CIS Men's Hockey Top 10 - Week 6
OTTAWA (CIS) – The Saskatchewan Huskies top the CIS men’s hockey national poll for the fourth consecutive week but the story of the past weekend was the No. 3 McGill Redmen, which continue to set new CIS defensive standards.
Top-ranked Saskatchewan improved its regular-season record to 9-2-3 with a pair of 5-2 road victories over the Calgary Dinos (5-5-2). The Huskies visit the Manitoba Bisons (7-6-1) for a two-game series on Friday and Saturday. Saskatchewan holds a six-point lead over Manitoba atop the Canada West Great Plains Division standings at the midway point of the regular campaign.
The reigning CIS champion Alberta Golden Bears (6-3-1) hold on to the No. 2 spot for a fourth straight week after picking up two wins of their own against Regina (5-7-2). The Bears had an easy time on Friday defeating the Cougars 8-1 but needed an overtime goal by Chris Ovington to prevail 5-4 on Saturday. Alberta plays a doubleheader at UBC (4-7-1) this weekend.
No. 3 McGill (8-0-1) holds on to its highest rankings ever for a second week in a row after blanking Laurier and Brock on the road by identical scores of 5-0. The Redmen have posted an astounding seven shutouts in their first nine regular-season outings, good for a number of CIS and team records.
Only nine games into the schedule, the Redmen have already tied the CIS record for most shutouts in a regular season (7) established by the UQTR Patriotes in 1997-98. The Redmen six shutouts on the road, including five consecutive, are a new CIS regular-season mark. 2004-05 CIS rookie of the year Mathieu Poitras has tied his own school single-season record with four whitewashes. Freshman Jean-Michel Filiatrault is the first goaltender in CIS history to post shutouts in each of his first three regular-season starts
The Redmen, which have allowed only six goals in conference play, will try to add to these impressive defensive statistics when they host York (5-4-1-1) on Friday and Guelph (4-4-2) on Saturday.
Rounding out the top five in this week’s national poll are the No. 4 UQTR Patriotes (8-1-1), which move up one position following wins over York and Guelph, and the No. 5 UNB Varsity Reds (8-2-3), up one spot following victories over No. 6 Acadia and No. 9 Saint Mary’s.
RANK TEAM CONFERENCE (Overall) RECORD PTS (1st Place) LAST WEEK
1. SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 9-2-3 (16-3-3) 80 (8) 1
2. ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 6-3-1 (11-5-1) 66 2
3. McGILL REDMEN 8-0-1 (12-3-1) 64 3
4. UQTR PATRIOTES-x 8-1-1 (11-3-1) 51 5
5. UNB VARSITY REDS-x 8-2-3 (10-5-3) 51 7
6. ACADIA AXEMEN 10-5-1 (9-4-0) 44 4
7. WESTERN ONTARIO MUSTANGS 6-1-1 (9-6-1) 23 10
8. ST. THOMAS TOMMIES 7-5-1 (8-7-1) 18 NR
9. SAINT MARY’S HUSKIES 7-4-1 (9-6-1) 14 8
10. MONCTON AIGLES BLEUS 7-5-1 (10-8-1) 11 NR
x – UQTR was awarded the higher ranking based on number of higher place votes.Other teams receiving votes:Calgary Dinos (7), Waterloo Warriors (4), StFX X-Men (4), Lakehead Thunderwolves (3)
