Three StFX X-Men hockey athletes are in Trentino, Italy as members of Team Canada for the 2013 Winter Universiade. Rob Slaney, Michael Kirkpatrick and Josh Day will be wearing the red and white as they compete in the biennial international multi-sport event.
The trio were selected as part of the all-star line-up comprised entirely of players from the AUS conference. Since 1997, Canada has been represented at the Games in men's hockey by each of three CIS leagues on a rotating basis. Atlantic University Sport standouts have been successful in each of their two previous trips to the event, returning home with silver in 2001 (Zakopane, Poland) and gold in 2007 (Turin, Italy).
Rob Slaney is a fourth year forward from Portugal Cove, Nfld. He currently leads the X-Men in scoring and is ninth overall in the AUS with 14 points in 13 games played with seven goals and seven assists.
Forward Michael Kirkpatrick is a native of North Sydney, N.S. in his third season with the X-Men. The 2012 AUS rookie of the year is fourth in teams coring to date with five goals and six assists for 11 points in 14 games played.
X-Men captain Josh Day is a defenseman from St. John's, Nfld in his fifth and final season with the blue and white. He currently has six points in 14 games played this season and was a 2013 AUS second team all-star.
StFX third year forward Jason Bast from Regina, Sask. was named as an alternate with the Canadian team but did not travel to Italy as there were no injury spots on the roster for him to replace.
The 26th Winter Universiade will run from December 10 to 21, with the men's hockey gold-medal match set for the final day of competition.
The head coach of Team Canada is Gardiner MacDougall, current head coach of the UNB Varsity Reds. He is assisted by UPEI's Forbes MacPherson and StFX's Brad Peddle was also selected to represent Canada as an assistant coach, but due to personal reasons chose not to make the trip.
Canada enters the Trentino competition as the defending bronze medallists from 2011 in Erzurum, Turkey, where players from the OUA conference defeated Kazakhstan 3-1 in the third-place match after falling 4-2 to two-time reigning champion Russia in the semifinals.
In 13 all-time appearances at the Universiade tourney, Canada has tallied an impressive 12 medals, including three gold, three silver and six bronze. In addition to the title won by AUS all-stars in 2007, the red and white was crowned in 1991 in Sapporo, Japan, while represented by the senior national squad, and in 1981 in Jaca, Spain, when the University of Alberta Golden Bears wore the maple leaf uniform.
Twelve teams will compete for FISU gold in the coming weeks, including Canada, Japan Ukraine and Kazakhstan in Pool A, Russia, Great Britain, the Czech Republic and Slovakia in Pool B, as well as Italy, Latvia, Sweden and the United States in Pool C. The top two squads from each group and the top two third-place finishers advance to the quarter-finals.
In the preliminary round, the Canadians are set to face Japan on Dec. 10, Ukraine on Dec. 13 and Kazakhstan on Dec. 15, all at 8 p.m. local time.
TEAM CANADA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (all times local / 5 hours ahead of AST)
Dec. 10 (8:00 pm): Canada vs. Japan
Dec. 13 (8:00 pm): Canada vs. Ukraine
Dec. 15 (8:00 pm): Canada vs. Kazakhstan
Dec. 18 (TBD): Quarter-finals
Dec. 20 (TBD): Semifinals
Dec. 21 (10:30 am): Bronze
Dec. 21 (2:30 pm): Final