Top 10: No change at the top, Saint Mary's cracks poll
OTTAWA (CIS) - Despite suffering their first regular-season loss in 15 outings this past weekend, the Saskatchewan Huskies remain atop the CIS men's hockey national poll for the eighth consecutive time this week.
Changes are few in this first Top 10 of the new year as the McGill Redmen, the reigning CIS champion Alberta Golden Bears and the Acadia Axemen still follow Saskatchewan in order. The Western Ontario Mustangs move ahead of the UNB Varsity Reds to round out the top 5, while the Saint Mary's Huskies are the only new team to make its way into the poll, in seventh place.
No. 1 Saskatchewan, inactive during the Christmas break, opened the winter portion of the regular-season schedule with a 3-2 win over the Regina Cougars on Friday night but dropped the second end of the weekend doubleheader, 5-1, on Saturday, as its 14-game undefeated streak in conference play came to an end. The Huskies, still leading the Great Plains division standings in Canada West with a 12-3-3 regular-season record, host the Calgary Dinos (7-9-2) for a pair this weekend.
No. 2 McGill (11-0-2) remained the only undefeated team in the country in conference play on Friday thanks to a 4-2 victory over Ottawa. The Redmen posted a 1-1 mark at the Montreal University Cup over the break, dropping a 4-3 shootout decision to eventual tournament winners, the No. 10 Waterloo Warriors in the preliminary round.
No. 3 Alberta (11-3-2) hosted No. 4 Acadia (12-5-0) for a pair of exhibition contests on December 29-30. The Bears took the first match-up by a 3-2 score, while the Axemen prevailed 5-4 in the re-match. Acadia resumed conference play in the AUS this past weekend losing 3-2 in overtime to the No. 9 Moncton Aigles Bleus, and defeating St. Thomas 2-1.
No. 5 Western Ontario (13-1-1) has been on fire over the past two weeks, capturing the tourney title at its own Mustangs Holiday Classic over the break, and sweeping a two-game series against No. 10 Waterloo as conference play resumed in the OUA this past weekend. With the two wins over the Warriors, the Mustangs opened a six-point lead in the OUA Far West standings.
Saint Mary's (10-5-2) makes its way from unranked to seventh place in the national poll this week following a spectacular showing at UNB's Pete Kelly Cup in late December, where the Huskies posted a 3-0 mark including wins over No. 8 UQTR in the semi-final round and No. 6 UNB in the gold-medal game. Saint Mary's added a win over No. 9 Moncton and a tie against a tough St. Thomas squad this weekend as conference play resumed in the AUS.
RANK TEAM CONFERENCE (Overall) RECORD PTS (1st Place) LAST WEEK
1. SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 12-3-3 (19-4-3) 79 (7) 1
2. McGILL REDMEN-x 11-0-2 (16-4-2) 68 (1) 2
3. ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS-x 11-3-2 (17-6-2) 68 3
4. ACADIA AXEMEN 12-5-0 (14-7-1) 55 4
5. WESTERN ONTARIO MUSTANGS 13-1-1 (18-6-1) 43 6
6. UNB VARSITY REDS 10-4-3 (14-8-3) 42 5
7. SAINT MARY'S HUSKIES 10-5-2 (15-7-2) 26 NR
8. UQTR PATRIOTES 10-3-1 (13-7-1) 20 7
9. MONCTON AIGLES BLEUS 10-6-1 (14-9-1) 19 8
10. WATERLOO WARRIORS 9-3-2 (14-7-2) 14 9
x ?McGill was awarded the higher ranking based on number of higher placed votes.
Other teams receiving votes:
Calgary Dinos (4), St. Thomas Tommies (2)
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
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.
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