Saints look to snap road woes against Spartans
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The Selkirk College Men’s Hockey program face a tough test to take over top spot in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League having to play a pair of road games beginning Friday in the Fraser Valley.
The Saints and Trinity Western are even in the league standings with identical 5-2 records, good for a three-way tie for first place alongside Simon Fraser University.
Selkirk meets the Spartans for a weekend doubleheader Friday at 7 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.
Both games can be viewed live at www.FastHockey.com.
“The best thing everybody can do is put last week’s game out of mind and concentrate on the type of effort we need to win tough games on the road,” said Saints head coach Jeff Dubois.
“We had a similar situation in October where we had convincing victories over Thompson Rivers at home only to show up in their rink with a flat, disappointing effort. I trust our guys to avoid making the same mistake twice.”
The Saints’ will be buoyed by the return of forward Connor McLaughlin to the line-up after he missed last weekend’s win due to injury.
The former Kootenay International Junior Hockey League star was cut by a skate in a recent game.
Despite missing a game, the 22-year old remains tied for the BCIHL lead in goals with nine, and sits sixth in points with 12.
McLaughlin sits one point behind Selkirk captain Logan Proulx, who has a seven-game point streak to his credit. Forwards Darnell Dyck and Cody Fidgett are also amongst the BCIHL’s Top 10 in points.
A pair of Spartans, meanwhile, were announced as BCIHL monthly award winners on Tuesday. Harry Fredeman was named the league’s Goaltender of the Month while former BCHL sniper J.P. Villeneuve was tabbed as the Rookie of the Month.
“TWU isn’t the type of team that’s going to play a run-and-gun style and score seven or eight goals every night,” says Dubois.
“But they’re very capable of playing a balanced game where they take advantage of the opportunities they generate offensively and at the same time frustrate you with their work ethic and high quality goaltending in their own zone. That’s a combination that can win lots of hockey games.”
The Saints’ next home game is on Saturday, November 16 when 2013 BCIHL finalists SFU visit Castlegar.
