The UPEI men’s hockey Panthers are ready to get down to business with two home games at MacLauchlan Arena this weekend.
After a month-long break, the Panthers (8-6-0) return to the ice tonight in a matchup against the St. Mary’s Huskies (10-5-1) to start the second half of the Atlantic University Sport season.
The Panthers welcome the St. F.X. X-Men (5-7-3) Saturday night.
Game times are 7 p.m.
UPEI head coach Forbes MacPherson said the team is excited to get back on the ice.
He added the Panthers will have their work cut out for them, as the Huskies, sitting second in the conference, will be coming out in full force.
“I have a lot of respect for Stieny (head coach Trevor Stienburg). He’s ran a very good program in the past and it’s no different this year. He always has one of the best teams in Canada and that’s what we’re facing,” said MacPherson.
“Either we’re ready to play and it’s a good game. Or we’re not ready to play. Then it could get ugly.”
The Panthers sit 1-1 in games against SMU this year.
UPEI downed SMU 5-2 in Charlottetown before losing 4-1 to the team a week later in Halifax.
The Panthers now sit in fifth place in the conference after entering the break with a 5-2 loss to the archrival Moncton Blue Eagles.
Despite the loss, the Panthers enjoyed a successful end to the first half of the season, winning four of their last five games.
In addition, the Panthers got revenge on Moncton during the break with a 4-3 exhibition win at the new Evangeline arena last Friday.
UPEI also suffered a 6-5 overtime loss during an exhibition matchup against the Dalhousie Tigers in Halifax Tuesday night.
MacPherson said the break hasn’t felt that long for the team.
“It’s a long break, but somehow it seems to have flown by,” said MacPherson, as players wrote exams and took time to travel home for the holidays.
“When we get back in town, we get right back to business.”
The Panthers are getting back into the season with alternate captains Matt Carter and Jordan Knox leading the team in scoring.
Carter (10 goals, 12 assists) sits second in conference scoring, two points behind Acadia’s Andrew Clark.
Knox (8-13) is third in the conference.
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UPEI Men’s Hockey
Team At A Glance:
u Regular-season record of 8-6.
u Has allowed the highest average shots on goal - 31 per game
u Second least-penalized team in AUS with just over 18 minutes per game,
u Second best save percentage with .900.
u Average attendance - 736 per game.
