CIS Men’s Hockey Top 10 (#2): Undefeated UNB remains No. 1

Photo credit Brian Smith, UNB

OTTAWA (CIS) – The reigning national champion University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds top the CIS men’s hockey rankings for the second time in as many polls this season.

The V-Reds (4-0-0), who captured a third University Cup championship in five years last march, received all 17 first-place votes this week from the media panel after earning 15 first-place nods last Tuesday.

The Manitoba Bisons (4-1-1) and Acadia Axemen (3-1-0) each move up one spot in the new poll to No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, while the 2011 CIS finalist McGill Redmen (4-0-2) drop two positions to No. 4.

Rounding out the new Top 10 are the No. 5 Saskatchewan Huskies (4-1-0), who hold on to their previous position; No. 6 UQTR Patriotes (5-2-0), unranked a week ago; No. 7 Western Ontario Mustangs (3-0-1), down one; No. 8 St. Francis Xavier X-Men (2-2-0), also down one; No. 9 Waterloo Warriors (4-1-0), up one position; and No. 10 Calgary Dinos (3-3-0), ranked for the first time this fall.

Top-ranked UNB edged StFX 7-6 on Friday and doubled Saint Mary’s 4-2 on Saturday to improve to a perfect 4-0 in AUS conference play. The V-Reds, who are the only team in CIS with an unblemished record after two weeks of regular season action, host No. 3 Acadia and Dalhousie (2-2-0) this weekend in Fredericton.

Manitoba, whose No. 2 ranking is the best in program history, split a two-game series against Regina over the weekend, dropping the opener 6-1 before rebounding with a convincing 5-1 win.

Acadia also split a weekend doubleheader, losing 6-4 to upstart Moncton and outscoring St. Thomas 7-5.

McGill, which reached the University Cup final for the first time in school history last spring, dropped two heartbreaking overtime decisions, 4-3 to UQTR and 3-2 to Concordia, a pair of results that proved costly in the poll for the reigning two-time OUA champions.

Also of note in the second poll of the campaign is the absence of perennial powerhouse Alberta. After opening at No.8 last week – their lowest national ranking since 1996 – the Golden Bears (3-2-1) find themselves out of the Top 10 for the first time since the 1995-96 season. The defending Canada West champions, who were swept by Calgary this past weekend (4-3 OT, 2-1), had been ranked for 276 consecutive ranking periods dating back to ’95-96.

CIS MEN’S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#2)

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 (4-0-0) / 170 pts (17) / (1)
2. Manitoba (4-1-1) / 138 / (3)
3. Acadia (3-1-0) / 118 / (4)
4. McGill (4-0-2) / 112 / (2)
5. Saskatchewan (4-1-0) / 75 / (5)
6. UQTR (5-2-0) / 68 / (NR)
7. Western Ontario (3-0-1) / 62 / (6)
8. StFX (2-2-0) / 56 / (7)
9. Waterloo (4-1-0) / 55 / (10)
10. Calgary (3-3-0) / 24 / (NR)

Other teams receiving votes: Moncton (21), Nipissing (12), Lakehead (12), Alberta (9), Queen’s (3).

-CIS-