Dressed to the Nines

What a difference six months makes! In the final USCHO poll of the 2006-07 season, BU was ninth. And now, almost half a year later with much off-season effort invested, no unexpected defections and a freshman class ranked second in the nation by INCH and Red Line Report, the Terriers are ranked….still ninth, in both the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey polls.

Both polls put North Dakota at the top of the heap. The USA Today poll ranks defending national champion Michigan State second and BC third, while USCHO has the reverse. Both polls rank New Hampshire sixth. Maine was 12th in the USCHO poll and 13th in USA Today’s. Vermont snared 20th in the USCHO poll. A year ago, BU was the USCHO pre-season pick for third.

Odds and ends...

The Warrior Rink Rat Blog looked at the percentage of goals each Hockey East team lost since last season due to graduations and early departures. BU has the smallest percentage lost with 23.4. Maine tops the chart with 72.4 percent of its goals gone. The data, which we was forward to the blog this week, were generated in May, so summer defections--only Lowell's Jason Bergeron comes to mind--would not apply.

College Hockey News managing editor and CSTV studio host Adam Wodon checks in on the reprecussions of Wayne State's plan to drop men's hockey as a varsity sports after the 2007-08 season and reveals Mercyhurst's efforts to find a solution that saves the NCAA tourney autobids that seem likely to be lost.

Hockey East announced that its 25th anniversary season (2008-09) plans include creation of a highlight DVD chronicling the league's history along with numerous team and individual achievements.