X-Men hockey alumni to battle

Coach Peddle vs Coach Parker for the Keating Cup

A pair of X-Men hockey alumni are preparing their teams for battle this week as the StFX X-Men and Carleton Ravens are set to meet in the fourth annual Charles V. Keating Cup, presented by the Maritime Inn Antigonish, on January 2-3.

X-Men hockey alumnus Fred Parker will be returning to his alma mater, but this time he will be on the opposing bench as he leads his Carleton Ravens against the StFX X-Men. Parker is in third season with the Ravens, and has been at the helm since 2006 when the Ravens officially began their men’s hockey program.

A 1989 StFX graduate, Parker played four years on defense with the X-Men, serving as their captain in his final season and earning AUS (then AUAA) all-star status. “I’m really excited about coming back to StFX, it is a changed campus since I was a student there,” comments Parker.

“I visited in October for my 20th year Homecoming reunion and I was impressed by the facilities and what has been done. I think our guys will really enjoy it.”

The Ravens currently own a 9-8-2 record and sit in third place in the OUA East conference behind UQTR (14-3-1) and McGill (12-2-0). They posted a 2-2 pre-season exhibition record with wins over Windsor and UOIT and a pair of overtime losses to Manitoba.

Parker, a former assistant coach with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL and head coach of the NCAA Division I Clarkson University Golden Knights, is looking forward to the Keating Cup games.

“We are only in our third year of play and we know the quality of hockey that the X-Men play, Brad [Peddle] has put together a good team. We may be going in as the underdogs but that doesn’t bother us, we will do our best and see how things end up.” 

X-Men head coach Brad Peddle is up for the task of defending his three-time consecutive Keating Cup title.

“We are really looking forward to hosting Carleton for our 4th annual Keating Cup,” comments Peddle. “It has become a great holiday exhibition that has provided some exciting hockey and we expect the same this year.”

“Freddy Parker has done a tremendous job in getting the Carleton program up and running and we expect a very good opponent show up in Antigonish. It’s especially nice to bring an out of conference team in for some new competition for our team and a different look for the hockey fans in Antigonish.”

Peddle is no stranger to the X-Men uniform as well. He is in his fifth season as head coach, and manned the StFX blue line as player from 1995-1999. Like Parker, Peddle too was captain of the X-Men and an AUS all-star defensemen. Peddle also earned CIS All-Canadian distinction during his playing time at X and was the recipient of the prestigious Dr. Randy Gregg Award as the country’s top hockey student-athlete for the 1998-99 season.

Coach Peddle led the X-Men to a national championship appearance in 2007 and has his current squad sitting in fourth place in the AUS conference with a 7-5-3 record and 17 points. CIS ranked No. 1 UNB leads the way in first place (15-0-0), followed by Acadia (11-3-0) and Saint Mary’s (9-3-3). The X-Men lost their final three regular season games prior to the holiday break and hope to turn that around to start the second half.

When looking ahead to the Keating Cup, Peddle says, “After considerable time off in December it will be a great test and needed preparation for both teams as we get ready for the second half run.”

The X-Men are the defending three-time Keating Cup champions. They won the inaugural tournament in 2006 with a 5-0 championship game win over Waterloo. In 2007, they bettered AUS opponents Saint Mary’s 7-4 to take the tournament, and in 2008 when the tournament shifted to a two-game challenge, they defeated Acadia 3-2 in overtime after splitting the opening games.

The Keating Cup was named in honor of Charles V. Keating, a distinguished StFX alumnus, longtime friend of StFX University and strong supporter of StFX Athletics and the X-Men hockey program. Mr. Keating passed away in November, 2005 and left a lasting legacy at StFX University, including the building in his name where the X-Men currently play.

The format of this year’s Keating Cup is a two-game challenge that pits Fred Parker and the visiting Ravens against Brad Peddle and the hometown X-Men. Game 1 is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 2 at 7:00 pm while Game 2 takes place Sunday, Jan. 3 at 3:00 pm. Both games are being played at the StFX Keating Centre. Should each team win a game, a 10 minute, 5-on-5 mini overtime game will take place immediately following Game 2 on Sunday afternoon. Should the two teams be tied after the overtime game, a shootout will follow.

In an effort to get the community involved with the 4th annual Keating Cup, both the X-Men and Ravens will be welcoming skaters and hockey fans of all ages to an open skate on Saturday, Jan. 2 at 11:00 am at the Keating Centre. Everyone is welcome to attend the skate, meet the X-Men and Ravens and get some autographs afterwards.   

Tickets for the Keating Cup are currently on sale at the Keating Centre box office, contact 1-866-259-8169 or 902-867-3304 for further information. Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance and avoid game-day line-ups as the weekend proves to be exciting CIS men’s hockey action at the StFX Keating Centre.

In the upcoming battle of the X-Men alumni coaches, Coach Peddle comments, “It will be great to see Freddy back and it will certainly be a unique competition between two former X-Men, and we look forward to a good challenge from his team,” while Parker “is just really excited about coming back to campus and giving it a go on the ice.”

Courtesy StFX Sports Information