AUS season begins Wednesday

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Atlantic University Sport men's hockey season begins this week and there will be plenty of Saint John Sea Dogs alumni hitting the ice.

All seven AUS teams will feature at least one former Sea Dog. Both the Acadia Axemen and UNB Reds will feature four.

Here's a look at all the Sea Dogs alumni that will play AUS hockey this season.

Acadia Axemen: Brady Burns, Charlie DesRoches, Thomas Couture and Cam MacDonald

Dalhousie Tigers: Jared Cosman and Zach Welsh

SMU Huskies: Will Thompson and Connor Trenholm

StFX X-Men: Patrick Leaver

UNB Reds: Peter Reynolds, Kale McCallum, Nick Blagden and Drew Elliott

UdeM Aigles Bleus: Jeremie Jacob

UPEI Panthers: Carter McCluskey and Yanic Crete

All eyes will be on the Reds, of course, for a number of a reasons. The team went a combined 48-0 in pre-season, regular season and post-season games combined last year en route to a national championship. It's hard to imagine UNB going undefeated again, but when will that loss come?

The Reds will also be trying to defend their national championship without Gardiner MacDougall behind the bench. The Reds still received six of the seven first place votes in the annual coaches poll even with MacDougall gone. Moncton received the other vote.

The Reds' lineup will include Fredericton native and former Sea Dogs captain Peter Reynolds, likely one of the most sought after recruits in U Sports this off-season.

Reynolds joins Drew Elliott, Cam MacDonald, Jared Cosman, Zach Welsh, Connor Trenholm, Patrick Leaver and Carter McCluskey as Sea Dogs alumni who will be skating in the AUS as rookies.

One Sea Dogs alumnus who is far from a rookie is defenseman Will Thompson who, at age 27, will be playing his fifth year of U Sports eligibility with the Saint Mary's Huskies. Thompson, a first-round pick of Saint John way back in the 2013 QMJHL Entry Draft, spent four years with the StFX X-Men (including the cancelled 2020-21 season) before playing professional hockey in France in 2022-23. He did not play last season.

The AUS season begins Wednesday with the Saint Mary's Huskies visiting the UPEI Panthers.