daver said:
Sorry to get off topic but if the few cross border games between top CIAU and NCAA teams over the years are indicative, it would be at best a "notch".
Good arguement
To start off, CIAU is now the CIS and has been for two or three years now.
To continue, the first week of the season:
Merrimack 5 vs. St. Thomas 2
North Dakota 8 vs. Manitoba 3
Michigan 12 vs. Windsor 1
UMass 2 vs. St. Francis 1 (ot)
the following day...
Miami 4 vs. Windsor 1
UMass-Lowell 4 vs. St. Thomas 4 (ot)
Providence 4 vs. St. Francis 1
the following day...
Nebraska-Omaha 7 vs. Manitoba 0
Just for the heck of it, let's go to the next week...
Denver 6 vs. Windsor 0
Minnesota 7 vs. Calgary 2
Western Michigan 8 vs. Brock 1
Lake Superior 15 vs. Toronto 1
Army 3 vs. Ryerson 2
Bentley 3 vs. Wilfrid Laurier 1
Michigan Tech 4 vs. Lakehead 1
Colorado College 6 vs. Windsor 1
ah, what the heck... one more week can't hurt can it?
Wayne State 3 vs. Queens 1
Minnesota St. 5 vs. Calgary 2
Alaska-Anchorage 5 vs. Grant MacEwan 1
York 1 vs. Northern Michigan 0 (first win)
Canisus 4 vs. Ottawa 3
Meryhurst 4 vs. Brock 0
Quinnipiac 6 vs. Wilfrid Laurier 5 (ot)
Army 5 vs. Ryerson 1
Boston College 7 vs. New Brunswick 2
ok fine, one more day
Michigan St. 7 vs. Toronto 2
Vermont 7 vs. Trois-Rivieres 0
Air Force 3 vs. Windsor 2 (ot)
Since the following week a CIS team squeeked out another win, I'll provide that week as well...
Bowling Green 3 vs. Windsor 2 (ot)
Alabama-Huntsville 4 vs. Western Ontario 3
Connecticut 3 vs. Concordia (Que.) 2
Holy Cross 6 vs. Concordia (Que.) 1
Western Ontario 2 vs. Alabama-Huntsville 1 (TWO wins)
Ok, I'll keep going...
Clarkson 4 vs. Western Ontario 2
McGill 3 vs. Yale 2 (THREE wins)
Dartmouth 3 vs. Western Ontario 1
Cornell 4 vs. McGill 0
Princeton 9 vs. Windsor 2
Yale 7 vs. Western Ontario 2
Harvard 2 vs. Windsor 2 (ot)
Manitoba 5 vs. Bemidji 3 (FOUR wins)
And some more...
Alaska-Fairbanks 5 vs. British Columbia 0
Alaska-Fairbanks 5 vs. British Columbia 3
So here are the stats from this year...37-4-2 for NCAA teams vs. CIS programs. Actually looking back I think 3 or 4 of these teams (Lakehead) are D-3 programs in the US but you still get the idea.
To add, most of the NCAA teams cycled their goalies at some points playing all 3.
Looking at the current top-10 from the
CIS out of the teams that participated in these exhibition games 4 are ranked in the top 10 and their record combined was 3-8-0. The 8 losses came against: North Dakota (16th in the country), Nebraska-Omaha (19th), Minnesota (9th), Minnesota St. (NR), Alabama-Huntsville (NR), Cornell (2nd), and Yale (NR).
And the CIS wins came against: the 14th ranked program in the country (Northern Michigan, 1-0 loss to York), an unranked team receiving no poll votes (Alabama-Huntsville, 2-1 loss to Western Ontario), another unranked team receiving no poll votes (Yale, 3-2 loss to McGill), and another unranked program receiving no poll votes (Bemidji State, 5-3 loss to Manitoba).
So based on recent exhibition games between the two associations... what would you like to conclude?