By Scott McLaughlin/DFP Staff
The Terriers are ranked No. 1 in this week’s USCHO.com poll, receiving 31 of 50 first-place votes. It marks the first time BU has been ranked No. 1 in the country since the end of its 2008-09 national championship season.
BU jumped up two spots from No. 3 after tying Maine, which climbed from seventh to fifth this week, on Saturday night. The Terriers leapfrogged over Minnesota-Duluth, which stayed No. 2 after splitting a series with No. 10 North Dakota, and Miami, which fell from first to fourth after a loss and tie against No. 20 Ferris State.
Elsewhere in Hockey East, Boston College fell from fourth to seventh after losing to New Hampshire, which moved up one spot to No. 9. The Wildcats also beat Massachusetts-Lowell this weekend. No other Hockey East team cracked the top 20 and Merrimack, BU’s opponent this weekend, was the only other one to even receive votes — it totaled seven points, 125 off of 20th.
It’s pretty difficult to follow the games all around college hockey outside of results. However, having seen all the home games, it’s pretty clear that we’ve got plenty of room for improvement. The Maine game was definitely the best in terms of quality of play, and I think BU showed a lot of character in that game. However, all but one or two of our wins this season have come by one goal, and we have looked vulnerable everywhere but in goal and shorthanded (for the most part).
These rankings only seem to account for record and not strength of opponent. A tie or even a loss to a good team might be more impressive than a one goal win over a mediocre team, especially at home, especially when we give up an early lead, and especially when we have 50 out of 60 minutes of looking pretty sluggish.
Maine was very encouraging. If we can stay out of the penalty box a bit more (Coyle’s turning point minor was not his fault, was it?), and if we can get some offense going against quality sides like Maine, we might actually start to earn that No. 1 ranking.
In reality, I think our ranking also reflects the fact that other good teams have had some struggles. For instance, BC on paper look like they’re in a post championship hangover, but they can never be counted out.
It is much too soon for this BU team to be ranked No. 1. As GoBU says, it is more about the early record and other top teams dropping games then who is actually No. 1 at this point.
BU is playing well and off to a great start, but they have been far from dominant. Still, this isn’t football or basketball where the top ranked teams can blow out the opposition, so winning the close ones all count.
BU is playing with much more energy, and generally more focus. But the consistency, except in goal, isn’t there. Yet.
There is a lot to be encouraged about this team, and its potential. And given its youth, chances are it is only going to improve.
BU is back among the elite and can play with anyone on a given night. But it is much too soon to anoint the Terriers with anything more than that.
The Terriers are on the road to being a very good team, and this early success will only encourage them, as well as the #1 ranking. Lets see if this will motivate them to play at an even higher level as they will need to in order to beat high quality opposition like UNH and B.C, although these clubs may not be as good as they are cracked up to be. In fact B.C just kicks butt vs western clubs but tends to struggle vs the east, note their slim 7-6 victory vs Maine in H.E. championship last year and fact that Terriers beat them twice last year.