Top 10 : Bears edge Redmen for first place
OTTAWA (CIS) - The reigning national champion Alberta Golden Bears stand alone atop the CIS men's hockey rankings for the first time since the second poll of the season.
Alberta climbed back into first place a week ago following a two-game sweep of then-top-ranked Saskatchewan but shared the No. 1 spot with the McGill Redmen for the past seven days.
The Golden Bears (18-4-2), which hold a commanding 14-point lead over Calgary in the Canada West Mountain Division standings and need only two points in their final four regular-season outings to clinch the conference overall title, rolled over UBC (10-13-1) this weekend outscoring the Thunderbirds 8-1 and 4-1. No. 1 Alberta visits the struggling Lethbridge Pronghorns (3-16-4) this week.
The Redmen (17-1-3) enjoyed a solid week of their own despite falling to second position in the poll, picking up five out of a possible six points to clinch their second consecutive regular-season pennant in the OUA Far East. McGill tied the No. 9 UQTR Patriotes (15-5-2) 2-2 last Tuesday, and then beat Ryerson, 7-0, and Toronto, 3-2, over the weekend. The shutout over Ryerson was the Redmen's 10th of the regular campaign, adding up to their CIS record. No. 2 McGill faces a busy week with match-ups against all three divisional rivals, Concordia (6-9-3-3), Ottawa (13-6-2-1) and UQTR.
The Saskatchewan Huskies (16-6-4) remain in third place this week following a 4-4 draw and a 4-1 win over Manitoba. The Huskies snapped a four-game winless streak with the victory on Saturday.
The Acadia Axemen (18-6-1-1) move past the Western Ontario Mustangs in fourth position in the new rankings.
The Axemen clinched the regular-season title in the very competitive AUS conference over the weekend with a 5-3 win over UPEI on Friday and a convincing 5-1 defeat of the No. 8 UNB Varsity Reds on Saturday.
UNB (15-7-4, 34 points) drops two positions in the Top 10 following the loss and is tied with the No. 6 Moncton Aigles Bleus (16-8-1-1, 34 points) in second place in the AUS standings with two games left on the schedule.
The Mustangs (19-2-1) round out the top 5 in the new CIS poll. Western defeated Guelph 6-2 in its first duel of the past week before dropping only its second regular-season decision of the year on Saturday, a 5-3 loss to the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (12-7-2-1).
RANK TEAM CONFERENCE (Overall) RECORD PTS (1st Place) LAST WEEK
1. ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 18-4-2 (24-7-2) 77 (5) 1T
2. McGILL REDMEN 17-1-3 (22-5-3) 73 (3) 1T
3. SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 16-6-4 (23-7-4) 64 3
4. ACADIA AXEMEN 18-7-1 (20-9-2) 58 5
5. WESTERN ONTARIO MUSTANGS 19-2-1 (24-7-1) 48 4
6. MONCTON AIGLES BLEUS 16-9-1 (20-12-1) 35 9
7. SAINT MARY'S HUSKIES 15-8-3 (20-10-3) 27 7
8. UNB VARSITY REDS 15-7-4 (19-11-4) 25 6
9. UQTR PATRIOTES 15-5-2 (18-9-2) 18 10
10. WATERLOO WARRIORS-x 13-6-3 (18-10-3) 6 9
x - Waterloo was awarded the higher ranking based on number of higher placed votes.
Other teams receiving votes: Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks-x (6), Ottawa Gee-Gees (2),
St. Thomas Tommies (1)
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.
CIMen's Ice Hockey Top Ten Committee Chairman: Steve Knowles
For all the info on CIS (standings, results, news, etc.), visit: www.universitysport.ca
Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 19 National Championships in 11 different sports.
