Monday, September 29, 2014
Gophers Lead Preseason Polls
Last season’s national runner-up favored by both polls entering 2014-15.
Minnesota, coming off an appearance in the 2014 NCAA championship game, has been tabbed as the favorite in the 2014-15 preseason polls, released today by USA Hockey and USCHO.com.
The Gophers secured 68 of the 86 possible first-place votes between the two polls. North Dakota, which lost to Minnesota in the NCAA semifinals last spring, ranks second in both polls, with Providence and Boston College rounding out the top four, respectively.
Minnesota returns Big Ten Player and Goaltender of the Year Adam Wilcox and Defensive Player of the Year Mike Reilly, both first-team All-Americans. In all, returning players accounted for 128 goals and 331 points last season, second only to Robert Morris (132, 342) nationally.
Forty-three of the 59 teams in Division I received votes between the two polls.
NCAA men’s hockey gets underway this Saturday with a busy slate of exhibition games, plus two regular-season games: Michigan at Ferris State and Michigan Tech at Lake Superior State.
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll
Sept. 29, 2014
| No. | Team (First-place votes) | Points | Last Year |
| 1. | Minnesota (32) | 505 | 2 |
| 2. | North Dakota (1) | 449 | 5 |
| 3. | Providence | 431 | 9 |
| 4. | Boston College | 375 | 3 |
| 5. | Colgate | 315 | 13 |
| 6. | St. Cloud State | 272 | 8 |
| 7. | Michigan | 252 | NR |
| 8. | Union (1) | 237 | 1 |
| 9. | Miami | 236 | NR |
| 10. | Ferris State | 175 | 6 |
| Notre Dame | 175 | 11 | |
| 12. | Wisconsin | 159 | 7 |
| 13. | Minnesota State | 136 | 12 |
| 14. | Cornell | 99 | NR |
| 15. | Denver | 54 | 15 |
Also receiving votes: Northeastern 51, UMass Lowell 42, Boston University 34, Minnesota Duluth 16, Yale 14, New Hampshire 12, Quinnipiac 10, Michigan Tech 9, Mercyhurst 6, Michigan State 6, Ohio State 4, Robert Morris 4.
USCHO.com Poll
Sept. 29, 2014
| No. | Team (First-place votes) | Points | Last Week |
| 1. | Minnesota (36) | 978 | NR |
| 2. | North Dakota (2) | 874 | NR |
| 3. | Providence (2) | 839 | NR |
| 4. | Boston College | 831 | NR |
| 5. | Union (9) | 737 | NR |
| 6. | Colgate (1) | 652 | NR |
| 7. | St. Cloud State | 596 | NR |
| 8. | Michigan | 569 | NR |
| 9. | Ferris State | 532 | NR |
| 10. | Wisconsin | 497 | NR |
| 11. | Miami | 491 | NR |
| 12. | Notre Dame | 433 | NR |
| 13. | Minnesota State | 411 | NR |
| 14. | Cornell | 284 | NR |
| 15. | Quinnipiac | 282 | NR |
| 16. | Northeastern | 270 | NR |
| 17. | UMass Lowell | 247 | NR |
| 18. | Denver | 225 | NR |
| 19. | New Hampshire | 97 | NR |
| 20. | Boston University | 88 | NR |
Also receiving votes: Minnesota Duluth 87, Ohio State 76, Yale 57, Mercyhurst 54, Vermont 51, Robert Morris 27, Michigan Tech 26, Western Michigan 14, Dartmouth 13, Bowling Green 11, Michigan State 8, Nebraska Omaha 8, Rensselaer 5, Alaska 4, Harvard 4, Air Force 3, Brown 3, Clarkson 2, Maine 2, Masachusetts 2, Niagara 1, St. Lawrence 1.