The University of Michigan used two victories versus the University of Minnesota, coupled with a split by Michigan State University versus Ohio State University, to leapfrog the Spartans for the #1 national ranking. It has been a season-long battle between the Wolverines and Spartans for the top spot, and U of M currently has the upper hand. Also, in a bit of a surprise to me, Penn State University held onto the #6 spot despite its split with a struggling Notre Dame team.
Speaking of the Nittany Lions, Gavin McKenna & company are set to get big-time scoring help heading into the national tournament. High-scoring forward Charlie Cerrato (CAR 2nd round, 49th overall) has been inactive since suffering an undisclosed injury on Jan. 27. Cerrato is back skating in practice, in a non-contact capacity at this point. He remains the team’s 6th-leading scorer despite playing in just over half its games. In 19 games this season, Cerrato has 24 points on 6 goals and 18 assists.
Last but not least, the top 10 finalists for the Hobey Award are set to be selected from the 87 players nominated for US college hockey’s best performer. This list will be narrowed further to three players on April 3, and the winner will be announced on April 10 during the Frozen Four. Although the official top 10 list will not be announced until March 18, the NHL.com recently published a nice article detailing the presumptive favorites. Below is a link to that article.
https://www.nhl.com/news/ncaa-notebook-top-10-2026-hobey-baker-award-candidates