This past week started on Wednesday evening with the rare occasion that all eight AUS hockey teams were playing. The biggest game of the night (and not just because I live in Fredericton ...) was the second match in the Battle of the Hill with the STU Tommies visiting their cross-campus rivals, the slumping UNB Varsity Reds. It was a must-win for UNB if they were to snap their five-game losing streak and a hope-to-win for STU if they wanted to continue their winning ways and get to the .500 mark.
Despite all the expectations, the game was a bit of a bust for the more than 3000 fans. Maybe there was too much on the line. For most of the game it was like watching two pro teams playing their systems and trying not to make mistakes, as STU started with a 1-2-2 trap and stuck with it most of the game. The only goal of the first period was UNB's Troy Stonier streaking in on a short-handed breakaway to deke STU goalie Aaron Molner with a backhander at 12:33. STU captain Kyle McAllister scored a power play marker early in the second period to tie the game, and then UNB's Stacy Smallman and his mucker line banged one in at 13:55 to restore the lead. At 12:05 of the third period Robin Boucher jumped on the rebound of a Nick Theriault blast to tie the score again, and they way play was going between the blue lines even then it looked like overtime loomed. Then the Denny Johnston show started. He scored his first goal of the night from a great Craig Mahon pass at 15:26 and just over four minutes later he completed his natural hat trick with a goal mouth tip-in to go along with his strip-the-defenceman breakaway tally at 17:54. These were the only exciting moments in this 5-2 game that was anything but.
Other games on Wednesday saw the conference leading SMU Huskies win their fifth in a row with a 3-1 victory over the last place Dal Tigers in the Battle of Halifax, round II. SMU was up 3-0 at the end of the second period. In the other game played in Nova Scotia, the StFX X-Men scored two goals in the third period to come back and earn the 3-3 tie against the Acadia Axemen. At the same time the UdeM Aigles Bleus and UPEI Panthers each scored a goal in the first period and two in the second as they also skated to a 3-3 tie.
There were two games Friday night. SMU's Aaron VanLeusan scored with eight seconds left in regulation to force overtime against the visiting X-Men and rookie sensation Ryan Lauzon scored at 2:49 of OT to give the Huskies the 3-2 comeback final, their sixth win in a row. In their game against Acadia, Dal's Martin Gascon scored with 12 seconds left and an extra attacker on the ice, but it was too-little too-late as Acadia won 6-4.
Saturday night Acadia jumped off to another first period lead, and this time they were the giant killers as they halted SMU's winning streak with a 4-2 win and pushed themselves into a tie for sixth place with STU. Acadia has a game in hand as they play a rescheduled game next Wednesday against Dal, and a win will advance them into a tie for fourth place in the bunched together standings.
Also on Saturday STU traveled to Moncton to take on les Aigles Bleus in their barn. This was not be a repeat of the 8-3 thumping STU handed out the week before as Moncton started dominating play after STU's Justin Roy got his team's only goal at 1:01 on the power play and never looked back. Moncton scored two goals late in the first period and two more in the third period and had 37 shots on the night. If not for the standout play of STU goalie Aaron Molner the margin of victory might have been much greater than the 4-1 final. With the win red-hot Moncton is all alone in second place and just two points back of first-place SMU.
Speaking of red, the team in red 'n black must have been seeing red back in Fredericton Saturday night as UNB fired 44 shots at UPEI netminder Paul Drew but couldn't get the win. UPEI only had 15 shots at the V-Reds' Reg Bourcier in