Minnesota-Duluth tops this week's power rankings, which takes stock of all 58 Division I programs after the season's first half. The last space is reserved for a team with only one win – and it's not famously dysfunctional Alabama-Hunstville.

With holiday dinners downed, new iPads booted and New Year’s resolutions just a good three weeks from being broken, college hockey drops the puck on its second half this weekend. It seems as good a time as any to take a look at the entire sport and see where teams sit.

This week’s power rankings gets ambitious enough to detail not only the best teams in the country, but those at the other end of the scale as well.

1. Minnesota-Duluth (12-3-3): The oddest thing about the Bulldogs' record is that all of their losses have come at home. UMD is still undefeated when playing outside Duluth.

2. Ohio State (13-4-1): The Buckeyes are 6-1 in one-goal games. That’s what a good goaltending duo like senior Cal Heeter and junior Brady Hjelle will do for you.

3. Merrimack (10-3-2): Vancouver Canucks prospect Joe Cannata has been one of the best starters in the NCAA, posting a 1.77 goals-against average and .937 save percentage. What bodes even better for the Warriors is that backup Sam Marotta has yet to allow a goal after 65 minutes of crease time. What’s that they say about defense winning championships?

4. Minnesota (14-5-1): With the second-best offense in the country, it’s no wonder the Gophers have four players – Nick Bjugstad, Kyle Rau, Erik Haula and Nate Schmidt – each averaging more than a point per game.

5. Notre Dame (11-6-3): With 27 points in 20 games, sophomore T.J. Tynan, now on the U.S. team at World Juniors, is showing his Rookie-of-the-Year campaign was indeed no fluke.

6. Western Michigan (9-4-5): The Broncos have four NHL draft picks on their roster, yet only one of them, Chase Balisy, ranks among the team’s 11 top scorers.

7. Boston College (12-6-0): With a 3-1-0 record and 1.76 GAA, Brian Billett is looking more and more like the Eagles’ goalie of the future … and present. Which is to say former frontman Parker Milner may get more door duty at the end of the bench.

8. Michigan State (10-6-2): The Spartans have scored at least three goals in 11 of their last 12 games. That’s a big reason why they followed up a 2-4-0 start with their current 8-2-2 run.

9. Colgate (11-4-2): Despite playing second fiddle to steady starter Eric Mihalik, Raiders goalie Alex Evin leads Division I with both a 1.48 GAA and .948 save percentage.

10. Cornell (7-3-1): The Big Red has the top defense in the country, and goalie Andy Iles, with five shutouts, a 1.62 GAA and .930 save percentage, is simultaneously a cause and beneficiary of those numbers.

11. Colorado College (11-5-1): The Tigers have the most prolific offense in Division I, scoring 4.19 goals per game. Now if only they can do something about that defense, currently ranked 43^rd among 58 teams.

12. Ferris State (11-6-1): The Bulldogs are having the opposite problem as Colorado College. Their defense, giving up just 1.94 goals per game, ranks fourth in the nation. Their offense, tallying just 2.67 goals per game, ranks 38^th.

13. Union (9-3-5): The faces have changed, but not the team. Rick Bennett took over coaching duties form Nate Leaman, and Troy Grosenick took over goaltending duties from the great Keith Kinkaid. No matter. Union still lives by their bread-and-butter: a defense ranked among the tops in the nation and a lethal power-play unit.

14. Air Force (9-4-2): The Falcons’ offense, defense and scoring margin all rank in the top 12 in the NCAA. They take fewer penalties than any other team. Despite the fact they play in the not-quite-primetime Atlantic Hockey conference, Air Force could spell trouble for opponents come tournament time.

15. Northern Michigan (9-7-3): Don’t let the record fool you. Right now, due to having the second toughest schedule in the country, the Wildcats are ninth in the latest Pairwise, used to select and seed NCAA Tournament teams.

16. Boston University (10-5-1): Corey Trivino got kicked off the team after an arrest on sexual assault charges. Charlie Coyle left for alleged academic issues. We should have known there was a discipline problem for BU; the Terriers lead the NCAA in penalty minutes per game.

17. Mass-Lowell (10-5-0): Part of the River Hawks’ success has been the ability to buckle down. They have yet to lose a lead they’ve held at any intermission.

18. North Dakota (9-8-1): The Sioux have won six of their last seven, and given up just 15 goals in that span. They’re clicking just in time for the stretch run to conference playoffs.

19. Harvard (4-3-3): The Crimson surprisingly have the top power play unit in the country, converting at a 32.1-percent clip. Only one team, though, has a worse penalty kill unit.

20. Lake Superior (11-7-2): Along with Northern Michigan and Ferris State, the Lakers are one of three teams that rank in the bottom half of Division I in offense, yet would be in the tournament field of 16 if the season ended this week.

21. Denver (8-7-3): Goalie Sam Brittain, rehabbing from off-season surgery, is expected to be back in the lineup by the end of January. For a team allowing more than three goals per game, his return can’t come soon enough.

22. Quinnipiac (11-6-3): For Quinnipiac, it’s all about puck possession. The Bobcats are outshooting opponents by more than 14 shots per game.

23. Robert Morris (9-6-2): The Colonials have the country’s best penalty kill with a 94.7 success rate, but they fall in the middle of the pack in most every other category.

24. Miami (9-9-2): RedHawks freshman Austin Czarnik is one of only two members of the U.S. team at World Juniors who has not been drafted by an NHL team.

25. Northeastern (7-7-2): The Huskies have outshot their opponent just once in 16 games this year. Four times, they’ve been limited to fewer than 20 shots in a game.

