CIS Men’s Ice Hockey: Regular Season Gets Under Way

Ice Hockey action at the 2009 WU: Canada and Russia battle for the gold in the men’s tournament

OTTAWA – Following four weeks of pre-season action, CIS men’s ice hockey conference play finally gets under way this weekend with six games in Ontario and Canada West.

The puck officially drops Friday night with a pair of OUA matchups featuring Ryerson at Nipissing (in North Bay, Ont.) and York visiting Brock (in St. Catharines, Ont.), and two Canada West contests between provincial rivals including Saskatchewan at Regina and Calgary visiting Alberta (in Edmonton).

The Huskies, Cougars, Dinos and Golden Bears square off again on Saturday evening to complete the doubleheaders and the first weekend of the 28-game CIS regular schedule.

In the Atlantic conference, the regular season starts on Oct. 15 with four games, including the reigning University Cup and AUS champion Saint Mary’s Huskies opening their title defence against cross-town rival Dalhousie. 

Saint Mary’s captured the University Cup for the first time in team history last March with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over perennial powerhouse Alberta in the national final, in Thunder Bay, Ont. Freshman forward Brad Smith was the OT hero scoring after nine minutes and 13 seconds of extra time.

The Huskies posted a solid, if not spectacular 16-8-4 mark in conference play in 2009-10 – good for third place in the AUS standings – but were almost unbeatable in the last two months of the campaign as they won 15 of their final 16 games, including a remarkable 11-1 playoff record.

Saint Mary’s looked good early on in pre-season action this fall winning its first three contests against Dalhousie, StFX and UPEI. But the Huskies were brought back to earth last Saturday when they dropped a 10-3 decision to archrivals, the UNB Varsity Reds.

The defending national champions have two more non-conference outings scheduled before the start of AUS play.

While Saint Mary’s skated away with the University Cup six months ago, all eyes were on UNB during the 2009-10 regular season. The Varsity Reds finished with a 27-1 record, setting a CIS single-season mark for most wins and tying the all time record for most points (54). The V-Reds’ run came to an abrupt stop in the playoffs however as they were upset in three straight by StFX in the AUS semi-finals.

UNB, which claimed the University Cup in 2009 and 2007 and will host the CIS championship next March, is expected to be a top contender once again this year. The V-Reds have outscored their opponents by a 36-10 margin en route to a 5-0 pre-season mark, including three impressive wins over Calgary (10-2, 6-1) and Alberta (6-2) during a three-game swing out West. 

The Golden Bears and the McGill Redmen were the two other conference champions in 2009-10.

The Bears, who have captured nine of the past 10 Canada West banners – including the last three – and three University Cups in the past six years (2008, 2006, 2005), went 4-1 in pre-season play including wins against Canada West rivals Saskatchewan (4-2), Calgary (4-1) and Regina (3-0).

The Redmen, two-time OUA champions over the past three years, are a perfect 4-0 so far this fall under new head coach Kelly Nobes, including a pair of victories against Carleton (5-3, 6-3) and wins over Waterloo (3-2 OTS) and Western (6-3).

The 2011 University Cup championship will be held in Fredericton from 24 to 27.

The competition can be followed at www.cis-sic.ca.

(Source: Michel Belanger, CIS Manager Communications & Media Relations)

UNIVERSITY CUP CHAMPIONS  

(last 20 years)

2009-2010     Saint Mary’s

2008-2009      UNB 

2007-2008      Alberta                                    

2006-2007       UNB                                                   

2005-2006      Alberta      

2004-2005      Alberta                                    

2003-2004       StFX                                

2002-2003       UQTR                                                 

2001-2002       Western                            

2000-2001       UQTR                        ;                         

1999-2000       Alberta                             

1998-1999       Alberta                              

1997-1998    ;   UNB                              

1996-1997       Guelph                       

1995-1996       Acadia                                        

1994-1995       Moncton                ;                         

1993-1994       Lethbridge                        

1992-1993       Acadia                                             

1991-1992       Alberta ;                            

1990-1991       UQTR