Following its second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championship game, Boston College will enter the 2007-2008 season with the preseason No. 1 ranking in the Let’s Play Hockey Men’s College Hockey Rankings. Following the Eagles in the top five is North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan State and Miami (Ohio).

Boston College returns 18 lettermen and features 10 NHL Draft picks, including first-round selection Nick Petrecki and second-round picks Carl Sneep (Nisswa, Minn.) and Dan Bertram. BC returns four of its top six scorers from the 2006-2007 season, including 40-point scorers Nathan Gerbe (25-22--47), Benn Ferriero (23-23--46) and Brock Bradford (19-26--45). The Eagles have advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four seven times in the last 10 seasons.

Three of the top 10 teams in the Let’s Play Hockey Rankings will take part in the 2007 Ice Breaker Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 12-13, at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. In the tournament’s first game, No. 1 Boston College will open its season against No. 8 Michigan, followed by No. 3 Minnesota taking on Rensselaer.

The 2007-08 regular season begins this weekend when No. 10 Clarkson University travels to No. 17 St. Lawrence University on Sunday, Oct. 7.
Notes: The WCHA leads all conferences with six teams in the rankings, followed by Hockey East with five, the CCHA with four, ECAC Hockey with three and Atlantic Hockey with two. No. 1 Boston College will face No. 2 North Dakota on Friday, Oct. 19, in the Eagles’ home opener. The BC roster features two Minnesota natives in senior forward Joe Adams (Wayzata, Minn.) and sophomore defenseman Carl Sneep (Nisswa, Minn.). No. 4 Michigan State is the defending NCAA Champion.

Let’s Play Hockey

Men’s College Hockey Rankings (Preseason)

Rank Team (2006-2007 Record)

1 Boston College (29-19-1)

2 North Dakota (24-15-5)

3 Minnesota (31-10-3)

4 Michigan State (26-13-3)

5 Miami (Ohio) (24-14-4)

6 New Hampshire (26-11-12)

7 Notre Dame (32-7-3)

8 Michigan (26-14-1)

9 Boston University (20-10-9)

10 Clarkson (25-9-5)

11 Colorado College (18-17-4)

12 Maine (23-15-2)

13 Denver (21-15-4)

14 Wisconsin (19-18-4)

15 Quinnipiac (20-18-1)

16 St. Cloud State (22-11-7)

17 St. Lawrence (23-14-2)

18 RIT (21-11-2)

19 Air Force (19-16-5)

20 Massachusetts (21-13-5)

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