Huskies open at #6 on CIS hockey rankings

OTTAWA (CIS) – For the ninth time in 13 years, the defending Canada West champion University of Alberta Golden Bears are ranked No. 1 in the first CIS men’s hockey media poll of the season.

The Bears, who dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 overtime decision to the Saint Mary’s Huskies in last spring’s University Cup final, were one of five teams to receive first-places votes (2) from the 18-member national committee in the inaugural Top 10 and earned 159 points to edge the No. 2 McGill Redmen (139 pts / 6 first-place votes), No. 3 UNB Varsity Reds (116 / 7), No. 4 StFX X-Men (107), No. 5 Saint Mary’s (91 / 2), No. 6 Saskatchewan Huskies (59), No. 7 Moncton Aigles Bleus (49 / 1), No. 8 Ryerson Rams (43), No. 9 Manitoba Bisons (41) and No. 10 Western Ontario Mustangs (38).

Since the 1998-99 campaign, Alberta, which holds the all-time record of 13 University Cup titles, has failed to open at No. 1 only four times including in 1999-2000 (No. 3), 2004-05 (No. 2), 2007-08 (No. 4) and last season (No. 2).

The top-ranked Bears kicked off 2010-11 with four wins in five pre-season outings – including a 3-1 record versus CIS opponents – and are off to a 3-1 start in conference play following a pair of victories over provincial rival Calgary and a weekend split against UBC in Vancouver.

No. 2 McGill has also been impressive in the early goings under new head coach Kelly Nobes. The Redmen are 9-0 overall – all against CIS rivals – and 4-0 in OUA play, including a pair of wins over OUA East archrival UQTR.

The No. 3 Varsity Reds, who set a CIS record last year when they won their first 26 regular season duels on their way to a 27-1 mark, dropped their AUS opener 4-2 against UPEI last Friday before rebounding with a 7-1 defeat of St. Thomas.

Fourth-ranked StFX kicked off conference play with a 5-4 win over Acadia on Friday and then ruined Saint Mary’s banner-raising night on Saturday when they doubled the Huskies 4-2.

The Huskies, whose triumph over Alberta last spring marked their first-ever national title, opened the regular season with a 5-0 shutout of Dalhousie before losing to StFX.

The inaugural media poll is also highlighted by the first Top-10 appearance in team history for Ryerson. The Rams had never been ranked in 444 polls from 1979-80 to 2009-10 and had only received votes twice previously - once in 2001-02 (Nov. 5, 2001) and again last season (Feb. 23, 2010).

The 2011 University Cup tournament will be hosted by the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton from March 24 to 27.

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.

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

1. Alberta (3-1-0) / 159 pts (2) / (-)
2. McGill (4-0-0) / 139 (6) / (-) *
3. UNB (1-1-0) / 116 (7) / (-)
4. StFX (2-0-0) / 107 / (-)
5. Saint Mary’s (1-1-0) / 91 (2) / (-)
6. Saskatchewan (2-2-0) / 59 / (-)
7. Moncton (2-0-0) / 49 (1) / (-)
8. Ryerson (4-1-0) / 43 / (-)
9. Manitoba (1-1-0) / 41 / (-)
10. Western Ontario (2-0-1) / 38 / (-)

Other teams receiving votes: Waterloo (37), Wilfrid Laurier (28), Concordia (27), Queen’s (23), Acadia (10), UPEI (5), Regina (5), Lakehead (4), Windsor (3), Calgary (2), UQTR (2), Carleton (1), Guelph (1).

* NOTE: McGill improved to 4-0-0 in conference play on Monday night with a 6-3 win over UQTR but that result was not taken into consideration in this week’s voting; it will affect the Oct. 26 Top 10.