OTTAWA (CIS) – The University of Alberta Golden Bears top
the CIS men’s hockey national rankings for the seventh time
in as many polls this season after receiving all 17 first-place
votes from the media panel for the first time this fall.
The most significant change in the new Top 10 sees the Calgary
Dinos move past the reigning University Cup champion UNB Varsity
Reds in second place.
The last time the Dinos hit No. 2 in the national charts was
back in 2002-03, when they occupied that spot in the first three
polls of the campaign (Oct. 22, Oct. 29, Nov. 5). Those
early-season rankings 11 years ago were also the last time
provincial rivals Alberta and Calgary were 1-2 in the country.
Rounding out this week’s poll behing Alberta (12-0),
Calgary (12-0) and UNB (8-0-1) are the No. 4 Acadia Axemen (8-1 /
up one position), No. 5 McGill Redmen (8-2-1 / down one), No. 6
Lakehead Thunderwolves (9-1 / up two), No. 7 Windsor Lancers (9-2 /
no change), No. 8 Western Mustangs (7-3 / up two), No. 9 UPEI
Panthers (4-3-1 / down three), as well as the previously unranked
UQTR Patriotes (7-4) at No. 10.
Alberta and Calgary both remained perfect in league play over
the past weekend thanks to two-game sweeps over Regina (3-2 and
5-1) and Mount Royal (3-0 and 8-1), respectively.
Something’s got to give this weekend when the Bears and
Dinos meet for their much-anticipated first showdown of the regular
schedule, Friday in Calgary and Saturday in Edmonton. Fittingly,
the co-Canada West leaders went 2-2 head-to-head in pre-season
action back in September, with the Bears winning the first two
confrontations in Banff, 4-2 (Sept. 6) and 3-0 (Sept. 7), and the
Dinos responding a few weeks later with a pair of one-goal
victories, 3-2 in Calgary (Sept. 27) and a 5-4 in St. Albert (Sept.
28).
The two teams have played only four times in the past while
ranked 1-2 in the nation, all in the winter of 1990. With Alberta
holding the No. 1 spot for a regular season series on Feb. 2-3 and
Calgary sitting atop the rankings going into the best-of-three
Canada West final on March 2-3, the Dinos took three out of four
matchups en route to the conference title.
Meanwhile in Eastern Canada, Acadia handed UNB its first loss of
the campaign last Friday night in Fredericton, edging the national
champs 4-3 in a shootout. The result left the V-Reds with a slim
one-point lead over the Axemen in the AUS standings and only one
spot ahead of their conference rivals in the Top 10.
CIS
MEN’S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#7)
Voting is based on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, with a 1st
place vote worth 10 points.
(regular season record) / votes (first-place
votes)
1. Alberta (12-0-0) / 170 points (17) / (1)
2. Calgary (12-0-0) / 146 / (3)
3. UNB (8-0-1) / 139 / (2)
4. Acadia (8-1-0) / 119 / (5)
5. McGill (8-2-1) / 94 / (4)
6. Lakehead (9-1-0) / 82 / (8)
7. Windsor (9-2-0) / 64 / (7)
8. Western (7-3-0) / 37 / (10)
9. UPEI (4-3-1) / 26 / (6)
10. UQTR (7-4-0) / 14 / (NR)
Other teams receiving votes: Toronto (11), Queen’s (10),
StFX (9), Saskatchewan (8), Ottawa (3), Saint Mary’s (2),
Carleton (1).
