The College Hockey Discussion List Poll for January 29, 1992: Teams were given 15 points for a first-place vote, 14 for a second-place vote, and so on down to 1 point for a fifteenth-place vote. Total first- place votes are in parentheses. Well, it finally happened. After being the HOCKEY-L poll's #1-ranked team since our poll first came out (eight straight weeks in all), the Black Bears suffered a loss to Northeastern, Hockey East's eighth-place (now tied for seventh) team and consequently fell to third in the rankings this week. That ought to make Maine coach Shawn Walsh happy -- he's often said he doesn't like his team being ranked #1. Congrats go to Minnesota, the new top team. Composite poll (9 responses): Last Record Pts. Week 1. Minnesota (5) 20-6 127 3 2. Lake Superior (3) 17-4-2 124 2 3. Maine (1) 19-3 122 1 4. Michigan 18-4-3 100 4 5. Wisconsin 15-8-1 89 7 6. Northern Michigan 15-8-3 87 5 7. Michigan State 14-5-5 76 8 8. Boston University 17-5-1 70 6 9. St. Lawrence 13-5-2 66 11 10. Providence 16-7-1 57 9 11. Alaska-Anchorage 19-5-1 46 14 12. New Hampshire 14-9 28.5 12 13. Clarkson 14-5-1 25 10 14. Western Michigan 12-8-2 24.5 15 15. Harvard 8-3-3 22 13 Others receiving votes: Yale, Minnesota-Duluth, Cornell The HOCKEY-L poll reached another milestone of sorts this week when, for the first time, there were more Western responses than Eastern responses. Eastern responses: Western responses: 1. Minnesota (2) 56 1. Minnesota (3) 71 Maine (1) 56 2. Lake Superior (2) 69 3. Lake Superior (1) 55 3. Maine 66 4. Michigan 47 4. Michigan 53 5. Wisconsin 43 5. Michigan State 48 6. Northern Michigan 39 Northern Michigan 48 7. Boston University 34 7. Wisconsin 46 St. Lawrence 34 8. Providence 37 9. Michigan State 28 9. Boston University 36 10. Providence 20 10. St. Lawrence 32 11. Alaska-Anchorage 16 11. Alaska-Anchorage 30 12. Clarkson 15 12. New Hampshire 24 Harvard 15 13. Western Michigan 15 14. Western Michigan 9.5 14. Clarkson 10 15. Yale 6 15. Harvard 7 Times- HOCKEY-L Union NCAA TCHCR Team Record Rank Rank Rank Rank Minnesota 20-6 1 2 1 1 Lake Superior 17-4-2 2 3 2 2 Maine 19-3 3 1 3 6 Michigan 18-4-3 4 4 4 3 Wisconsin 15-8-1 5 7 7 7 Northern Michigan 15-8-3 6 5 6 4 Michigan State 14-5-5 7 10 5 5 Boston University 17-5-1 8 8 7 10 St. Lawrence 13-5-2 9 6 7 13 Providence 16-7-1 10 10 12 Alaska-Anchorage 19-5-1 11 15 9 New Hampshire 14-9 12 12 20 Clarkson 14-5-1 13 9 13 19 Western Michigan 12-8-2 14 8 Harvard 8-3-3 15 11 17 The NCAA ranked Minnesota-Duluth #14. I found the _Times-Union_ poll particularly interesting this week. I recall someone on the list saying awhile back that the _Times-Union_ poll seemed to have a bit of a Western slant, but it doesn't look like it this week. Maine retained its #1 ranking in ATU, while the Black Bears fell to third in both HOCKEY-L and the NCAA poll. Clarkson also stayed in the top 10 (#9) while dropping to 13th in HOCKEY-L and the NCAA. Conversely, Michigan State is ranked 7th by HOCKEY-L and 5th by both the NCAA and TCHCR -- but the Spartans are 10th in the _Times-Union_. Here's a TADPOLL composite of the three polls above: HOCKEY-L, _Times- Union_, and NCAA. Teams receive 15 points for a first-place vote in any of the three polls, 14 points for a second, etc. Since the _Times-Union_ only ranks 10 teams, some of the Top 15 wind up getting a little short-changed in this composite. Granted, it would be a lot more interesting with more media polls to munch together, but here's a first look: 1. Minnesota (2) 44 2. Maine (1) 41 Lake Superior 41 4. Michigan 36 5. Northern Michigan 31 6. Wisconsin 29 7. Michigan State 26 St. Lawrence 26 9. Boston University 25 10. Clarkson 13 11. Providence 12 12. New Hampshire 8 13. Alaska-Anchorage 6 Harvard 6 15. Minnesota-Duluth 2 Western Michigan 2 -- To vote in the HOCKEY-L poll, send your response to: [log in to unmask] The deadline for responses is Tuesday at nidnight. The poll is released every Wednesday morning.