Four League Teams Voted to Preseason Polls

ALBANY, N.Y. -- The quartet of Yale, Union, Rensselaer, and Cornell maintained its presence in the national polls, garnering spots in the latest polls, released Monday, October 10.

Yale stayed in the top 10 in both the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (623 points) and USCHO.com (234 points and one first-place vote). The Bulldogs (No. 10/10) have claimed two of the last three conference regular-season titles and tournament championships, and the Yale men's ice hockey team has been picked to finish first this season by the ECAC Hockey coaches and media in their pre-season polls.

Union, (1-0-0) overall, maintained its No. 11 spot in each poll. Union rolled over Army, 8-1 last Saturday in its opening game. The Dutchmen will host No. 12/12 Western Michigan for a two-game set at Messa Rink this weekend. Union earned 514 points in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine’s poll and 163 points in the USCHO.com poll.

Cornell is ranked No. 19 in the USCHO.com poll. The Red-White Game has kicked off the Cornell hockey season for years, but the 2011-12 version of the event will be like no other in a variety of ways. Aside from seeing the Big Red men's hockey team for the first time, this season's Red-White Game will also feature the national semifinalist Cornell women's hockey team and a postgame meet-and-greet autograph session with the players, all while raising money for the university's Emergency CARE Fund. The game is at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15 at Lynah Rink.

After splitting their opening two-game set with Minnesota State the Engineers dropped two spots in the USCHO.com poll to the No. 20 position. Rensselaer (77 points) The Engineers return to action next weekend, when they visit Ferris State for a two-game series, beginning Friday (7:05pm).   

Other ECAC Hockey teams receiving votes in the national polls this week were: Colgate, Dartmouth, Harvard, and Quinnipiac.

Click here for the complete USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll.

Click here for the complete USCHO.com Poll.

The 17th annual USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll is conducted each week in conjunction with the American Hockey Coaches Association. The poll includes input from coaches and journalists representing each of the five NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences, as well as composite votes from officers of the AHCA and USA Hockey Magazine, the most widely distributed hockey magazine in the world.

The USCHO.com Poll consists of 50 voters, including 28 coaches from the
Division I conferences and 22 beat writers and sports professionals from
across the country. The poll, published weekly by the Associated Press, is
a production of USCHO.com, which provides in-depth coverage of college
hockey.