Men's Hockey: AUS Weekly Update

The logjam in the AUS standings moved to second place as Moncton was the only team with two wins on the weekend to put them all alone into first place. Acadia, UNB and StFX are now all tied for second spot. At the bottom of the standings STU still searches for their first win.

Les Aigles Bleus flying high

Home has been good to UdeM, who have earned 7 of 8 points the last two weekends, a big reason why they find themselves now in first place. Friday night Moncton had a 3-0 lead after two periods versus the Huskies and then blew open the game in a wild third period for 7-2 win. Saturday was a closer game, as Raphael Pouliot and Guillaume Parenteau had two goals each, including an empty-netter for Parenteau to seal the win over StFX.

Rookie goalie Adrien Lemay picked up both wins, so it looks like he's put in a solid argument for the starting job. Offensively UdeM leads the AUS with an average of 4.5 goals per game, and the top power play in the conference at 27.6%. Sure it has only been six games, but if Moncton can keep this pace up there's a good chance they could hold onto first place. Or, they might find the road a little less to their liking. We'll see.

Friday: SMU 2 @ UdeM 7
Saturday: StFX 2 @ UdeM 4

Acadia came close to taking over first

The Axemen can thank their special teams, and UNB's surprising propensity for taking penalties, for their win over the top-ranked team in the country. Acadia scored a power play goal just 43 seconds into the game, and then another on their second PP when it became a 5-on-3 man advantage. A third PP goal with 16 seconds to go in the first period left them sitting pretty. The V-Reds pushed back in a very tightly played game, but only managed two goals in the third period.

Saturday's game was a lot closer, and had a few incidents to rile up the fans. First, at 17:11 UPEI's Cole MacMillan ran Acadia goaltender Evan Mosher. The Axemen of course didn't take this well, and out of the tussles there was a legitimate fight between a couple of big boys, defencemen Leo Jenner from Acadia and Reggie Traccitto from UPEI. Rubbing salt in the wounds, Panther Jordan Knox scored on the resulting 4-on-4 play to tie the game. In the third period, seconds after Acadia had a goal waved off for goalie interference, Chris Desousa scored the go-ahead goal. He also added a late empty-netter to secure the win.

Friday: UNB 2 @ Acadia 4
Saturday: UPEI 4 @ Acadia 2

UNB salvages weekend roadtrip

The V-Reds special teams had a tough first period in Wolfville. They gave up three power play goals, and went 0-for-3 on their three opportunities with the man advantage. You give a team like Acadia a three goal lead and a come back is pretty darn difficult. Saturday in Halifax UNB had the first two power plays, but it was Dal getting on the scoreboard first. After tying the game in the second period, the V-Reds took back-to-back penalties and the Tigers scored on the 5-on-3 power play to take the lead. The third period was dominated by UNB who finally got their power play going with about five minutes to go, as Cam Braes scored his second goal to tie the game. The V-Reds kept driving the net until Matt Fillier put them ahead, and they added an empty-netter to end any chance of a Tigers comeback.

Friday: UNB 2 @ Acadia 4
Saturday: UNB 4 @ Dal 2

StFX also just one point out of first

The X-Men were outshot 31-22 by St. Thomas Friday night, but still managed to squeak out a win with a late third period goal by Josh Day. Saturday they couldn't pull out the win against Moncton.

Friday: StFX 3 @ STU 2
Saturday: StFX 2 @ UdeM 4

Weekend finished better for UPEI

Friday was not a good game for the Panthers. For the second match in a row they couldn't find a way to score, so that win over Acadia on Saturday was doubly important, and it ended a three game losing streak.

Friday: UPEI 0 @ Dal 3
Saturday: UPEI 4 @ Acadia 2

Another down and up weekend for the Huskies

Friday night the Huskies were humbled by les Aigles Bleus in Moncton. The next night in Fredericton they bounced back and completely dominated the Tommies, outshooting them 49-17.

Friday: SMU 2 @ UdeM 7
Saturday: SMU 5 @ STU 0

Dal keeps pace

Despite losing starting goalie Bobby Nadeau to an injury 15 minutes into Friday's game, the Tigers still managed to get their first shutout of the season with Wendell Vye finishing up in nets. Vye did his best to hold off UNB the following night, but eventually the V-Reds shooters got a few pucks past him.

Friday: UPEI 0 @ Dal 3
Saturday: UNB 4 @ Dal 2

Still no wins for Tommies in new barn

St. Thomas had a pretty good game Friday. They outshot the X-Men 14-7 in the first period, and were tied. They traded goals in the second period, but only StFX scored in the third period. Saturday was a forgettable game against the Huskies, their most lopsided loss of the young season. Maybe a road trip is what the Tommies need, because home ice isn't exactly working out great.

Friday: StFX 3 @ STU 2
Saturday: SMU 5 @ STU 0

Next weekend 

After two weekends at home, StFX and SMU each head out to visit UNB and UPEI. Travel partners Moncton and STU will be in Nova Scotia to play Acadia and Dalhousie.