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THUNDER BAY, Ont. (CIS) 鈥� While defending national champion Alberta has been seeded No. 1 and the OUA East champion McGill Redmen have been seeded No. 5 for the upcoming 47th University Cup tournament, all six head coaches agree this could be one of the most closely-contested CIS men鈥檚 hockey championships in recent years.

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Championship website:

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The 2009 Cavendish University Cup, presented by TBaytel, gets under way Thursday at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay with the round-robin portion and culminates Sunday at 2 p.m. with the presentation of the national final.

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Rogers Sportsnet will broadcast Saturday鈥檚 two round-robin duels and Sunday鈥檚 gold-medal final, while SSN Canada will webcast all seven games from the tournament.

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Joining the top-seeded Golden Bears this week in the quest for the CIS banner are the No.2-Saint Mary鈥檚 Huskies (AUS champions), No.3-Western Ontario Mustangs (OUA champions), No.4-UNB Varsity Reds (AUS Finalists), No.5-McGill Redmen (OUA finalists) and the host Lakehead Thunderwolves, seeded sixth.

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Alberta, UNB and Lakehead will battle in the Pool A preliminary round, while Saint Mary鈥檚, Western and McGill make up Pool B. The first-place finishers will meet for CIS gold on Sunday.

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Saint Mary鈥檚 and McGill kick off the championship Thursday at 2 p.m., with Western set to face the losers of that match-up Friday afternoon and the winners on Saturday.

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In Pool A, Alberta opens its title defence Thursday at 7 p.m. against UNB, in a rematch of last year鈥檚 final won 3-2 by the Bears. Lakehead will take on the losers Friday night and the winners Saturday evening.

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鈥淚t鈥檚 anybody鈥檚 tournament and with this type of format, you need great goaltending right from the beginning,鈥� said fourth-year Alberta head coach Eric Thurston.听鈥淚t鈥檚 the sort of situation where you can鈥檛 sit back and feel your way into the game because it鈥檚 a 鈥楪ame 7鈥� do-or-die scenario, right from the opening puck drop.鈥�

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Thurston, the third coach in history to lead his team to a national title in his first two trips to the University Cup tournament (2006, 2008), knows a thing or two about tight CIS tourneys and great goaltending on the national stage.

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Last year in Moncton, the Bears overcame an opening-day 2-1 loss in overtime to the host Aigles Bleus and received a 40-save performance from all-Canadian netminder Aaron Sorochan in the gold-medal final against UNB to become the first team in history to capture the University Cup after dropping a round-robin game.

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鈥淲hen you see the parity and the level of competition at this tournament鈥� both of the pools are groups of death,鈥� added Thurston.

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The Bears are the only team in the field that hasn鈥檛 faced one of the other Cup contenders this season.

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The Huskies and Varsity Reds met eight times overall in 2008-09 with Saint Mary鈥檚 prevailing on five occasions, including a 2-1 series win in the AUS final.

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The Huskies also split two games with Lakehead in pre-season action.

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The T-Wolves won their head-to-head regular-season series with Western, three matches to one.

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The 鈥楽tangs edged McGill by one goal, 2-1, in the single-game OUA Queen鈥檚 Cup final.

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鈥淭he six teams all look as if they have the potential to walk away with the Cup,鈥� said second-year Lakehead head coach Don McKee. 鈥淭he OUA proved its depth this year as top-ranked Laurier and Trois-Rivi猫res did not make it through to the national championship. Similarly, Saint Mary鈥檚 showed the AUS strength by upsetting UNB. And since the West presently owns the Cup, they are not going to be very generous in relinquishing it to any teams in the East.鈥�

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鈥淟ook for low-scoring games with lots of overtime, and lots of physical play,鈥� added McKee, who was named CIS coach of the year back in 1989-90 when he was at Waterloo and led the Warriors to the national final in 1996.

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鈥淚 think that UNB, Alberta and Saint Mary鈥檚 would be favourites given the type of year each team has had and their respective national ranking heading into the playoffs,鈥� offered 10th-year Western head coach Clarke Singer, who led the Mustangs to the lone CIS title in team history in 2002. 鈥淟akehead is outstanding in their rink anytime of the year and McGill and ourselves, we both have very young teams that have probably surprised many prognosticators with our finishes.鈥�

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Championship host Lakehead was 17-7 overall at the Fort William Gardens in 2008-09, including a sweep of arch-rival Western 鈥� 5-1 and 4-3 in OT 鈥� on the last weekend of the regular season, on Feb. 13-14.

