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There are the usual array of CIS Holiday tournaments this season however a growing trend is the holiday season training camp, usually in southern climes. Some teams even don cloaking devices and operate in "stealth" mode when travelling south. Simon Fraser got things started in Hawaii where they are playing in the Surf & Hoops Classic in Honolulu with a come-from-behind win last night Simon Fraser Defeats Dana College from Nebraska in Hawaii

Here's a comprehensive look at CIS tournaments over the holidays and a list where each of the 43 teams in the CIS will be between Christmas and New Year's this season:

HOLIDAY TOURNAMENTS

Guy Vetrie Memorial Tournament at University of Victoria: The feature tournament of the holidays with 3 Top 10 teams in the field in a five-team event with the 2 teams coming from out east, Queen's and #6 Concordia playing three games in three days while the 3 Canada West teams playing two games apiece. These games are extremely important with the revised format at the Nationals and a strong showing by the two Canada West teams, as long as they keep winning in their league, will go a long way to determine who goes to Halifax and how things are seeded. Queen's has a great chance to show that the they and OUA East are for real while Concordia will try to increase the national view of the strength of the Quebec league with a favorable showing.
Schedule (all games at UVic):
28 Dec 06 #6 Concordia vs. Trinity Western; Queen's at #4 Victoria
29 Dec 06 #6 Concordia vs. #2 UBC; Queen's vs. Trinity Western
30 Dec 06 Queen's vs #2 UBC; #6 Concordia at #4 UVic

Golden Bear Classic at University of Alberta: The "three games in three days" event attempts to mimic the Nationals and the Golden Bears, who have been playing well of late, convincingly winning their past 4 in a row and owners of a 7-3 record in league play overall, have brought out an always tough Guelph team that has battled injuries as well as the emerging McGill Redmen who have also got healthy and alot better in a hurry. Calgary, who Alberta swept recently at home in front of 2,000 fans each game, appears to be rebuilding.
Schedule:
28 Dec 06 Calgary vs. Guelph; McGill at Alberta
29 Dec 06 McGill vs. Calgary; Guelph at Alberta
30 Dec 06 McGill vs. Guelph; Calgary at Alberta

40th Wesmen Classic at Winnipeg: Winnipeg had to bring in two non-CIS teams including SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology) which is an always strong college team and Minot State, an NAIA Division II school from North Dakota which Brandon recently defeated. Feature game is in the first round as #9 Brandon meets the U of T Varsity Blues who have been scratching around fringes of the Top 10 all season long. This game should feature tremendous guard play with the likes of Dwayne Grant and Yul Michel going at it. The young Laurier Golden Hawks have a chance to emerge from the bottom bracket with wins against Manitoba and possibly the host Wesmen while the Varsity Blues/Bobcat winner should be the favorite to emerge from the other side of the bracket.
First Round Matchups on 28 Dec 06
Laurier vs. Manitoba; SAIT vs. Winnipeg; Toronto vs. #9 Brandon; Lethbridge vs. Minot State
40th Wesmen Classic Complete Draw

Ed DeArmon Tournament at Ryerson University in Toronto: This tournament features a number of visiting teams with stables of former GTA players coming home to play in downtown Toronto including Cape Breton (Paul Blake (Brampton), freshman Phillip Nkrumah (Brampton), Kerwin Liverpool (Toronto), Scott Jaspers-Fayer (Guelph)), Thompson Rivers (Kamar Burke, Navanga Burke, Daniel Sawh - Mississauga) and UPEI (Sherone Edwards, Jon Cooper, Shakir Chambers, Awale Dualeh) plus the two local teams Ryerson and York well represented by GTA talent. The tough side of the draw has Brock, Cape Breton and York in it and any of those three teams could make it to the final whereas look for a Ryerson vs. UPEI championship semi-final to determine the other finalist.
First Round Matchups on 28 Dec 06:
York vs. Thompson Rivers; #8 Brock vs. #10 Cape Breton; Memorial at Ryerson; Lakehead vs. UPEI Ryerson Ed DeArmon tournament press release

Rod Shoveller Memorial Tournament at Dalhousie: Another 8 team holiday tournament that had to reach into other leagues to fill out the draw by bringing in the likes of Lee Academy, a U.S. prep school from Maine and, Momtmorency Nomades, the defending CCAA gold medalists from Quebec CEGEP will test any CIS team. "Momo" has historically place tremendous talent in the CIS, primarily with Laval Rouge et Or. Lee Academy features at least two solid NCAA Division 1 prospects in 7'0" Polish import Tomasz Kwiatkowski (good to see the Poles representing) and 6'5" Chris Baez, both 3 (out of 5) star rated recruits according to scout.com. Maine Fort-Kent is an NAIA Division II school currently at 6-6 on the season that has already defeated a pair of Atlantic college teams including Mount Allison Mounties, who were part of the CIAU at one time. The X/Momo game is likely to be played at a great tempo and above the rim. Acadia looks to continue their strong play before the break against UQAM; the winner will face Dal while St. Mary's will tangle with Lee Academy. Look for X to again emerge as one of the finalists, possibly against Acadia.
First Round Matchups
St. Mary's vs. Lee Academy (ME); #3 St. FX vs. Montmorency; Acadia vs. UQAM; Dalhousie vs. Maine Fort-Kent

