UND Hockey takes top spot in polls

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – A win and a tie on opening weekend landed North Dakota not only an Ice Breaker Tournament championship, but also the top spot in both national polls this week.

UND (1-0-1, 0-0-0-0 NCHC) beat Lake Superior State on Friday and tied with host Maine on Saturday, vaulting from No. 4 to No. 1 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls that were released on Monday. UND received 18 of 50 first-place votes and 16 of 34 in the latter.

Previously top-ranked Boston College fell out of the top spot after a season-opening loss to RPI.

North Dakota will face unranked Bemidji State on Friday and Saturday in a home-and-home non-conference series.

USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll

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

1.         North Dakota (18)                       1-0-1           922            4

2.         Providence (13)                                 1-0-1            870            7

3.         Omaha (8)                                          2-0-0            842          10

4.         Boston College (7)                           1-1-0            832            1

5.         Denver                                               1-1-0            652            5

6.         Boston University                             0-1-0            647            3

7.         Minnesota Duluth                              0-1-0            645            2

8.         Harvard (2)                                        0-0-0            629            8

9.         Massachusetts-Lowell (2)                1-0-0            555          14

10.       Bowling Green                                   2-0-0            521          16

11.       Michigan                                            0-0-0            415          13

12.       St. Cloud State                                  2-0-0            412          17

13.       Yale                                                    0-0-0            377          12

14.       Minnesota State                                0-2-0            316            6

15.       Minnesota                                          0-1-0            304            9

16.       Michigan Tech                                    0-0-0            288          15

17.       Quinnipiac                                          2-0-0            284          18

18.       Miami                                                 0-1-1            234          11

19.       St. Lawrence                                      2-0-0            211          19

20.       Vermont                                             1-0-0            128         NR

Others receiving votes: Michigan State 61, Bemidji State 60, Union 54, Northeastern 40, Notre Dame 40, Clarkson 24, Penn State 24, Princeton 19, New Hampshire 18, Robert Morris 17, Rensselaer 15, Colgate 10, Mercyhurst 7, Northern Michigan 6, Cornell 5, Maine 5, Massachusetts 5, Ferris State 3, Wisconsin 2, Brown 1.

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll

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

1.         North Dakota (16)                       1-0-1           477            4

2.         Providence (7)                                   1-0-1            422            7

3.         Boston College (5)                           1-1-0            409            1

4.         Omaha (1)                                          2-0-0            364          11

5.         Harvard (3)                                        0-0-0            323            5

6.         Boston University                             0-1-0            317            2

7.         Minnesota Duluth (1)                        0-1-0            302            3

8.         Denver                                               0-1-0            244            6

9.         Massachusetts-Lowell                      1-0-0            201          14

10.       Bowling Green                                   2-0-0            174         NR

11.       Michigan                                            0-0-0            152          13

12.       St. Cloud State                                  2-0-0            118         NR

13.       Minnesota                                          0-1-0            117            8

14.       Yale                                                    0-0-0              93          12

15.       Minnesota State                                0-2-0              92            9

Others receiving votes: Quinnipiac 67, Miami 59, St. Lawrence 49, Michigan Tech 32, Vermont 29, Notre Dame 7, Union 7, Michigan State 5, Northeastern 4, Penn State 4, Robert Morris 2, Northern Michigan 1.