Inside Fitness Names UNB Canada's Best Hockey School
UNB Hockey tops national poll
(FREDERICTON, NB) Canada’s ‘Inside Fitness’ magazine named the University of New Brunswick as the Best Hockey School in the country, in a 2015 grading of Canada’s sporting schools.
UNB and the then five-time national champion Varsity Reds were selected from the country’s 35 hockey-playing schools.
In the same survey, Laval was chosen as the country’s top football school, while U of T was selected as Canada’s best swimming school.
This is what ‘Inside Fitness’ wrote about the Varsity Reds:
The University of New Brunswick has an illustrious hockey culture that extends all the way back to the late 19th century. Not surprisingly, the Varsity Reds have long been a force to be reckoned with and currently boast the third-most championship titles after the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto. In recent years, the program has established itself as an undisputed powerhouse, having won 5 of the last 10 University Cups in 8 appearances. Much of the credit for this unprecedented rise to prominence belongs to head coach Gardiner MacDougall, one of the most decorated coaches in the CIS, and without a doubt one of the main architects behind the team’s startling success. Among MacDougall’s many shining stars is assistant captain Adrian Robertson – Mississauga, Ont., who was named one of the CIS’ 2013—2014 Top 8 Academic All-Canadians, an honour presented in person by the Governor General. “Our head coach has done a great job building a strong reputation for the program, which allows us to attract quality players from across Canada,” he says proudly. “More importantly, though, is that he brings in great people, which makes it easier for them to buy into what the program is about and allows for a very tight group that will work hard for each other. It’s been the best 3 years of my life.”
Since the ‘Inside Fitness’ article was published, Coach MacDougall and the Varsity Reds have added two more Canadian championships to their resume, including the 2017 title, which the team won on home ice.