Hockey poll Jan. 29 - UNH No. 1

[billhoward]

UNH with just four losses up to No. 1 and Clarkson up two spots into eighth. Rich S is probably dying to tell us how many weeks this decade Clarkson has ascended into single-digit rankings. Voters apparently not yet impressed with the Big Red's one game win streak. Not even one lousy all-received-votes point.

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Jan. 29 men's poll

No.    Team   Points   Record   Last week   Weeks in top 15
1   New Hampshire   507 (31)   19-4-1   2   16
2   Notre Dame   466   (3)   21-5-2   3   13
3   Minnesota    442   21-5-3   1   16
4   St. Cloud State   411   17-5-4   4   11
5   Denver            375   19-9-2   5   14
6   Boston University   287   13-5-7   6   16
7   Michigan State   265   16-8-1   8   16
8   Clarkson            264   16-6-4   10   10
9   Maine            222   16-7-2   7   16
10   Michigan            219   19-9-0   11   16
11   Miami (Ohio)   212   18-9-3   9   16
12   North Dakota   136   15-11-2   15   12
13   Boston College   112   14-9-1   14   16
14   Vermont             82   14-8-4   12   8
15   Niagara University    42   17-8-3   NR   1
 
Others receiving votes: Colorado College, 20; St. Lawrence University, 16; Sacred Heart University, 2. 

... and the USCHO voters dropped Cornell two places.

USCHO.com/CSTV Division I Men's Poll
Rank   Team   1sts   Record   Points   Last Poll
1   New Hampshire   -36   19-4-1   795   2
2   Notre Dame   -1   21-5-2   734   3
3   Minnesota   -3   21-5-3   731   1
4   St. Cloud State      17-5-4   684   4
5   Denver      19-9-2   631   5
6   Michigan State      16-8-1   515   9
7   Boston University      13-5-7   499   7
8   Clarkson      16-6-4   494   10
9   Maine      16-7-2   471   6
10   Miami      18-9-3   458   8
11   Michigan      19-9-0   428   12
12   North Dakota      15-11-2   374   15
13   Boston College      14-9-1   339   13
14   Vermont               14-8-4   308   11
15   Colorado College      14-10-2   222   14
16   Niagara               17-8-3   209   16
17   St. Lawrence      14-10-2   165   17
18   Quinnipiac      12-8-4   74   20
19   Massachusetts      12-8-4   69   NR
20   Cornell               10-8-3   56   18
Others Receiving Votes: Lake Superior 51, RIT 27, Wisconsin 20, Michigan Tech 19, Bemidji State 14, Nebraska-Omaha 5, Northeastern 3, Sacred Heart 3, Ohio State 2 

[cth95]

We don't even get any votes in the USA Today poll.  I wonder how long it has been since that happened.

[ebilmes]

[quote cth95]We don't even get any votes in the USA Today poll.  I wonder how long it has been since that happened.[/quote]

From what I can tell, 2004.

http://www.tbrw.info/seasons/2004/polls/2004_poll_history.html

[cth95]

Thanks for taking the time to look that up.  I'm not surprised, but I still would have thought we stayed at least in the top 20 that year.

[Will]

[quote cth95]Thanks for taking the time to look that up.  I'm not surprised, but I still would have thought we stayed at least in the top 20 that year.[/quote]

January 2004 was a rather lean month for Cornell, with a record of 2-5-1.  Granted, it wasn't as lean as January 2007, but I'd say that's enough to drop Cornell out of the top 20.

[cth95]

I forgot about that.  I was thinking we stayed around .500.

Maybe it's better if I don't remember that season very well.  ::whistle::

[French Rage]

How could we have been in the top 20 in a season we never played? ::screwy::

[cth95]

[quote French Rage]How could we have been in the top 20 in a season we never played? ::screwy::[/quote]

Reputation from '03 Frozen Four.  

Besides, don't we talk on here often about moving up and down without playing.  ;-)

[MikeR]

[quote billhoward]UNH with just four losses up to No. 1 and Clarkson up two spots into eighth. Rich S is probably dying to tell us how many weeks this decade Clarkson has ascended into single-digit rankings. [/quote]

Should be easy.  One week this decade - March 5, 2001 (both polls).

