The Notre Dame hockey team will start the season ranked #1 in the country. (WSBT Phtoto) |
For the first time in program history, the Notre Dame hockey team will start the 2011-12 season as the nuber one ranked team in the nation.
USCHO.com has the Irish atop their preseason poll. Notre Dame will start the year ranked 2nd in the USA Today poll.
In the USCHO.com poll, the Irish received 11 first-place votes and had a total of 740 points to take the top spot over Miami (722 points). North Dakota (720), Denver (670) and Boston College (659) round out the top five spots. North Dakota had five first-place votes, Boston College and Boston University had two each and Yale one. Last season’s national champion - Minnesota-Duluth - had 10 first-place votes, but checked in with 586 points to rank eighth overall.
Notre Dame opens the 2011-12 season on Sunday, October 2 at 6:05 p.m. when the Irish play host to the Western Ontario Mustangs at the Joyce Center in an exhibition game.
Number one Notre Dame travels to Duluth, Minnesota on Oct. 7th & 8th to face defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth in the regular-season opener. Game time both nights is 8:07 p.m.
USCHO.com preseason poll
School 2010-11 Record Pts
1. Notre Dame (11) 25-14-5 740
2. Miami (12) 23-10-6 722
3. North Dakota (5) 32-9-3 720
4. Denver 25-12-5 670
5. Boston College (2) 30-8-1 659
6. Michigan 29-11-4 613
7. Colorado College 23-19-3 594
8. Minnesota-Duluth (10) 26-10-6 586
9. Yale (1) 28-7-1 571
10. Boston University (2) 19-12-8 542
