The third annual Bell Varsity Cup opened with an rough and tough afternoon game between the No. 5 Manitoba Bisons and the UNB Varsity Reds as the V-Reds notched a 7-4 win at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. UNB was led by Kyle Werner with 2 goals and an assist while Rob Hennigar, Jesse Ferguson, Colin Sinclair, and Troy Stonier had a goal and an assist each. Kevin Saurette paced Manitoba with two goals while singles came from David Cameron and Reagan Leslie. UNB outshot Manitoba 37-31 in the game. Manitoba went 2-7 on the powerplay and UNB was 2-8. UNB's overallrecord goes to 11-9-0 overall while Manitoba'sis now at 11-10-2.
The first period featured a lot of scoring and a lot of penalties. The Bisons were under pressure early due to successive minors and UNB made the second count when Nathan O'Nabigon fired a shot from the left slot that beat Bisons' netminder Krister Toews at 4:38. Assists went to Colin Sinclair and Kevin Werner. Back at even strength, Manitoba put on the pressure and were rewarded at 7:13 when David Cameron beat UNB goalie Reg Bourcier, with the assist going to Jordan Little. UNB took the center ice faceoff into the Bisons end and Al Werner fired a hard shot that beat Toews to make it 2-1 UNB at 7:54. Assists went to Dustin Friesen and Bart Rushmer. Manitoba then went up the ice and Kevin Saurette fired from the slot at 8:10 to tie up the game. Assists went to Warren McCutcheon and Paul Deniset. UNB's Troy Stonier gave the lead back to the V-Reds at 13:35 when he fired a seeing-eye wrist shot that beat Toews over the right shoulder. Assists went to Jesse Ferguson and Rob Hennigar. A skirmish broke out to the left of Manitoba's Toews that resulted in UNB's William Johnston being ejected. Then UNB's Rory McDade was called for a double minor highstick, putting UNB two men down. Manitoba made no mistake as Andrew Kaminsky blasted a shot from the right point that beat Bourcier over the left shoulder at 16:42; set up by nice pass by Raymond Leslie. However, UNB was still in hot water as they were still two men down and the Bisons attacked the V-Reds goal. The Bisons made it 4-3 at 18:20 when Kevin Saurette scored his second of the game on the wraparound; assisted by Leslie and Cameron. Manitoba outshot UNB 15-9 in the first.
The second opened with some fast two-way action and Manitoba's Toews made a great pad save off a hard shot by UNB's Stacey Smallman. The V-Reds went on the powerplay at 4:00, but couldn't beat Toews. UNB then took a minor but it was the V-Reds with the best opportunity as Rob Hennigar was set up all alone but Toews robbed him with a pad save. Jesse Ferguson tied the game at 9:55 when he fired a low dribbling wrist shot from the left point that beat a screened Toews. The Bisons then put on the pressure and Bourcier came up with a big stop off Manitoba's Jared Lang. Manitoba's Tim Velemirovich nailed the right post/crossbar joint at 14:30. Manitoba's Toews had to flash the glove to stop a blistering shot by UNB's Hennigar at 16:15. Manitoba drew a costly minor as the V-Reds struck only 33 seconds into it when Colin Sinclair knocked in the loose puck in front of the Bisons' goal at 18:44, with assists going to Kyle Werner and Jean Michel Boisvert. Shots were 15-10 UNB in the second.
UNB got an early minor for delay of game in the third but couldn't develop any chances. Play was tight for the next five minutes and UNB got on the board again at 6:07, when Rob Hennigar blasted a shot over Toews right shoulder, assisted by Troy Stonier and Boisvert. The Bisons went two men down and UNB had some shots on goal but Toews was up to the task. UNB's Bourcier made a diving stick check to foil a breakaway by Manitoba's Chris Falloon. UNB then put on some more pressure on Toews, but again the Bisons' goalie hung in. Man