It’s an interesting debate to have, but after Bruce Hallihan of the Daily Gleaner called the 2009/10 version of the UNB Varsity Reds “the best team in CIS history ... That. Never. Won,” last week after their stunning defeat to the St. FX X-Men it’s a discussion that should be had.
That’s where this post comes in, because with all due respect to Bruce who’s been covering AUS hockey for a long time, his bold statement is more hyperbole than fact it seems.
While the series win by St. FX could very well go down as one of the biggest playoff upsets in CIS men’s hockey history, the most recent version of the V-Reds wasn’t the best team that never won.
That distinction goes to a team that UNB beat back in 2003/04 at the national tournament — the Alberta Golden Bears who were 40–0–2 heading into nationals.
“That ’03/’04 game was akin to the games of the ’87 Canada Cup. On a CIS level that’s what that game was like,” said Bob Stauffer of the matchup between the Bears and V-Reds at the national tournament.
That national tournament matchup between the Bears and V-Reds for a berth in the national final had shades of that epic Canada Cup series, as the host V-Reds welcomed the undefeated Bears to town in what would wind up being a tremendous game, and the defining moment in Alberta's season as the Bears would drop the game 6-5 - the same score by which Canada defeated the Soviet Union in Hamilton. It was an epic game, as the Bears travelled across the country to play in a hostile environment, coming up just short to the host V-Reds.
"It was back and forth. UNB maybe didn't have as good as team as Alberta on paper, but they played an up tempo style, the attacked offensively, they went right after Alberta. The fact that the Bears were the big, bad team from the west, the undefeated team, the team that grabbed all the headlines in papers like The Globe and Mail, and it seemed to really rankle people in the Atlantic conference," Stauffer said.
For Stauffer who's had the privelege of broadcasting from hockey shrines like Madison Square Garden and United Center in Chicago, that game at the national championship was the greatest he's called.
"That game between those two teams, that 6-5 game, was the best game I've ever called."
Now with the Oilers Radio Network, Stauffer spent 13 seasons as the voice of the Bears, and has been around CIS hockey for more than 30 years.
“The Bears won six times in 13 years and their best team in my mind in the years that I called their games, their best team didn’t win it all, was the ’03/’04 team,” Stauffer said.
While the fact that UNB was far-and-away the best team during the regular season, the major difference between the V-Reds of this year and the Bears of old was just how far they got before being ousted.
“That team was every bit as dominant statistically within their conference this year, the only difference is that they went undefeated and they won their conference, made it to nationals and lost one period,” Stauffer said of the ’03/’04 Bears.
“UNB got beat three times by the same team. You can make the argument that they weren’t even the best team in their own conference, and history will suggest that they weren’t.”
“UNB didn’t lose once in an upset, they lost three times to the same team. They couldn’t figure out a way to overcome a team in their conference that they’d seen often. To lose two at home is almost inexcusable, and in my mind that’s what excludes them from the argument,” Stauffer said.
That major difference when comparing the two teams side-by-side is an important one, as UNB’s fall was swift — in the second round of AUS playoffs.
“You can say that’s the best AUS team that’s never won, because he’s covered AUS hockey for the last 20 years.”
The AUS, according to Stauffer, may not have seen the best team to never win this season, but it did see the best CIS team of all-time.
“In the 13 years I did play-by-play, Alberta won six times, and I would not rate any of those six teams as the best team. The best team at a national level was the 1992-93 Acadia Axemen. They were an awesome team, they only lost two regular season games in the AUS that year. They were loaded with players that would go on to play minor pro and in the AHL.”
With players like Ben Thomson, Ryan Wade, Kevin Marsh, Harlan Anderson, and Chris Ovington going onto play in the AHL after their time at the U of A, the Bears not only were a dominant team, but also one with serious indvidual talent as well - helping to set the scene for their back-to-back national titles at home the next two seasons after their loss to UNB.
With the V-Reds hosting the next two seasons after this year's national tournament in Thunder Bay, they too will have the opportunity to erase this season's disappointment on home-ice.
While there’s one thing both the Bears of ’03/’04 and the V-Reds of this season will be remembered for, that being just how good they were without winning it all, one will go down as the best never to win and the other just a really good team that bowed out early.
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