Preview to Game 2 versus the Sask. Huskies

SASKATOON, Sask. - What now?, you may ask, following the Acadia Axemen's loss to Windsor. Well its not over until Saturday Night. The Axemen take on the host Saskatchewan Huskies tonight at 7:00 pm (CST), while the Windsor Lancers play the Huskies on Saturday Night.

Acadia will have to win big tonight to stay in the picture and that will have to come with a local hostile crowd on hand at the Credit Union Center. Nothing is impossible at such a highly competitive tournament like the University Cup.

Axemen fans will have to hope for large win tonight and the Lancers losing to the host Huskies by a goal. If this scenario plays out, all three teams in Pool B will be tied with one win and one loss. A tie-breaker of goals for and goals against differential will decide on who advances to the Championship game on Sunday.

Head Coach Darren Burns pointed out last night following the game that his team is ready for the challenge ahead. "Obviously this stings for us but I will tell you right now, the two guys beside me (Mike Cazzola and Liam Heelis) and the team we have down the hallway have a ton of integrity and have battled all year. We need to get refocused and get ready to go tomorrow", adding "We will be ready to go tomorrow night. We have based our season on hard work and integrity. We will stick together and be ready to go tomorrow".

Acadia may potentially face the Huskies with a short bench. Defensemen Colin Archer and Cullen Morin, both assistant captains with the Axemen, left the game no word on whether they will be on the ice tonight. First year defenseman Geoff Schemitsch, who suffered an injury in game four of the best of five AUS championship against Saint Mary's, may return to the ice after skating with the Axemen in the team's last two practices.

The host Huskies, who finished the regular season in third place in the Canada West standings with a 17-10-1 record, will play their first game since February 23rd, when they were stunned by the sixth place UBC Thunderbirds in quarterfinal play. However, in their closing weeks of the regular season, the Huskies were 5-1 with big wins against the second place Calgary Dinos.

The Axemen will want to watch All-Canadian forward Derek Hulak, who tallied 48 points on the season, including 35 assists. Hulak captured the Canada West scoring title with 13 goals and 35 assists.

Stand out defenseman Kenton Dulle added 29 points to the Huskies's scoring power, including 15 goals this year, while Andrew Bailey, Brennan Bosch, and Jesse Ross hadn 26, 25 and 24 points respectively. The Axemen will have to challenge goaltender Ryan Holfeld who finished fourth amongst Canada West goalies with a 15-11 record and 2.42 GGA.

The Axemen will be on the ice at 7:00 pm local time (10:00 pm AST). The game can be viewed at www.cis-sic.tv and also listened to via webcast of AVR's March of Champions with Len Hawley at www.avrnetwork.com or on the radio at AVR 97.7 FM in the Annapolis Valley.