Are You Kidding Me?

If you've been following this blog over the last week or so, you know that Canada West hockey kicked off this past weekend with a full slate of games. Teams were travelling, games were played, goals were scored, and everyone had fun as Canada West became the second conference to get underway. The AUS has already been playing games for more than a week out in the Maritimes, and the OUA gets underway this weekend with a full slate of games as well. Needless to say, hockey is finally back at Canadian universities across the country!

That leads me to ask how U SPORTS already produced this image.

If you're reading that Top Ten list correctly, there are five teams on there who have yet to play a single second of hockey. None of the four Ontario teams have stepped on the ice for regular season play yet, and the Saskatchewan Huskies had the Canada West bye week this past weekend. I'm pretty sure the Canada West adminstrators aren't comedians on the side, but publishing a Top-Ten Men's Hockey list with five teams who haven't played is a farce.

In my mind, there is no doubt that both Alberta and Saskatchewan men's hockey programs will be good. I think that UBC's men's hockey program is woefully underappreciated considering what they did last season, but they'll have to earn a spot in that Top Ten weekly through good play. UNB is a powerhouse, and they've been proving that they're one of the best by dispatching Acadia by a 4-1 score last Wednesday.

Why is this important? St. Francis-Xavier, aka StFX, has already defeated Acadia once this season as they downed the Axemen by a 2-1 score on October 9. Acadia and StFX meet again tonight, and there's a very good chance that Acadia, if they lose to the X-Men again, will no longer be in the Top Ten whenever the next one comes out. It should also be noted that StFX hosts UNB on Friday, and that could play a major factor as to where both those teams appear on the next Top Ten publication.

With Alberta having the bye week next week and both Saskatchewan and UBC resuming their Week Two schedules, all of that will factor into where those teams appear on the list as well. The OUA? They won't begin play until Wednesday, November 3 when Concordia hosts McGill while Queen's welcomes RMC to their arena.

This is why the Top Ten list seen on the U SPORTS site today is a complete sham. We won't have any idea of where some of these teams are in terms of their talent until November, yet U SPORTS had to publish this for some inexplicable reason. In saying that, folks, if you're a fan of any of these teams on the Top Ten list I suggest you take this list with a number of grains of salt. If you're a fan of a team that isn't mentioned, I would suggest that you be patient because this list could change dramatically before the OUA teams play their first games.

For those asking, the U SPORTS women's hockey Top Ten will be published on November 3. At least whoever in the U SPORTS office that is looking after women's hockey realizes that there should be a few weeks of play before we start anointing the best teams in the land.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!