Respect the Cup

Yes, there are higher aspirations and expectations for this Minnesota State team. Yes, it clinched just a share of the WCHA title during last week's bye week. Yes, it's the Mavericks' fourth title in five years. Yes, it ain't your father's WCHA.

But winning another MacNaughton Cup should be acknowledged with more than a collective yawn, as it was last Saturday. I think they're still waiting for the league to acknowledge that they won. 

My column.

Meanwhile, MSU moved up to No. 4 in the U.S. College Hockey Online Rankings and the USA Today/USA Hockey poll. The Mavericks are fifth in the Pairwise.

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
Minneapolis, Minn./February 18, 2019

   Team             (First Place)    Record   Pts  Last Week
 1 St. Cloud State           (45)   21- 4-3   995     1
 2 Massachusetts             ( 4)   23- 6-0   947     3
 3 Minnesota Duluth                 18- 8-2   851     4
 4 Minnesota State           ( 1)   24- 6-2   842     5
 5 Quinnipiac                       22- 6-2   779     6
 6 Ohio State                       19- 7-4   756     2
 7 Denver                           16- 7-4   745     7
 8 Western Michigan                 17-10-1   553     9
 9 Cornell                          15- 7-3   536     8
10 Providence                       18- 9-5   532    13
11 Arizona State                    21-10-1   523    12
12 Northeastern                     19- 9-1   497    14
13 Clarkson                         20-10-0   430    11
14 UMass Lowell                     17-10-2   358    10
15 Bowling Green                    19- 8-4   266    16
16 Notre Dame                       16-11-3   256    15
17 Harvard                          14- 8-3   211    18
18 Lake Superior                    20- 8-2   183    19
19 Penn State                       17-11-2   126    17
20 Union                            15- 9-6    55    20

Others receiving votes: Yale 18, North Dakota 17, American
International 8, Bemidji State 5, Bentley 5, Minnesota 5,
Brown 1.