UNB wins Pete Kelly Cup

Tommies Captain, Felix-Antoine Poulin

In a rather lopsided victory the UNB Varsity Reds defeated the Tommies 9 to 1 in the annual Pete Kelly Cup.  UNB did not play any of their guys (Desnoyier, MacNeill, Culligan, and Carrol) that participated in World University Games and STU was without standout goaltender Jon Groenheyde.

UNB scored three goals in each period and Randy Cameron (Martin, S. MacDonald) scored the Tommies lone goal at 8:44 of the third period to make it 6 to 1 at the time. Alex St-Arnaud played the full game for St. Thomas.

Game notes:

This was the first exhibition game between STU and UNB in over 3 years. I think the last game was pre-season in 2009 at Willie O'Ree Place.  That was an 8 to 1 thumping.

New recruits Matt Bissonnette, Ian Saab, and Sawyer Hannay were in line up this afternoon.  Michael Beaudry was not.

New Maryland native Mike Thomas does not like STU. The guy is a chirpaholic and spends more time in the penalty box than he does on the ice.  That said, he must have had 3 points in this afternoon's game including a goal and two assists.  No boxscore was available at the time this was written to verify.

Final shots on goal were approximately 35 - 26 for UNB.  At least 4 of UNB's goals were caused by bad turn overs by the Tommies in their own end.  They paid dearly for those transgressions.

UNB goalie Charles Lavigne, who started in goal for the Varsity Reds, picked up his first career win at the Aitken Centre when STU and UNB were opponents.

St. Thomas has developed a very strange trend this year.  Every third game they get beat SOUNDLY!  Game #3 - 7 to 2 vs Acadia.  Game #6 - 10 - 2 vs UPEI.  Game #9 - 9 to 1 vs SMU.  Game #12 - 9 to 2 vs Moncton.  Game #15 - 9 to 1 vs. UNB.  Take those games out and our biggest loss was a 4 to 1 defeat to U de M.  All the other games have been one goal losses or wins.   Are we allowed a few mulligans?….perhaps a few do-overs?

STU will prepare for a big home weekend this coming Friday and Saturday versus first place Acadia and last place Dalhousie.

Tommies fill final roster spot with big D-Man

We announced it back in August but we don't mind doing it again, Sawyer Hannay is a St. Thomas Tommie.  I know STU fans are going to be excited by this news, as Sawyer played one game back in a September for us and everyone was well pleased with what they saw.  

The rugged defenceman had a good AHL training camp with Chicago and was offered a contract to play pro.  It must have been a tough decision but knowing that returning to school in January was still an option, he chose to play the first half of the season professionally.  Hannay certainly wasn't out of place in pro hockey either, scoring 1 goal and adding 3 assists in 22 games for the Evansville Icemen of the ECHL.  On top of the four points he tallied, he was also a +4 and had 54 PIMS.

A bonus to Sawyer returning mid season after playing pro is the fact that he is game ready.  There won't be much of an adjustment time.  His size and defensive abilities are really going to be a big plus for the Tommies playoff run.

Welcome back knuckle head, we missed ya.

Tommies add more scoring punch for second half

Michael Beaudry - Courtesy QMJHL

The St. Thomas Tommies have added forward Michael Beaudry to the line up for the second half of the AUS season.  This is the third recruit that Coach Pat Powers has acquired recently in addition to Matthew Bissonnette and Ian Saab.

The 5'8" Beaudry is from St. Jerome, QC and is a left handed center that will help spark STU's offensive numbers immensely.  Last season he split his playing time between Val-d'Or and Acadie-Bathurst scoring 34 goals and 47 assists for a total of 81 points.  His previous season in 2011-12 he led the Foreurs in points with 70, including 20 goals and 50 helpers.

Look for Michael to have good chemistry with new recruit Matt Bissonnette, as the two of them teamed up in the second half of last season putting up lots of points with Bathurst.  This latest addition should have STU fans excited to have three solid scoring lines now and a legitimate top line that will have opposing teams looking at the Tommies a little bit differently than the first 14 games.

With all the recent additions Coach Powers will have a few more options at his disposal for STU's up coming playoff push.

Round 3!

The STU Tommies Men's hockey team are facing the UNB Squirrels in their annual after Christmas Pete Kelly Challenge at the Squirrels Nest (Aitken Centre) on December 29th at 4pm. 

This is a great opportunity to see the Tommies in a rare Sunday afternoon exhibition game during the holiday season, also a chance to cheer the Green and Gold on to victory again as the last game was a 3-2 win for STU. 

Merry Christmas from everyone here at STUTommies.com and have a Happy New Year!! Go Tommies!!

Canada earns GOLD at FISU games

(TRENTINO, Italy) – Team captain Chris Culligan from the University of New Brunswick had two goals and an assist as Canada dominated Kazakhstan 6-2 to capture its fourth Winter Universiade men's hockey title, Saturday afternoon at the Gianmario Scola Arena in Canazei, Italy.

