AUHC resumes tonight with SMU at X

The St. Francis Xavier X-Men would like to kick-off 2009 the same way they ended 2008: with a win over the Saint Mary’s Husk­ies.

The Atlantic University Hock­ey Conference resumes its regu­lar season following a nearly six-­week holiday break this evening with the Huskies visiting Anti­gonish to take on the X-Men.

The same two clubs faced each other at St. F.X. on Nov. 29 in the final game before the league’s 39-day layoff. The X-Men won 6-1. While the decisive victory boosted the X-Men’s confidence, head coach Brad Peddle said his team isn’t resting on their lau­rels.

“We’ve put that behind us and now the challenge is to continue where we left off," said Peddle, whose club owns a 7-5-2 record, four points behind co-leaders SMU (10-5), UNB Varisty Reds (9-2-2) and Moncton Aigles Bleus (9-3-2). “Every game is going to get tighter and tighter down the stretch.

“We’re happy with our first half or at least the way we fin­ished it. But we know how tough it’s going to be in the second half. We’re just looking forward to get going again."

It’s a tight race for first in the eight-team AUHC. Only four points separate the top six teams. UPEI is two back of the leaders and Acadia three behind. The top six teams make the playoffs. St. Thomas (2-9-3) and Dalhousie (3-11-0) are far behind.

The X-Men are in the middle of the pack in goals for and goals against, have scored as many as they have allowed (47) and have only one player in the league’s top 25 in scoring (Brett Liscomb with 14 points in 14 games).

Danny Battochio has been stel­lar in goal, turning aside a con­ference- high 414 shots.

Peddle also added California native Joey Perricone over the holidays. Perricone had spent five seasons with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors and two games this season with Bakers­field of the East Coast league.

“This is a move to solidify our goaltending here for the future," Peddle said.

Saint Mary’s — The hottest team in the league leading up to the Christmas break, the Husk­ies welcome back Trevor Stien­burg behind the bench.

Stienburg, in his 12th season as SMU head coach, has missed all of this season recovering from pancreatitis and a stomach infec­tion, and a perforated bowel suf­fered during surgery over the summer. The 42-year-old spent over three months in hospital and lost more than 70 pounds.

“I’m getting anxious for the second half," said Stienburg, who was at the helm when the Huskies tangled with the Tigers in an exhibition game last Satur­day. “We want to get as many points as we can along the way." The Huskies had reeled off six consecutive victories before los­ing to St. F.X. They have scored a conference-best 68 goals, includ­ing 31 on the power play, and have five players in the top eight in the AUS scoring race. Captain Marc Rancourt leads all scorers with 30 points.

Little-used forwards Andrew White and Jeff Marchand have decided to finish the season in ju­nior A. White has joined Miram­ichi while Marchand will suit up for Bridgewater.

Acadia — The Axemen, once considered a team in transition, have quickly gone from rebuild­ing to contending with eight wins before Christmas. Only four players have more than two years of university experience. Yet Acadia boasts one of the league’s most dynamic lines in Jonathan Laberge, Chris Bruton and Philippe Bertrand. The trio have combined for 58 points.

“We’re happy with what we have right now," said Axemen bench boss Darren Burns, who didn’t add any players over the holiday break. “We just want to keep it in-house and give the guys an opportunity to prove themselves. Loyalty has to be very important. I’m not going to pull the carpet on guys."

Dalhousie — The Tigers are building towards being a playoff contender next season.

Head coach Pete Belliveau has added former Dal defenceman Josh Manning to the fold as well as three-year OHL veteran for­ward Shawn Frank, previously of the Barrie Colts.

Belliveau had said before the break that he would look for help in the crease. The duo of Chris Wall and Josh Disher has com­bined for an atrocious 5.73 goals against average and .861 save percentage. But Belliveau has de­cided to stick it out with the tan­dem for the remainder of the sea­son.

Courtest Glenn MacDonald, The Chronicle Herald