After a big showing against the former top-ranked team in the Pairwise, Boston College is back atop the Hockey East power rankings this week.
1. Boston College
12 points from your top line is a pretty good way to hold off the eleventh-ranked team in the country. If BC isn't the unanimous number one team in the country come this afternoon, somebody's drinking some awfully tasty Kool-Aid.
2. UNH
We won't know now, but I have a feeling that if UNH swept their trip through The Centennial State, they'd have been the best team in the country. But Denver suddenly looks vulnerable and so does Casey DeSmith, which could pose some big problems for the Wildcats if he's unable to get back to form.
3. BU
The Terriers needed a big showing from Sean Maguire and got it on Saturday against St. Lawrence, but will he be up to the task if his number's called next weekend against BC?
4. Providence
It stands to reason that Jon Gillies is going to have some hot streaks and some not-so-hot streaks, but it's not going to matter how cold he gets if Providence is able to keep dropping seven on its opposition.
5. Lowell
You can only ride the coattails of an 8-2 win for so long, but until someone else wants to get hotter than the Riverhawks, this is where they'll be.
6. UMass
A tie against the 18th-ranked team in the country isn't often much to hoot about. But in a conference that's so wrought with teams that are allergic to winning, it could be worse.
7. Merrimack
They haven't won since November 3rd, and even that took a game against Northeastern. But they're still better than Maine, right?
8. Maine
Barely.
9. Vermont
Sure, the Cats struggled mightily in two games at home against the fourth-ranked Golden Gophers this weekend. But hey, at least they didn't lose at home to St. Lawrence.
10. Northeastern
The Huskies have moments of brilliance, but when you get down to it, this is still a team that's very much stinging from the unanticipated departure of Greg Cronin 16 months ago.