Some CIS Notes

FREDERICTON – Greetings from a cold and snowy Freddy Beach, where tonight the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds host the Acadia Axemen at 7pm.

The V-Reds have been hit hard with injuries of late and have lost four of their last five games. They have fallen to second in the Atlantic University standings and third in the national rankings. The Axemen currently sit first overall in the AUS and fifth nationally.

One of the players UNB has been missing is former Saint John Sea Dogs goaltender Travis Fullerton who, according to the Daily Gleaner, “has been fitted with a knee brace and started skating and taking some shots in practice last week.” The Reds have allowed a combined 13 goals in their past two games.

Acadia has just one former Sea Dog on their roster. Jonathan Laberge sits fourth in Axemen scoring with seven goals and 11 assists in 22 games this year.

Here are some other AUS notes:

• Michael Kirkpatrick is having a solid rookie season with the St. Francis Xavier X-Men. He has 19 points in 21 games and sits fourth on the team in points. He is tied for the team lead in goals with 12.
• Jordan Knox, who played two games with the Sea Dogs at the beginning of the 2007-08 season, is second in UPEI Panthers scoring and tied for fifth in AUS scoring. He has 10 goals and 16 assists in 21 games.
• The STU Tommies are having another rough season and sit last in the AUS standings with a record of 3-15-3. Two Ex-Sea Dogs – Alex Labonte and Christian Morin – are playing with the Tommies this season. Labonte has three goals and five assists in 16 games while Morin has three helpers in 20 contests.
• Out west, Jacob DeSerres is 0-3 with a 3.97 goals against average and 0.875 save percentage. The Dinos, who made nationals last season, are 10-11-1 and sit fifth in the Canada West standings. 
• The AUS playoffs start in just a few weeks. The first-round begins on February 15.

UNB is hosting the national championships again this year. The official game times for the tournament were released today. We recommend attending if you like hockey.