Regular season gets under way Friday

Photo credit David Moll, Calgary

OTTAWA (CIS) – Following four weeks of pre-season action, CIS men’s hockey conference play finally gets under way this weekend with six games in Ontario and Canada West.
 
The puck officially drops Friday night with a pair of OUA matchups featuring Ryerson at Nipissing (in North Bay, Ont.) and York visiting Brock (in St. Catharines, Ont.), and two Canada West contests between provincial rivals including Saskatchewan at Regina and Calgary visiting Alberta (in Edmonton).
 
The Huskies, Cougars, Dinos and Golden Bears square off again on Saturday evening to complete the doubleheaders and the first weekend of the 28-game CIS regular schedule.
 
In the Atlantic conference, the regular season starts on Oct. 15 with four games, including the reigning University Cup and AUS champion Saint Mary’s Huskies opening their title defence against cross-town rival Dalhousie. 
 
Saint Mary’s captured the University Cup for the first time in team history last March with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over perennial powerhouse Alberta in the national final, in Thunder Bay, Ont. Freshman forward Brad Smith was the OT hero scoring after nine minutes and 13 seconds of extra time.
 
The Huskies posted a solid, if not spectacular 16-8-4 mark in conference play in 2009-10 – good for third place in the AUS standings - but were almost unbeatable in the last two months of the campaign as they won 15 of their final 16 games, including a remarkable 11-1 playoff record.
 
Saint Mary’s looked good early on in pre-season action this fall winning its first three contests against Dalhousie, StFX and UPEI. But the Huskies were brought back to earth last Saturday when they dropped a 10-3 decision to archrivals, the UNB Varsity Reds.
 
The defending national champions have two more non-conference outings scheduled before the start of AUS play.
 
While Saint Mary’s skated away with the University Cup six months ago, all eyes were on UNB during the 2009-10 regular season. The Varsity Reds finished with a 27-1 record, setting a CIS single-season mark for most wins and tying the all time record for most points (54). The V-Reds’ run came to an abrupt stop in the playoffs however as they were upset in three straight by StFX in the AUS semifinals.
 
UNB, which claimed the University Cup in 2009 and 2007 and will host the CIS championship next March, is expected to be a top contender once again this year. The V-Reds have outscored their opponents by a 36-10 margin en route to a 5-0 pre-season mark, including three impressive wins over Calgary (10-2, 6-1) and Alberta (6-2) during a three-game swing out West. 
 
The Golden Bears and the McGill Redmen were the two other conference champions in 2009-10.
 
The Bears, who have captured nine of the past 10 Canada West banners – including the last three - and three University Cups in the past six years (2008, 2006, 2005), went 4-1 in pre-season play including wins against Canada West rivals Saskatchewan (4-2), Calgary (4-1) and Regina (3-0).
 
The Redmen, two-time OUA champions over the past three years, are a perfect 4-0 so far this fall under new head coach Kelly Nobes, including a pair of victories against Carleton (5-3, 6-3) and wins over Waterloo (3-2 OTS) and Western (6-3).
 
The 2011 University Cup championship will be held in Fredericton from 24 to 27.
 
NOTE: The first CIS Top 10 national rankings of the season will be published on Tuesday, Oct. 19, once all teams have started conference play. 
 
CIS MEN’S HOCKEY SCHEDULE (all times local)
 
October 1
19:00   Ryerson at Nipissing
19:00   Saskatchewan at Regina
19:15   York at Brock
19:30   Calgary at Alberta
 
October 2
19:00   Saskatchewan at Regina
19:30   Calgary at Alberta 
 
October 7
19:30   UOIT at Wilfrid Laurier
19:30   Western Ontario at Guelph      
 
October 8
19:00   Windsor at York
19:00   Queen’s at Ottawa
19:00   UQTR at Nipissing
19:00   Carleton at RMC
19:15   Guelph at Brock         
19:30   McGill at Toronto       
19:30   Concordia at Ryerson
19:30   Waterloo at Lakehead
20:00   Regina at Manitoba
 
October 9
14:00   Windsor at York
14:00   Carleton at Ryerson
16:00   McGill at Nipissing
19:00   Ottawa at RMC
19:00   Regina at Manitoba     
19:30   Wilfrid Laurier at UOIT
19:30   Waterloo at Lakehead
19:30   UQTR at Toronto
20:30   Concordia at Queen’s
 
October 14
19:00   McGill at UQTR
 
AUS opening night on Oct. 15: 
19:00   St. Thomas at Moncton
19:00   Saint Mary’s at Dalhousie
19:00   Acadia at StFX
19:00   UNB at UPEI
 
UNIVERSITY CUP CHAMPIONS (last 20 years)
 
2009-2010       Saint Mary’s
2008-2009       UNB                                                               
2007-2008       Alberta                                    
2006-2007       UNB                                                   
2005-2006       Alberta                                                                        
2004-2005       Alberta                                                
2003-2004       StFX                                                               
2002-2003       UQTR                                                 
2001-2002       Western                                                                      
2000-2001       UQTR                                                 
1999-2000       Alberta                                                                        
1998-1999       Alberta                                                            
1997-1998       UNB                                                               
1996-1997       Guelph                                                                        
1995-1996       Acadia                                                                        
1994-1995       Moncton                                                                     
1993-1994       Lethbridge                                                      
1992-1993       Acadia                                                                        
1991-1992       Alberta                                                            
1990-1991       UQTR 
 
 
-CIS-