UND continues to top national men’s hockey polls

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The University of North Dakota will enter the final week of the regular season still sitting atop both national men’s hockey polls, which were released on Monday afternoon.

UND, winner of four straight and with just one loss in its last 13 games (11-1-1), received 49 of 50 first-place votes in the USCHO.com poll and 33 of 34 first-place nods in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll, the seventh time this season it has nabbed a No. 1 ranking.

UND is coming off of a series sweep of St. Cloud State (3-2, 3-1) that enabled UND to clinch at least a share of the Penrose Cup as National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) regular-season champion. UND will close out the regular season next week at fifth-ranked Miami and can claim the Penrose Cup outright with at least one point in the series.

UND enters the final week of the regular season with a 24-6-3 overall record and a 15-5-2-0 conference mark. The second-place RedHawks are six points behind at 13-8-1-1 in the NCHC and 20-11-1 overall.

USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll

Rk.      School (First place votes)       Record           Pts.         PR

1.         North Dakota (49)                     24-6-3           999            1

2.         Minnesota State (1)                        24-6-3            948            2

3.         Boston University                           21-7-5            849            4

4.         Michigan Tech                                  24-8-2            823            3

5.         Miami                                             20-11-1            807            5

6.         Minnesota Duluth                          19-12-3            736            6

7.         Denver                                           19-11-2            679            7

8.         Omaha                                            17-10-5            672            8

9.         Boston College                             20-11-3            579            9

10.       Providence                                     21-11-2            521          13

11.       Quinnipiac                                        21-9-4            511          10

12.       Yale                                                  17-7-5            461          12

13.       Bowling Green                               19-10-5            388          11

14.       Massachusetts-Lowell                  18-10-6            346          14

15.       Minnesota                                      18-11-3            303          15

16.       Michigan                                        19-11-0            302          17

17.       Vermont                                         18-12-4            157          18

18.       Colgate                                          19-11-4            107         NR

19.       Harvard                                          15-11-3              95          16

20.       Robert Morris                                  22-7-5              77          20

Others receiving votes: St. Lawrence 43, St. Cloud State 36, Northeastern 26, Bemidji State 19, Dartmouth 6, Notre Dame 5, Canisius 3, RIT 2.

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll

Rk.      School (1^st place votes)           Record           Pts.         PR

1.         North Dakota (33)                     24-6-3           509            1

2.         Minnesota State (1)                        24-6-3            473            2

3.         Boston University                           21-7-5            422            4

4.         Michigan Tech                                  24-8-2            376            3

5.         Miami                                             20-11-1            375            5

6.         Minnesota Duluth                          19-12-3            357            6

7.         Omaha                                            17-10-5            307            8

8.         Denver                                           19-11-2            278            7

9.         Boston College                             20-11-3            217          10

10.       Quinnipiac                                        21-9-4            175            9

11.       Providence                                     21-11-2            171          13

12.       Yale                                                  17-7-5            141          12

13.       Bowling Green                               19-10-5              91          11

14.       Massachusetts-Lowell                  18-10-6              79         NR

15.       Minnesota                                      18-11-3              60          14

Others receiving votes: Michigan 29, Robert Morris 8, Harvard 3, Colgate 3, St. Cloud State 2.