26. Michigan (9-8-3): Last season, the Wolverines marched to the championship game on the strength of goaltender Shawn Hunwick and a stout blue line. Now, despite having the country's fifth-best offense at 3.55 goals per game, Michigan is struggling with a mediocre back end.

27. Nebraska-Omaha (9-8-3): Last season, goalie John Faulkner posted an NCAA-high six shutouts. He has yet to post even one for the 2011-12 campaign.

28. Providence (8-7-1): The Friars have scored more than two goals just once in their last six games.

29. Yale (6-5-1): The Bulldogs' struggles have come in 5-on-5 play; their power play and penalty kill units are both second-best in the nation.

30. Clarkson (9-7-4): The Golden Knights are 10-1-1 when they score at least three goals.

31. Bemidji State (9-9-2): Beavers goalie Andrew Walsh currently has a shutout streak of  128 minutes, 13 seconds. But that tends to happen when you get two games against Alabama-Huntsville.

32. Dartmouth (5-5-1): The biggest opportunity for improvement in the second half is the Big Green’s special teams. The power play is second-worst in the country at 5.7 percent, and the penalty kill is succeeding only 78.3 percent of the time. In fact, the power play is in a current 0-for-14 streak.

33. Michigan Tech (9-9-1): If you look at the recent history of the Huskies, nine wins is absolutely glorious. Anything more they accomplish is just gravy.

34. RIT (8-6-2): The Tigers play their next eight games away from Ritter Arena, where they’re only 1-4-1 this season.

35. Wisconsin (7-9-2): With his former mate Jake Gardiner now plying his skillful trade with the Maple Leafs, defenseman and Anaheim Ducks draftee Justin Schultz is thriving in Madison. His 28 points are second in Division I to just Minnesota-Duluth forward Jack Connolly’s 29.

36. Holy Cross (8-7-0): The Crusaders hope to continue their success on the power play, where they’re 6-for-16 in the last three games.

37. Mercyhurst (8-8-2): The Lakers are going Dutch these days, with Netherlands native Nardo Nagtzaam leading the team in scoring.

38. New Hampshire (6-9-2): Senior goalie Matt DiGirolamo was counted on to carry the Wildcats this year, but instead has taken a step back. His 6-7-1 record, 3.36 GAA and .885 save percentage are significantly down from his junior year numbers.

39. St. Cloud State (7-9-4): There’s a lot of talent on this team. Unfortunately, it’s not in the crease, where goalies Ryan Faragher and Mike Lee have struggled this season.

40. Maine (6-7-2): After nine straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 1999-2007, including six trips to the Frozen Four, the Black Bears are in danger of missing the dance for the fifth straight season.

41. Alaska (7-9-2): Poor Scott Greenham. When he’s in net, his Nanooks average just two goals per game of offense. When backup Steve Thompson plays, they’re averaging 3.5 per game.

42. Niagara (5-5-6): After tallying 33 points in 31 games last season, junior Giancarlo Iuorio has just four in this year’s first half.

43. Massachusetts (5-7-4): The Minutemen could go 2-16 down the stretch and still post an improvement over last season. … So they have that going for them, which is nice.

44. Bowling Green (6-11-3): After starting the season 4-0-1, the Falcons have gone 2-11-2, capped by an eight-game winless streak. And that, kids, is why early-season polls mean nothing.

45. Alaska-Anchorage (6-10-2): As a Division I independent, the Seawolves made three straight tournament appearances from 1990-92. Since joining the WCHA in 1993, they haven’t had a winning season. Maybe the new conference realignments will benefit UAA more than any other team.

46. Brown (4-6-1): The Bears have to be the biggest enigma in college hockey. They beat ECAC powers Cornell, Union and Yale, but were shut out by bottom-feeders Rensselaer and American International.

47. Bentley (5-8-3): Here’s the upside – Bentley goalies Brandon Komm and Kyle Rank have a combined save percentage of .922. If only they had more offensive support.

48. St. Lawrence (7-10-0): Only four Saints have a positive plus/minus. That can’t be a good indicator.

49. Princeton (4-9-2): Despite having a not-so-bad GAA of 2.96 and .906 save percentage, goalie Mike Condon is still looking for his first win.

50. Minnesota State (5-14-1): If the name of Mavericks leading scorer Jean-Paul Lafontaine seems a bit familiar, you’re probably thinking of his uncle and Hall-of-Famer Pat.

51. Vermont (3-12-1): The Catamounts have Division I’s worst penalty-killing unit, succeeding only 68.3 percent of the time.

52. Rensselaer (3-13-0): The Engineers have the second-worst offense in the country, averaging just 1.25 goals per game.

53. Connecticut (5-9-2): The University has hired an outside group to explore the economic viability of keeping the Huskies hockey team around. C’mon, they got a whole 580 people to show up for their last home game. That’s only 1,265 less people than they got for a men’s soccer game against DePaul a month earlier.

54. Canisius (4-10-3): The team shooting percentage of 7.22 could be the biggest reason the Golden Griffins aren’t so golden on offense.

55. Army (1-8-6): The Black Knights have yet to score more than three goals in a game this season.

56. American International (3-14-2): The Yellow Jackets are 0-10-0 when giving up the first goal. Other than that, they’re 3-4-2, which isn’t that bad.

57. Alabama-Huntsville (1-19-1): The Chargers are now averaging less than a goal per game of offense. Only Mac Roy and Kyle Lysaght have managed more than two goals in the first half of the season.

58. Sacred Heart (1-16-1): Can you decline penalties in hockey? Sacred Heart, which has by far the worst defense, has scored a total of five power-play goals, but given up six shorties.

Photos by Getty Images

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