N.S. teams jockey for position in AUS

Acadia trying to extend nine-game win streak as second half kicks off
By Glenn MacDonald, The Chronicle Herald

The Acadia Axemen would like to pick up where they left off before the Atlantic Universities Hockey Conference shut down for its 40-day holiday break.

Heading into Christmas, Acadia had won nine games in a row to move into second place in the AUHC. Only the CIS No. 1 UNB Varsity Reds are ahead of the 11-3-0 Axemen, ranked fourth in the country.

The regular season resumes tonight with all eight teams in action, including the Axemen hosting the third-place Saint Mary’s Huskies in Wolfville. SMU (9-3-3) sits only one point behind Acadia.

"Saint Mary’s is the defending league champs and arguably as good a team as there is in the country so we might as well start out with the big boys," Acadia head coach Darren Burns said. "We want to get back to playing the meaningful games.

"It’s good to get back. The guys want to play again. The guys are always excited to get exams over with and to get home. But when they get home, they can’t wait to get back to playing.

"It’s a new half. If we even spend a second thinking about the first half, it’s just the wrong approach," Burns added. "We’ve learned a lot from (the first half) but now things are going to come very quickly. It’s like a freeway now. We have to make sure we stick to what has made us successful because a lot can change in one week."

UNB, at 15-0 has been the class of the CIS, let alone the conference, with an eight-point lead on the Axemen. But it’s a dogfight for second with Acadia, SMU and fourth-place St. Francis Xavier. The X-Men (7-5-3) are four points back of the Huskies. St. F.X. hosts the Dalhousie Tigers (3-8-3).

Tonight’s other games feature the St. Thomas Tommies at UNB and the Moncton Aigles Bleus visiting the UPEI Panthers. All games begin at 7 p.m.

Saint Mary’s: The Huskies are second in the conference in both team offence (67 goals for) and defence (44 goals against, tied with Acadia).

Forwards Cam Fergus and Marc Rancourt and defenceman Andrew Hotham are each in the top five in conference scoring. In goal, newcomer Neil Conway has been stellar with a league-leading 1.78 goals against average in eight appearances.

Rancourt, with 198 career points, is nearing a milestone. Steve Kluczkowski (221 career points) is the only Huskies player to eclipse the 200-point barrier.

St. F.X.: The youthful X-Men, with four rookie blue-liners, suffered through some bouts of inconsistency. The team allowed five more goals than they scored (56 goals for, 61 against in 14 games).

"We had a lot of guys that were subjected to the league for the first time and they got a taste of what it was all about," X-Men head coach Brad Peddle said. "To be good in this league you have to go through those things. We’ll learn and grow from it."

The X-Men are coming off a two-game sweep of the Carleton Ravens to successfully defend their Keating Cup tournament last weekend.

"Exhibition or not, you need those games to get back into it real quick and shake some rust off from the holidays," Peddle said. "In the fall, you have six or seven weeks to prepare and get ready for the season. You don’t have that time obviously in January. That’s why it’s crucial to get in a couple of games to prepare for the second half."

Dalhousie: With nine points in the standings, the improved Tigers have already matched its total from all of last season.

Dal, which has lost eight games by two or fewer goals, is one point behind St. Thomas for sixth place and the final playoff spot.

"Things are going to be tough in the second half with so many teams jockeying for playoff positions," Tigers bench boss Pete Belliveau said. "It’ll be like that to the very last weekend."

Dalhousie’s offence should get a boost with the addition of former QMJHL sniper Benjamin Breault. The St-Jean sur Richelieu, Que., native had four consecutive seasons of 30-plus goals in major junior, including a career-high 40 goals and 80 points with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in 2006-07.

"It’ll take a couple of weeks for him to get synchronized again but you can tell he is a player," Belliveau said.