CIS men's hockey Regular season gets under way
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OTTAWA (CIS) - Following four weeks of pre-season action, CIS men's hockey conference play finally gets under way this weekend with six games in Ontario and Canada West.
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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).
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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.
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The Golden Bears and the º«¹úÂãÎè Redmen were both conference champions in 2009-10.
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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).
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The defending national champions have two more non-conference outings scheduled before the start of AUS play.
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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 semifinals.
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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.
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The 2011 University Cup championship will be held in Fredericton from 24 to 27.
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NOTE: The first CIS Top 10 national rankings of the season will be published on Tuesday, Oct. 19, once all teams have started conference play.
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CIS MEN'S HOCKEY SCHEDULE (all times local)
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October 1
19:00ÌýÌý Ryerson at Nipissing
19:00ÌýÌý Saskatchewan at Regina
19:15ÌýÌý York at Brock
19:30 Ìý Calgary at Alberta
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October 2
19:00ÌýÌý Saskatchewan at Regina
19:30ÌýÌý Calgary at Alberta
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October 7
19:30ÌýÌý UOIT at Wilfrid Laurier
19:30ÌýÌý Western Ontario at Guelph
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October 8
19:00ÌýÌý Windsor at York
19:00ÌýÌý Queen's at Ottawa
19:00ÌýÌý UQTR at Nipissing
19:00ÌýÌý Carleton at RMC
19:15ÌýÌý Guelph at Brock
19:30ÌýÌý º«¹úÂãÎè at Toronto
19:30ÌýÌý Concordia at Ryerson
19:30ÌýÌý Waterloo at Lakehead
20:00ÌýÌý Regina at Manitoba
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October 9
14:00ÌýÌý Windsor at York
14:00ÌýÌý Carleton at Ryerson
16:00ÌýÌý º«¹úÂãÎè at Nipissing
19:00ÌýÌý Ottawa at RMC
19:00ÌýÌý Regina at Manitoba
19:30ÌýÌý Wilfrid Laurier at UOIT
19:30ÌýÌý Waterloo at Lakehead
19:30ÌýÌý UQTR at Toronto
20:30ÌýÌý Concordia at Queen's
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October 14
19:00ÌýÌý º«¹úÂãÎè at UQTR
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AUS opening night on Oct. 15:
19:00ÌýÌý St. Thomas at Moncton
19:00ÌýÌý Saint Mary's at Dalhousie
19:00ÌýÌý Acadia at StFX
19:00ÌýÌý UNB at UPEI
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UNIVERSITY CUP CHAMPIONS (last 20 years)
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2009-2010ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Saint Mary's
2008-2009ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý UNB
2007-2008ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Alberta
2006-2007ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý UNB
2005-2006ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý AlbertaÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý
2004-2005ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý AlbertaÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý
2003-2004ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý StFX
2002-2003ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý UQTR
2001-2002ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Western
2000-2001 ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý UQTR
1999-2000 ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Alberta
1998-1999 ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Alberta
1997-1998 ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý UNB
1996-1997 ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Guelph
1995-1996 ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Acadia
1994-1995 ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Moncton
1993-1994 ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Lethbridge
1992-1993 ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Acadia
1991-1992 ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Alberta
1990-1991 ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý UQTR
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-CIS-
For more information contact:
Michel Bélanger
Manager, Communications & Media Relations
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Ph: (613) 562-5670 ext. 25
Cell: (613) 447-6334
Fax: (613) 562-5669
belanger [at] universitysport.ca
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