CIS men's hockey Top 10 (#18): Huskies, Patriotes complete University Cup field

OTTAWA (CIS) – The reigning national champion University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds top the CIS men’s hockey rankings for the 15th time in 18 polls this season, and for the fifth week in a row. This marks the final Top 10 of the 2011-12 campaign.

The V-Reds (20-5-3 / 6-0 playoffs) received 13 first-place votes and 166 points this week from the 17-member media panel to remain at No. 1 in front of the McGill Redmen (22-4-2 / 7-0), who earned the remaining first-place nods and 156 points in the new poll.

Rounding out the final Top 10 are the No. 3 Saskatchewan Huskies (19-6-3 / 6-2), No. 4 Western Mustangs (21-4-3 / 6-2), No. 5 Moncton Aigles Bleus (18-9-1 / 5-5), No. 6 Calgary Dinos (15-11-2 / 5-3), No. 7 UQTR Patriotes (19-7-2 / 5-4), No. 8 Alberta Golden Bears (20-6-2 / 1-2), No. 9 Manitoba Bisons (20-5-3 / 0-2) and No. 10 Saint Mary’s Huskies (18-7-3 / 1-3).

Saskatchewan and Western switched positions from last week. Moncton and Calgary stay put, and so does Alberta at No. 8. UQTR is the big winner in the new poll and moves up three spots. Manitoba is down two, while Saint Mary’s is down one.

The conference playoffs came to an end this past weekend with UNB, McGill and Saskatchewan being crowned in the AUS, OUA and Canada West, respectively.

The biggest winners were the Huskies and Patriotes, who claimed the final two berths for the 50th anniversary edition of the Cavendish University Cup championship which will be held in Fredericton from March 22 to 25. UNB, McGill, Western and Moncton had previously booked their ticket.

UQTR became the fifth team to qualify for the national tournament on Sunday afternoon. Playing the winner-take-all OUA bronze medal game on home ice in Trois-Rivières, Que., the Pats used a four-goal middle period to down the visiting Windsor Lancers 5-3.

A few hours later, Saskatchewan and Calgary jumped on the ice in Saskatoon for the decisive game of the best-of-three Canada West final. After 106 minutes and 33 seconds of action, defenceman Brett Ward finally ended the longest contest in conference history and gave the Huskies a 2-1 triple-overtime win, their first Canada West banner since 2007 and a ticket for Fredericton. 

The two other conference finals were not nearly as close.

In the Atlantic, the V-Reds swept the Aigles Bleus 8-3, 4-2 and 4-0 in the best-of-five championship series to claim their second straight AUS title.

In the single-game OUA Queen’s Cup in London, Ont., the visiting Redmen dominated from start to finish en route to a 4-1 victory over the Mustangs and their third consecutive league banner.

The seeding, pools and schedule for the 50th Cavendish University Cup will be announced TODAY, March 13, at 2 p.m. Eastern.

CIS MEN’S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#18)

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 / playoff records) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)
1. UNB (20-5-3 / 6-0) / 166 pts (13) / (1)
2. McGill (22-4-2 / 7-0) / 156 (4) / (2)
3. Saskatchewan (19-6-3 / 6-2) / 129 / (4)
4. Western (21-4-3 / 6-2) / 115 / (3) 
5. Moncton (18-9-1 / 5-5) / 100 / (5)
6. Calgary Dinos (15-11-2 / 5-3) / 77 / (6)
7. UQTR (19-7-2 / 5-4) / 63 / (10)
8. Alberta (20-6-2 / 1-2) / 39 / (8)
9. Manitoba (20-5-3 / 0-2) / 35 / (7)
10. Saint Mary’s (18-7-3 / 1-3) / 28 / (9)

Other teams receiving votes: Windsor (20), UPEI (7).

-CIS-