Feb. 5, 2007
Notre Dame, Ind. –
The Notre Dame hockey team reached a level that it has never achieved in the 39-year history of the program today as the Irish have been ranked first in the nation in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com/CSTV hockey polls.
The Irish reached the top spot after sweeping Bowling Green this past weekend with 3-2 and 2-1 road wins while last week’s top team, New Hampshire split a series with Maine, losing 4-2 on Friday night before winning 2-1 on Saturday. The Wildcats fell to number three this week while the University of Minnesota moved up to number two.
The voting in both polls was tight with the Irish receiving 20 first-place votes and 482 points in the USA Today poll while Minnesota had nine first-place votes and 472 points. New Hampshire received the remaining five first-place votes and 465 points. The USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll is conducted each week in conjunction with the American Hockey Coaches Association. The poll includes input from coaches and journalists representing each of the six NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences, as well as composite votes from officers of the American Hockey Coaches Association and USA Hockey Magazine, the most widely distributed hockey magazine in the world.
In the USCHO.com/CSTV poll, voting was even tighter as the Irish picked up 17 first-place votes and 756 total points. Minnesota had 12 first-place votes and 753 points while New Hampshire had 11 firsts and 752 points.
“It’s great to get recognized, but it’s more important that we stay focused on our next game,” said Irish head coach Jeff Jackson following Monday’s practice. “We still have a lot of hockey to play this season and our team has a lot of room for improvement but we appreciate the recognition for what we’ve done so far.”
The highest the Irish have ever been ranked prior to this week is second. Notre Dame has occupied that spot twice this season (Jan. 2 and Jan. 31). Prior to that, the last time an Irish hockey team was ranked second was Jan. 31, 1977 in the WMPL Radio poll. Notre Dame also spent four weeks at No. 2 at the beginning of the 1973-74 season.
Notre Dame is now 23-5-2 on the year and 17-3-2 in the CCHA and has a four-point lead on second-place Michigan with six conference games left to play. The Irish have already clinched a first-round bye in the upcoming CCHA playoffs. The 17 league wins are the most ever in 17 seasons in the CCHA. They have won 23 or more games just three other times in the program’s history. Notre Dame won 23 games in 1972-73 (23-14-1) and again in 1981-82 (23-15-2) as members of the WCHA and CCHA respectively. The 1987-88 team was 27-4-2 on the year, playing as a Division I independent.
The Irish will put their number one ranking on the line this weekend at home versus the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks on Fri.-Sat., Feb. 9-10. Friday’s game has a 7:35 p.m. starting time while Saturday’s contest will start at 7:05 p.m. The Mavericks are currently in fifth place in the CCHA with a 13-12-7 overall record and are 10-9-3 in conference play.
A look at the polls for the week of Feb. 5:
USA TODAY/American Hockey Magazine (Feb. 5)
Last School Record Pts Week1. Notre Dame (20) 23-5-2 482 22. Minnesota (9) 23-5-3 472 33. New Hampshire (5) 20-5-1 465 14. St. Cloud State 17-5-4 414 45. Denver 20-10-2 348 56. Michigan State 17-8-2 338 77. Boston University 13-5-8 286 68. Michigan 21-9-0 259 109. Maine 17-8-2 252 910. Clarkson 17-7-4 212 811. North Dakota 15-11-2 159 1212. Miami 18-10-4 131 1113. Colorado College 16-10-2 121 NR14. Vermont 15-9-4 79 1415. Boston College 15-11-2 54 13
Receiving votes: St. Lawrence, 8.
USCHO.com /CSTV (Feb. 5) Last School Record Pts Week 1. Notre Dame (17) 23-5-2 756 2 2. Minnesota (12) 23-5-3 753 3 3. New Hampshire (11) 20-5-1 752 1 4. St. Cloud State 17-5-4 693 4 5. Denver 20-10-2 597 5 6. Michigan State 17-8-2 562 6 7. Maine 17-8-2 517 9 8. Boston University 13-5-8 507 7 9. Michigan 21-9-0 491 1110. Clarkson 17-7-4 471 811. North Dakota 15-11-2 389 1212. Miami 18-10-4 363 1013. Colorado College 16-10-2 351 1514. Vermont 15-9-4 296 1415. Boston College 14-10-1 265 1316. St. Lawrence 15-11-2 196 1717. Massachusetts 13-9-4 97 1918. Niagara 17-10-3 92 1619. Quinnipiac 13-9-5 80 1820. Cornell 11-9-3 72 20Receiving Votes: Bemidji State, 33; Lake Superior, 29;RIT, 12; Dartmouth, 7; Nebraska-Omaha, 7; Michigan Tech, 5;Northeastern, 5; Minnesota State, 1; Wisconsin, 1.