GOLDEN HAWKS SEEDED NO. 2 AT CIS WOMEN'S HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP

ANTIGONISH, N.S. - The defending national champion McGill Martlets have been established tournament favourites for the third consecutive year going into the 2009 CIS women’s hockey championship.

The six-team championship, hosted by St. Francis Xavier University, gets under way Thursday at 4 p.m. Atlantic Time with the first of six round-robin duels and concludes Sunday at 8 p.m. Atlantic with the gold-medal final.

The national final can be seen on The Score Television Network on a two-hour tape delay at 10 p.m. Atlantic (9 p.m. Eastern), while SSN Canada will webcast all games from the tournament.

Championship website: www.universitysport.ca/e/championships/w_hockey/2009

Joining Quebec conference champion McGill this week in Antigonish, N.S., are the tournament host and No. 5-ranked StFX X-Women (AUS finalists), as well as the No. 2 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (OUA champions), No. 3 Manitoba Bisons (Canada West champions), No. 4 Moncton Aigles Bleues (AUS champions) and No. 6 Ottawa Gee-Gees (QSSF finalists).

The No. 1 Martlets, who captured their first-ever CIS title a year ago with a 2-0 gold-medal win over Laurier, will skate in pool A alongside Manitoba and StFX in the round-robin portion of the championship alongside. Pool B is comprised of Laurier, Moncton and Ottawa.

Laurier and Ottawa kick off the competition Thursday at 4 p.m., while McGill opens its title defence at 7 p.m. against Manitoba. Moncton and StFX will take the ice on Friday against the losers of the opening-day duels.

The CIS major award winners and the all-Canadian teams will be unveiled at a banquet Wednesday night.

SEEDING & POOLS

1. McGill Martlets (QSSF champions / 18-0 regular season, 4-0 playoffs)
2. Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (OUA champions / 26-1 regular season, 4-1 playoffs)
3. Manitoba Bisons (Canada West champions / 21-2-1 regular season, 4-1 playoffs)
4. Moncton Aigles Bleues (AUS champions / 22-0-2 regular season, 2-0 playoffs)
5. St. Francis Xavier X-Women (AUS finalists / 19-3-2 regular season, 1-1 playoffs)
6. Ottawa Gee-Gees (QSSF finalists / 8-8-2 regular season, 2-3 playoffs)

Pool A
1. McGill
3. Manitoba
5. StFX

Pool B
2. Wilfrid Laurier
4. Moncton
6. Ottawa

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (All times LOCAL: Atlantic Time)

Wednesday, March 18
12:00 Media Conference
18:30 All-Canadian Banquet

Thursday, March 19
16:00 Pool B #1: No. 2 Wilfrid Laurier vs. No. 6 Ottawa (SSN Canada webcast)
19:30 Pool A #1: No. 1 McGill vs. No. 3 Manitoba (SSN Canada webcast)

Friday, March 20
16:00 Pool B #2: No. 4 Moncton vs. Loser Pool B #1 (SSN Canada webcast)
19:30 Pool A #2: No. 5 StFX vs. Loser Pool A #1 (SSN Canada webcast)

Saturday, March 21
16:00 Pool B #3: No. 4 Moncton vs. Winner Pool B #1 (SSN Canada webcast)
19:30 Pool A #3: No. 5 StFX vs. Winner Pool A #1 (SSN Canada webcast)

Sunday, March 22
10:00 5th Place (SSN Canada webcast)
14:00 Bronze (SSN Canada webcast)
20:00 Final (THE SCORE * / SSN Canada webcast)

* 2-hour tape delay to 10 pm Atlantic / 9 pm Eastern

Source: CIS Communications