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CIS Men’s Hockey Top 10 (#1): Alberta opens at No. 1, University Cup champion Huskies No. 5
OTTAWA (CIS) – For the ninth time in 13 years, the
defending Canada West champion University of Alberta Golden Bears
are ranked No. 1 in the first CIS men’s hockey media poll of
the season.
The Bears, who dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 overtime decision to the
Saint Mary’s Huskies in last spring’s University Cup
final, were one of five teams to receive first-places votes (2)
from the 18-member national committee in the inaugural Top 10 and
earned 159 points to edge the No. 2 McGill Redmen (139 pts / 6
first-place votes), No. 3 UNB Varsity Reds (116 / 7), No. 4 StFX
X-Men (107), No. 5 Saint Mary’s (91 / 2), No. 6 Saskatchewan
Huskies (59), No. 7 Moncton Aigles Bleus (49 / 1), No. 8 Ryerson
Rams (43), No. 9 Manitoba Bisons (41) and No. 10 Western Ontario
Mustangs (38).
Since the 1998-99 campaign, Alberta, which holds the all-time
record of 13 University Cup titles, has failed to open at No. 1
only four times including in 1999-2000 (No. 3), 2004-05 (No. 2),
2007-08 (No. 4) and last season (No. 2).
The top-ranked Bears kicked off 2010-11 with four wins in five
pre-season outings – including a 3-1 record versus CIS
opponents – and are off to a 3-1 start in conference play
following a pair of victories over provincial rival Calgary and a
weekend split against UBC in Vancouver.
No. 2 McGill has also been impressive in the early goings under new
head coach Kelly Nobes. The Redmen are 9-0 overall – all
against CIS rivals – and 4-0 in OUA play, including a pair of
wins over OUA East archrival UQTR.
The No. 3 Varsity Reds, who set a CIS record last year when they
won their first 26 regular season duels on their way to a 27-1
mark, dropped their AUS opener 4-2 against UPEI last Friday before
rebounding with a 7-1 defeat of St. Thomas.
Fourth-ranked StFX kicked off conference play with a 5-4 win over
Acadia on Friday and then ruined Saint Mary’s banner-raising
night on Saturday when they doubled the Huskies 4-2.
The Huskies, whose triumph over Alberta last spring marked their
first-ever national title, opened the regular season with a 5-0
shutout of Dalhousie before losing to StFX.
The inaugural media poll is also highlighted by the first Top-10
appearance in team history for Ryerson. The Rams had never been
ranked in 444 polls from 1979-80 to 2009-10 and had only received
votes twice previously - once in 2001-02 (Nov. 5, 2001) and again
last season (Feb. 23, 2010).
The 2011 University Cup tournament will be hosted by the University
of New Brunswick in Fredericton from March 24 to 27.
CIS MEN’S
HOCKEY TOP 10 (#1)
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) /
(previous rankings)
1. Alberta (3-1-0) / 159 pts (2) / (-)
2. McGill (4-0-0) / 139 (6) / (-) *
3. UNB (1-1-0) / 116 (7) / (-)
4. StFX (2-0-0) / 107 / (-)
5. Saint Mary’s (1-1-0) / 91 (2) / (-)
6. Saskatchewan (2-2-0) / 59 / (-)
7. Moncton (2-0-0) / 49 (1) / (-)
8. Ryerson (4-1-0) / 43 / (-)
9. Manitoba (1-1-0) / 41 / (-)
10. Western Ontario (2-0-1) / 38 / (-)
Other teams receiving votes: Waterloo (37), Wilfrid Laurier (28),
Concordia (27), Queen’s (23), Acadia (10), UPEI (5), Regina
(5), Lakehead (4), Windsor (3), Calgary (2), UQTR (2), Carleton
(1), Guelph (1).
* NOTE: McGill improved to 4-0-0 in conference play on Monday
night with a 6-3 win over UQTR but that result was not taken into
consideration in this week’s voting; it will affect the Oct.
26 Top 10.
-CIS-