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Top-ranked Alberta will compete at the University Cup for an astounding 12th time in 13 years and for the 33rd time since the inaugural championship in 1962-63, one of the many tournament records held by the Bears.

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Alberta, the last team to capture the CIS title as the No. 1 seed back in 2006, holds the all-time marks for most titles (13), appearances (33rd in 2009), finals (17), games played (86), wins (58), losses (26), goals for (399) and goals against (257).

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The Bears enjoyed yet another stellar season in 2008-09, topping 13 of 14 national media polls, finishing first in the Canada West standings with a 22-4-2 record and dominating arch-rival Saskatchewan, 5-2 and 7-0, in the league final to claim the conference banner.

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Saint Mary鈥檚 went 20-7-1 in conference play to finish four points back of UNB in the AUS standings, despite a 3-1 edge in the head-to-head regular-season series. The Huskies resumed their success against the V-Reds in the conference final, bouncing back from a 5-1 loss in the opener, with 3-2 and 5-1 victories, respectively, to capture their first AUS title since 2001-02.

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鈥淚 believe with a few bounces and the fact that our guys have an ability to bring their best game when it counts, we can play with the best and beat anyone,鈥� said 12th-year Saint Mary鈥檚 head coach Trevor Stienburg, who won back-to-back Father George Kehoe memorial awards as CIS coach of the year in 1999 and 2000.

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One of those players who seems to bring his best game every night is senior left-winger Marc Rancourt, who was named AUS MVP after he claimed the CIS scoring crown with 57 points. He added an AUS-leading 10 points in seven playoff outings.

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UNB has been almost as dominating as Alberta in recent years, competing at five of the past seven University Cups and reaching the national final the last two seasons, including a 3-2 overtime win over Moncton in 2007 for the second title in team history.

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The V-Reds, who dethroned Alberta in the last national Top 10 media poll of the campaign on February 17, started slowly this season after setting AUS records with 26 wins and 53 points a year ago. They lost four of their first eight conference outings but went 17-3 the rest of the way to finish atop the Atlantic league.

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UNB took care of Acadia in two games in the AUS semifinals before being stopped by Saint Mary鈥檚.

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鈥淲e are honoured to be able to represent the Atlantic conference for the third consecutive season,鈥� said Gardiner MacDougall, in his ninth campaign as UNB鈥檚 bench boss.听鈥淥ur team has a lot to prove and we look forward to the challenge of being the best that we can be when it counts the most.鈥�

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The three OUA squads that will compete in Thunder Bay this week couldn鈥檛 have been any closer in the standings. Western (19-7-2) tallied 40 points over the 28-game schedule while McGill and Lakehead collected 38 points apiece after finishing with identical 18-8-2 records.

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The OUA champion Mustangs really got things going in the second half of the season, winning 13 of their last 16 outings before going 7-1 in the playoffs, including a 2-1 win over McGill for their first Queen鈥檚 Cup title since 2004-05.

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The Redmen also caught fire in the second half of the campaign, winning 18 of their last 23 conference duels after an 0-5 start before reaching the OUA final for the third time in four years.

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鈥淚t鈥檚 our third appearance in four years at the Nationals and we鈥檙e as hungry as can be,鈥� said Martin Raymond, a former all-Canadian forward at McGill and now in his 14th season as head coach of the Redmen. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very young but have a group of听strong skaters who move the puck well. We are a bit under-sized so we have to take advantage of our speed to counteract the larger, more experienced听teams.鈥�

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鈥淚t looks like the competition in this tournament will be as fierce as ever, so we will need to commit to solid defence and get strong goaltending in order to听give ourselves a chance.鈥�

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TEAM PROFILES

No. 1 Alberta Golden Bears

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Head Coach: Eric Thurston (4th season)

Regular season record: 22-4-2

Regular season standing: 1st Canada West

Playoff record: 4-1

Playoff finish: Canada West champions

Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 17): No. 2

Best Top 10 ranking (14 weeks): No. 1 (13 weeks 鈥� first 13 polls)

Number of weeks in Top 10 (14 weeks): 14

Conference award winners: Kyle Fecho (top defenceman), Derek Ryan (most sportsmanlike), Eric Thurston (coach)

Conference 1st team all-stars: Aaron Sorochan (G), Kyle Fecho (D), Chad Klassen (F)

Conference 2nd team all-stars: Jason Fransoo (D), Ben Kilgour (F), Derek Ryan (F)

