In the most recent rankings, the UMD Bulldogs move up to #18 in the USCHO Poll and #16 in the Inside College Hockey Power Rankings. A move up based on their split in Colorado Springs this past weekend marking their first road win in the season. As the season progresses, splits on the road will need to turn more towards 3 pointers or sweeps if they plan on finishing in the upper half of the WCHA. For now, we will be content with the first road win against a surprisingly better team in CC than was expected in preseason outlooks.
On the other rankings front, UMD has moved firmly into #1 in penalty minutes per game. It seems that is not a league wide or game wide increase in penalties, but just a UMD thing. How many losses will it take before they learn that taking penalties is detrimental? We are seriously at the point where UMD could be viewed as the dirty team in the WCHA. In the past game alone, the Bulldogs had an instigator penalty for leaving the bench coupled with a 10 minute game misconduct, another 10 minute misconduct, and a 5 minute major charging. And those were just 4 of the 16 penalties assessed to UMD. It is a slippery slope that goes into bad habits and attitudes. For the sake of my favorite college hockey team, their reputation, and their aspirations for this season, I hope that they can turn this problem around.
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