This story originally appeared on umdbulldogs.com on Jan. 2, 2017.

As far as the USCHO.com Poll is concerned, the University of Minnesota Duluth will enter the New Year the same way it exited 2016 -- locked in the No. 1 spot.

The Bulldogs, who are 12-3-3 overall and sit in first place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, have now maintained the top spot for six consecutive times (and eight occasions this season). They accumulated 997 points and 47 of 50 first-place votes in the first USCHO.com Poll of 2017 while No. 2 Penn State University picked up the remaining three first-place votes and 918 points.  The Nittany Lions were followed by the University of Denver (881 pts.), Harvard University (868 pts.), Boston University (779 pts.), the University of Massachusetts- Lowell (752 pts.), the University of North Dakota (676 pts.), Boston College (623 pts.), the University of Minnesota (572 pts) and Union College (516 pts.)
 
UMD, which returns to the ice this Friday and Saturday to host NCHC rival Colorado College, owns a 10-3-3 collective record this season against Denver (1-1-0), UMass Lowell (0-0-2), North Dakota (2-0-0), No. 12 University of Notre Dame (1-1-0), No. 14 Western Michigan University (1-1-0), No. 17 Bemidji State (1-0-1), No. 18 University of Nebraska Omaha (2-0-0), and No. 20 St. Cloud State (2-0-0) and and is 2-0-0 versus Michigan Tech University, which received votes in this week's poll.

Six of the eight NCHC clubs -- UMD, Denver, North Dakota, St. Cloud State, Western Michigan and Omaha -- cracked the USCHO.com's Top 20 this week.

The last time a Bulldog club remained atop the USCHO Poll for more than six consecutive times was in 2011-12 when they enjoyed an eight-week run (Dec. 5-Jan. 30) at the No. 1 post.