Im very late posting this week as my real job, the one that pays the bills, is getting in the way a bit. At least I dont have to get to hockey practice every day and balance university classes, so I dont really have a lot to complain about.
Wednesday night, Groundhog Day, could see the first team in the AUHC eliminated from the playoff run. The Dalhousie Tigers need to earn at least one point in their game against the StFX X-Men, and then all three of their last games in order to have any hope to catch sixth place UPEI Panthers. For their part, the Panthers only need to earn two points in their last four games to eliminate Dal, as the Panthers have the edge in the head-to-head tie-breaker. As for the other bubble team, the STU Tommies, they are two points back of UPEI and need to win some games. All of that combination math makes my head hurt, so Ill just wait to see what plays out this weekend.
The mission for STU became more difficult, as hard-nosed rookie defenceman Nick Theriault was handed a three-game suspension for his neutral zone kneeing of SMUs Brad McTavish on Friday, the second Husky in two weeks that Theriault got the knee on. The AUS gave Theriault two games, and St. Thomas added a supplementary game of their own on top of the league punishment.
Getting back to last week and weekend, there were three games on Wednesday. UPEIs Kris MacPhee got the first goal, following on John Brioux as he split the UNB defence and went hard to the net. However, the V-Reds J.M. Boisvert connected on a Kyle Werner power play pass to close the period, and then Werner took a pass from Boisvert on a power play midway through the second period as UNB went on to a 2-1 win over the Panthers. UNBs team defence smothered UPEI in the third period; UPEI didnt get a shot on net in their two third-period power plays and were 0 for 7 on the night with the extra man.
In Halifax, StFX scored first and last and beat SMU 3-1. Xs Mike Mole was strong in nets as the Huskies outshot the X-Men 32 to 16. At the same time in Wolfville the red hot Acadia Axemen hammered the Dal Tigers 5-0, outshooting Dal 51-18, and 25 to 4 in the first period when they scored three goals. Ouch!
Moving onto Friday night, STU was hosting SMU in a battle of the Saints. STUs Darryl Knight scored early in the first, but then SMU ran off three straight goals before the end of the first period and looked to be in control of the game. But STU came back in the second with a goal by Justin Roy near the three minute mark, and then Justin McCutcheon scored late in the second period to tie the game, and then again early in the third period for the winning goal and 4-3 final. Interestingly enough there were no power play goals in the contest, though SMU had six power plays and STU had four.
Friday wasnt any better for Dal, as the Tigers were shut out for the second game in a row as the visiting UPEI Panthers won 3-0. Speaking of shutouts, Xs Mike Mole picked up his third shutout of the season as the X-Men blanked the visiting UNB V-Reds 3-0 with all scoring in the second period. Both teams were 0 of their power plays; UNB had eight chances and StFX had six. In Moncton, two high-scoring teams were limited to a goal each as les Aigles Bleus and the Acadia Axemen were 1-1 after overtime. And again, in a league that thrives on special teams both teams were scoreless on the power play.
On Saturday, STU was hosting Acadia and had a game theyd like to forget. Acadia was up 2-0 after the first and 3-0 after the second period. The Tommies finally got on the scoreboard midway through the third period as Darryl Knight responded to Acadias Kevin Baker, who scored his league-leading 22nd goal on the power play. Later STU got into more penalty trouble, and to add insult to injury Acadias last two goals came as hulking defenceman Brett Angel scored his first and second goals of the season 41 seconds apart. Final sco