The Minnesota Duluth men dropped one spot to No. 4 in Monday's U.S. College Hockey Online Division I poll, but moved up two positions to No. 3 in the PairWise Rankings, which mimic the NCAA tournament selection process. The Bulldogs also remained No. 3 in the USA Today-USA Hockey Magazine poll.
UMD (19-7-4) split games with No. 14 North Dakota (16-11-2) over the weekend at Amsoil Arena, and is at Minnesota State-Mankato (12-19-1) on Friday and Saturday in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series.
Ferris State (20-8-4) of Big Rapids, Mich., leading the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, was ranked No. 1 in all polls for the first time in program history, replacing Boston University (17-9-1). WCHA leader Minnesota (19-11-1) dropped from No. 2 to No. 7.
Injured UMD sophomore winger J.T. Brown was being examined Monday and wasn't at practice. Coach Scott Sandelin said he hadn't received a full report on Brown, but expects the team's goal-scoring leader to return this season, although he may miss some time. Brown suffered an upper-body injury during the first period of Saturday's game against North Dakota.
Let's Play Hockey magazine was reporting Monday that Target Center in Minneapolis is pursuing the National Collegiate Hockey Conference postseason tournament when the league opens in 2013-14.
The St. Scholastica men moved up one spot to No. 12 in the U.S. College Hockey Online Division III poll. The Saints (14-7-4) open the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs at home Friday and Saturday against Wisconsin-Stout (8-16-1).