Hockey ranked #1 in latest USCHO poll
October 18th, 2021 at 12:58 PM ^
This week’s https://t.co/2QgdyNoa0Z Division I Men’s Poll has been released! pic.twitter.com/bIfRqocIMh
— USCHO.com (@USCHO) October 18, 2021
October 18th, 2021 at 2:38 PM ^
Unbelievable that there are still those who voted for a team that we just beat as #1.
October 18th, 2021 at 1:03 PM ^
Not meaningful in any objective sense, but it was at least earned on the ice against good teams.
And it does confirm that the expectation this year is high.
Now, NCAA playoff hockey is random; the "best team," whatever that is, has a probability of winning the title that is well south of 50%. So a failure to win the national title this year should not be seen as something to be angry about, or as a referendum on the coach or the program (assuming that the team otherwise performs at a high level throughout the season). But this is not a year for moral victories, either. Anything that is not a championship will be a considerable disappointment.
This is the team Mel Pearson has wanted to build. They have experience together, talent everywhere, veteran players anchoring key moments combined with peerless talent that runs deep into the roster.
Let's go far.
October 18th, 2021 at 1:08 PM ^
I'm just enjoying that beautiful 1 next to our name for the first time in over a decade
October 18th, 2021 at 1:08 PM ^
It is still hilariously early to even consider but they are also #1 in pairwise. The regular season goal should be the #1 overall seed then you get the weakest team in the field, an AQ from the weakest league. That makes it a lot easier to get to the Frozen Four.
October 18th, 2021 at 1:10 PM ^
Not surprising and fun to see.
And what you said: no guarantees, but a strong foundation.
October 18th, 2021 at 1:18 PM ^
Agreed. No matter how much talent, one should not "expect" to win the national title because the odds say you will likely be wrong. The one game format and the nature of hockey in general make it crazy to assume or expect anything beyond the basics. I would be "angry" or very very disappointed if the team fails to make the tourney for some reason (seems quite unlikely but it's not a given) and probably disappointed if the team failed to get a #1 seed and/or get to the Frozen Four (which is a realistic expectation but not easy to obtain). Obviously the goal is to win it all but if, for example, the team wins the league, gets a #1 seed, makes the Frozen Four but doesn't win it all, it would just confirm that the team overall had a very good year but missed a great opportunity. I am really trying to keep "reasonable expectations" in focus and enjoy the journey with this team (such a fun and exciting team to watch play the game) without overanalyzing each mistake or loss along the way.
October 18th, 2021 at 1:20 PM ^
Also worth noting, they've been without a 1st round pick (Beecher) all season.
October 18th, 2021 at 2:44 PM ^
I think I saw that referenced earlier but don't remember hearing a reason. Is he hurt?
October 19th, 2021 at 9:20 AM ^
He's hurt, but I haven't seen anything on type of injury or timeline for return.
October 18th, 2021 at 1:32 PM ^
Very good point! Just like in basketball - one subpar game, or an opponent's above par game, can do in a tournament run. And for that, you tip your hat to the victor.
October 18th, 2021 at 2:45 PM ^
Yeah, look no further than Red's dominant run from 1996-98. We won the national championship in 96 and 98, yet 1997 was almost certainly the best team he ever fielded...
October 18th, 2021 at 2:46 PM ^
Very good point. All it takes is one bad bounce. But, we should at least expect a close game if it was a loss against mediocre teams. Against good teams it can go either way. Hope they stay healthy. Exciting year ahead.
October 18th, 2021 at 7:02 PM ^
I agree with you sir, one and done tournaments are hard to win but man would it be nice to get title #10
October 18th, 2021 at 1:17 PM ^
Hayden Fox still gets a vote, apparently.
October 18th, 2021 at 1:41 PM ^
You know he just lets Dauber fill out the ballot.
October 18th, 2021 at 1:22 PM ^
#1 in hockey
#6 in basketball
#6 in football.
Not even going to bring up the other sports Michigan is highly rated in. Pretty damn good AD going on here.
October 18th, 2021 at 1:40 PM ^
State of Minnesota: pretty good at hockey.
October 18th, 2021 at 1:43 PM ^
For sure, just not as good as the University of Michigan
October 18th, 2021 at 1:44 PM ^
They're good.
But not good enough.
