Expect the Unexpected should be the motto of the Atlantic University Hockey Conference, or perhaps more cynically it should be Consistency is not Guaranteed.
On Wednesday night the third installment of Fredericton's Battle of the Hill took place at the home of the St. Thomas Tommies, the Lady Beaverbrook Rink. The night was also the occasion of the 13th annual Lou Chabot Memorial game, a surefire motivator for the home team. However UNB was first on the scoreboard with a powerplay goal in the first period, and the teams exchanged powerplay markers in the second period before UNB captain Dustin Friesen (Waldheim, SK) gave the V-Reds the two-goal lead on a pretty play at 15:06 as the defenceman was the extra man on the rush who went all the way to the net for the tip-in. Just over two minutes later Jeff Bateman (Belleville, ON) scored to pull the Tommies within one goal. At 12:05 of the third period Bateman scored again to tie the game and excite the home team fans. Just over two minutes later UNB was on the powerplay and Brad Efthimiou (Mississauga) got what was to be the game winner. Special teams and goaltending were the difference this game: STU outshot UNB 38-22, yet was 1 for 11 on the powerplay while UNB was 3 for 5.
Also on Wednesday the St. Mary's Huskies scored all of their goals in the second period as they beat the red-hot StFX X-Men in Antigonish 4-2. At the same time, not surprisingly the Universit de Moncton beat the UPEI Panthers, but the surprise was that Team Canada hero Paul Drew (Merlin, ON) was chased from the nets after giving up two goals on two shots in the first 66 seconds of the game. Les Aigles Bleus went on to hammer the Panthers 10-3, with the goals spread among six scorers as they outshot UPEI 39-18. The last game Wednesday was the ongoing fight for the last playoff berth as the visiting Acadia Axeman scored three goals late in the third period to come back and defeat the resurgent Dalhousie Tigers 6-4.
Friday night saw what fans and one of the coaches involved called the best game of the season as UNB had success in their first overtime shootout in defeating StFX 2-1in the battle for second place. Player of the game (for the second game in a row) Michael Ouzas (Hamilton, ON) matched fellow rookie, and OHL rival, Danny Battochio (Lively, ON) at the other end of the ice save for save through 70 minutes of play, allowing only one goal each. In the shootout Ouzas made glove saves to stymie both X shooters while defenceman Justin DaCosta (Mississauga, ON) and Brad Efthimiou scored highlight reel goals (if the game had only been televised!) to earn the victory.
Also on Friday, SMU continued their strong play as they defeated slumping STU 3-2, scoring the game winner in the second period and holding on for the important victory. Acadia got some breathing room in their battle for sixth place as they scored three straight goals against UPEI and got the 3-1 win with injured captain Brandon Benedict (Avondale, NS) still out of the lineup. Moncton's offence was still flying high as they humbled Dalhousie 9-2, outshooting the Tigers 58-21in the process.
Saturday night was the night of the underdogs. First, after the thriller the night before UNB came out flat against still smarting Dalhousie. UNB got going in the second period and scored three straight goals and seemed comfortably in the lead until Dal defenceman Devrin Stonehouse (Elkhorn, MB) caught the UNB defence napping and scored with 30 seconds left in the second period. In the third period UNB got into extreme penalty trouble as the referee's leeway suddenly seemed to change. (I know one isn't supposed to comment on officiating but it sure looked like infractions that were penalties under the new standards were let go in the first period but called in the third period). Dal scored a five-on-three powerplay goal at 12:20 and then another five-on-three goal at 16:01 and the game was tied. Then 65 second later UNB g