Yesterday, U.S. College Hockey Online released its 2004-2005 preseason poll, ranking the top 15 teams in NCAA Division I men”s ice hockey. Cornell, coming off a season in which it compiled a 16-11-6 record and finished second in the ECAC, was ranked 13th in the poll. The Red garnered 150 total points.
Michigan took the top spot with 17 out of a possible 40 first-place votes after claiming the Central Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season title last season. The Wolverines, who finished at 27-14-2, return 21 letterwinners to their squad this year.
Maine landed the No. 2 ranking, receiving nine first-place votes and 493 total points. The Black Bears finished second in Hockey East last season, putting together a 33-8-3 overall record.
Boston College, which was ranked first in the USA Today preseason poll, fell to the No. 3 position in the USCHO.com rankings, capturing two first-place votes and 488 points. The Eagles lost to the Black Bears in last season”s Frozen Four semifinal, their fifth trip to the tournament in the last seven years.
Another 2004 Frozen Four competitor, the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, grasped the No. 4 spot with 447 points and four first-place votes.
The Bulldogs return 20 letterwinners from last season, in which the squad fell to eventual NCAA champion Denver University in the tournament semifinals.
Rounding out the top five is the University of North Dakota, a team coming off its 13th Western Collegiate Hockey Association title and 19th NCAA tournament appearance. Spots six through 15 belonged to, in order, Minnesota, Denver, Wisconsin, Michigan State, New Hampshire, Dartmouth, Ohio State, Cornell, Colorado College, and Miami (Ohio).
Archived article by Sun Staff