Union gets some love in the pre-season polls

Senior forward Adam Presizniuk

United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) and Inside College Hockey (INCH) both came out with their pre-season polls today. Union was ranked in the Top 20 in both polls.

USCHO has the Dutchmen ranked at #19 with 136 points, between RIT and Colorado College. On top of this poll is defending national champion Boston College. Other ECAC teams receiving votes in the Top 20 were Yale (#6, 719 points) and Cornell (#11, 509 points). RPI received 32 points which is good for 27th.

The INCH poll has Union ranked even higher at #12. The surprising thing about this poll is the way the ECAC teams are ranked. Yale is picked 7th, followed by Union at #12 and RPI at #13. Cornell is picked below both the Dutchmen and Engineers at #15, which is a little surprising to me. After the Big Red comes Harvard (#27), Brown (#30), Dartmouth (#37), St. Lawrence (#38), Colgate (#40), Princeton (#43), Quinnipiac (#45), and Clarkson (#51). On top of this poll is the North Dakota, and at the bottom is AIC.

Last Monday, the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll came out. Union accumulated 34 points, which is good for #20. Yale was picked at #5 and Cornell was placed at #10.

So, if you were to average out all of these rankings Union would be picked to finish at #17, which is right on the cusp of a NCAA tournament berth. By the way, this calculation doesn't mean anything... just some wishful thinking on my part.

These rankings are both good and bad for the Dutchmen. First the bad news... The college hockey world now knows that Union is a force to be reckoned with, so they will never be taken lightly like they were in the past. Union now has a target on their back. Now the good news... Union is seen as a competitor for the national tournament and as a power in college hockey for the first time in program history. National powers will want to play against Union and recruits will want to play for Union.

Maybe we'll see what Coach Leaman has to say about the rankings during Media Day today.