeping the reigning champion UMass Minutemen. The Wolverines took Game 1 by a score of 4-1 and followed it up with a 4-2 win to complete the sweep over the Minutemen. UMass fell from No. 10 to No. 14 in the poll.
The sweep improved Michigan’s record on the season to 16-6-1 and raised their national ranking from No. 6 back up to No. 4, just behind in-state rival Western Michigan who currently is at No. 3.
NESN Game of the Week
After an exciting game between Boston College and Boston University in women’s hockey action last week, this week’s NESN Game of the Week set to take place Saturday night with the Maine and UMass Lowell men taking the ice as the Tsongas Arena. All coverage can be found right here on NESN beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
