Updated: October 2, 2009, 2:19 PM ET
Denver leads INCH's Great 58 rankings
Another men's college hockey season is upon us, and we won't limit our attention to those teams among the top 15 or top 20 in the nation. Whether near the top or near the bottom of the pack, each program is unique.
There are plenty of challenges that lie ahead as we enter the 2009-10 season. As the Inside College Hockey editors and staff ranked the nation's top teams, they also highlight a reason each team should be optimistic heading into the season.
INSIDE COLLEGE HOCKEY POWER RANKINGS: The Great 58
| No. | Team | Reason for optimism |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Denver |  How deep are the Pioneers? Sophomore forward Luke Salazar, who scored 15 goals as a rookie, could conceivably be a third-liner. Yikes. |
| 2. | Notre Dame |  Now that Jordan Pearce is gone, the goaltending is a question mark. But the defensemen, led by Ian Cole and Kyle Lawson, are an exclamation point. |
| 3. | Miami |  Forget about April. The RedHawks' top six forwards are as good as any half dozen in the country, and they've got a formidable one-two punch in goal with Connor Knapp and Cody Reichard. |
| 4. | Boston University |  Don't think of the players lost, think of the players returning: Nick Bonino, Kieran Millan, Kevin Shattenkirk, Zach Cohen et al. |
| 5. | Michigan |  The S.S. Wolverine will sail to another top-three showing in the CCHA standings thanks to a balanced attack led by 24-goal scorer Louie Caporusso and an underappreciated group of defensemen. |
| 6. | North Dakota |  With just three seniors (Chay Genoway, Chris VandeVelde and Darcy Zajac) on the roster, the Fighting Sioux might be a year away … but still have a pretty good shot at making a run to the Frozen Four this season. |
| 7. | Cornell |  Most of the key players return from a team that was one bad period away from the Frozen Four. |
| 8. | Princeton |  ECAC Hockey is a goalie's league, and the Tigers might have the circuit's best in Zane Kalemba. |
| 9. | UMass Lowell |  Having one legitimate first-team all-league defenseman is a good start, but even better for the River Hawks is that they have two in Nick Schaus and Maury Edwards. |
| 10. | Minnesota |  The incoming freshmen are highly touted, and forward Jordan Schroeder and all but three contributors from last season are back. Now, if the guys who are a year older are also a year better … |
| 11. | Yale | The Bulldogs took some people by surprise last season. The surprise this season would be if they're not back in the NCAA tournament. |
| 12. | St. Cloud State | All indications are that freshman goaltender Mike Lee is the real deal. The Huskies' nucleus of forwards Ryan Lasch and Garrett Roe and defenseman Garrett Raboin is solid. |
| 13. | Wisconsin | The star-studded Badgers blue line gets yet another marquee name in British Columbia Hockey League standout Justin Schultz. Don't overlook a productive group of senior forwards led by Blake Geoffrion. |
| 14. | Air Force | Goaltender Andrew Volkening will be the key for the Falcons if they are able to back up last season's impressive run through Atlantic Hockey and into the NCAA tournament's second round. |
| 15. | Vermont | Rob Madore took over the starting goaltending job in the second half last season and led the Catamounts to the Frozen Four with a .912 save percentage and 2.35 goals-against average. |
| 16. | Boston College | After three straight trips to the championship game, BC didn't even make the 2009 tournament. The optimism? Absences aren't common for the Eagles. They'll be back. |
| 17. | Ohio State | The Buckeyes, a surprise NCAA tournament entrant in 2009, had nine players score 20-plus points last season. Eight of them return -- and none are seniors. |
| 18. | New Hampshire | Mike Sislo went from three goals as a freshman to 19 as a sophomore. He's got the talent and ability to improve on that mark this season as a junior. |
| 19. | Northern Michigan | Seven of the team's top eight scorers from last season are back, led by terrific junior forward Mark Olver, who's scored 73 points in 79 career games, and classmate Erik Gustafsson, a defenseman with 61 career points. |
| 20. | Bemidji State | The Beavers can look forward to a new arena and a new conference in the near future, but also to the opportunity in front of them now to build on last season's success. |
| 21. | Harvard | Louis Leblanc is the new name that everyone's talking about, but goalie Kyle Richter returns after a one-year hiatus and that's even more important for the Crimson. |
| 22. | Minnesota Duluth | If a promising group of freshmen can emulate the success the young Connollys (Jack and Mike, who combined for 71 points) had last season, the Dogs could be in line for a return trip to the NCAA tournament. |
| 23. | Mercyhurst | Ryan Zapolski emerged as one of the league's top goalies, and the Lakers will always score lots of goals. Steve Cameron and Scott Pitt are back after combining for 95 points last season. |
| 24. | Nebraska-Omaha | Dean Blais can coach up hockey players a little bit. You won't find another program in the country with more optimism heading into the season. |
| 25. | Minnesota State | Not only does forward Kael Mouillierat boast one of college hockey's great names, but he's also a pretty good player. He and defenseman Kurt Davis are a dangerous one-two punch. |
| 26. | Northeastern | The Huskies will need to find a goalie, but the likes of Wade MacLeod, Steve Quailer and Alex Tuckerman should provide enough offense to carry NU in the early going. |
| 27. | Union | We think Union will learn from last season's close losses and turn them into wins, and a strong corps of veteran forwards match up favorably with every other group in the league. |
