The last time the Gophers men's hockey team was as high as No. 5 in the national ratings -- which they are this week in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll -- was in late January 2009.
They were rated No. 5 going into the Minnesota State Mankato series on Jan. 30 and 31 and lost both games to the Mavericks 6-2, 3-1. That dropped them to No. 9 and they lost twice to Wisconsin 3-2, 5-4 the following weekend. They were never higher than No. 11 after that.
The Gophers are 7-1-0 this season and leading the nation in scoring, averaging just over five goals per game. They also started well in 2008-09 and were unbeaten through 11 games (7-0-4). They finished that season 17-13-7, meaning they were 10-13-3 after that fast start.
After a 6-0-3 start in WCHA in 2008-09, their final record was barely above .500 at 12-11-5, which put them in fifth place.
