Hi everyone,
 
As of today Maine leads all eastern teams in the PWR.  One of the
criteria for this ranking is record against teams under consideration
(TUC); teams whose won-loss records are .500 or better.  PC finished the
year at 18-18-2 and hence they remain a TUC.  If we had swept all four
games from PC the past two weeks our TUC would have changed from 11-3-3
to 7-3-2.  Also, if Colorado College had won their series against
Minnesota, our TUC would have dropped to 5-3-2 (since Minnesota would
have dropped out of the TUC group) including wins against those "powers"
Quinnipiac and Canisius.  The tie against PC and Minnesota's road sweep
of CC were very important for Maine.
 
Two years ago a strange thing happened to Maine when we beat Lowell in
the HE semifinal game.  With that loss Lowell acquired a below .500
record which dropped several wins from our TUC, and the result was we
dropped several positions in the overall PWR rankings overnight. It
contributed to our need to win the HE title to gain entry to the NCAA
playoffs that year.
 
The one thing that can cause the PWR to change dramatically is the
inclusion or exclusion of the teams with records close to .500.  Thank
goodness that those "bubble"" teams which would affect Maine the most
have concluded their seasons!
 
On to the Fleet to bite a Terrier, skin a mildcat and nip that beagle!!!
 
Cheers,
 
Rick Sayles