Saints start second half of BCIHL schedule with tough challenge at home against SFU
By The Nelson Daily Sports
There’s no easing into the second half of the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League regular season for the Selkirk College Saints.
The Saints play host to second-place Simon Fraser University Clan Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Castlegar Recreation Complex.
However, before the Clan can ready themselves to knock off the undefeated Saints, the Burnaby-based club must take to the road Friday for a date south of the 49th parallel against the Eastern Washington Eagles in Cheney, Wash.
“SFU certainly had the jump on us in terms of getting back onto the ice, and they’ll be playing their sixth game since Christmas while we’ll be playing our first,” said Selkirk head coach Jeff Dubois.
The Clan sit just three points back in the league standings at 10-1-1.
“That adds to the challenge for us, but it’s not going to be used as an excuse,” Dubois added.
“We’ll need to find our legs quickly on Saturday night and play a smart, disciplined game if we’re going to beat a very good opponent.”
The 12-0 Saints have faced SFU once this season, charging out to a five-goal lead on the road on November 3rd and holding on for a 5-3 victory.
That win ended the Clan’s 25-game home unbeaten streak, so there’s no doubt that SFU will be motivated to return the favour. With a victory on Saturday night, the Saints would set a new BCIHL record for consecutive wins with 13.
Selkirk tied the existing 12-game record when they defeated the University of Victoria in their final game of 2012 in early December.
Dubois said that one benefit of the long break was the chance for players to rehab injuries and return to the ice fully healthy for the stretch drive of the regular season.
“With the exception of Stephen Saretsky, who hasn’t played yet this season, we’re 100 percent healthy and ready to go,” Dubois explained.
“We may make some choices based on what we see from the guys this week in terms of their conditioning, but it’s good to have all our guys available for this first time since early in the season.”
SFU is led offensively by forwards Ben Van Lare and Jono Ceci, who finished first and second in BCIHL scoring last season.
The dynamic duo is joined up the Clan’s top line by three-year WHL product Brenden Silvester, who joined the team at Christmas and has already scored five times in two appearances.
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