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CIS MEN'S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#11): McGill No. 1 for first time in five years

Published: 24 January 2012

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OTTAWA (CIS) - The McGill Redmen are the new team to beat in Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's hockey.

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The Redmen (17-2-2) received 12 of 17 first-place votes and 158 points from the national media panel to take over at No. 1 from the New Brunswick Varsity Reds (14-5-2), who had earned the top spot in each of the first 10 polls of the season.

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UNB, the reigning University Cup champion, falls to No. 3 in the new Top 10 behind the Western Ontario Mustangs (18-2-2), who move up two positions this week. UNB and Western both received one first-place nod and 127 points from the panel, but the Mustangs were awarded second place thanks to a greater number of higher-placed votes.

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No less than three other teams earned a first-place vote this week, including the No. 4 Moncton Aigles Bleus (15-6-0), No. 5 Acadia Axemen (15-6-1) and No. 8 Manitoba Bisons (14-4-2).

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Rounding out the new national poll are the No. 6 Alberta Golden Bears (15-5-2), No. 7 Saskatchewan Huskies (15-5-2), No. 9 Trois-Rivières Patriotes (17-5-1) and No. 10 Saint Mary's Huskies (13-7-2).

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McGill, which had been ranked second behind UNB each of the past eight weeks, moves up to No. 1 for the first time since February of 2006 (Feb. 21 poll). The Redmen edged Carleton 1-0 in a shootout Friday night in their lone outing of the past week, and are set to battle Ottawa (12-10-1) and Carleton (12-7-3) this weekend.

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Western travelled to Thunder Bay and posted a pair of crucial 1-0 wins over Lakehead (16-6-0), which was ranked ninth in the country going into the weekend series. The No. 2 national ranking is the Mustangs' best since the 2003-04 campaign.

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The No. 1 and No. 2 rankings for McGill and Western also mark the first time since 1998-99 that OUA teams hold the top two positions in the CIS men's hockey poll.

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Meanwhile, UNB has now dropped four of its last five contests following weekend losses to Moncton, 5-1, and UPEI, 8-7. The V-Reds had been No. 1 in 21 consecutive ranking periods dating back to December of 2010.

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Also of note in the 11th poll of the campaign is a four-spot drop by Saskatchewan. Fresh off a huge two-game sweep of archrival Alberta two weeks ago, the Huskies went 0-for-2 in Winnipeg this past weekend, losing 4-2 and 3-1 to Manitoba.

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Following results from the last seven days, the standings in all CIS divisions and conferences are as close as ever with less than a month remaining in the regular season.

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In the OUA East, McGill holds a slim one-point advantage over UQTR. The Redmen, however, have two games in hand.

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In the OUA West, Western has the biggest lead in the country, six points over Lakehead with six games to play.

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In the AUS, UNB fell into a tie for second place with Moncton, one point behind Acadia.

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Finally, in Canada West, Saskatchewan and Alberta are now tied atop the standings but Manitoba trails the Huskies and Bears by only two points, with two games in hand.

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CIS MEN'S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#11)

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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)

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1. McGill (17-2-2) / 158 pts (12) / (2)

2. Western Ontario (18-2-2) / 127 (1) / (4) *

3. UNB (14-5-2) / 127 (1) / (1)

4. Moncton (15-6-0) / 107 (1) / (7)

5. Acadia (15-6-1) / 106 (1) / (6)

6. Alberta (15-5-2) / 94 / (5)

7. Saskatchewan (15-5-2) / 85 / (3)

8. Manitoba (14-4-2) / 65 (1) / (9)

9. UQTR (17-5-1) / 31 / (NR)

10. Saint Mary's (13-7-2) / 13 / (10) *


Other teams receiving votes: Lakehead (13), UPEI (7), UBC (2).

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* Western Ontario (over UNB) and Saint Mary's (over Lakehead) were awarded the higher ranking based on number of higher-placed votes.

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-CIS-

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For more information contact:

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Michel Bélanger

Manager, Communications & Media Relations

Canadian Interuniversity Sport

Off: 613-562-5670 ext. 25

Cell: 613-447-6334

belanger [at] universitysport.ca

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