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Tourney host UNB seeded No. 1 for University Cup
OTTAWA (CIS) – The University of New Brunswick Varsity
Reds have been established tournament favourites for the 49th CIS
men’s hockey championship, which they are set to host later
this week at the Aitken University Centre in Fredericton.
University Cup website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice
The Cavendish University Cup tourney gets underway on Thursday with
the first of three days of pool play and culminates next Sunday
with the national final, live on Rogers Sportsnet at 8 p.m.
Atlantic Time.
Rogers Sportsnet will also broadcast Saturday’s two
round-robin games, while SSN Canada will have live webcasts of all
seven contests.
The seeding for the six-team competition was announced on
Sunday.
Joining the AUS champion Varsity Reds in Fredericton will be the
second-ranked McGill Redmen (OUA champions), No. 3 Alberta Golden
Bears (Canada West champions), No. 4 Western Ontario Mustangs (OUA
finalists), No. 5 St. Francis Xavier X-Men (AUS finalists) and No.
6 Calgary Dinos (Canada West finalists).
UNB, Western and Calgary will battle in Pool A in the preliminary
round, while McGill, Alberta and StFX skate in Pool B. The
first-place finishers from each group advance to the national
final.
The Redmen and X-Men face off in the tournament opener Thursday at
2 p.m. AT, while the V-Reds and Dinos kick off Pool A action at 7
p.m. AT.
The Bears and Mustangs take the ice on Friday against the losing
teams from opening day.
New University Cup champions will be crowned next Sunday as the
Saint Mary’s Huskies, who captured their first-ever CIS title
with a dramatic 3-2 overtime win over Alberta in last year’s
gold medal final in Thunder Bay, fell to StFX in the semifinal
round of the Atlantic conference playoffs two weeks ago.
UNIVERSITY CUP NOTES: Alberta was the last team to triumph as the
No. 1 seed in 2006... The 2006 Bears were also the last tournament
hosts to hoist the University Cup when they were crowned at Rexall
Place in Edmonton... McGill and Alberta are the only schools to
return from last year’s championship in Thunder Bay, where
the Bears reached the title match for a record 18th time and the
Redmen went 0-2 to finish last in Pool B... The V-Reds return for
the first time since they won the third title in program history in
2009, in Thunder Bay... Western last competed for the University
Cup in 2009, StFX in 2007 and Calgary in 2000... Alberta holds most
University Cup records including all-time titles (13), appearances
(35 including 2011), appearances in the final (18), games played
(91), wins (61), losses (28), goals for (415) and goals against
(272).
SEEDING &
POOLS
1. UNB Varsity Reds (AUS champions: 23-5-0 regular season / 6-3
playoffs)
2. McGill Redmen (OUA champions: 24-2-2 regular season / 7-1
playoffs)
3. Alberta Golden Bears (Canada West champions: 19-6-3 regular
season / 4-0 playoffs)
4. Western Ontario Mustangs (OUA finalists: 20-3-5 regular season /
6-2 playoffs)
5. StFX X-Men (AUS finalists: 17-10-1 regular season / 7-5
playoffs)
6. Calgary Dinos (Canada West finalists: 17-8-3 regular season /
2-3 playoffs)
Pool A
1. UNB
4. Western
6. Calgary
Pool B
2. McGill
3. Alberta
5. StFX
TOURNAMENT
SCHEDULE (Atlantic Time)
Wednesday, March 23
12:45 Meet The Coaches Media Conference (Aitken University
Centre)
19:00 All-Canadian Awards Ceremony (The Playhouse)
Thursday, March 24
14:00 Pool B #1: StFX vs. McGill (SSN Canada
webcast)
19:00 Pool A #1: Calgary vs. UNB (SSN Canada
webcast)
Friday, March 25
14:00 Pool B #2: Loser Pool B #1 vs. Alberta (SSN Canada
webcast)
19:00 Pool A #2: Loser Pool A #1 vs. Western (SSN Canada
webcast)
Saturday, March 26
14:30 Pool B #3: Winner Pool B #1 vs. Alberta (Rogers
Sportsnet / SSN Canada webcast)
19:30 Pool A #3: Winner Pool A #1 vs. Western (Rogers Sportsnet /
SSN Canada webcast)
Sunday, March 27
20:00 University Cup Final (Rogers Sportsnet / SSN Canada
webcast)
-CIS-
