Aided by a Denver loss to New Hampshire during the weekend, the MSU hockey team moved up a spot to No. 3 in both national polls this week.
MSU (9-2-2 overall, 7-2-1 CCHA) trails No. 1 Minnesota (11-0-2) and No. 2 St. Cloud State (11-1-0) in both the USCHO.com poll and the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine rankings.
In the USCHO poll, Minnesota garnered 37 first-place votes and 597 points and St. Cloud took three first-place votes and 545 points.
MSU is third with 496 points, followed by Denver (9-1-0) with 491 and New Hampshire (7-2-2) with 442.
The Golden Gophers claimed all 19 first-place votes and 285 points in this week’s USA Today poll, followed by St. Cloud with 258 points.
MSU, Denver and New Hampshire round out the USA Today top five with 240, 232 and 209 points, respectively.
Senior defenseman Jon Insana said the Spartans’ No. 3 ranking is pretty accurate after skating to a 4-4 tie with Minnesota on Sunday.
“I think we got a pretty good gauge against a couple of good (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) teams and I think we can play with them,” Insana said of the Minnesota tie and MSU’s 2-1 win over Wisconsin on Friday.
“We don’t need to be No. 1 at this point of the season. The most important thing is sustaining our game throughout the whole year and, when it comes down to tournament time, to be at the top of our game.”
Other CCHA teams in the rankings include Northern Michigan (No. 8 in both), Nebraska-Omaha (No. 11 USCHO, No. 14 USA Today), Michigan (No. 13 in both) and Ohio State (No. 14 USCHO, No. 12 USA Today).
Miami (Ohio) and Ferris State received votes in both polls and Western Michigan received votes from USCHO balloters.
Adjustment period
MSU practiced at The Summit in Lansing on Tuesday to prepare for an Olympic-size ice rink at Alaska-Fairbanks this weekend.
The Nanooks’ home rink at the Carlson Center is about 2 feet shorter and 13 feet wider than the 200-by-85 foot, NHL-size sheet MSU is accustomed to at Munn Ice Arena.
The Spartans were scheduled to leave for Alaska at 5:45 a.m. today and practice at the Carlson Center on Thursday.
Feel like a stranger
The 2001 portion of MSU’s home schedule is over, as the Spartans, who are fresh off a seven-game homestand, won’t host another game for more than a month.
After the Fairbanks series, MSU travels to Northern for a series on Dec. 7-8 and then has a 20-day break until the Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit on Dec. 28-29.
The Spartans’ return to Munn will be in a nonconference series with Quinnipiac on Jan. 4-5.
Oscar worthy
Spartan fans held their breath as freshman center Jim Slater laid on the ice clutching his head, after a high check by Minnesota defenseman Matt DeMarchi on Sunday.
But the injury wasn’t as bad as it appeared to be.
“I tried to play it up a little bit and get a five-minute major (penalty) out of it,” Slater acknowledged. “I think there was 5:27 left, so a five-minute penalty would have been huge for us.”
But Slater’s acting job didn’t work. DeMarchi received a two-minute minor penalty for high-sticking on the play.
Injuries
Insana (shoulder) and Slater (flu) stayed behind at Munn as the team practiced in Lansing on Tuesday.
Both are expected to make the trip to Alaska.
