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!!!