University Cup appearances (including 2009): 33rd

University Cup first appearance (inaugural championship 1963): 1964

University Cup last appearance: 2008 (champions)

University Cup all-time record: 58 wins, 26 losses, 2 ties (.686)

University Cup titles: 13 (2008, 鈥�06, 鈥�05, 鈥�00, 鈥�99, 鈥�92, 鈥�86, 鈥�80, 鈥�79, 鈥�78, 鈥�75, 鈥�68, 鈥�64)

University Cup finals: 17 (13 titles plus 1991, 1985, 1977, 1966)

University Cup best result: 13-time champions (2008, 鈥�06, 鈥�05, 鈥�00, 鈥�99, 鈥�92, 鈥�86, 鈥�80, 鈥�79, 鈥�78, 鈥�75, 鈥�68, 鈥�64)

University Cup goals for / against: 399-257

University Cup sequence: 12th appearance in 13 years (missed 2007)

2008-09 record vs. 2009 University Cup teams: 0-0

No. 2 Saint Mary鈥檚 Huskies

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Head Coach: Trevor Stienburg (12th season)

Regular season record: 20-7-1

Regular season standing: 2nd AUS

Playoff record: 5-2

Playoff finish: AUS champions

Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 17): No. 4

Best Top 10 ranking (14 weeks): No. 4 (2 weeks 鈥� last 2 polls)

Number of weeks in Top 10 (14 weeks): 12

Conference award winners: Marc Rancourt (MVP, student-athlete), Cam Fergus (most sportsmanlike)

Conference 1st team all-stars: Andrew Hotham (D), Scott Hotham (D), Marc Rancourt (F)

Conference 2nd team all-stars: Cam Fergus (F)

University Cup appearances (including 2009): 10th

University Cup first appearance (inaugural championship 1963): 1969

University Cup last appearance: 2002 (2nd in Pool A)

University Cup all-time record: 12-14 (.462)

University Cup titles: none

University Cup finals: 4 (1973, 1972, 1971, 1970)

University Cup best result: 4-time finalists (1973, 1972, 1971, 1970)

University Cup goals for / against: 102-99

University Cup sequence: 1st appearance since 2002, 2nd since 1977

2008-09 record vs. 2009 University Cup teams: 6-4 (5-3 vs. UNB, 1-1 vs. Lakehead)

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No. 3 Western Ontario Mustangs

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Head Coach: Clarke Singer (10th season)

Regular season record: 19-7-2

Regular season standing: 2nd OUA Far West (3rd overall OUA)

Playoff record: 7-1

Playoff finish: OUA champions

Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 17): No. 6

Best Top 10 ranking (14 weeks): No. 6 (2 weeks 鈥� last 2 polls)

Number of weeks in Top 10 (14 weeks): 6

Conference award winners (OUA West): Salvatore Peralta (most sportsmanlike)

Conference 1st team all-stars (OUA West): Chris Petrow (D)

Conference 2nd team all-stars (OUA West): Ryan Martinelli (D), Salvatore Peralta (F)

University Cup appearances (including 2009): 9th

University Cup first appearance (inaugural championship 1963): 1987

University Cup last appearance: 2005 (3rd in Pool B)

University Cup all-time record: 5-10 (.333)

University Cup titles: 1 (2002)

University Cup finals: 2 (2002, 1988)

University Cup best result: 1-time champions (2002)

University Cup goals for / against: 45-56

University Cup sequence: 1st appearance since 2005, 4th in 10 years

2008-09 record vs. 2009 University Cup teams: 2-3 (1-0 vs. McGill, 1-3 vs. Lakehead)

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No. 4 UNB Varsity Reds

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Head Coach: Gardiner MacDougall (9th season)

Regular season record: 21-4-3

Regular season standing: 1st AUS

Playoff record: 4-2

Playoff finish: AUS finalists

Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 17): No. 1

Best Top 10 ranking (14 weeks): No. 1 (1 week 鈥� final poll)

Number of weeks in Top 10 (14 weeks): 14

Conference award winners: none

Conference 1st team all-stars: Kevin Henderson (F), Hunter Tremblay (F)

Conference 2nd team all-stars: Dustin Friesen (D)

University Cup appearances (including 2009): 10th

University Cup first appearance (inaugural championship 1963): 1964

University Cup last appearance: 2008 (finalists)

University Cup all-time record: 15-9 (.625)