October 18th, 2021 at 1:49 PM ^
I like the epic double bird of the week in the background.
October 18th, 2021 at 1:59 PM ^
Which one?
October 18th, 2021 at 2:01 PM ^
Holy cow! The one jumped out at me. I didn't see the other ones.
October 18th, 2021 at 2:39 PM ^
The Minnesota fans seem to think we are "#1" with their finger votes.
October 18th, 2021 at 2:02 PM ^
Man, that's a lot of Minnesota.
October 18th, 2021 at 4:00 PM ^
Historically, not as good as the state of Michigan.
NCAA National Championships:
Michigan: 9
Lake Superior State: 3
Michigan State: 3
Michigan Tech: 3
Northern Michigan: 1
State of Michigan total: 19 (5 teams with a championship)
Minnesota:
Minnesota: 5
Minnesota Duluth: 3
State of Minnesota total: 8 (2 teams with a championship)
NHL Championships:
Detroit Red Wings: 11 (24 championship appearances)
Minnesota North Stars: 0 (2 championship appearances)
Minnesota Wild: 0 (0 championship appearances)
October 18th, 2021 at 8:09 PM ^
Stats I know very well, thanks for posting them, the Boston area needs to see them as well!
October 18th, 2021 at 2:01 PM ^
Mankato, isn't that a town in "Little House on the Prairie?"
October 18th, 2021 at 4:48 PM ^
The one and the same
October 18th, 2021 at 2:24 PM ^
As they say in Hockey: “Let’s do that Hockey.”
October 18th, 2021 at 2:43 PM ^
I think my freshman year we were ranked up in the top five at some point during the year, but Giordano destroyed our team. A tremendous waste of talent, myself excepted (from the ‘talented’ part) of course. I can’t imagine what it feels like to be ranked number one in the country. Happy for our boys in skates. Go blue
October 18th, 2021 at 2:44 PM ^
So here's what is messed up in this poll. There are 50 voters, with 20 points for a first place vote, for a total of 1000 points. Michigan got 988 points, so they were shorted 12 points by 5 voters. That means that there were at least two voters ranking Michigan 4th or worse, or one ranking Michigan 5th or worse. And I thought Phil Fulmer was bad...
Seriously, Michigan whips the previous #5 on the road, then beats the previous #1 and remains undefeated. That's not good enough for the top 2? And voting Mankato #1 is just stupid.
October 18th, 2021 at 3:03 PM ^
Yeah, having Mankato at 1 is pretty weird. I get they swept previously #1 UMass, although that preseason #1 for UMass was probably pretty inflated and based more on the fact that they were the defending national champions than it was on their actual team this year (it'd be like ranking LSU preseason #1 last year on the back of their 2019 national championship, despite losing much of the core of that championship team). And then they split with #2 St. Cloud St.
But to keep them #1 seems to be elevating strength of schedule over the results on the ice to an almost absurd degree.
October 18th, 2021 at 3:05 PM ^
No one's mentioned it yet, but Western Michigan checks in at #17 this week, too, so this weekend's series against the Broncos is a deceptively good matchup.
Plus Lake St. is in the receiving votes category, so it's not like they're some bottom of the barrel boat anchor on strength of schedule.
October 18th, 2021 at 3:24 PM ^
And one of the mods already snagged tickets for Saturday s game in K-zoo
October 18th, 2021 at 6:21 PM ^
Indeed I did, I got online today immediately at 10 am as soon as tickets became available and got three at the blue line.
I'll be going to a 2019 M Grad's wedding in Battle Creek Friday evening, the NU @ #6 Michigan football game at noon Saturday in The Big House, then heading back down I-94 immediately afterwards to meet up with my daughter and son-in-law to enjoy some #1 Michigan Hockey @ #17 WMU.
October 18th, 2021 at 6:52 PM ^
what a great plan for a saturday. go blue, go robf!
October 18th, 2021 at 3:17 PM ^
from 2018-2023 Michigan is going ti have like 30 players drafted ...thats CRAZY !!!
October 18th, 2021 at 4:56 PM ^
Hopefully they all have rings
October 18th, 2021 at 6:02 PM ^
I know being #1 now doesn't mean anything about future success but damn is cool!
October 18th, 2021 at 8:37 PM ^
Two cold weather college polls coming out today that didn't have Sparty in them.
