The final week of the 2021-22 college hockey regular season is upon us.
It certainly has been a wild season so far, with its fair share of upsets and impressive milestones. There even was an unconventional stretch where some of the nation’s best traveled to take part in the Olympics. But the regular season is about to end, and that means all eyes now turn to the playoffs.
The conference tournaments for the most part are set to begin next week. When when those conclude, the next step will be the NCAA tournament.
Minnesota State still is atop the national polls, as it’s been for the majority of the season, but the rest of the top five got a little shake-up this week. Minnesota is up to No. 2, followed by Denver in third, North Dakota at No. 4 and Michigan sitting in fifth place. No team in the top five outside of Minnesota State is in the same spot it was last week.
It certainly was a wild week, and you can take a look back at it with us below:
Who’s Playing Well?
Minnesota State is the No. 1-ranked team in the nation for a reason. The Mavericks are 31-5 this season and have won 11 straight games and 20 of their last 21. The CCHA regular season actually already has ended, and Minnesota State is gearing up for a quarterfinals matchup with St. Thomas.
The Mavericks have faced St. Thomas four times this season and are 4-0 with a 26-2 scoring advantage.
Local Spotlight
Northeastern forward Maureen Murphy earned some hardware for the Huskies. Murphy was named one of the women’s co-players of the month for the month of February by the Hockey Commissioners Association after recording 20 points in nine games with 12 goals and eight assists. Even with her impressive play, she somehow was overlooked and not named as a Patty Kazmaier Award finalist.
Fellow Huskie Aidan McDonough earned some praise of his own as he was was named the Hockey East Player of the Week. McDonough helped lead Northeastern in a sweep over UConn and scored four goals and dished out three assists throughout the weekend.
National News
Minnesota is surging at the perfect time. The Golden Gophers extended their winning streak to eight this past weekend with a sweep over Wisconsin. Minnesota currently is tied with Denver for No. 3 in the pairwise rankings heading into the Big Ten tournament.
North Dakota also is playing its best hockey of the season right now. The Fighting Hawks have a six-game win streak of their own. Their two most recent came over then No. 6-ranked Western Michigan at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
