CIS Men's Hockey Top (#6) - Aigles Bleus climb to No. 1
OTTAWA (CIS) - The University of Moncton Aigles Bleus top the Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's hockey rankings for the first time in over a decade.
The Aigles Bleus (10-2-0-0), who won a pair of one-goal affairs against StFX - 4-3 - and Dalhousie - 2-1 - over the weekend to remain in a tie with the No. 4 St. Thomas Tommies (10-2-0-0) atop the Atlantic conference standings, tallied nine of 10 first-place votes in the national media poll to dethrone the two-time reigning CIS champion Alberta Golden Bears, who led the first five Top Tens of the campaign.
The Aigles Bleus could not have chosen a better year to climb back to No. 1 as they will host the University Cup tournament for the first of two consecutive seasons this spring (March 22-25).
No. 1 Moncton and No. 4 St. Thomas are set to face off on Saturday night in Fredericton. The Aigles Bleus won the first head-to-head battle of the regular season 6-4 on Oct. 21.
Alberta (8-2-0-2) slides to the No. 2 spot following back-to-back losses in Saskatoon on Friday and Saturday, marking the first weekend sweep for the Huskies (8-5-0-1) over their Canada West arch-rivals since the 1990-91 campaign.
Saskatchewan's 3-2 victory on Saturday in the back end of the doubleheader was the program's 600th in Canada West conference play since 1919-20, second only to Alberta's 861 wins. The Huskies move up four positions to No. 6 following the successful home stand.
Rounding out the top three for the sixth time in as many weeks in 2006-07 are the McGill Redmen (8-1-1-1), locked in a first-place tie with No. 7 UQTR (7-0-1-3) in the OUA Far East following a 5-4 overtime loss to No. 10 Laurier and an 8-0 rout of Brock. Saturday's shutout over the Badgers was the fifth in 11 conference outings for the Redmen, who set a CIS record with 12 whitewashes in 24 regular season contests a year ago.
No. 4 St. Thomas and No. 5 UNB (8-2-0-2) switch places this week in the top five following a 2-0 weekend for the Tommies and a 1-1 mark for the Varsity Reds, including a 5-4 OT loss to StFX.
CIS men's hockey Top 10 (#6)
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. CIS Men's Ice Hockey Top Ten Committee Chairman: Steve Knowles.
RANK TEAM CONFERENCE (Overall) RECORD PTS (1st Place) LAST WEEK
1. MONCTON AIGLES BLEUS 10-2-0-0 99 (9) 2
2. ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 8-2-0-2 81 1
3. McGILL REDMEN 8-1-1-1 78 (1) 3
4. ST. THOMAS TOMMIES 10-2-0-0 69 5
5. UNB VARSITY REDS 8-2-0-2 49 4
6. SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 8-5-0-1 44 10
7. UQTR PATRIOTES 7-0-1-3 39 6
8. CALGARY DINOS 8-3-0-1 35 7
9. LAKEHEAD THUNDERWOLVES 9-2-1-0 30 8
10. WILFRID LAURIER GOLDEN HAWKS 9-2-1-0 17 9
Other teams receiving votes: Waterloo Warriors (6), Saint Mary's Huskies (2), Manitoba Bisons (1)
-CIS
