There was a very complete article in the Star Tribune on Friday on the major
college hockey polls (no, the Hockey-L poll wasn't included!) I will excerpt
some of the article here.
 
Headline: Pick a puck poll, four rankings classify colleges
 
By Dennis Brackin, Staff Writer
 
Hockey's polls are compiled by two radio stations (WMPL in Houghton, Mich.,
and WMEB in Orono, Maine), a small daily newspaper (Troy, N.Y.) and a cable TV
show (College Hockey Showcase, produced in the Twin Cities).
 
"You can start your own [poll] anytime you want," Gophers coach Doug Woog
said, laughing. "You've just got to convince somebody in the media that the
people you're using on your [voting] committee are credible enough."
 
That's more truth than fiction. A new national hockey poll could spring up any
time, any place. Bob Olson, owner and general manager of WMPL -- 1,00 watts
AM, 3,000 watts FM -- in Houghton, Mich. operates the oldest poll. The WMPL
poll is 25 years old and traces it's roots to national television commentator
Gary Bender, who began the ratings when he worked at WKOW radio in Madison,
Wisc. The poll appeared headed for extinction a year later when Bender left
Madison for a network job. Enter Olson.
 
"No one else was doing it," he said. "Football had a poll, basketball had a
poll, so I felt we should keep it going."
 
Olson's WMPL poll -- or "Vimple" as Woog says -- has seen numerous other
hockey polls come and go. Olson says most polls sprang up at radio stations or
newspapers where the local college team had a chance at a national title.
 
WMPL, meanwhile, has become a national clearinghouse for hockey scores; the
station gathers results of all college games, and offers them free of charge
tocallers at (906) 482-3705.
 
The newest poll belongs to Tim Leonard, a Troy Record reporter who unabashedly
claims his poll should be the ranking of record. There can be no debate that
the Record's Top 10 has the most extensive voting panel, consisting of 21
coaches (four from each league, including Woog, and one independent), seven
writers (two from each league, but the WCHA is one member short) and one NHL
scout.
 
"I've got to tell you, as far as I'm concerned, I don't know why the other
people even bother," Leonard said.
 
Leonard started his poll last season after the rival newspaper in Albany
dropped it's national hockey poll. Leonard admits his reasons for starting the
poll do not exactly stamp him the hockey purist.
 
"To be truthful, one of the reasons I did it is because I figured it would
look good on a resume," Leonard said.
 
The largest potential audience belongs to College Hockey USA, which can reach
38 million homes via cable-television. College Hockey USA and WMPL both rely
on a panel of 10 coaches for their polls. College Hockey USA which was started
in Duluth a decade ago, has two coaches from each of the four conferences and
two independent coaches.
 
Olson admits that the WMPL poll is slightly biased, because there are six
western coaches and just four from the east. WMEB is the only all-media poll,
with a panel of 17 hockey writers (four from each conference, one
independent).
 
For several years the the NCAA Division I hockey championship committee
published a weekly poll after Jan. 1. But the NCAA poll stopped last season,
when a new NCAA rule prohibited sports with media-inspired polls to publish
NCAA coaches' polls
 
Carol S. White                            BITNET: c-whit@uminn1
University of Minnesota        internet:[log in to unmask]
Office of the Registrar
(612) 625-8517                                    GO Gophers!!!