At this stage in our discussion of the Thundermutts, I thought I would give a sneak peek at some of the stuff I plan to post in the OHT35 over the holidays. Here is the complete record for Lakehead this year:
LAKEHEAD THUNDERWOLVES
Sept 21``Ottawa 4 Lakehead 3
Sept 22``Ottawa 2 Lakehead 6
Sept 28``Brock 2 Lakehead 3 (ot)
Sept 29``Brock 7 Lakehead 4
Oct 5````Lakehead 6 Guelph 3````````````B
Oct 6````Lakehead 6 Guelph 3````````````B
Oct 12`` York 3 Lakehead 7``````````````B
Oct 13`` York 6 Lakehead 3``````````````B
Oct 19`` Lakehead 4 Waterloo 5 (ot)```` B
Oct 20`` Lakehead 4 Laurier 0`````````` C
Oct 26`` Western Ontario 2 Lakehead 3`` A
Oct 27`` Western Ontario 3 Lakehead 2`` A
Nov 2````Lakehead 2 Carleton 6``````````A
Nov 3````Lakehead 5 Carleton 4``````````A
Nov 9````UQTR 3 Lakehead 2 (so)```````` A
Nov 10`` UQTR 2 Lakehead 3``````````````A
Nov 16`` Lakehead 5 Brock 2```````````` C
Nov 17`` Lakehead 2 Laurier 4`````````` C
Nov 23`` Windsor 2 Lakehead 4`````````` A
Nov 24`` Windsor 7 Lakehead 4`````````` A
v OUA-x````````` 2-2-0
Exhibition``````````````````2-2-0
v A````````````` 4-3-1
v B````````````` 3-1-1
v C````````````` 2-1-0
Conference``````````````````9-5-2
Total``````````````````````11-7-2`````` A
Lakehead has played only 3 games against C level teams. In the interlock with the OUA East they played UQTR and Cartoon U, the top two teams, twice each. Taking into account their strength of schedule, they rank #10 in the OHT35.
Other teams receiving votes: Calgary (9), Guelph (8), Windsor (5).
My two cents: Costly weekend for Acadia. The loss to UNB, and then UPEI, dropped them from #2 to #6. Ouch. Western's winning streak moves them up two spots. Sask's split weekend only cost them one spot. Dark horse SMU are now up to #5. I think this is the first time this season where my ballot had the same ten teams as the Top 10 (although not in the same order).
Fear the Mustangs, they are big, fast and solid at every position. This is a new head coach who only took a couple early games to find the answers. If this team stays healthy down the stretch they will be CIS Champions, I haven't seen a Canadian university powerhouse team like this in years and they just keep gaining momentum.
Other teams receiving votes: McGill (8), Guelph (7), StFX (7), UPEI (2), Windsor (2), Lakehead (1).
My two cents: Not a lot of movement, but just a slight shuffling of the deck. UNB & Western traded spots, as did Acadia & UQTR and Carleton & Manitoba. Guelph just lost their top goalie, Brandon Maxwelll, to the KHL and you wonder what effect that will have on the Gryphons.
Gonna be really interesting to see the Top 10 this week...an Alberta loss combined with UNB clinching the AUS should make for some very tough decisions for voters picking their top team!
Still gotta think Alberta keeps the top spot. They lost in a shootout to a good team, in a game in which they dominated.
I'm going to be interested to see how much UPEI moves up.
UNB lost 'to a good team' (#5 at the time) on the road and was dropped a spot to 3rd. UA lost at home (to the #10 team at the time) and I don't think many on the committee spend any time looking at how 'dominating' the team is in a lost.
I suspect they will remain #1, but I would expect a tighter split in first-place votes (10-7)
UNB lost 'to a good team' (#5 at the time) on the road and was dropped a spot to 3rd. UA lost at home (to the #10 team at the time) and I don't think many on the committee spend any time looking at how 'dominating' the team is in a lost.
I suspect they will remain #1, but I would expect a tighter split in first-place votes (10-7)
The later you get, the less elastic the rankings become because the teams have more of a track record. The OHT35 is in progress as we speak, with only one result still to come on the weekend. But here is a comparison of Alberta v New Brunswick:
Alberta
v CW-x````````4-0-0
v ACAC-x``````6-0-0
v Int.````````1-0-0
Exhibition```````````` 11-0-0
v A`````````` 5-3-0
v B`````````` 7-0-1
v C`````````` 7-1-0
Conference```````````` 19-4-1
Total``````````````````30-4-1
New Brunswick
v AUS-x`````` 0-1-0
v OUA-x`````` 4-0-0
v NCAA-x``````0-1-0-1
v Int.````````2-0-0
Exhibition``````````````6-2-0-1
v A`````````` 4-4-0
v B`````````` 9-1-0
v C`````````` 7-0-0
Conference```````````` 20-5-0
Total``````````````````26-7-0-1
To make their records the same, the Monkeys would have to lose to an A team and go 2-1-0 against B teams, i.e. go 2-2-0. Meanwhile, the Squirrels would have to beat an A team, lose in OT against a B team, and lose to a C team, i.e. go 1-1-1.
This comparison is very preliminary since there is a school of thought that Calgary should be promoted to A level, and that would change things.
While this is very tight, it looks like Alberta would have the edge.
Maybe, but I don't think that Canadawest is as strong top to bottom as the AUS.
not so sure of that: Lethbridge vs St Thomas would be pretty even as would be Dalhousie vs Mount Royal, Regina and Moncton are pretty close. In the end it's all just beer talk but Western Mustangs will be this years champs.
Other teams receiving votes: UPEI (12), Guelph (8), Windsor (3).
My two cents: That OT-SO loss to Calgary cost Alberta their #1 spot, with UNB slipping by thanks to two more #1 votes. Surprised a little by the big jump by UQTR, but they did beat Carleton solidly. Losing to UNB only cost SMU one spot.
Championships are typically won with defense and UQTR is as good defensively as any team I have seen this year, plus they have stingy goalkeeping. Other advantages are the old shoebox they play in and the bus legs most teams start the games with after the long trip to Quebec's hinterland.
Other teams receiving votes: Lakehead (9), StFX (4), McGill (1), Ottawa (1).
My observations: Western loses #1 votes due to the their loss to York. SMU swaps with UQTR who lost to Ryerson. USask and MAN move up due to Acadia's woes and Carleton and Calgary are #3 & #4 respectively in their Divisions.
Other teams receiving votes: Manitoba (14), Acadia (7).
Note: Western's loss to Waterloo drops them to 10th. Manitoba, Acadia and Calgary fall out of the top ten due to losing their playoff series to USask, SMU and UoA respectively. Carleton, Waterloo, Windsor and UPEI move up having advanced to their next playoff series.
Other teams receiving votes: Manitoba (11), Acadia (11).
* UQTR was awarded the higher ranking (over Saint Mary’s) based on number of higher-placed votes.
This is the last TOP 10 of the season. Over the March 9/10 weekend the committee will seed the six advancing teams to Nationals; UoA, UNB, UQTR, SMU, Wat & USask
March 10,2013 - The University of Alberta Golden Bears have been established tournament favourites for the 51st CIS men’s hockey championship.
Seed / School / Ranking from CIS Top 10 #18
1. University of Alberta Golden Bears (1)
2. University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds (2)
3. Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes (3)
4. Saint Mary’s University Huskies (4)
5. University of Saskatchewan Huskies (5)
6. University of Waterloo Warriors (6)
