Introducing the WNYO D3 Hockey Power Rankings

DEREK DUNNING:

1.Plattsburgh- The class of the field. Still unbeaten and have fended off Oswego, Norwich, Elmira, St. Thomas and Geneseo.

2.Superior- Beast of the west so far knocking St. Norbert from their throne. They've ran the guantlet in the NCHA so far and are perfect in conference at 6-0 beating every NCHA team but St. Scholastica, who they havent played yet.

3.Middlebury- The winners of 8 of the last 14 D-III National titles are off to a perfect 6-0 start this year. Solid wins over St. Thomas and Norwich for the winners of the 2008 Primelink Great Northern Shootout. However, the toughest part of the schedule is left to come with Plattsburgh, Norwich, Bowdoin, and Curry.

4.St. Norbert- The defending national champions have been bit by the inconsitency bug for the first time in the last eight years. They have three losses already this year and their most since 2001-2002 season has been 5. The Green Knights have dominated the NCHA for the better part of this decade but this year are facing their toughest challenge yet.

5.Elmira- Elmira leads the always tough ECAC West conference heading into the break. They've played arguably the toughest schedule in the country so far this year with wins over Oswego, Neumann, Hobart (2). Their losses have been to Plattsburgh and Oswego, both on the road and then Manhattanville.

6.St. Scholastica- The Saints have won five straight games with wins over Oswego, Eau-Claire, and Stevens Point. Eau-Claire and St. Norber are quality losses but the River Falls loss hurts right now. Four games in a row they should win before a big three game homestand against Superior, Stout, and River Falls.

7.Stout- After losing four of six, the Blue Devils have gone on an impressive four game win streak with wins over Stevens Point, Eau-Claire, and St. Norbert. Three of four losses have been to very good teams in Hamline, Superior, and St. Scholastica.

8.Oswego- Similar to St. Norbert, the 2007 national champions can't seem to find any consistency. They have three tough one goal losses to Elmira, Plattsburgh, and St. Scholastica. Good wins over St. Norbert and Elmira. They face a crucial non-conference game this saturday @ Hobart which could give the Lakers some much needed momentum heading into the second half.

9.Adrian- While the Bulldogs 10-1-1 record is impressive on first glance. Adrian's only real quality win is against Neumann. The Knights also handed Adrian their only loss and for a team that cannot afford any mistakes with the weak conference they play in, they've also tied Potsdam. Adrian will need to run the table pretty much if they have any hope of trying to garner an at-large bid.

10.Manhattanville- The Valiants have rebounded after a slow start garnering just one point from Neumann in three games. However, the Valiants swept Elmira and Hobart on the road this past weekend to push their record to 5-2-1. Their schedule gets a little easier in the early part of January before they head back into the ECAC West gauntlet for late January and all of February.

11.Neumann- The Knights have played a brutal schedule much similar to Elmira's with wins over Geneseo, Adrian, Manhattanville (2). Their losses have all been to quality opponents in Geneseo, Adrian, Elmira and Hobart. Neumann has a big game with Norwich in the Times-Argus that they could use a win in.

12.Hobart- The Statesmen have had an up and down season as well so far this year. They have two solid wins over Curry and Neumann so far and three of their four losses were to quality opponents in Elmira (2), and Manhattanville. The Buffalo State loss hurts them a bit but they can make up for it with a big game against Oswego saturday.

13.Hamline- The Pipers have quietly gone about their business in the MIAC and have a 9-2 record heading into the break. They have one good win over Stout and have lost to Superior and Scholastica. They have two chances to pick-up two quality wins at home against Eau-Claire and Stevens Point on Jan. 9 and 10.

14.Norwich- The Cadets season is young due to the late start of the ECAC East schools and they've had mixed results so far. No solid wins yet but they did tie Plattsburgh and played Middlebury very tight in a 3-2 loss. Hamilton loss hurts a bit but they'll have a chance to redeem themselves with a big stretch where they could possibly play Neumann, Elmira, and Plattsburgh all in a row.

15.Bowdoin- The Polar Bears just dropped their first game of the season to Skidmore 6-4. Other than that the've been rolling along with wins over Babson, UMass-Dartmouth, and Colby. The jury is still out on how good those three teams are but 5-1-1 is good none the less and you have to play your schedule.

VOTL:

I explain myself to no one.