| 28. | Massachusetts | James Marcou has averaged more than a point per game through his first two seasons and had 47 points last season. Look for big things in his junior campaign. |
| 29. | Colorado College | Lots of question marks in Tigers country; the team's strength is its defensive corps, led by Gabe Guentzel, and Nate Prosser. |
| 30. | Alaska | The Nanooks found a formula last season that led them to the CCHA semifinals. Departed goalie Chad Johnson was a big part of said formula, but returnee Scott Greenham showed promise in limited duty. |
| 31. | RIT | The Tigers pushed Air Force to the bitter end last season but came up just short. Still, the 23-win season was its best as Division I team and something to build on. |
| 32. | Dartmouth | Where the Big Green had questions at this time last season -- goaltending -- they have an answer now in Jody O'Neill. |
| 33. | Niagara | Seniors Chris Moran and Egor Mironov will lead the offense, and both will likely surpass the 100-career point mark to cap their excellent Purple Eagles careers. |
| 34. | Maine | Super sophomores Gustav Nyquist, Scott Darling and Brian Flynn will lead the way for an improving Maine team. |
| 35. | Colgate | A player like David McIntyre gives Colgate something to hang its hat on every night. Hat as in hat tricks, which he might accomplish regularly. |
| 36. | Ferris State | The Bulldogs struggled to score goals last season. Good thing their top returnees are a defenseman (junior Zach Redmond) and a goalie (sophomore Taylor Nelson). |
| 37. | Rensselaer | We've touted Rensselaer's recruiting classes for three years in a row. Talent is no longer the problem in Troy. |
| 38. | Alaska Anchorage | The forward trio of Kevin Clark, Tommy Grant and Josh Lunden return. The three combined to score 42 goals last season. |
| 39. | Michigan State | Everything can't go wrong for the Spartans like it did last season, can it? Speedy forward Daultan Leveille is a year older and, more importantly, a year stronger. He could be poised for a breakout this season. |
| 40. | Clarkson | A disappointing campaign caused some positive changes in attitude at Clarkson and the Golden Knights are poised for a bounce-back season. |
| 41. | Canisius | The Griffs return 12 of their 13 leading scorers from last season and finished in the top half of the Atlantic Hockey standings. Look for a repeat of that this season. |
| 42. | Michigan Tech | The Huskies were 1-6-7 in WCHA games decided by a goal or fewer. Forwards Jordan Baker and Brett Olson and defensemen Deron Cousens and Drew Dobson provide a solid foundation. |
| 43. | St. Lawrence | Despite all of the losses to graduation on the blue line, leading scorer Mike McKenzie is back, along with starting goalie Alex Petizian. |
| 44. | Quinnipiac | The Bobcats' top two scorers are gone, but they still return three players who scored 11 goals or more in Jean-Marc Beaudoin, Eric Lampe and Scott Zurevinski. |
| 45. | Providence | Both of the team's 10-goal scorers last season -- Matt Berglund and John Cavanagh -- are back with the Friars this season. |
| 46. | Lake Superior State | The Lakers were two games under .500 on Feb. 1 of last season before running out of gas and losing nine of their last 11. Senior forwards Zac MacVoy and Nathan Perkovich won't let that happen this time around. |
| 47. | Merrimack | The Warriors graduated two seniors who played a combined total of 16 games last season. Returning players have a better understanding of what it takes to compete in one of the nation's most difficult conferences, Hockey East. |
| 48. | Western Michigan | Riley Gill gave the Broncos its best goaltending in years last season, forwards Max Campbell and Greg Squires should approach the 35-point mark this season and rookie defenseman Luke Witkowski is highly touted. |
| 49. | Holy Cross | Just one senior played regularly in the Crusaders' lineup last season. Another year of experience and four returning players who scored at least 11 goals give fans something to look forward to. |
| 50. | Robert Morris | Chris Margott graduated, but the next three leading scorers on the team are returning juniors, led by standout forward Nathan Longpre. |
| 51. | Brown | New coach Brendan Whittet was a former player at Brown and had success there and as an assistant at Dartmouth. They won't be pushovers anymore. |
| 52. | Army | Senior Owen Meyer had 19 goals last season and junior Cody Omilusik scored 13. That's a decent support system for returning goalie Jay Clark (.914 save percentage, 2.98 GAA). |
| 53. | Bowling Green | There's still a team at Bowling Green -- based on the chatter during the offseason, that wasn't always a foregone conclusion. A plan to revive the program and a new coach in Dennis Williams should spark optimism. |
| 54. | Bentley | The Falcons went 13-7-1 down the stretch last season and finished fourth in the league, ending the season with a winning record. It was the best season in program history. |
| 55. | Sacred Heart | Senior Erik Boisvert had a breakout season with 15 goals and 14 assists. He and classmate Dave Jarman (11 goals, 18 assists) will be a key to the Pioneers' offense. |
| 56. | Connecticut | A very young UConn team lost just four seniors to graduation, and returning experience could help the Huskies increase their win total this season. |
| 57. | American International | Senior captain Chris Campanale led the team in points last season and the Yellow Jackets return four of their top five scorers. |
| 58. | Alabama-Huntsville | It seems like nothing's going right for the Chargers, but junior goalie Cameron Talbot is arguably the league's best and that's a good foundation to start building on. |
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