OTTAWA (CIS) The Saskatchewan Huskies top the CIS mens hockey national poll for the second consecutive week after picking up three out of a possible four points against Canada West arch-rivals, the No. 2-ranked Alberta Golden Bears.
The Huskies hosted the Bears in Saskatoon for a highly-anticipated two-game series this past weekend. The Huskies ran away with a relatively easy 6-2 victory on Friday night but needed to overcome a two-goal deficit in the third period on Sunday to draw the Bears 3-3. Trent Adamus netted the equalizer with less that 13 minutes left in regulation.
Top-ranked Saskatchewan improved its regular season record to 6-2-2 and holds a three-point lead atop the Great Plains Division standings. The Huskies host the Lethbridge Pronghorns (2-5-1) on Friday for their lone outing of the coming weekend.
No. 2 Alberta (4-3-1), tied with the No. 8 Calgary Dinos (4-3-1) and UBC (4-5-1) atop the Mountain Division standings, is off this week.
The Atlantic conference UNB Varsity Reds (6-1-2) and StFX X-Men (6-2-0) both move up one spot this week and follow Saskatchewan and Alberta in order.
The V-Reds, holding a two-point lead over StFX in first place in the Maritimes, tallied five points in three games this past week with a 3-3 tie against cross-town rival St. Thomas, and 4-2 and 7-4 wins over UPEI and Moncton, respectively.
The X-Men had a perfect weekend defeating Dalhousie 4-3 and the No. 9 Acadia Axemen 3-1.
Rounding out the top 5 this week are the McGill Redmen, who are perfect in four regular-season outings following a 6-3 win over Toronto and a 7-0 shutout of Ryerson. This is the second highest ranking ever for the Redmen, who climbed all the way up to fifth place for the last time in the final two polls of the 1999-00 campaign. McGill was ranked fourth for one week in the 13th of 15 polls that same year.
RANK TEAM CONFERENCE (Overall) RECORD PTS (1st Place) LAST WEEK
1. SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 6-2-2 (13-3-2) 80 (8) 1
2. ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 4-3-1 (9-5-1) 63 2
3. UNB VARSITY REDS 6-1-2 (8-4-2) 61 4
4. StFX X-MEN 6-2-0 (9-5-0) 58 5
5. McGILL REDMEN 4-0-0 (8-3-0) 46 7
6. SAINT MARYS HUSKIES 5-2-0 (7-4-0) 37 3
7. UQTR PATRIOTES 4-1-1 (7-3-1) 31 8
8. CALGARY DINOS 4-3-1 (8-5-1) 27 6
9. ACADIA AXEMEN 5-3-0 (6-4-1) 20 9
10. YORK LIONS (x) 4-2-1 (4-7-2) 5 10
x York was awarded the higher ranking based on number of higher placed votes.
Other teams receiving votes:
Waterloo Warriors (5)-x, Western Ontario Mustangs (4), Brock Badgers (1), Ottawa Gee-Gees (1), St. Thomas Tommies (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 Mens Ice Hockey Top Ten Committee is made up of media members from across Canada.