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CIS men's hockey Top 10 (#12): No. 1 UNB extends win streak to 9
Photo credit Brian Smith, UNB
OTTAWA (CIS) – The University of New Brunswick Varsity
Reds top the Canadian Interuniversity Sport men’s hockey
rankings for the fourth straight week.
The leading foursome remains unchanged in the new national media
poll with the No. 2 McGill Redmen (22-1-2), No. 3 Western Ontario
Mustangs (19-1-4) and No. 4 Alberta Golden Bears (13-5-2) following
in order. The Saskatchewan Huskies (13-7-0) move up two positions
to round out the top five.
The V-Reds (19-4-0) received all but one first-place votes and 179
points this week from the 18-member media panel, while McGill
earned the remaining first-place nod and 143 points.
Rounding out the 12th weekly poll of the campaign are the reigning
University Cup champion Saint Mary’s Huskies (14-9-1), who
drop one spot to No. 6; the St. Francis Xavier X-Men, unranked a
week ago; the UPEI Panthers (12-8-3), down two positions to No. 8;
the Manitoba Bisons (11-5-4), down one to No. 9; and the previously
unranked Nipissing Lakers (16-7-3) at No. 10.
Top-ranked UNB has already clinched first place in the AUS
standings thanks to a nine-point lead over Saint Mary’s,
which only has four conference games remaining. The V-Reds, who
haven’t lost in AUS action since a 6-3 setback against
Dalhousie on Nov. 27, extended their regular season winning streak
to nine last weekend with road victories over St. Thomas (3-16-4),
7-1, and No. 8 UPEI, 3-1.
The V-Reds hit the road again this week for a pair of battles
against Top-10 opponents. They visit No. 7 StFX on Friday night and
No. 6 Saint Mary’s on Saturday.
In the OUA, the past week saw the end of a remarkable streak as No.
2 McGill suffered its first regulation loss of the season in
conference play.
After edging Concordia (12-11-2) 5-4 last Wednesday, McGill was
blanked 4-0 by Carleton (15-7-2) Saturday in Ottawa. To their
defence, the Redmen were missing three players currently
representing Canada at the Winter Universiade in Turkey, injured
sniper Francis Verreault-Paul, who leads the country with 28 goals
in only 19 games, plus three other regulars, including injured
starting goalie Hubert Morin.
With three games remaining in the regular season, McGill has
secured first place in the OUA East thanks to an 11-point cushion
over Nipissing.
No. 3 Western went 2-for-2 over the past weekend defeating UOIT
(10-11-4) 7-3 and Windsor (11-11-3) 3-1. The Mustangs have clinched
first place in the OUA West.
It’s a different story in Canada West for No. 4 Alberta,
which enjoyed a bye last week. With eight games left in conference
play, the Bears hold a slim two-point lead over both Saskatchewan
and Manitoba, while Calgary is only four points behind.
CIS MEN’S
HOCKEY TOP 10 (#12)
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 (19-4-0) / 179 pts (17) / (1)
2. McGill (22-1-2) / 143 (1) / (2)
3. Western Ontario (19-1-4) / 135 / (3)
4. Alberta (13-5-2) / 124 / (4)
5. Saskatchewan (13-7-0) / 98 / (7)
6. Saint Mary’s (14-9-1) / 97 / (5)
7. StFX (14-9-1) / 77 / (NR)
8. UPEI (12-8-3) / 45 / (6)
9. Manitoba (11-5-4) / 43 / (8)
10. Nipissing (16-7-3) / 12 / (NR)
Other teams receiving votes: Carleton (11), Calgary (10), Wilfrid
Laurier (7), Acadia (3), Lakehead (3), UQTR (3).
-CIS-
