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CIS Men’s Hockey Top 10 (#16 – final poll of season): Bears move up to No. 1, UNB in playoff trouble
OTTAWA (CIS) – The Alberta Golden Bears move up to No. 1
in the 16th and final CIS men’s hockey rankings of the
2009-2010 season, while the defending University Cup champion New
Brunswick Varsity Reds drop to No. 2 following a shocking 0-2 start
to the AUS playoffs.
Rounding out the final national media poll are the No. 3 UQTR
Patriotes (23-3-2 / 4-1 playoffs), No. 4 Acadia Axemen (19-7-2 /
1-2), No. 5 McGill Redmen (22-6-0 / 4-1), No. 6 Western Ontario
Mustangs (21-7-0 / 4-1), No. 7 Lakehead Thunderwolves (19-7-2 /
4-1), No. 8 Saint Mary’s Huskies (16-8-4 / 4-1), No. 9
Saskatchewan Huskies (16-8-4) and No. 10 St. Francis Xavier X-Men
(11-12-5 / 4-0).
Positions three to nine remain unchanged, while StFX joins the Top
10 for the first time since early November.
Alberta (23-4-1) leapfrogs UNB after receiving nine first-place
votes and 170 points from the media panel, compared to eight
first-place nods and 165 points for the Varsity Reds (27-1-0 /
0-2). UQTR received one vote for No. 1.
A dream season is quickly turning into a nightmare for UNB, which
had led the first 15 polls of the campaign, including 14 straight
weeks as a unanimous No. 1 selection.
Following a record-setting 27-1-0 regular schedule that saw them
set a new CIS standard for most wins in a season and tie the
all-time mark for most points (54), the V-Reds opened their
best-of-five AUS semifinal series with back-to-back 3-2 losses to
StFX. They have now dropped three of their last four outings, all
to the X-Men.
The V-Reds must now win three straight games to stay alive, including the next two at the X-Men's home in Antigonish, N.S. Game 3 is set for Tuesday night, Game 4, if necessary, is scheduled for Wednesday, while Game 5 would be played on Saturday in Fredericton. All duels start at 7 p.m. Atlantic Time.
Meanwhile, Alberta, which occupied the No. 2 spot in the first
15 national polls, climbed to the top of the rankings without even
taking the ice. The Bears, who finished first in the Canada West
standings, enjoyed a well-deserved rest last weekend as the regular
season came to a close in the CWUAA. They host Calgary (13-9-6) for
a best-of-three conference semifinal, starting on Friday.
UQTR stays put at No. 3 for the fifth straight week following a
two-game sweep of Ryerson in an OUA East semifinal. The Patriotes
host archrival McGill Wednesday night for Game 1 of the
best-of-three OUA East final.
Acadia remains at No. 4 for the 10th consecutive week despite some
playoff trouble of its own. The Axemen trail Saint Mary’s 2-1
in their best-of-five AUS semifinal after winning the series opener
2-1 but dropping the next two duels by 4-1 and 3-1 scores. Game 4
is set for Wednesday night in Halifax.
McGill got a scare in its OUA East semifinal against Carleton,
dropping the opener 5-2 at home before rebounding with convincing
5-1 and 6-2 victories.
Western and Lakehead both prevailed in two games in their OUA West
semifinals and will now meet in the best-of-three division final.
Game 1 is set for Wednesday evening in Thunder Bay, while Games 2
and 3 (if necessary) will be contested in London.
The Mustangs dropped Windsor 5-2 and 3-1 last week, while Lakehead
eliminated Guelph thanks to a pair of overtime wins, 4-3 and
5-4.
Saskatchewan hosts Manitoba (16-10-2) in the other best-of three
Canada West semifinal, starting Friday.
NOTES: Lakehead is already qualified for the 2010 University Cup
championship as host (March 25-28, Thunder Bay)... The winner of
the OUA East final also receives a berth... Should Western beat
Lakehead in the OUA West final, the Mustangs would also qualify...
Should Lakehead beat Western in the OUA West final, the losers of
the OUA West and East division finals would play a sudden-death
game for the third OUA berth... The winners of the Canada West
semifinals both advance to the University Cup... The AUS only gets
one berth into this year’s CIS championship...
CIS MEN’S
HOCKEY TOP 10 (#16)
Voting is based on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, with a 1st place
vote worth 10 points. The CIS Men’s Ice Hockey Top Ten
Committee is made up of media members from across Canada.
(Regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (last
week)
1. Alberta (23-4-1) / 170 points (9) / (2)
2. UNB (27-1-0 / 0-2 playoffs) / 165 (8) / (1)
3. UQTR (23-3-2 / 4-1 playoffs) / 144 (1) / (3)
4. Acadia (19-6-3 / 1-2 playoffs) / 111 / (4)
5. McGill (22-6-0 / 4-1 playoffs) / 107 / (5)
6. Western Ontario (21-7-0 / 4-1 playoffs) / 96 / (6)
7. Lakehead (19-7-2 / 4-1 playoffs) / 65 / (7)
8. Saint Mary’s (16-8-4 / 4-1 playoffs) / 45 / (8)
9. Saskatchewan (16-8-4) / 42 / (9)
10. StFX (11-12-5 / 4-0 playoffs) / 23 / (NR)
Other teams receiving votes: Manitoba (21), Waterloo (1).
-CIS-
