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College Hockey Rankings: North Dakota on the Climb

Like past seasons, North Dakota is proving to be a lethal second-half team once again.

By Matt Christians
Matt Christians

Boston College, Minnesota, Union, and Ferris State have solidified their standing in this weeks SB Nation College Hockey Power Rankings across the board, but other teams are moving in.

North Dakota has a history of performing at a high level after the new year has passed, and this year it looks to be no different.  As the NCHC Midseason Report indicated, North Dakota sports a winning percentage of .579 before the holidays and a .698 after the holidays while under head coach Dave Hakstol.

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Ranking

Dilks_medium

Chris Dilks

Cox_medium

Jeff Cox

Wells_medium

Nate Wells

Christians_medium

Matt Christians

Sporer_medium

Evan Sporer

Revans_medium

Ryan Evans

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SBN FINAL RANK
1 Bc_medium Bc_medium Bc_medium Bc_medium Bc_medium Bc_medium
Bc_medium
2 Minnesota_medium Minnesota_medium Minnesota_medium Minnesota_medium Minnesota_medium Minnesota_medium Minnesota_medium
3 Union_logo_medium Union_logo_medium Union_logo_medium Union_logo_medium Union_logo_medium Union_logo_medium Union_logo_medium
4 Bglogo_medium Bglogo_medium Bglogo_medium Bglogo_medium Bglogo_medium Bglogo_medium Bglogo_medium
5 Scsu_medium Northdakota_medium
Scsu_medium Northdakota_medium Scsu_medium Northdakota_medium Scsu_medium
6 Northdakota_medium Scsu_medium Qu_medium
Scsu_medium Northdakota_medium Scsu_medium Northdakota_medium
7 Umass-lowell_medium Northeastern_logo1-300x300_medium Umass-lowell_medium Umass-lowell_medium Umass-lowell_medium Wisconsinbadgers_medium Umass-lowell_medium
8 Northeastern_logo1-300x300_medium Umass-lowell_medium Wisconsinbadgers_medium Wisconsinbadgers_medium Wisconsinbadgers_medium Northeastern_logo1-300x300_medium Wisconsinbadgers_medium
9 Wisconsinbadgers_medium Wisconsinbadgers_medium Northeastern_logo1-300x300_medium Northeastern_logo1-300x300_medium Northeastern_logo1-300x300_medium Umass-lowell_medium Northeastern_logo1-300x300_medium
10 Qu_medium
Qu_medium
Northdakota_medium Mnstate_medium
Michigan_medium
Cornell-big-red-logo_medium Qu_medium


1. Boston College  21-4-3 (60)

Boston College saw its 11 game winning streak come to an end Saturday when the Eagles blew a two-goal third period at UMass Lowell and had to settle for a tie. Johnny Gaudreau pushed his personal point streak to 28 games with a second period goal. Jerry York's team is still in cruise control and on pace to win its fourth straight title in an even year.

- Jeff Cox

2. Minnesota 19-4-5 (54)

Minnesota enjoyed a week off following a sweep against a Wolverines team which has been hanging around the top ten all year. The Gophers maintain first place in the Big Ten conference race entering the final 3 weekends of the regular season. That kicks off Friday and Saturday at Mariucci Arena with Minnesota hosting Penn State for the very first time in what are the very last home games of the season.

- Nate Wells

3. Union 19-6-3 (48)

Rick Bennett's team continues to roll along, now 6-0-1 over its last seven. The Dutchmen clinched the Cleary Cup on Saturday with a 6-2 win over St. Lawrence. Bennett is 70-27-16 since taking over the program from Nate Leaman.

- Jeff Cox

4. Ferris State 20-6-3 (42)

The Bulldogs swept Alaska-Anchorage in Big Rapids last week, extending their lead in the WCHA standings to four points. With four conference games remaining, the Bulldogs need at most two victories to claim a share of the WCHA regular season title.

- Chris Dilks

5. St. Cloud State 19-5-5  (33)

The Huskies ran into Miami at the wrong time, and the RedHawks were able to upset St. Cloud on Friday night. But St. Cloud rebounded with a solid 3-0 shutout victory on Saturday. The Huskies are now tied with North Dakota in the NCHC standings, setting up a huge match-up next weekend against UND in St. Cloud.

- Chris Dilks

6. North Dakota 19-7-3 (29)

North Dakota continued to roll with a pair of victories at Minnesota-Duluth. North Dakota has now won 14 of their 17 games, making them one of the hottest teams in the country. They will be hoping to gain revenge for an early-season sweep on their home ice by St. Cloud by returning the favor and taking over first place in the NCHC next weekend.

- Chris Dilks

7. UMass-Lowell 15-6-5 (21)

The River Hawks can’t catch Boston College in the Hockey East standings, but they did end the Eagles 11-game winning streak with a come-from-behind- 2-2 tie on Saturday. Lowell will travel to Vermont this weekend to close out its conference schedule with a chance to lock up second place, which could mean avoiding Boston College until the Hockey East finals.

- Evan Sporer

8. Wisconsin 16-8-2 (17)

It was already Senior Night for the Badgers last Saturday, and they sent their upperclassmen out on a sweet note with a pair of wins against Michigan State. The Badgers finish the year 17-2-1 at the Kohl Center, which has helped keep them in NCAA tournament consideration, despite being 2-7-1 on the road.

- Chris Dilks

9. Northeastern 12-5-5 (16)

Kevin Roy had a huge weekend for the Huskies, recording a goal and five assists in two games against Maine. The result was a tie and a win for Northeastern, who clinched a first round bye in the Hockey East tournament. The Huskies' offense was fueled by a new top line of Roy, Mike Szmatula, and Zach Aston-Reese, who collectively combined for a line of 4-9=13 in the two games against the Black Bears.

- Evan Sporer

10. Quinnipiac  13-9-4 (7)

The Bobcats continue to struggle as injuries catch up to Rand Pecknold's team. Quinnipiac has lost three straight and four of five. QU still has too much talent to be forgotten about.

- Jeff Cox

Friendship Awards

Cornell (1 point), Michigan (1 point), Minnesota State (1 point),

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