University Cup titles: 2 (2007, 1998)

University Cup finals: 6 (2008, 2007, 2004, 2000, 1998, 1997)

University Cup best result: 2-time champions (2007, 1998)

University Cup goals for / against: 93-76

University Cup sequence: 3rd straight appearance, 5th in 7 years

2008-09 record vs. 2009 University Cup teams: 3-5 (3-5 vs. Saint Mary鈥檚)

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No. 5 McGill Redmen

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Head Coach: Martin Raymond (14th season)

Regular season record: 18-8-2

Regular season standing: 2nd OUA Far East (tied 5th overall OUA)

Playoff record: 6-2

Playoff finish: OUA finalists

Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 17): unranked

Best Top 10 ranking (14 weeks): No. 10 (1 week 鈥� 13th poll)

Number of weeks in Top 10 (14 weeks): 1

Conference award winners (OUA East): Alexandre Picard-Hooper (rookie), 脡ric L鈥橧talien (student-athlete), Martin Raymond (coach)

Conference 1st team all-stars (OUA East): none

Conference 2nd team all-stars (OUA East): Ken Morin (D), Sam Bloom (F), Alexandre Picard-Hooper (F)

University Cup appearances (including 2009): 3rd

University Cup first appearance (inaugural championship 1963): 2006

University Cup last appearance: 2008 (2nd in Pool B)

University Cup all-time record: 2-2 (.500)

University Cup titles: none

University Cup finals: none

University Cup best result: 2nd in pool play (2008, 2006)

University Cup goals for / against: 11-15

University Cup sequence: 2nd straight appearance, 3rd in 4 years (3rd in history)

2008-09 record vs. 2009 University Cup teams: 0-1 (0-1 vs. Western)

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No. 6 Lakehead Thunderwolves

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Head Coach: Don McKee (2nd season)

Regular season record: 18-8-2

Regular season standing: 4th OUA Far West (tied 5th overall OUA)

Playoff record: 3-2

Playoff finish: OUA quarterfinalists

Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 17): No. 10

Best Top 10 ranking (14 weeks): No. 5 (4 weeks)

Number of weeks in Top 10 (14 weeks): 10

Conference award winners (OUA West): Andrew Brown (student-athlete)

Conference 1st team all-stars (OUA West): none

Conference 2nd team all-stars (OUA West): Jordan Smith (D), Brock McPherson (F)

University Cup appearances (including 2009): 4th

University Cup first appearance (inaugural championship 1963): 1973

University Cup last appearance: 2006 (finalists)

University Cup all-time record: 2-5 (.286)

University Cup titles: none

University Cup finals: 1 (2006)

University Cup best result: 1-time finalists (2006)

University Cup goals for / against: 18-26

University Cup sequence: 1st appearance since 2006, 3rd in 7 years

2008-09 record vs. 2009 University Cup teams: 4-2 (3-1 vs. Western, 1-1 vs. Saint Mary鈥檚)

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POOLS & SCHEDULE (All times Eastern)

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Pool A

1. Alberta

4. UNB

6. Lakehead

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Pool B

2. Saint Mary鈥檚

3. Western Ontario

5. McGill

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Wednesday, March 25

13:00 Media Conference (Fort William Curling Club 鈥� Fort William Gardens)

18:00 All-Canadian Awards Banquet (Fort William Historical Park)

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Thursday, March 26

14:00 Pool B #1: No. 2 Saint Mary鈥檚 vs. No. 5 McGill (SSN Canada webcast)

19:30 Pool A #1: No. 1 Alberta vs. No. 4 UNB (SSN Canada webcast)

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Friday, March 27

14:00 Pool B #2: No. 3 Western vs. Loser Pool B #1 (SSN Canada webcast)

19:30 Pool A #2: No. 6 Lakehead vs. Loser Pool A #1 (SSN Canada webcast)

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Saturday, March 28

14:00 Pool B #3: No. 3 Western vs. Winner Pool B #1 (Rogers Sportsnet / SSN Canada webcast)

19:00 Pool A #3: No. 6 Lakehead vs. Winner Pool A #1 (Rogers Sportsnet / SSN Canada webcast)

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Sunday, March 29

14:00 Final (Rogers Sportsnet / SSN Canada webcast)

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- CIS -

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For more information please contact:

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Michel B茅langer

Communications manager

Canadian Interuniversity Sport

Ph: (613) 562-5670 ext. 25

Cell: (613) 447-6334

belanger [at] universitysport.ca