The Saskatchewan Huskies are the new team to beat in CIS men’s hockey.
The Huskies reached the top of the national rankings for the first time in three years, moving up two positions after sweeping Manitoba last week.
Sporting identical 12-2 records at the midway point of the regular season, Saskatchewan and McGill were neck-and-neck in the seventh poll of the campaign. Both teams earned six first-place votes from the media panel but the Huskies ended up with 143 points compared to 142 for the Redmen, who drop one spot to No. 2 this week.
Saskatchewan last held the pole position in the fall of 2012, doing so for two consecutive weeks (Oct. 30 and Nov. 6 polls).
Rounding out the new Top 10 are the No. 3 Alberta Golden Bears (10-3-1), No. 4 Acadia Axemen (10-2-1), No. 5 UNB Varsity Reds (9-2-2), No. 6 St. Francis Xavier X-Men (9-2-2), No. 7 UQTR Patriotes (11-2-1), No. 8 York Lions (8-2-3), as well as the previously unranked No. 9 Carleton Ravens (9-3-0) and No. 10 Mount Royal Cougars (8-4-2).
Acadia, with three votes, and UNB, with one vote, merited the other first-place nods from the national panel.
The race for top spot in Canada West continued this past weekend with Saskatchewan and Alberta both sweeping two-game series on the road. The Huskies dropped Manitoba 6-4 and 4-3 in Winnipeg, while the Bears outscored UBC 5-2 and 8-5 in Vancouver.
In the OUA, McGill extended its winning streak to nine straight last Friday with a 3-0 shutout victory over Brock before suffering a 3-2 setback at the hands of the York Lions the following night.
A week ago the Redmen had reached No. 1 in the CIS poll for the first time in almost four years.
In the AUS, Acadia kept rolling with a 4-3 defeat of Moncton and a 12-2 domination of St. Thomas. The Axemen hold a slim one-point lead over UNB and StFX in the league standings.
CIS MEN’S HOCKEY TOP 10
1. Saskatchewan (12-2-0) (3)
2. McGill (12-2-0) (1)
3. Alberta (10-3-1) (4)
4. Acadia (10-2-1) (5)
5. UNB (9-2-2) (2)
6. StFX (9-2-2) (6)
7. UQTR (11-2-1) (7)
8. York (8-2-3) (10)
9. Carleton (9-3-0) (NR) *
10. Mount Royal (8-4-2) (NR)
* Carleton (over Mount Royal) is awarded the higher ranking based on number of higher placed votes.
Other teams receiving votes: Western (13), UOIT (10), Queen’s (6), UBC (6), Saint Mary’s (5), Windsor (2).