[French Rage]

[quote MikeR][quote billhoward]UNH with just four losses up to No. 1 and Clarkson up two spots into eighth. Rich S is probably dying to tell us how many weeks this decade Clarkson has ascended into single-digit rankings. [/quote]

Should be easy.  One week this decade - March 5, 2001 (both polls).[/quote]

Right before facing that powerhouse Vermont in the ECAC first round. :-)

[Rich S]

quote]

Right before facing that powerhouse Vermont in the ECAC first round. :-)[/quote]

Yep, just like the results when Cornell faced "that powerhouse" in their first action in the ECAC's in 2004.

Difference is that Clarkson fans admit that the 2001 series "happened."  :-|

[Rich S]

[quote billhoward]UNH with just four losses up to No. 1 and Clarkson up two spots into eighth. Rich S is probably dying to tell us how many weeks this decade Clarkson has ascended into single-digit rankings.  
[/quote]

Actually not.  I've never been a big poll watcher.  They usually don't mean all that much.

I do recall one year ('93 or '94 perhaps) when Tech got as high as 2nd or 3rd late in the RS.  Didn't do 'em a bit of good.

[jtwcornell91]

[quote Rich S]quote]

Right before facing that powerhouse Vermont in the ECAC first round. :-)[/quote]

Yep, just like the results when Cornell faced "that powerhouse" in their first action in the ECAC's in 2004.

Difference is that Clarkson fans admit that the 2001 series "happened."  :-|[/quote]

I'm with you on the silliness of applying "it never happened" to that playoff series, but 9-beating-2 in a 12-team playoff wasn't quite as unprecedented as 10-beating-1 in a 10-team playoff.  Especially when Tech had never lost a playoff game in Cheel, let alone a series.

I remember being in a lab at LSU and chatting online with Clarksy after he got back from Game Two--having tooted the train whistle for like two minutes after the GWG--and said he thought CCT would lose the next night.  One of the most dramatic nights in the ECAC, but surpassed for me by the night in 2000 when Union came back from two goals down in the closing minutes to beat RPI, and then UVM cancelled their season.  This is why free webcasts are/were so great, so you can do a quick around-the-league after your game ends.

[Trotsky]

[quote Rich S]I do recall one year ('93 or '94 perhaps) when Tech got as high as 2nd or 3rd late in the RS.  Didn't do 'em a bit of good.[/quote]

As the fog rolls in to envelop what remains of my memory, I seem to recall this, too.  Was this the same year Tech got utterly screwed and had to play Wisconsin (sweeping them) and then Lake State (upsetting them in a best-of-three) and then had to immediately pick up and get out to the semis where, exhausted, they lost to BU?  That was '91.

In any case, Tech had some exciting, classy teams over that period.  It was a pleasure to go up to the North Country in the early 90's, even though it usually meant certain death.

[Give My Regards]

[quote Trotsky]
As the fog rolls in to envelop what remains of my memory, I seem to recall this, too.  Was this the same year Tech got utterly screwed and had to play Wisconsin (sweeping them) and then Lake State (upsetting them in a best-of-three) and then had to immediately pick up and get out to the semis where, exhausted, they lost to BU?  That was '91.
[/quote]

I doubt very much that Clarkson was highly ranked (e.g. top five) in the polls in '91, though they obviously had a very good team that year.  As for the Knights being "utterly screwed" -- meaning they wound up seeded fourth out of six in the East and didn't get what would have been a first-round bye (12-team tourney) back then -- the only reason that could be given for them deserving a higher seed was that Clarkson won the regular-season and tournament championship that year.  Unfortunately, that wasn't part of the selection criteria then, but it did become part of the criteria shortly after that.  As I recall, this resulted a few years later in BU winning the HE regular-season championship (actually tying for it but being considered the champs due to tiebreakers) and their tournament and getting the coveted bye, despite an RPI rating and other selection criteria that ordinarily would have pegged them as the #11 or so team.  Soon after that, the reward for winning the regular-season and tourney championships magically disappeared from the selection criteria.