The Bishop's Converse Classic Invitational, now in its third year in Lennoxville, is a four-team affair with RMC, UNB, Bishop's and Laval. The two day affair will see the two non-QSSF schools play each of the QSSF schools. Both UNB and RMC are off to slow starts in their conference although RMC did manage to knock off Lakehead in league play. UNB's Oliver Glencross is an all-AUS candidate who must be good for the Varsity Reds to compete while 6'5" Adam Asquini leads the Paladins. Laval lost 4 of its top 7 players from last season but features All-Canadian candidate 6'6" J.P. Morin and 6'3" Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Jean-Francois Beaulieu-Maheux, the leading scorer in the QSSF. The well-balanced Gaiters have an array of athletic guards led by 6'1" Jason Thorne and 5'6" Kevin Watson. Up front the Gaiters turn to 6'6" Doug McCooeye. BU “Converse” Classic Invitational Information

Here is an alphabetical list of each of the 43 teams in the CIS and their holiday schedules:

Acadia: at Dal tournament first round vs. UQAM
Alberta: hosting their own 4 team tourney with McGill, Guelph and Calgary
Bishop's: hosting their own 4 team event with RMC, UNB and Laval
#9 Brandon: at Wesmen Classic Winnipeg; vs. Toronto in first round
#8 Brock: at Ryerson tournament; first round vs. #10 Cape Breton
Calgary: at Alberta tournament (will also play McGill and Guelph)
#10 Cape Breton: at Ryerson tournament; first round vs. #8 Brock
#1 Carleton: whereabouts unknown - somewhere south in Florida; Wass Blog central intelligence contacts conducting ongoing investigation into Ravens training camp location and exhibition games to be played
#6 Concordia: at Guy Vetrie Memorial tourney; at #4 UVic, vs. #2 UBC
Dalhousie: hosting Rod Shoveller tournament; first round vs. Maine Fort-Kent (NAIA)
Fraser Valley: 20 & 21 Dec at Lewis-Clark State
Guelph: at Alberta Tournament vs. Alberta, Calgary and McGill
Lakehead: at Ryerson tournament; first round vs. UPEI
Laurentian: in Fort Lauderdale, FLA
Laurier: at Wesmen Classic Winnipeg; vs. Manitoba in first round
Laval: at Bishop's tournament (also UNB, RMC)
Lethbridge: at Wesmen Classic Winnipeg; vs. Minot State in first round
Manitoba: at Wesmen Classic Winnipeg; vs. Laurier in first round
McGill: at Alberta Tournament vs. Alberta, Calgary and Guelph
McMaster: in Fort Lauderdale; 28 Dec 06 at Florida Memorial (NCAA D2) 1 Jan 07 at Nova Southeastern
Memorial: at Ryerson tournament; first round vs. Ryerson
#5 Ottawa: in St. Petersburg Florida 31 Dec 06 vs. Eckerd CC; 2 Jan 07 Dade CC
Queen's: at Guy Vetrie tournament vs. #2 UBC and at #4 UVic
Regina: Nothing scheduled that has been announced
RMC: at Bishop's tournament (also UNB, Laval)
Ryerson: hosting Ryerson tournament; first round vs. Memorial
Saskatchewan: 29 Dec at Montana Tech; 30 Dec at Northern Montana
#3 St. FX: at Dal tournament first round vs. Montmorency CEGEP
St. Mary's: at Dal tournament first round vs. Lee Academy Prep (ME)
Simon Fraser: Hoop & Surf Classic in Honolulu, HI 18 Dec 06 Dana; 19 Dec 06 SUNY-Oneonta; 29 Dec 06 University of Puget @ Tacoma, WA
Thompson Rivers: at Ryerson tournament; first round vs. York
Toronto: at Wesmen Classic Winnipeg; vs. Brandon in first round
Trinity Western: 28/29 vs. Queen's and #6 Concordia
#2 UBC: at Guy Vetrie Memorial tourney vs. Queen's and #6 Concordia
UNB: at Bishop's tournament (also RMC, Laval)
UQAM: at Dal tournament first round vs. Acadia
UPEI: at Ryerson tournament; first round vs. Lakehead
#4 UVic: hosting Guy Vetrie Memorial tourney vs. #6 Concordia and Queen's
Waterloo: Training camp in Cuba 26 Dec 06 to 2 Jan 07
Western: Nothing schedule that has been announced
#7 Windsor: 30 Dec at Walsh U (17th ranked NAIA team); 31 Dec at Notre Dame College NAIA Division II team
Winnipeg: hosting Wesmen Classic; vs. SAIT in first round
York: at Ryerson tournament; first round vs. Thompson Rivers

Enjoy the action over the break