MenÕs Hockey Preview: StFX vs. SMU

February 10, 2012

Saint Mary’s Huskies: 17-7-2 record with 36 points, ranked No. 6 in CIS and second place in AUS conference. Three points back of first place UNB.

StFX X-Men: 8-14-4 record with 20 points, sixth place in AUS conference. Three points ahead of seventh place Dalhousie.

Season Series: Saint Mary’s leads 3-0 with 5-3, 5-1 and 6-5 wins over StFX

Huskies Key Players:
Colby Pridham: 13 goals and 15 assists for 28 points in 26 games. Currently 11th in league scoring.
Cam Fergus: 8 goals and 17 assists for 25 points in 24 games. 16th overall in league scoring.
Cory Tanaka: 6 goals and 16 assists for 22 points in 25 games. 21st overall in league scoring.

X-Men Key Players:
Jason Bast: 16 goals and 13 assists for 29 points in 26 games. Currently 7th in league scoring.
Michael Kirkpatrick: 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points in 26 games. 13th overall in league scoring.
Bryce Swan: 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points in 25 games. 18th overall in league scoring.

Goaltending Matchup:
Huskies: Neil Conway: 2.63 GAA and .899 save percentage with record of 8 wins, 7 losses and 0 overtime losses.
X-Men: Joey Perricone: 3.58 GAA and .872 save percentage with record of 6 wins, 14 losses and 0 overtime losses.

Game Notes:

Saint Mary’s Head Coach Trevor Steinberg: “We lead the season series 3-0 but this year is funny as two years ago StFX swept us. X will be very tough Friday as they are fighting or their lives and I know with their track record at this time of year head coach Brad Peddle will have them on top of their game.”

StFX Head Coach Brad Peddle: “Special Teams will play a key role in this game; they are huge all year round but especially during this time of year. SMU has always had an aggressive penalty kill so we will have to really focus on quick puck movement for our power play to be effective.

X-Men forward Scott Brannon will return to the lineup Friday night after serving his one game suspension Wednesday night against Dalhousie after an incident against St. Thomas last Saturday.

StFX is first in the league in power play percentage, operating at a 22% success rate.

Saint Mary’s is first in the league in penalty kill percentage, operating at an 86% clip.

Upcoming Schedule:
StFX travels to Halifax Saturday night for their final regular season game against Dalhousie whiel the Huskies will host Acadia Saturday night in thier final game.