Some CIS hockey top 10 voters still in pre-season shape
Published Thursday October 23rd, 2008
The first Canadian interuniversity Sport men's hockey top 10 rankings are out and, naturally, some eyebrows have been raised and narrowed.
Without singling out any of my voting brethren, two of the eight other voters left the University of New Brunswick off the ballot completely - you just know that will peeve off the Varsity Reds to no end.
One of those voters picked the top three teams as 1. Wilfrid Laurier Hawks 2. UQTR Patriotes and 3. Carleton Ravens. The other had UQTR and Carleton 1-2.
The V-Reds, you may recall, outshot the Ravens 41-14 en route to a 7-0 pre-season win and outshot the Patriotes 102-56 in sweeping two games.
Laurier's last game? A 4-3 overtime loss Saturday to the non-ranked Western Ontario Mustangs.
Hopefully, once the regular season rolls along and heavyweights meet heavyweights, the rankings will be a more accurate reflection of the country's top 10 teams.
The only time the rankings really matter is for seeding purposes at the nationals.
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Last week's column, where I suggested the Atlantic University Sport Men's Hockey Conference would be better off with a two-referee system, drew plenty of reaction.
Responses ranged from "If one's bad, two's worse" to "It sure couldn't hurt" to "keep hammering away at the officials - they're the only people on the ice getting paid and they're doing a lousy job."
Truth is, I have nothing personal against any of the referees in the AUS. Without their helmets and stripes, I wouldn't know most of them if I tripped over their well-used whistles.
The highest compliment I can give a referee is to leave his name out of a game story. That means,in my humble opinion, he did a good job.
But when fans are booing and coaches are screaming and players, out of frustration for previous calls or non-calls, are filling the penalty box, then a referee has to be taken to task if he was responsible for letting things get to that point.
The problem is, we're the only one with the liberty to say so.
Coaches can't say boo. And that's not right.
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Earlier this month, Moncton Wildcats head coach Danny Flynn - who used to have to bite his tongue with the St. Francis Xavier X-Men - was blunt after a 4-3 overtime loss to the Victoriaville Tigres.
Flynn was outraged at referee Ryan Murphy.
An excerpt: "I've been in the game a long time and him not knowing the rules at the end just topped off one of the worst refereeing performances I've ever seen.''
The Tigres scored shorthanded with 13 seconds left during a 5-on-4 when it should have been 4-on-3.
"Obviously, the referee and linesmen were asleep at the switch," Flynn said. "I guess they should've came back from late lunch at the clinic and got the rules straight. It was dangerous out there. The officiating was disgraceful."
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A brief follow-up on Jeff Marshall of the University of Maine Black Bears. Marshall was the player who levelled UNB centre Kyle Bailey late in the Oct. 11 game here. There was no penalty on the play, but Marshall admitted he was in the wrong and apologized for his actions.
Maine head coach Tim Whitehead handled the matter internally, suspending his co-captain out for Saturday's first game at Alaska, a 3-1 loss to Alaska-Anchorage. Marshall was back in the lineup the next night and scored the insurance goal in Maine's 2-0 win over Alaska-Fairbanks.
"Jeff played a great two-way game. He scored a key goal, blocked shots and killed penalties," Whitehead told The Bangor Daily News.
"I know Jeff didn't mean to hurt him. But we have to play with discipline this season," Whitehead said.
"I take full responsibility for it,'' Marshall said. "I've got to know better. I'm glad (Bailey) is going to be all right. It was tough sitting in the stands Friday night. I felt I owed the guys something Saturday night."
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Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke, to the Toronto Sun, giving his coach the ultimate vote of confidence: "Randy Carlyle is as safe as a baby in a car seat in a Hummer."
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Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel says there is no pleasing Florida Gators football fans: "They could be married to Halle Berry and complain because she spends too much money on lingerie.''
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Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun-Times, after the Wisconsin marching band got suspended for drunken debauchery: "Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to play cowbells."
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Dan Daly of the Washington Times, on the Boston Red Sox voting ex-teammate Manny Ramirez a two-thirds playoff share: "Probably because that's how far down the first-base line he usually got when he grounded out."
Bruce Hallihan can be reached at 458-6442 or hallihan.bruce@dailygleaner.com. His column appears each Thursday.
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