Hockey X-Men season preview

ANTIGONISH, NS – The StFX X-Men, defending CIS silver medalists and AUS conference champions, are ready to hit the ice for another hockey season.

"I think it is going to be a fast team, a team that certainly is going to pride itself, again, on being hard to play against," Brad Peddle, 2016 CIS coach of the year, said, when asked about what fans can expect from the blue and white this season.

"We want to be strong on both sides of the puck – a team that knows how to play offense, but also takes pride in playing defense; plays a good 200-foot game, which will have to be the strength of our team, and something we will have to be consistently good at."

The newcomers

The X-Men have added nine new student-athletes to the line-up, including six forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender.

Up front, Bryson Cianfrone joins StFX from the Owen Sound Attack of the OHL.

"He is going to bring a great element of speed and skill, but also grit to our team," Peddle said, of the former Attack team captain and top scorer.

"He is a high-character kid, with a great work ethic, who is a really nice addition, and we are certainly looking for big things from him, in his first season."

Sam Studnicka, a product of the OHL's Sarnia Sting, is a "big, strong power forward," according to Peddle.

"He is a big, right shot center, which we really focused on, in our recruiting. We had Steven Kuhn (graduated), kind of, play that role for us last season. We really wanted to add that element, a player who could help on face-offs," he said.

"Sam plays the game the right way, someone who is hard to play against, but also has a little bit of a scoring touch. He is just a good big, strong two-way forward, who also has great leadership skills and was his team's captain last year."

Matt Needham, another freshman, captained the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL.

"He has a really good blend of skill and grit. In junior, he was a really good two-way player," Peddle said, adding his tremendous leadership qualities, noting players do not often captain a team for three seasons.   

Needham potted 70-plus points, as Peddle described, in a "very tough" league.

"We are going to be counting on him to make a big impact, right away," Peddle said.

Anthony DiFruscia, another former junior team captain, arrives in Antigonish from the OHL's Niagara Ice Dogs.

"Great leader, great work ethic and hard to play against," Peddle said of the freshman.

"He is very gritty and also has a great nose for the net. He scored 25-plus goals and is also very physical."

Marcus Cuomo, of the Quebec Remparts, who also spent time with the Saint John Sea Dogs in the QMJHL, did not play much last season, due to injury.

"He is a high-character kid and a team guy," Peddle said.

 "He is going to be a physical forward for us, who will be really good on the fore-check, and is certainly going to get better as he goes and gets more experience."

Regan Spears played a key role with last season's MHL champion Pictou Weeks Crushers.

"He is a big, strong forward," Peddle said of the 6'4" athlete, noting his "great year" with the champion Crushers.

"He has significant upside – a big power forward, who skates well for a big kid. He is also not afraid to get physical, and he has a bit of a scoring touch, too.

"Regan is going to fit in well with our system and the way that we play the game," he added.

On defense, Cole MacDonald joins the club from the WHL's Everett Silvertips, who Peddle described as a "puck-moving defenseman" that came "highly regarded."

"He is a tremendous skater and moves the puck very well. He played for Kevin Constantine [former NHL head coach], who is known as one of the most offensive coaches in junior hockey," Peddle said.

"Cole certainly knows how to play in his own end but, at the same, we are going to allow him to skate a little more and get up into the offense."

Mitch Wheaton, a 6'4", 225-pound defenseman was one of the final X-Men recruits who committed to the program.

"He is a big shut-down defenseman, who is going to be a presence for us and help solidify our back end," Peddle said of the NHL draft pick, noting he played in the last two Memorial Cups with the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings and Kelowna Rockets.

Rounding out the recruiting class is goaltender Chase Marchand, who captured a QMJHL crown last season with the Rouyn Noranda Huskies and a second-place finish in the Memorial Cup.

"It gives us a really good one-two punch, with sophomore Brandon Hope (Canton, MI) coming back," Peddle said, noting Marchand received QMJHL goaltender of the year honours.

"Coming off two NHL camps – a development camp and a rookie camp – he is really confident, right now. He is a very good goaltender, who has a great work ethic."

The X-Men head coach added the Marchand-Hope tandem gives the team "two different looks, in terms of how they play the game."

"In our league, you need two good goalies – that's a definite – and we feel we have them. They will be able to push each other and give us great goaltending," he said.

Drew Owsley, who backstopped the X-Men to a runner-up finish in the CIS last season, has graduated.

On the blue line

Joining the X-Men freshman duo on defense will be returnees Jagger Dirk (Penticton, BC), Craig Duininck (St. Cloud, MN), Aaron Hoyles (Gander, NL), Max Iafrate (Livonia, MI) and Cody Hendsbee (Richmond, ON).

"It has to be the backbone of our team," Peddle said, noting the experience with having five returning 'D'.

"It is so important that, with the way that we play and how fast our league is, we have a defense that can move the puck and skate. We want to do everything at a high pace, so that starts with the back end, and how we defend, aggressively, but also how we move the puck. We try to make our defense big, but also mobile.

"We have a lot of guys back, from last year, and we defended pretty well, so we are expecting these guys to certainly take another step, in terms of locking down in our own end and being hard to play against," he added.

Up front

Along with the newcomers, the X-Men have several "key" forwards returning from last season's championship squad, including AUS MVP and all-Canadian Eric Locke (Toronto, ON) and Kristoff Kontos (Penetanguishene, ON).

"And, of course, we had the first-year guys last year in (Michael) Clarke (London, ON), (Holden) Cook (Oshawa, ON) and (Nathan) Pancel (Ottawa, ON), who have to be there for us, as well," Peddle said.

He added the importance of other upfront contributors, such as Adam Stevens (Bedford, NS), Mark Tremaine (Darmouth, NS) and Brent Turnbull (Stellarton, NS), who are "strong veterans."

"They are also going to have to be key guys for us," Peddle noted.

He said the coaching staff is pleased with the balance, at forward, the team possesses.

"That's one of the things we needed to make sure we addressed, in recruiting, was bringing in the right kind of guys that fit in with the style of team that we have. So far, I think we have done that. It looks like we have added the right pieces," Peddle said.

"When you look at who we lost from last year in (Zack) MacQueen, (Steven) Kuhn, (Brad) Cuzner and guys like this, up front, we really needed to add some grit and some sandpaper to our team, and those are the kind of guys that we have added."

Peddle noted those additions have given the X-Men a "really balanced four lines."

"That's, I think, the key to success in this league – having four lines that can play against any other team's four lines," he said.

Ready to roll

Peddle is pleased with the team's preparations for another competitive AUS season.

"We have had a couple good weeks of practice and are looking forward to playing this weekend," he said.

"The important thing, for us, was to establish our identity – right away – in practice, and how we are going to compete this year, and how we were going to play, on both sides of the puck.

"Guys are excited to take what we have worked on, at practice, and put it into some games," Peddle added.

The X-Men dropped the puck on their pre-season Friday, Sept. 23rd, when they defeated the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus 5-2 in Shediac, NB.

StFX will wrap-up games on back-to-back days, with a home match-up versus the rival Saint Mary's Huskies. Game time is 5 p.m. at the Antigonish Arena.

The X-Men will continue the pre-season with their traditional weekend swing through the northeastern United States, with games versus the University of Connecticut Huskies (Saturday, Oct. 1) and University of Maine Black Bears (Sunday, Oct. 2).

StFX will open defense of their AUS conference championship, on the road, when they visit the Dalhousie Tigers Friday, Oct. 7, with their regular season home opener the following night (Saturday, Oct. 8) at the StFX Keating Centre.

Puck drop for both games is 7 p.m.

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