The Spittin' Chiclets College Hockey Rankings Are Back For Week 1 Of The NCAA Hockey Season
College hockey is FINALLY here. In honor of the best college sport being back in action, the Spittin’ Chiclets College Hockey Rankings are here for the 3rd straight season. The rankings won’t be posted weekly this year, based off the fact it got to the point where I’d go three of four weeks with the same top 10. So they will be a little more spaced out this year but any college hockey news can still be found on barstoolsports.com
1.) Minnesota Duluth
2.) Denver
3.) Minnesota State
4.) Cornell
5.) Providence
6.) Massachusetts
7.) St. Cloud State
8.) Notre Dame
9.) Boston College
10.) Western Michigan
First up, we’ve got the back-to-back defending national champions, the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. It’s pretty tough to go back-to-back and not come into the next season as the top ranked team. Let us also remember that Minnesota-Duluth refuses to graduate kids. They just win national championships and come back to school every year. Like when is Scott Perunovich going to graduate? Or go play in the NHL? It feels like this kid has been ripping up the NCAA for years now. Nick Swaney is back for another year as well. Swaney finished last season with 25 points in 40 games and was a pretty big part of the natty run.
Next up we have Denver. The Pios are returning the two players who had the most points on the roster in Liam Finley and Emilio Pettersen. Defenseman Ian Mitchell is returning as well and will wear the ‘C’ this season. I like the Pios a lot this season. They are returning guys left and right and have one hell of a coach in David Carle. Denver is a wagon year in and year out, I don’t know why this year would be any different. Right now, I like the Pios to win the National Championship but what the fuck do I know.
I get it, Massachusetts is NewMass. They are basically an entire new program after last season’s national championship run. But that doesn’t change the fact they lost the best player in the country in Cale Makar to the Colorado Avalanche. Greg Carvel has done a fantastic job recruiting and they still have Marc Del Gaizo and Mitchell Chaffee returning. But fuck, Cale Makar put that team on his back last season. I think UMass will be good, but I’m not sure we’ll see the same magic we saw the Minutemen have last year.
I rounded out the top-10 with Western Michigan. Josh Passoly and Hugh McGing lead the team in goals last season (both had 16) and both are returning for this upcoming season. Senior Trevor Gorsuch got a majority of the minutes in net last season so they’ll need to find his replacement, but with Austin Cain and Ben Blacker on the roster I don’t think they should be too worried. The Broncos were a nice 21-15-1 last season and I actually think they could improve this year. My roommate played at Denver and when asked about playing at Western Michigan he described it as “playing against the Dothraki”. The Dothraki were some scary motherfuckers. So I like my chances betting on the Broncos this year, especially playing at the Lawson Ice Arena.
Overall, last season was a blast to cover college hockey and I expect this season to be even more fun. College hockey is a niche market, but once you start following it, it’s impossible to stop.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
COLE CAUFIELD – WISCONSIN – MONTREAL CANADIENS (1ST ROUND 2019)
JOHHNY BEECHER – MICHIGAN – BOSTON BRUINS (1ST ROUND 2019)
**SCOTT PERUNOVICH – MINNESOTA-DULUTH – ST. LOUIS BLUES (2ND ROUND 2018)
ALEX TURCOTTE – WISCONSIN – LA KINGS – (1ST ROUND 2019)
EMELIO PETTERSEN – DENVER – CALGARY FLAMES (6TH ROUND 2018)
**HOBEY BAKER PICK
FRIDAY NIGHT GAMES
5:05 PM EDT
Ohio St.
Western Mich.
7:00 PM EDT
Wisconsin
Boston College
7:00 PM EDT
Alaska-Anch.
Maine
7:00 PM EDT
Rensselaer
Massachusetts
7:00 PM EDT
Holy Cross
Providence
7:00 PM EDT
American Int’l
Quinnipiac
7:00 PM EDT
Northeastern
Union (N.Y.)
7:05 PM EDT
St. Lawrence
Mercyhurst
7:05 PM EDT
New Hampshire
Miami (Ohio)
7:05 PM EDT
Air Force
Notre Dame
7:05 PM EDT
Bentley
Robert Morris
7:05 PM EDT
Army West Point
UConn
7:07 PM EDT
Alaska-Fair.
Michigan Tech
7:07 PM EDT
Mich. St.
Northern Mich.
7:37 PM EDT
Denver
Lake Superior St.
8:05 PM EDT
RIT
Bowling Green
8:07 PM EDT
St. Cloud St.
Bemidji State
8:07 PM EDT
UMass Lowell
Minn. Duluth
8:07 PM EDT
Arizona St.
Minnesota St.
8:07 PM EDT
Alabama Huntsville
Omaha
8:37 PM EDT
Canisius
North Dakota
9:37 PM EDT
Minnesota
Colorado Col.
TBA
Clarkson
Michigan
TBA
Sacred Heart
Penn St.