OTTAWA (CIS) – The University of Alberta Golden Bears lead
the CIS men’s hockey Top 10 for the sixth consecutive ranking
period, dating back to mid-November.
The Bears (16-4-0) received 15 of 17 first-place votes from the
national media panel this week, four more than last Tuesday. Both
remaining first-place nods went to the Western Mustangs (17-3-0),
who move up one spot in the new poll to a season-high No. 2.
All other Top-10 teams are on the move this week, including the
No. 3 UNB Varsity Reds (15-5-0), down one position; No. 4 Saint
Mary’s Huskies (14-5-1), up one; No. 5 Saskatchewan Huskies
(14-6-0), down one; No. 6 UQTR Patriotes (14-4-1), up one; No. 7
Acadia Axemen (13-6-1), down one; No. 8 Manitoba Bisons (12-5-3),
up one; No. 9 Carleton Ravens (13-5-2), down one; and No. 10
Calgary Dinos (13-7-0), unranked a week ago.
Top-ranked Alberta scored a pair of huge 3-2 wins at home
against Saskatchewan over the weekend, allowing the Bears to open
up a four-point lead over their archrivals atop the Canada West
standings. Alberta, which has won 13 of 14 league games since going
3-3 in its first six regular season contests, stays in Edmonton
this week for a Friday-Saturday doubleheader versus struggling
Lethbridge (1-17-2).
Western has also been red hot since starting league play with a
2-3 mark. The Mustangs extended their conference winning streak to
15 games last weekend thanks to road victories over Waterloo, 5-4,
and UOIT, 5-2. The OUA West leaders visit Laurier (8-10-2) on
Thursday and host Guelph (12-6-2) on Saturday.
In the Atlantic conference, UNB kicked off the past weekend with
a 5-2 win at then nationally-ranked StFX but then lost 5-3 at Saint
Mary’s on Saturday in a duel between the top two teams in the
Maritimes. The V-Reds, who still hold a slim one-point lead over
the Huskies in the AUS standings, are set to take the ice three
times this week, including a home tilt against St. Thomas (3-16-1)
on Wednesday and visits to Moncton (8-9-3) and UPEI (10-9-1) on
Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Other top matchups to keep an eye on this week include No. 6
UQTR at reigning University Cup champion McGill on Wednesday; No. 7
Acadia at No. 4 Saint Mary’s on Friday; No. 10 Calgary at No.
8 Manitoba on Friday and Saturday.
CIS
MEN’S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#11)
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 (16-4-0) / 168 points (15) / (1)
2. Western (17-3-0) / 143 (2) / (3)
3. UNB (15-5-0) / 140 / (2)
4. Saint Mary’s (14-5-1) / 118 / (5)
5. Saskatchewan (14-6-0) / 94 / (4)
6. UQTR (14-4-1) / 78 / (7)
7. Acadia (13-6-1) / 64 / (6)
8. Manitoba (12-5-3) / 48 / (9)
9. Carleton (13-5-2) / 37 / (8)
10. Calgary (13-7-0) / 19 / (NR)
Other teams receiving votes: Windsor (13), Guelph (6), StFX (3),
McGill (2), Toronto (2).
-CIS-
