The UPEI Panthers men’s hockey team faces one of its biggest challenges yet this weekend.
The Atlantic University Sport team is departing P.E.I. today for the first of two consecutive road weekends. Saturday, the Panthers willtake on the number one CIS team in Canada.
The Panthers will face off against the St. Thomas Tommies in Fredericton tonight, before taking on the UNB Varsity Reds, the top-ranked team in the country, also in Fredericton Saturday. Game times are 7 p.m.
The Panthers are coming off a successful home weekend, where they downed the Dalhousie Tigers 6-2 Friday before dominating over the Acadia Axemen 5-3 Saturday.
The wins snapped UPEI’s three-game losing streak, and put the team’s regular season record to an even 3-3.
UPEI’s biggest challenge may be translating that home energy into road wins, with two away games also scheduled next weekend against Acadia and Dalhousie.
Head coach Forbes MacPherson said while the thought of consecutive road weekends can be threatening, it also presents a great opportunity for the team.
“This conference is a battle every night, and it’s that much more difficult on the road,” said MacPherson. “But if we can get through it (the weekend) with some positive results, it can be a big push for us.”
St. Thomas sits at the bottom of the eight-team Atlantic division with a 1-5 record. But that doesn’t mean the team will be taken lightly, as the Tommies showed their grit during a 6-4 win over St. FX X-Men last weekend.
The Tommies also showed their competitiveness during a 2-1 pre-season win against UPEI in Summerside last month.
New coaching staff for the Tommies has also made a noticeable difference on the team, said MacPherson.
“They work hard every night,” he said. “We know we have our hands full, plus they have home ice advantage.”
Those hands will remain full Saturday night, when the team faces off against UNB.
With the Reds being a top-ranked team since MacPherson took the position as head coach, he said he always looks forward to playing the team.
“I love playing them. It’s always a good test to see where you’re team is at.”
UPEI’s wins last weekend put them in third place of the Atlantic division (6), behind only Moncton (10) and UNB (12).
