CIS Men's Hockey Top 10 (#6): Redmen slip to No.3
OTTAWA (CIS) - The University of Alberta Golden Bears remain at No. 1 in the CIS men's hockey Top 10 for the sixth time in as many national media polls this season.
The Bears received half of the available first-place votes and 169 points from the 18-member media panel, the other first-place nods going to the McGill Redmen (5) and New Brunswick Varsity Reds (4).
After being ranked third in the country behind Alberta (10-1-1) and McGill (13-0-1) in each of the first five polls of the campaign, the V-Reds (10-2-0) leapfrog the Redmen this week thanks to a 157-point tally compared to 148 for their Montreal rivals.
Rounding out the new CIS Top 10 are the Western Ontario Mustangs (11-0-2), who stay put at No. 4; the No. 5 UPEI Panthers (8-3-1), up three positions; the No. 6 Saskatchewan Huskies (7-5-0), up one; the reigning University Cup champion Saint Mary's Huskies (6-4-1), down one spot to No. 7; the No. 8 Manitoba Bisons (6-2-4), down three; the No. 9 Lakehead Thunderwolves (9-4-1), unranked a week ago; and the Calgary Dinos (6-4-2), who drop one position to No. 10.
The last weekend wasn't kind to top-ranked teams as No. 1 Alberta, No. 3 McGill and No. 4 Western all split two-game series.
The Golden Bears hosted archrival Saskatchewan for a pair in Edmonton and, after taking the opener 6-4 on Friday, lost 4-3 in overtime on Saturday. The defending Canada West champions face another challenge this week as they travel to Winnipeg for a doubleheader against No. 8 Manitoba.
After edging York 3-2 on Friday, the Redmen dropped their first point of the regular season - and their first game overall under new head coach Kelly Nobes - on Saturday when they suffered a 3-2 shootout loss to Brock in St. Catharines, Ont.
The Mustangs were upset 5-4 in OT by Toronto last Friday before rebounding with a 6-3 win over Ryerson the following day.
Meanwhile, the AUS-leading Varsity Reds defeated provincial rivals Moncton and St. Thomas by 3-1 and 4-0, respectively.
CIS MEN'S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#6)
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. Alberta (10-1-1) / 169 pts (9) / (1)
2. UNB (10-2-0) / 157 (4) / (3)
3. McGill (13-0-1) / 148 (5) / (2)
4. Western Ontario (11-0-2) / 124 / (4)
5. UPEI (8-3-1) / 90 / (8)
6. Saskatchewan (7-5-0) / 80 / (7)
7. Saint Mary's (6-4-1) / 62 / (6)
8. Manitoba (6-2-4) / 55/ (5)
9. Lakehead (9-4-1) / 38 / (NR)
10. Calgary (6-4-2) / 27 / (9)
Other teams receiving votes: UQTR (21), StFX (9), Waterloo (5), Carleton (3), Concordia (1), Guelph (1).
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belanger [at] universitysport.ca