University of Minnesota Athletics
Men's Hockey Team Ranked Number One in Preseason Polls
9/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
In the USA Today rankings, the Golden Gophers received 12 of 17 first-place votes and 245 points to stay ahead of No. 2 Michigan. Minnesota defeated the Wolverines last year 3-2 in the NCAA Semifinals. WCHA rival Denver is ranked third, followed by New Hampshire and Boston University.
Last year's runner-up, Maine is ranked sixth, followed by Michigan State, Cornell, St. Cloud State and Colorado College. Rounding out the top 15 are Northern Michigan, Boston College, North Dakota, Harvard and the Buckeyes.
In the USCHO.com poll, Minnesota received 22 of 40 first-place votes. Denver is ranked second, followed by Michigan, New Hampshire and Boston University.
Minnesota returns 19 letterwinners from last year's team, but must replace the Hobey Baker Award winner in Jordan Leopold, the nation's leading scorer in John Pohl, the nation's second-leading goal scored in Jeff Taffe and the WCHA's all-time winningest goaltender in Adam Hauser.
