As we close another week of a unique season — with the Big Ten set to adjourn for the holidays and selected players prepare for the IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton — Minnesota (6-0), St. Cloud State (3-0), and Minnesota-Duluth (3-0) are the nation’s elite teams. No. 2 ranked Boston College is 4-0; their roster features four Minnesota Wild draft picks, including first-round selection Matt Boldy.
UMD beat winless Miami Sunday afternoon, 5-3, while SCSU outlasted much-improved Omaha in the nightcap by the same score. The Huskies are 9-0 all time at Baxter Arena. Back-up goalie Jaxon Castor picked up his second career collegiate win. “He hung in there and played well," Head Coach Brett Larson said after the game. The Minnesota schools now sit near the top of Monday's new polls: Duluth 3, Minnesota 4, and St. Cloud from unranked to 13.
The Gophers — off to their best start in nearly 20 years — travel to No. 5 Michigan, possibly the the second best squad in the Big Ten, while the Huskies and Bulldogs continue play in the Omaha pod for two more weeks.
AJ Kaufman writes selected columns regarding college hockey and NCAA/summer collegiate baseball for KACMEDIA.