POWERED BY

V Reds Ranked No. 1 for CIS Championships

Fri Mar 14, 2008
Written by CIS
Photo by James Mirabelli

MONCTON (CIS) The defending national champion University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds have been established tournament favourites for the 2008 Canadian Interuniversity Sport mens hockey championship.

Official website: www.cisport.ca/e/championships/m_hockey/2008

The Cavendish University Cup, hosted for the second straight year by Universit de Moncton, will get under way Thursday, March 20 at the Moncton Coliseum. The gold-medal final is slated for Sunday, March 23 at 8 p.m. Atlantic Time (7 p.m. Eastern), live on Rogers Sportsnet.

Top-seeded UNB is followed in order in the championship seeding by the No.2-Alberta Golden Bears (Canada West champions), No.3-McGill Redmen (OUA champions), No.4-Saskatchewan Huskies (Canada West finalists), No.5-Brock Badgers (OUA finalists), and No.6-Moncton Aigles Bleus (championship hosts).

UNB, Saskatchewan and Brock will battle in Pool A for a berth in Sundays final, while Alberta, McGill and Moncton make up Pool B.

Opening day match-ups will see UNB face Brock at 2 p.m., and Alberta square off against host Moncton at 7 p.m.

The V-Reds have been nearly unstoppable thus far in 2007-08, setting single-season AUS records for wins and points en route to 26-1-0-1 conference record, before adding four games in four outings in the playoffs. Saint Marys gave them all they could handle in the best-of-three Atlantic final however, as UNB came out on top with a pair of 3-2 overtime wins.

UNB captured its second University Cup title a year ago with a thrilling 3-2 OT victory over Moncton.

The No.2-Bears, who hold the all-time record with 12 University Cup championships, defeated the No.4-Huskies 8-3 and 5-0 in the best-of-three Canada West final.

The No.-3 Redmen capped off an impressive 7-0 OUA playoff run with a 4-1 win over the No.5-Badgers in the single-game Queens Cup final, marking their first league title since 1946.

The Aigles Bleus were the only team to beat UNB in the regular season, claiming a 5-4 shootout win on November 21 and prevailing 5-3 on November 30.

SEEDING & POOLS

1. UNB Varsity Reds (AUS champions / 26-1-0-1 regular season, 4-0 playoffs)
2. Alberta Golden Bears (Canada West champions / 21-5-0-2 regular season, 4-0 playoffs)
3. McGill Redmen (OUA champions / 18-9-0-1 regular season, 7-0 playoffs)
4. Saskatchewan Huskies (Canada West finalists / 17-5-0-6 regular season, 2-2 playoffs)
5. Brock Badgers (OUA finalists / 17-8-0-3 regular season, 4-3 playoffs)
6. Moncton Aigles Bleus (Championship hosts / 17-10-0-1 regular season, 2-2 playoffs)

Pool A
1. UNB
4. Saskatchewan
5. Brock

Pool B
2. Alberta
3. McGill
6. Moncton

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (All times LOCAL: Atlantic Time)

All games video webcast: www.cisport.ca/e/championships/m_hockey/2008

Wednesday, March 19
12:00 Media Conference (Moncton Coliseum)
18:00 All-Canadian Award Banquet

Thursday, March 20
14:00 Pool A #1: No. 1 UNB vs. No. 5 Brock
19:00 Pool B #1: No. 2 Alberta vs. No. 6 Moncton

Friday, March 21
14:00 Pool A #2: No. 4 Saskatchewan vs. Loser Pool A #1
19:00 Pool B #2: No. 3 McGill vs. Loser Pool B #1

Saturday, March 22
14:00 Pool A #3: No. 4 Saskatchewan vs. Winner Pool A #1 (Rogers Sportsnet)
20:00 Pool B #3: No. 3 McGill vs. Winner Pool B #1 (Rogers Sportsnet)

Sunday, March 23
20:00 Final (Rogers Sportsnet)

- CIS -

For more information please contact:

Michel Blanger
Communications manager
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Ph: (613) 562-5670 ext. 25
Cell: (613) 447-6334
belanger@universitysport.ca