Playoffs

Nothing gets the blood pumping like a little playoff hockey!! Tonight we start our climb to Nationals in our AUS semi-final matchup against PEI.

Game's 1 and 2 of the best-of-5 series are here at the Aitken Centre.

Let's see everyone coming out, wearing red and cheering loud to help kick off our playoff run on a high note!

vs

Clinching First

Last week saw the boys in three games, a 2oth memorial game, a possibility to clinch first place, and a chance at the 20 win plateau.

Wednesday night was my first time as a VRed in the Mark Jeffrey Memorial Game. For the past 20 years the VReds have payed honor to Mr. Jeffrey who played and coached for UNB. The pre-game ceremony saw Mark's father Jim and Jim's grandsons Mark and Sam deliver the Mark Jeffrey Memorial Award to co-winners Luke Gallant and Jon Harty.

In a great game by the boys, and in honor of Mark Jeffrey, the Reds dominated the STU Thommies in a 41 shot 5-0 victory. Shayne Wiebe's laser beam of a breakaway goal hi-lighted the game, while Fully backstopped the boys with a 14 save shutout.

In preparation for a big test on Friday, we hit the bus a day early to Charlottetown for our game against the UPEI Panthers. Heading out a day early proved to pay off well, as the guys dominated the Panthers to a 4-1. Not without a few scares, Fully was there sharp as usual to turn away some of the Panthers great scoring opportunities. Nezzy and Carroll connected a couple nice passes to find Nick MacNeil all alone on a breakaway who put a nifty shot high to the left side and in to cap off the game.

While in PEI Jordan Clendenning and a few guys and I came across this little fellow in the parking lot of a gas station/ McDonald's in the city. Seemed like and odd spot for a fox to be, and he had a broken front leg as well. Hopefully he enjoyed the snacks the McDonald's workers were giving him!

Back home for the final game of the season against the Moncton Aigles Bleus with another loud section of elementary school kids screaming, we went on to cap off the regular season with a 4-1 win. Ty Carroll buried two goals to finish off a real hot weekend. A few awards were dished our before the game started as well. Clendenning, Stamler and Culligan all received the Ross 'Punch" Walker Memorial Merit Award while Ben Wright scooped up the Mike Cavanagh Memorial Merit Award.

With our 20th win of the season on Saturday night, we finish off the regular season in 1st place in the AUC and get rewarded with a well deserved week off here while the first round of playoffs start this coming up weekend.

Should be a nice week off for the guys here as we wait to see who we will face off against in our first round. A couple of days away from the rink is nice to replenish the tanks, then get back on the ice and in the gym in preparation for our playoff match up.

Countdown to CIS National Championships: 37 days

Coming up this week on the blog: a few of my beauty of the week selections, and some good twitter accounts to follow!

Pre and Post Haircut

PINK IN THE RINK PICTURES

Jon Harty Before the Haircut

And after the haircut......

2 BIG Wins

It was a huge weekend for the boys with two wins at home against Acadia on friday and Dalhousie on saturday. After a tough weekend the week before, we needed a big weekend to regain our spot as "Canada's Number One Team" a quote made famous by Benny Shutron himself.

Friday night the Aitken Centre welcomed the Acadia Axemen, the number one team in the AUS at the time. In a large 7-1 win for the V-Reds, led by a few huge performances by Chris Culligan (4 assists), Kyle Bailey (2 goals) and Mr. Nasty himself Thomas Nesbitt (1 goal 2 assists), the boys were able to reclaim first spot in the AUS. It was great to see Fully (Travis Fullerton) back in the pipes after missing the last few games due to injury, he looked phenomenal as always.

2750 fans battled some nasty weather conditions to be apart of the Pink in the Rink event to support and raise money for breast cancer, as part of the "Think Pink" weekend at UNB. After a big win it was nice to see Harty get that flow buzzed off at centre ice. Props to him for letting those ladies shave off a years worth of growth for a great cause.

Chris Culligan looking Pretty in Pink with 4 assists.

Saturday saw the Dalhousie Tigers roll into Freddy as one of the hottest teams since Christmas. As apposed to Friday, it took the boys a few extra minutes to get the 3-2 win. At 3:09 in the extra frame, Tyler Carroll buried his second goal of the game in a crazy rebound shot from below the goal line off the tigers goalie and in. The line of Culligan, Carroll and Wiebe led the way with all 3 goals with Wiebes opening the scoring for the V-Reds at 4:50 of the first period.

It was an electric building on saturday night with over 1000 kids watching the game as it was the "Northside Elementary School Night". It was great to have all the kids there with their posters and high pitched screaming! For a select group of kids it was an extra special night for them as they were able to come spend some time with the guys in our locker room and get some autographs and pictures as well.

Beauty of the Week: Trading in his famous black for pink was Jon Harty and his work with the Think Pink weekend in support of breast cancer, making him my beauty of the week.

Countdown to Nationals: 50 days