Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Kirkpatrick Joining X-Men

The Saint John Sea Dogs’ all-time leading scorer is heading to school.

The St. Francis Xavier X-Men announced yesterday that Michael Kirkpatrick has officially joined the university team. The X-Men tweeted a picture of Kirkpatrick’s locker yesterday.

"He'll be a huge addition," St. FX head coach Brad Peddle said Tuesday to The Daily Gleaner. "We're extremely happy."

Kirkpatrick had 31 goals and 51 assists in 63 regular season games with Saint John last year. In the post-season he added three goals and 10 helpers, helping the Sea Dogs capture their first Quebec Major Junior Hockey League title and eventually a national championship.

He finished his four-year junior career with 108 goals, 143 assists and 251 points.

The North Sydney native signed a two-year contractwith the St. John’s Ice Caps over the summer but, according to the American Hockey League team’s Twitter account, was released from their training camp on Monday. Along with Ice Caps camp, Kirkpatrick played for the Winnipeg Jets prospects at the Young Stars Tournament in Penticton, BC.

Kirkpatrick will be joining a solid St. FX program. They X-Men lost an epic best-of-five series against the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds in the AUS final last year, falling in overtime of Game Five. They advanced to Nationals in Fredericton where they went 1-1.

The Varsity Reds host the X-Men in their season opener on Friday, October 14th at 7pm at the Aitken Centre.

Also cut by the Ice Caps on Monday was former Sea Dogs forward Will Johnston. He recorded one goal and 15 penalty minutes in 14 games with Saint John in 2009-10.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

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