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CIS Men’s Hockey Top 10 (#9): UNB moves up to No. 1
Photo credit Brian Smith
OTTAWA (CIS) – The University of New Brunswick Varsity
Reds are the new number one team in Canadian Interuniversity Sport
men’s hockey.
The V-Reds (13-4-0) received 12 first-place votes and 171 points
from the national media panel in the first Top 10 poll of the
winter semester to climb to No. 1 for the first time this
season.
The Alberta Golden Bears (12-2-2), who held the top spot in the
first eight polls of the 2010-11 campaign, fall to No. 2 after
receiving four first-place nods and 163 points from the voting
committee. The McGill Redmen (18-0-2) remain at No. 3 thanks to two
first-place votes and 138 points.
UNB, Alberta and McGill have made up the Top Three in each and
every media poll so far this year.
Rounding up the new national rankings are the reigning University
Cup champion Saint Mary’s Huskies (12-4-1), up one position
to No. 4; Western Ontario (14-1-3), down one spot to No. 5; UPEI
(10-5-2), which stays put at No. 6; Saskatchewan (10-6-0), up one
position to No. 7; Lakehead (13-4-1), down one to No. 8; as well as
No. 9 Manitoba (7-3-4) and No. 10 UQTR (13-5-0), both of whom
remain in their previous positions.
Since the last Top 10 of the fall semester on Dec. 7, top-ranked
UNB has recorded four wins in five outings. The V-Reds scored an
impressive 7-1 non-conference win over No. 3 McGill on Dec. 30 in
Fredericton, split a two-game series against Providence of the NCAA
on Jan. 1-2 (3-1 win, 1-0 loss), and then resumed the regular
season last weekend with dominating home victories over Dalhousie,
5-0, and Acadia, 6-0.
With 11 games remaining in conference play, UNB holds a slim
one-point advantage over Saint Mary’s in the AUS standings.
The new CIS leaders visit Moncton (5-10-2) on Friday before hosting
No. 6 UPEI on Saturday.
No. 2 Alberta has kept a 3-1 overall mark since the Dec. 7
rankings. The Bears beat SAIT 6-2 and Regina 4-1 at the SAIT
Challenge Cup in Calgary over the holidays before resuming Canada
West play with a weekend split at home versus UBC, including a 5-2
win and a 3-2 shootout loss.
After dropping non-conference decisions to StFX (6-5 in OT) and UNB
during a tour of the Maritimes over Christmas, No. 3 McGill quickly
got back on track once OUA action resumed last weekend with a 3-2
overtime victory over Ottawa and a 6-2 win over Concordia. With
eight games left on the OUA schedule, the Redmen are the only team
in the nation that has yet to lose in regulation.
CIS MEN’S
HOCKEY TOP 10 (#9)
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. UNB (13-4-0) / 171 pts (12) / (2)
2. Alberta (12-2-2) / 163 (4) / (1)
3. McGill (18-0-2) / 138 (2) / (3)
4. Saint Mary’s (12-4-1) / 125 / (5)
5. Western Ontario (14-1-3) / 109 / (4)
6. UPEI (10-5-2) / 68 / (6)
7. Saskatchewan (10-6-0) / 67 / (8)
8. Lakehead (13-4-1) / 52 / (7)
9. Manitoba (7-3-4) / 38 / (9)
10. UQTR (13-5-0) / 24 / (10)
Other teams receiving votes: StFX (14), Calgary (10), Wilfrid
Laurier (6), Nipissing (3), Carleton (1), Guelph (1).
-CIS-
