CIS men’s hockey Top 10 (#15): No. 1 UNB ready for playoff run

OTTAWA (CIS) – The University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds top the Canadian Interuniversity Sport men’s hockey rankings for the seventh straight week, while the McGill Redmen follow in second place for the sixth week in a row.
 
The V-Reds (23-5-0) once again received all but one first-place votes from the 18-member media panel for a total of 179 points. The Redmen (24-2-2 / 2-0 playoffs) earned the remaining first place nod and 152 points.
 
The Alberta Golden Bears (18-5-3) and the reigning University Cup champion Saint Mary’s Huskies (18-9-1) remain at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, while the Western Ontario Mustangs (20-3-5 / 2-0 playoffs) move up one spot in the new rankings to complete the top five.
 
Rounding out the 15th national poll of the campaign are the St. Francis Xavier X-Men (17-10-1 / 2-0 playoffs), up one position to No. 6; the Calgary Dinos (16-8-2), also up one position to No. 7; the Saskatchewan Huskies (16-10-0), down three spots to No. 8; and the UQTR Patriotes (19-8-1 / 2-1 playoffs) and Carleton Ravens (18-8-2 / 2-1 playoffs), who stay put at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively.
 
The CIS men’s hockey playoffs got under way last week with No. 2 McGill, No. 5 Western, No. 9 UQTR and No. 10 Carleton all advancing to the second round in the OUA, and No. 6 StFX winning its opening round series in the AUS.
 
The Redmen swept Ottawa in two games in their OUA East quarterfinal series, 2-1 and 10-5, and now face Nipissing in a best-of-three OUA East semifinal, starting on Wednesday. 
 
The Mustangs also took care of business in two games, defeating Windsor 4-1 and 4-2, and are now set to battle Waterloo in the OUA West semis. The best-of-three affair kicks off on Thursday.
 
The Patriotes and Ravens will face off in the other OUA East semifinal starting on Wednesday. Both teams needed three games in the opening round to down Concordia and Toronto, respectively.
 
Meanwhile in the Atlantic conference, the X-Men swept Dalhousie 4-0 and 3-2 in the quarterfinals to earn a date with No. 4 Saint Mary’s in the best-of-five AUS semis, starting on Friday. The defending national champion Huskies had a bye in the opening round.
 
Top-ranked UNB, which also enjoyed a bye last week, squares off against Acadia in the other AUS semifinal. Game 1 is scheduled for Friday night in Fredericton.
 
In Canada West, the regular season comes to an end this weekend with Friday-Saturday doubleheaders between No. 3 Alberta and UBC, No. 7 Calgary and Lethbridge, and No. 8 Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
 
The Golden Bears (39 points) secured first place in the conference standings last week with a hard-fought sweep of Manitoba, 4-3 in a shootout and 4-3 in overtime. The Dinos (34 pts) are currently in second position, with the Huskies (32 pts) and Manitoba (30 pts) following in order.
 
Below is a complete CIS men’s hockey schedule for the period of Feb. 23-27.
 
CIS MEN’S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#15)
 
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 (23-5-0) / 179 pts (17) / (1)
2. McGill (24-2-2 / 2-0 playoffs) / 152 (1) / (2)
3. Alberta (18-5-3) / 141 / (3)
4. Saint Mary’s (18-9-1) / 127 / (4)
5. Western Ontario (20-3-5 / 2-0 playoffs) / 96 / (6)
6. St. Francis Xavier (17-10-1 / 2-0 playoffs) / 87 / (7)
7. Calgary (16-8-2) / 78 / (8)
8. Saskatchewan (16-10-0) / 56 / (5)
9. UQTR (19-8-1 / 2-1 playoffs) / 31/ (9)
10. Carleton (18-8-2 / 2-1 playoffs) / 17 / (10)
 
Other teams receiving votes: Acadia (14), Manitoba (4), UPEI (2), Waterloo (2), Wilfrid Laurier (2), Guelph (1), Nipissing (1).
 
CIS MEN’S HOCKEY SCHEDULE: Feb. 23-27 (all times LOCAL)
 
Wednesday, Feb. 23
 
19:00 McGill at Nipissing (Game 1 best-of-3 OUA East semi-final)
19:00 Carleton at UQTR (Game 1 best-of-3 OUA East semi-final)
 
Thursday, Feb. 24
 
19:30 Waterloo at Western Ontario (Game 1 best-of-3 OUA West semi-final)
19:30 Guelph at Wilfrid Laurier (Game 1 best-of-3 OUA West semi-final)
 
Friday, Feb. 25
 
19:00 Acadia at UNB (Game 1 best-of-5 AUS semi-final)
19:00 Saint Mary’s at StFX (Game 1 best-of-5 AUS semi-final)
19:00 Saskatchewan at Manitoba (regular season)
19:00 Lethbridge at Calgary (regular season)
19:00 Alberta at UBC (regular season)
19:30 UQTR at Carleton (Game 2 best-of-3 OUA East semi-final)
 
Saturday, Feb. 26
 
19:00 Acadia at UNB (Game 2 best-of-5 AUS semi-final)
19:00 Nipissing at McGill (Game 2 best-of-3 OUA East semi-final)
19:00 Saskatchewan at Manitoba (regular season)
19:00 Lethbridge at Calgary (regular season)
19:00 Alberta at UBC (regular season)
19:30 Western Ontario at Waterloo (Game 2 best-of-3 OUA West semi-final)
19:30 Wilfrid Laurier at Guelph (Game 2 best-of-3 OUA West semi-final)
 
Sunday, Feb. 27
 
19:00 StFX at Saint Mary’s (Game 2 best-of-5 AUS semi-final)
19:00 Nipissing at McGill (Game 3 best-of-3 OUA East semi-final – if necessary)
19:00 Carleton at UQTR (Game 3 best-of-3 OUA East semi-final – if necessary)
19:30 Waterloo at Western Ontario (Game 3 best-of-3 OUA West semi-final – if necessary)
20:00 Guelph at Wilfrid Laurier (Game 3 best-of-3 OUA West semi-final – if necessary)
 
 
-CIS-