Reds win another AUS championship

AUS TV

The UNB Reds are Atlantic University Sport men's hockey champions once again.

The Reds won their fifth straight conference title on Thursday night at the Aitken Centre, defeating the Saint Mary's Huskies 4-1. The Huskies forced the deciding Game 3 with a 6-5 overtime victory in Halifax on Tuesday.

MHKY: @unbmhockey are your 2022-2023 @aus_sua Champs!#goredsgo pic.twitter.com/AMh6OvJzOu

— UNB Reds (@UNBAthletics) March 10, 2023

UNB features a number of former Quebec Major Junior Hockey League players, including Saint John Sea Dogs alumni Kale McCallum and Nick Blagden along with, of course, head coach Gardiner MacDougall. 

The Huskies, meanwhile, include former Sea Dogs forward Dawson Theede, who scored the overtime winner on Tuesday to force a Game 3.

UNB forward Simon Pinard, a former member of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and Gatineau Olympiques, was named the AUS playoff MVP.

Both the Reds and Huskies have more hockey to play. They'll both travel to Charlottetown next week for the University Cup tournament, which begins Thursday at the Eastlink Centre.

Joining the Reds (McCallum and Blagden) and Huskies (Theede) at nationals will be the host UPEI Panthers (Ian Smallwood) along with the Calgary Dinos and Alberta Golden Bears from Canada West and three teams from Ontario University Athletics. The defending national champion UQTR Patriotes (Julien Tessier) will face the Windsor Lancers (Robbie Burt) for the Queen's Cup title on Saturday while the final spot at nationals will be given to the winner of the OUA bronze medal match between the Concordia Stingers (Christopher Inniss, Marcus Tesink, Nicholas Girouard, Isiah Campbell and Jonathan Lemieux) and Lakehead Thunderwolves (Ben Badalamenti).