The Tennessee Ice Vols had another successful weekend, winning both games against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Friday and Saturday nights.

Friday night, in front of over 500 fans, the Ice Vols beat the Yellow Jackets 4 – 1.

Kevin Jones started the scoring for the Ice Vols early in the first period.

Chris Bouchard and Chris Neilson scored goals in the second period to give UT a big lead.

After Georgia Tech scored in the third, Jon Benner answered right back to put the Ice Vols up 4 – 1 for good.

Goalie Kelsey McLean stopped 21 shots for the Ice Vols.

On night two, the Ice Vols didn't start out as smoothly.

Tennessee overcame a 2 – 0 first period deficit to win over Georgia Tech in overtime 4 – 3.

Jones started the Ice Vols scoring early in the second period when he picked off a Georgia Tech pass in front of Yellow Jackets goalie Maxx Lucas and beat the goalie on a glove side wrist shot.

Joe Williams added two goals in the third period to give the Ice Vols a 3 – 2 lead with a little more than four minutes remaining in the game.

Georgia Tech's Brian O'Conner answered Williams' goals by beating Tennessee goalie Joe Gauvin to tie the game 12 seconds later.

In the overtime period, the Ice Vols wasted very little time, putting several shots in the direction of Lucas.

Senior defenseman Chris Bouchard gave Tennessee the win on a one-time slap shot from the blue line.

Goalie Joe Gauvin stopped 26 shots for the Ice Vols, with several key saves keeping the Ice Vols close while they were down early.

Tennessee will play Kentucky this weekend.

The Ice Vols will host the division two team on Friday night in the final home game of the season.

The Ice Vols will then head to Lexington to play Kentucky on Saturday night

Ice Vols forfeit four wins

The Ice Vols had to forfeit four games from earlier this season due to the playing of an academically ineligible player.

Tennessee reported the incident and voluntarily forfeited the games played with the ineligible player, costing the Ice Vols wins against Georgia, Vanderbilt and two against MTSU.

Coach Steve Durrigan issued this statement:

"I take full responsibility for this error.  The Tennessee hockey club is all about doing the right thing and when this came to our attention, there was no question that we needed to step up and report it.

I personally apologize to the ACHA and to all our loyal fans.

We will implement the necessary steps to assure that this error is never repeated."

Ice Vols to play in ACHA South Tournament

The Ice Vols have received a bid to play in the ACHA South Tournament.

The tournament will be in Duluth, Ga. at the Duluth Ice Form from Feb. 15 – 17.

A solid performance at the regional tournament could give the Ice Vols a National Tournament bid.

Knoxville Ice Bears

The Knoxville Ice Bears swept the FireAntz over the weekend, winning 4 – 1 and 6 – 2.

The Ice Bears still hold a two-point lead over Richmond in the SPHL standings.

This week the Ice Bears host the Jacksonville Barracudas on Thursday night and the Twin City Cyclones on Saturday night.

Both games will start at 7:30 p.m.

NHL Rankings

Top Five

1. Detroit Red Wings (41 – 10 – 4) – The Red Wings have won eight straight and have pretty much turned into the Patriots of the regular season. They have a 25-point lead over Nashville in the division and a 17-point lead over Dallas overall.

2. Dallas Stars (32 – 20 – 5) – Dallas is by far the second best team in the NHL as of late. Unfortunately, they seem to be stuck in a fight for second best in the West. The Stars have won four straight and seven of nine.

3. Nashville Predators (28 – 21 – 5) – Nashville has been one of the hottest teams in 2008. The Preds have knocked off three straight opponents and are 10 – 3 – 3 since the New Year. They have climbed into the top eight of the West.

4. Philadelphia Flyers (30 – 17 – 5) – The Philadelphia Flyers have gone 14 – 3 – 1 since the Christmas holiday. They have been dominant at times and have won two of three.

5. Washington Capitals (25 – 24 – 5) – The Caps jumped Montreal last week in my rankings when they came back and beat the Canadiens in overtime. Alex Ovechkin leads the NHL in goals with 45, points with 72 and power play goals with 16. If he stays healthy, the Caps are dangerous any night.

Bottom Five

26. Edmonton Oilers (24 – 26 – 5) – The Oilers are an off-and-on team. They are 3 – 5 – 1 in their last eight. But, two of the wins came over Florida and Atlanta, neither of which is performing well.

27. St. Louis Blues (24 – 27 – 1) – St. Louis has lost their last two games. Before knocking off Toronto and Anaheim, Jan. 29 and Feb. 1, they had lost seven in a row.

28. Ottawa Senators (32 – 18 – 4) – Dany Heatley has proven most valuable for the Senators. Since his injury, they have had a hard time scoring and winning, losing eight of their last 11 games.

29. Vancouver Canucks (26 – 21 – 7) – The Canucks have lost eight of their last nine, including four straight. They have pushed their last two games to shootouts, but were unable to win.

30. New York Islanders (24 – 24 – 6) – The New York Islanders have dropped five straight, losing by at least two goals in all of the games. They have only averaged one goal a game in their last five.

Beanpot Tournament

Perhaps the greatest college hockey tournament is in full swing.

The Beanpot Tournament puts together four Boston area teams with lots of hockey tradition in what is now a 56-year tradition.

Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University and Northeastern University are the participating teams.

On Monday, Harvard beat Northeastern 3 – 1 and Boston College won over Boston in overtime 4 – 3.

Next Monday, Boston College will be aiming for their 14^th Beanpot title while Harvard will be looking for their 11^th.

If you have the NESN channel, I would suggest checking it out.

The game will start at 8 p.m.