Huskies Ranked 5th
OTTAWA (CIS) - For the second consecutive season and for the sixth time in the past seven years, the University of Alberta Golden Bears are ranked No. 1 in the first Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's hockey Top 10 of the campaign.
Two-time reigning CIS champion Alberta received five of 10 first-place votes in a very tight opening media poll, with the No. 2 Moncton Aigles Bleus (3) and No. 3 McGill Redmen (2) also earning first-place consideration.
Following a dominating exhibition season where it claimed four wins in as many outings, Alberta opened conference play with three straight victories - two over Regina and one over Calgary - before dropping a 5-3 decision to the No. 8 Dinos on Saturday night. The Bears visit UBC (2-2) for a Friday-Saturday double-header this weekend to round out an opening portion of the schedule that will have seen them play five of their first six conference games on the road.
No. 2 Moncton earned 85 points in the weekly poll to 83 for No. 3 McGill, fittingly close totals for the rivals who split a two-game pre-season series two weeks ago in Montreal.
The offensive-minded Aigles Bleus exploded for an AUS-leading 14 goals in their first weekend of conference play, outscoring Saint Mary's 7-3 before edging defending Atlantic conference champion Acadia 7-5.
Moncton, host of the University Cup tournament in 2007 and 2008, stays home for a third straight match-up on Saturday against St. Thomas (1-1).
McGill goaltender Mathieu Poitras, the reigning OUA MVP and a first-team all-Canadian in 2005-06, picked up where he left off a year ago in the Redmen's opening weekend of the regular season, turning aside 29 shots in an 8-3 win over Concordia and shutting out No. 7 UQTR on 31 saves in a 1-0 OT victory, 24 hours after the high-powered Patriotes had lit up Ottawa for eight goals.
McGill set CIS records for lowest goals against average (1.21) and shutouts (12, including 7 by Poitras) over the 24-game OUA schedule in 2005-06.
The 2-0 Redmen are back in action on Tuesday night as they host 1-1 Ottawa.
Rounding out the Top 5 in the opening national poll are the No. 4 UNB Varsity Reds and the No. 5 Saskatchewan Huskies. UNB needed overtime against both Acadia and Saint Mary's to come out of its first weekend of conference play with a 2-0 record, while 2-2 Saskatchewan has settled for weekend splits with UBC and Regina thus far.
CIS men's hockey Top 10 (#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. CIS Men's Ice Hockey Top Ten Committee Chairman: Steve Knowles.
RANK TEAM CONFERENCE (Overall) RECORD PTS (1st Place) LAST WEEK
1. ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 3-1-0 (7-1-0) 94 (5) -
2. MONCTON AIGLES BLEUS 2-0-0 (5-1-0) 85 (3) -
3. McGILL REDMEN 2-0-0 (6-2-0) 83 (2) -
4. UNB VARSITY REDS 2-0-0 (4-2-0) 72 -
5. SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 2-2-0 (3-6-0) 46 -
6. StFX X-MEN 2-0-0 (4-2-0) 44 -
7. UQTR PATRIOTES 1-1-0 (4-3-0) 31 -
8. CALGARY DINOS 2-2-0 (4-7-0) 25 -
9. LAKEHEAD THUNDERWOLVES 1-1-0 (3-4-0) 18 -
10. REGINA COUGARS 2-4-0 (4-6-0) 10 -
Other teams receiving votes:
Toronto Varsity Blues (8), Acadia Axemen (7), Manitoba Bisons (7), UBC Thunderbirds (5), Ottawa Gee-Gees (5), Western Ontario Mustangs (5), Saint Mary's Huskies (3) and Brock Badgers (2).
-CIS
