±«ÓãÖ±²¥ seeded second at CIS men's hockey championship
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MONTREAL -- The ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ Redmen have been designated as the second seed for 49th CIS men's hockey championship, hosted by top-seeded UNB at the Aitken University Centre in Fredericton, March 24-27.
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The Redmen will fly to Fredericton on Tuesday afternoon. It marks the fifth time in six years that ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ has qualified for Nationals and they are grouped in a pool with third-seeded Alberta and fifth-seeded St. Francis Xavier.
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University Cup website:
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The Cavendish University Cup tourney gets underway on Thursday with the first of three days of pool play and culminates next Sunday with the national final, live on Rogers Sportsnet at 8 p.m. Atlantic Time.
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Rogers Sportsnet will also broadcast Saturday's two round-robin games, while SSN Canada will have live webcasts of all seven contests. Live stats will be availaible through the ±«ÓãÖ±²¥Ìý website.
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The seeding for the six-team competition was announced on Sunday.
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Joining the AUS champion Varsity Reds in Fredericton will be second-ranked ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ (OUA champions), No. 3 Alberta Golden Bears (Canada West champions), No. 4 Western Ontario Mustangs (OUA finalists), No. 5 St. Francis Xavier X-Men (AUS finalists) and No. 6 Calgary Dinos (Canada West finalists).
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UNB, Western and Calgary will battle in Pool A in the preliminary round, while ±«ÓãÖ±²¥, Alberta and StFX skate in Pool B. The first-place finishers from each group advance to the national final.
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The Redmen and X-Men faceoff in the tournament opener Thursday at 2 p.m. Atlantic time. ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ played at St.FX during the Christmas break and lost 6-5 in overtime. The Redmen have not played Alberta, their other pool partner, this season.
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The V-Reds and Dinos kick off Pool A action on Thursday at 7 p.m., while the Bears and Mustangs take the ice on Friday against the losing teams from opening day.
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New University Cup champions will be crowned Sunday as the Saint Mary's Huskies, who captured their first-ever CIS title with a dramatic 3-2 overtime win over Alberta in last year's gold medal final in Thunder Bay, fell to StFX in the semifinal round of the Atlantic conference playoffs two weeks ago.
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UNIVERSITY CUP NOTES: Alberta was the last team to triumph as the No. 1 seed in 2006... The 2006 Bears were also the last tournament hosts to hoist the University Cup when they were crowned at Rexall Place in Edmonton... ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ and Alberta are the only schools to return from last year's championship in Thunder Bay, where the Bears reached the title match for a record 18th time and the Redmen went 0-2 to finish last in Pool B... The V-Reds return for the first time since they won the third title in program history in 2009, in Thunder Bay... Western last competed for the University Cup in 2009, StFX in 2007 and Calgary in 2000... Alberta holds most University Cup records including all-time titles (13), appearances (35 including 2011), appearances in the final (18), games played (91), wins (61), losses (28), goals for (415) and goals against (272).
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SEEDING & POOLS
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1. UNB Varsity Reds (AUS champions: 23-5-0 regular season / 6-3 playoffs)
2. ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ Redmen (OUA champions: 24-2-2 regular season / 7-1 playoffs)
3. Alberta Golden Bears (Canada West champions: 19-6-3 regular season / 4-0 playoffs)
4. Western Ontario Mustangs (OUA finalists: 20-3-5 regular season / 6-2 playoffs)
5. StFX X-Men (AUS finalists: 17-10-1 regular season / 7-5 playoffs)
6. Calgary Dinos (Canada West finalists: 17-8-3 regular season / 2-3 playoffs)
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Pool A
1. UNB
4. Western
6. Calgary
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Pool B
2. ±«ÓãÖ±²¥
3. Alberta
5. StFX
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TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (Atlantic Time)
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Wednesday, March 23
12:45 Meet The Coaches Media Conference (Aitken University Centre)
19:00 All-Canadian Awards Ceremony (The Playhouse)
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Thursday, March 24
14:00 Pool B #1: StFX vs. ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ (SSN Canada webcast)
19:00 Pool A #1: Calgary vs. UNB (SSN Canada webcast)
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Friday, March 25
14:00 Pool B #2: Loser Pool B #1 vs. Alberta (SSN Canada webcast)
19:00 Pool A #2: Loser Pool A #1 vs. Western (SSN Canada webcast)
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Saturday, March 26
14:30 Pool B #3: Winner Pool B #1 vs. Alberta (Rogers Sportsnet / SSN Canada webcast)
19:30 Pool A #3: Winner Pool A #1 vs. Western (Rogers Sportsnet / SSN Canada webcast)
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Sunday, March 27
20:00 University Cup Final (Rogers Sportsnet / SSN Canada webcast)
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TICKET INFORMATION:
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The UNB organizing committee reserved 40 ticket packages for alumni and parents of each participating school to purchase. They are supposedly all in the same section and you have to indicate that you want to sit in the ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ section when you call the box office.
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Unfortunately, you do have to purchase the entire tournament package, which includes all games and the package deal will cost about $140.
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They are already sold out except for the 200 remaining ticket packages that have reserved for the six schools and will probably put those tickets on sale to the general public on Monday or Tuesday.
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Tickets can be purchased by calling the Aitken University Centre box office 506 453-5054.
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7-Game Packages (includes Championship game):
Adult - $140 (one price only)
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Blocks of seats have been reserved for the teams qualifying in each conference:
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Day Packages (will become available only if capacity has not been met) It is expected that the Aitken Centre will be sold out in advance of the tournament.
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ALL-Canadian Awards Celebration
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Date: Wednesday March 23, 2011
Site: The Playhouse
Queen Street
Schedule: Must be seated by 7:00 pm
Dress: Business/casual
Distance from Hotel: 2 kilometres from Delta, Fredericton Inn and Ramada - across the street from the Crowne Plaza
(please note - this is not a dinner)
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Parents and fans wishing to attend may purchase a ticket for $10 through the box office of the Playhouse. These tickets are for the balcony seating only. boxoffice [at] theplayhouse.ca. Telephone: (506) 458-8344 1-866-884-5800 or fax (506) 459-6206
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TEAM HOTEL:
The Ramada -
Rate for parents/fans: $99/double - contact 1-800-596-4656 smichell [at] ramadafredericton.com
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The Crowne Plaza -
Rate for parents/fans: $159 contact 1-877-660-8550
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Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
±«ÓãÖ±²¥
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile
website)
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