Martlets seeded first in CIS women's hockey championship tourney
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(CATHY CHARTRAND HOLDS ENOS TROPHY AS LISA ZANE LOOKS ON. PHOTO BY ANDREW DOBROWOLSKYJ)
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OTTAWA (CIS) - The McGill Martlets have been established pre-tournament favourites for the fifth straight year as they vie to return to the top of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport women's hockey world this weekend in Waterloo, Ont.
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Championship website:
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The six-team CIS championship, hosted for the first time by Wilfrid Laurier University, gets under way Thursday and culminates Sunday at 7:30 p.m. with the gold medal final.
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SSN Canada will have live webcasts of all nine games from the tourney.
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Also competing for CIS supremacy this week will be the No. 2 St. Francis Xavier X-Women (AUS champions), No. 3 Manitoba Bisons (Canada West champions), No. 4 Queen's Gaels (OUA champions), No. 5 Laurier Golden Hawks (host team), as well as the reigning national champions, the No. 6 Alberta Pandas (Canada West finalists).
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Top-ranked McGill will compete in Pool A with Queen's and Alberta in the round-robin portion of the championship. Pool B is comprised of StFX, Manitoba and Laurier.
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The competition kicks off Thursday at 4 p.m. with McGill taking on Alberta in a rematch of the 2010 national final. The Pool B opener follows at 7:30 p.m. with StFX facing Laurier.
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Queen's and Manitoba take the ice Friday against the losers of the opening-day matchups.
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The Martlets went into last year's gold medal game riding a record 86-game overall winning streak against CIS opponents but were shut down by the Pandas, who prevailed 2-0 to capture their seventh all-time championship banner, the most by any team since women's hockey was added to the CIS program in 1997-98.
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The remarkable McGill win streak included back-to-back CIS titles in 2008 and 2009, the only ones in school history.
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The Martlets look as strong as ever this season as they go into the championship tournament with an unblemished 30-0 mark versus CIS rivals. Goaltender Charline Labont茅 and head coach Peter Smith are back with the team after a one-year absence - during which they helped Canada claim gold at the Vancouver Olympics - and the perennial powerhouse has also added, among others, two-time Olympic champion Gillian Ferrari who joins former national team member Cathy Chartrand on the blueline.
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Despite their status of defending champs, the Pandas go in as the No. 6 seed after being swept by Manitoba - 2-1 and 2-1 - in the best-of-three Canada West final.
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The CIS major award winners and all-Canadians will be announced at a banquet Wednesday night.
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NOTE: A complete championship preview will follow on Tuesday.
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SEEDING & POOLS
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1. McGill Martlets (RSEQ champions: 20-0-0 regular season / 4-0 playoffs)
2. St. Francis Xavier X-Women (AUS champions: 24-0-0 regular season / 3-0 playoffs)
3. Manitoba Bisons (CWUAA champions: 16-5-3 regular season / 4-0 playoffs)
4. Queen's Gaels (OUA champions: 15-8-4 regular season / 5-0 playoffs)
5. Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (Host team: 24-2-1 regular season / 0-2 playoffs)
6. Alberta Pandas (CWUAA finalists: 17-4-3 regular season / 2-2 playoffs)
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Pool A
1. McGill
4. Queen's
6. Alberta
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Pool B
2. StFX
3. Manitoba
5. Laurier
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CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
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NOTE 1: All games webcast live by SSN Canada on
NOTE 2: All games at Waterloo Memorial Recreational Complex
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Wednesday, March 9
12:00 Meet the Teams media conference (Delta Kitchener-Waterloo Hotel)
18:00 All-Canadian Banquet (Turret Lounge - Wilfrid Laurier University)
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Thursday, March 10
16:00 Pool A #1: No. 6 Alberta vs. No. 1 McGill
19:30 Pool B #1: No. 5 Laurier vs. No. 2 StFX
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Friday, March 11
16:00 Pool A #2: Loser Pool A #1 vs. No. 4 Queen's
19:30 Pool B #2: Loser Pool B #1 vs. No. 3 Manitoba
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Saturday, March 12
16:00 Pool A #3: Winner Pool A #1 vs. No. 4 Queen's
19:30 Pool B #3: Winner Pool B #1 vs. No. 3 Manitoba
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Sunday, March 13
12:00 5th Place
16:00 Bronze
19:30 Final
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-CIS-
For more information contact:
Michel B茅langer
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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Mike Whitehouse
Coordinator, Communications & Technology
Wilfrid Laurier University
Off: (519) 884-0710 ext. 2855
Cell: (519) 500-7776
mwhitehouse [at] wlu.ca
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