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CIS Men’s Hockey Top 10 (#12): Redmen remain No.2

Published: 1 February 2011

OTTAWA (CIS) - The Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's hockey rankings have been released and the McGill University Redmen remain second in the nation with a 22-1-2 record.

The leading foursome remains unchanged in the new national media poll with the UNB Varsity Reds topping the charts for the fourth straight week. Following behind No. 2 McGill is the third-ranked Western Ontario Mustangs (19-1-4) and No. 4 Alberta Golden Bears (13-5-2). The Saskatchewan Huskies (13-7-0) move up two positions to round out the top five.

The V-Reds (19-4-0) received all but one first-place votes and 179 points this week from the 18-member media panel, while McGill earned the remaining first-place nod and 143 points.

Rounding out the 12th weekly poll of the campaign are the reigning University Cup champion Saint Mary's Huskies (14-9-1), who drop one spot to No. 6; the St. Francis Xavier X-Men, unranked a week ago; the UPEI Panthers (12-8-3), down two positions to No. 8; the Manitoba Bisons (11-5-4), down one to No. 9; and the previously unranked Nipissing Lakers (16-7-3) at No. 10.

Top-ranked UNB has already clinched first place in the AUS standings thanks to a nine-point lead over Saint Mary's, which only has four conference games remaining. The V-Reds, who haven't lost in AUS action since a 6-3 setback against Dalhousie on Nov. 27, extended their regular season winning streak to nine last weekend with road victories over St. Thomas (3-16-4), 7-1, and No. 8 UPEI, 3-1.

The V-Reds hit the road again this week for a pair of battles against Top-10 opponents. They visit No. 7 StFX on Friday night and No. 6 Saint Mary's on Saturday.

In the OUA, the past week saw the end of a remarkable streak as No. 2 McGill suffered its first regulation loss of the season in conference play.

After edging Concordia 5-4 last Wednesday, McGill was blanked 4-0 by Carleton Saturday in Ottawa. In their defence, the Redmen were missing three players currently representing Canada at the Winter Universiade in Turkey (Marc-Andre Dorion, Evan Vossen, Max Langelier-Parent), in addition to injured sniper Francis Verreault-Paul, who leads the country with 28 goals in only 19 games, plus three other regulars, including injured starting goalie Hubert Morin.

With three games remaining in the regular season, McGill has secured first place in the OUA East thanks to an 11-point cushion over Nipissing.

No. 3 Western went 2-for-2 over the past weekend defeating UOIT (10-11-4) 7-3 and Windsor (11-11-3) 3-1. The Mustangs have clinched first place in the OUA West.

It's a different story in Canada West for No. 4 Alberta, which enjoyed a bye last week. With eight games left in conference play, the Bears hold a slim two-point lead over both Saskatchewan and Manitoba, while Calgary is only four points behind.

CIS MEN'S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#12)

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 (19-4-0) / 179 pts (17) / (1)

2. McGill (22-1-2) / 143 (1) / (2)

3. Western Ontario (19-1-4) / 135 / (3)

4. Alberta (13-5-2) / 124 / (4)

5. Saskatchewan (13-7-0) / 98 / (7)

6. Saint Mary's (14-9-1) / 97 / (5)

7. StFX (14-9-1) / 77 / (NR)

8. UPEI (12-8-3) / 45 / (6)

9. Manitoba (11-5-4) / 43 / (8)

10. Nipissing (16-7-3) / 12 / (NR)

Other teams receiving votes: Carleton (11), Calgary (10), Wilfrid Laurier (7), Acadia (3), Lakehead (3), UQTR (3).