With a 5-4 victory over the Colorado Tigers on Friday evening, the Denver Pioneers have captured the first leg of the Battle for the Gold Pan that the school's play for annually. The Pioneers also saw a slight move up in the latest USCHO poll. After falling to No. 12 last week, the Pioneers moved to No. 11 this time around.
Colorado College dropped two spots from No. 3 to No. 5 with the loss. The Minnesota Gophers stayed at No. 1 while Merrimack moved from No. 6 to No. 2. Merrimack is 8-01 this season, the only undefeated team left this season. the Notre Dame Fighting Irish moved from No. 7 to No. 4 and Boston College dropped one spot to No. 3.
The Air Force Falcons received four votes this week even though they lost to both RIT and Mercyhurst.
Here is the current USCHO Top 20 poll:
| Rank | Team | Last Poll |
| 1 | Minnesota | 1 |
| 2 | Merrimack | 6 |
| 3 | Boston College | 2 |
| 4 | Notre Dame | 7 |
| 5 | Colorado College | 3 |
| 6 | Ferris State | 8 |
| 7 | Michigan | 4 |
| 8 | Minnesota-Duluth | 10 |
| 9 | Yale | 13 |
| 10 | Western Michigan | 5 |
| 11 | Denver | 12 |
| 12 | Lake Superior | 11 |
| 13 | Union | 9 |
| 14 | Ohio State | NR |
| 15 | Michigan Tech | 15 |
| 16 | Boston University | 16 |
| 17 | Colgate | 18 |
| 18 | Cornell | NR |
| 19 | Nebraska-Omaha | NR |
| 20 | Northern Michigan | 14 |