News

CIS Men's Hockey Top 10 (#4): Redmen remain at No.2

Published: 8 November 2011

OTTAWA (CIS) - The McGill Redmen remained at No.2 in the CIS men's hockey rankings despite a loss by UNB, the reigning national champions. The Varsity Reds top the charts for the fourth time in as many polls this fall, despite suffering their first loss of the regular season.

After improving to 7-0 in conference play last Friday with a convincing 6-3 road win over fifth-ranked Moncton (6-2), the V-Reds dropped a 5-4 decision to UPEI (4-4) on home ice Saturday night.

Despite the setback, the University Cup champs received 15 of 17 first-place votes - down from 17 a week ago - and 168 points from the media panel to hold off the No. 2 McGill Redmen (8-0-2), who earned the remaining first-place nods and 150 points in the new Top 10.

The OUA-leading Redmen got all they could handle from Toronto and Nipissing last weekend, edging the Varsity Blues 3-2 and defeating the Lakers 4-3 in a shootout after erasing a 3-0 deficit.

Rounding out the top three once again this week are the Saskatchewan Huskies (7-1-1), who remained atop the Canada West standings with a two-game sweep of No. 7 Manitoba (4-2-2). Like McGill, the Huskies had to work extra hard to add four points to their record as they beat the Bisons 5-4 in overtime and 2-1.

The fourth national poll of the season is completed by No. 4 Western Ontario (6-0-2), No. 5 Moncton, No. 6 Alberta (6-2-2), No. 7 Manitoba, No. 8 Lakehead (7-3-0), No. 9 Calgary (6-4-0) and No. 10 Acadia (4-3-1).

Western and Moncton both move up one spot this week. Alberta was unranked last Tuesday. Lakehead stays put, while Manitoba, Calgary and Acadia are down three, two and one positions, respectively.

Top-ranked UNB and No. 2 McGill both hit the road this week, while No. 3 Saskatchewan enjoys a break in the Canada West schedule. The V-Reds visit Dalhousie and No. 9 Acadia, while the Redmen are set to face archrival UQTR and Queen's.

CIS MEN'S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#4)

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.

(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. UNB (7-1-0) / 168 pts (15) / (1)

2. McGill (8-0-2) / 150 (2) / (2)

3. Saskatchewan (7-1-1) / 138 / (3)

4. Western Ontario (6-0-2) / 109 / (5)

5. Moncton (6-2-0) / 101 / (6)

6. Alberta (6-2-2) / 68 / (NR)

7. Manitoba (4-2-2) / 48 / (4)
8. Lakehead (7-3-0) / 38 / (8)

9. Calgary (6-4-0) / 34 / (7)

10. Acadia (4-3-1) / 30 / (9)

Other teams receiving votes: Nipissing (26), UPEI (17), Carleton (8).

-CIS-