Saints put undefeated belt on the line against TRU and SFU
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The undefeated Selkirk Saints put their unbeaten B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League belt on the line this weekend with a tough two-game road trip to Kamloops and the Lower Mainland.
The Saints travel to Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops before completing the two-game stint Saturday in Burnaby against Simon Fraser University.
“There’s no question that this weekend presents us with the biggest challenge we’ve faced as a group,” said Saints head coach Jeff Dubois.
“We had some good success against TRU at home two weeks ago but everyone in our league knows they’re a team that performs their best at home. They’ve got a tough, rugged team and games on the smaller ice at Kamloops Memorial Arena are never fun or easy.”
The Saints will look to build on their strong play of late, which resulted in four wins and a goal differential of + 31 (35 goals scored, 4 allowed) during their recently completed four-game homestand.
SFU has posted a league-best 36 wins in 39 games on home ice over the past three seasons while TRU follows close behind with 31 home wins in 38 opportunities.
Overall, the Saints’ weekend opponents have lost just four games combined on home ice since 2008.
“SFU has lost a single game at home in three seasons so it’s clear that you won’t win in their rink unless everyone is on the same page and playing hard, mistake-free hockey. Factor that in with the travel between games, which isn’t ideal, and it’s going to be a physical and mental test for us,” Debois said.
“But that’s a good thing – you want to face these types of challenges and see how you respond under tough circumstances.”
NOTES: Both games this weekend will be webcast on www.FastHockey.com . . . . Forward Connor McLaughlin received an Honourable Mention for BCIHL Player of the Week on Monday following his three-goal, five-point performance against the University of Victoria on the weekend. McLaughlin is the fourth Saints player in as many weeks to receive POW recognition, as defenceman Lucas Hildebrand and forward Logan Proulx were tagged with Honourable Mentions in weeks 1 and 2 while blueliner Dylan Smith took home the award last week. . . . The Saints next home game is Saturday, November 24th against Eastern Washington University. The match-up will be the first of the regular season between Selkirk and their closest geographic rival.