The team of all-stars from the Atlantic University Sport conference, which edged defending two-time champion Russia 2-1 in Friday's semifinals, wraps up the biennial tournament with a 5-1 overall mark. The only blemish on its record was a 4-2 round-robin loss to Kazakhstan last Sunday.

Today's final was also a rematch of the 2011 bronze-medal game in Erzurum, Turkey, won 3-1 by Canada.

The Canadian men, who have now claimed 13 medals (4-3-6) in 14 all-time appearances at the event, had previously triumphed at the FISU Games in 1981 in Jaca, Spain (University of Alberta Golden Bears), 1991 in Sapporo, Japan (senior national team) and 2007 in Turin, Italy (AUS all-stars).

"It's an unbelievable feeling. What can you say?," said Team Canada head coach Gardiner MacDougall from UNB, who was an assistant coach with the 2007 gold medal-winning squad. "We had a slogan BIW and the guys figured it out as we went on our journey – be the best in the world. How often do you become the best in the world in anything you do? In this case, this is a Canadian passion, hockey. The guys should be very, very proud.

"AUS coaches should be very proud of their players that represented our conference, CIS and the country. To add to that, it's a special time of year, it's Christmas. December is synonymous in Canada for international hockey and hopefully we can set the trend for the world juniors and the Olympics because we have 28 proud Canadians here in Italy that's for sure."

Culligan, a forward from Howie Center, N.S., scored five minutes into the second period to give Canada a commanding 4-1 lead and sealed the victory early in the final frame with his third of the competition.

"Like I said yesterday, the last two games we've been coming along really well as a group, the chemistry's been great both off and on the ice. We came out and made it simple for ourselves, took advantage of our chances probably as good as we have had all tournament. For us to do that in this tournament is pretty special.

"It's great to be a world champion. It's one of those things where everyone has to come together in such a short time, one of those things you can't really explain. It's a feeling you get, it's something you'll never forget and to do it with these guys and to be the person that represents them as their captain is such an honour. I'm really, really trilled right now!"

Tyler Carroll of Strathroy, Ont., who had a goal and a helper in Friday's semifinal win, set up his UNB teammate on Culligan's first of the contest.

"It's amazing what we've accomplished in these two weeks, it really is. We all come from different schools, from rival schools, but we all came together and made it happen. We will be rivals again next month but this two-week journey has been quite something, now we are world champions. It's a feeling you can't really describe, I'm just happy to have been a part of it."

The gold-medal final was a stark contrast to Friday's defensive battle against Russia.

Kazakhstan stunned Canada with a goal only 14 seconds in but the AUS standouts responded with three markers in a span of three minutes and 37 seconds to take a 3-1 lead after only 7:16 of play.

The Canadians all but put the game away with two more unanswered goals in the second period and added one more early in the third before their rivals found the back of the net again.

Taking advantage of its opponent's lack of discipline, the Red & White connected twice on 11 power-play opportunities, both times with two men up, and finished with a 54-21 advantage in shots on goal, including a 26-10 margin in the first, 18-5 in the second and 10-6 in the third.

Unfortunately, things got out of hands in the final stanza and when it was all said and done, eight players had received game misconducts, including three Canadians. Kazakhstan's head coach and his assistant were also sent back to the locker room early.

The ice was barely dry when Yevgeniy Rymarev sent a pass from the right corner to Alexandr Shin, who opened the scoring with his first of two on the afternoon.

Mike Cazzola, an Acadia University forward from Guelph, Ont., put Canada on the board at 3:39, sliding the puck between Andrey Yankov's pads at the end of a breakaway.

StFX's Josh Day, a defenceman from St. John's, sent a rebound past Yankov at 5:25 to give the Canucks their first lead of the game and UPEI rearguard Matthew Maione of Unionville, Ont., made it 3-1 at 7:16 when his long-range shot was deflected to the back of the net.

Culligan made it a three-goal affair 5:24 into the middle frame on a one-timer off a perfect feed from Carroll. Seven minutes later, during a 5-on-3, it was the captain's turn to set up one of his UNB teammates as he assisted on Nick MacNeil's tournament-leading seventh at 12:03.

Culligan scored Canada's second 5-on-3 goal of the day 8:32 into the third, and Shin rounded out the scoring for Kazakhstan with a power play marker at 12:27.

Saint Mary's netminder Anthony Peters of Blyth, Ont., turned aside 19 pucks for his fourth win in as many starts at the competition. Yankov was spectacular in a losing cause with 48 saves.

GAME NOTES: Rymarev (7-7-14), Shin (4-9-13) and MacNeil of Creignish, N.S. (7-3-10) finished 1-2-3 in tournament scoring... Moncton forward Éric Faille (5-5-10) also tallied 10 points during the six-game event... In three appearances at the tournament, AUS all-stars have now claimed to gold (2013, 2007) and one silver (2001)... The Canadian men's triumph came 24 hours after Canada's 5-0 win over Russia in the women's hockey gold-medal final... The entire red and white women's hockey team, led by head coach Howie Draper from the University of Alberta, was among the many Canadian in the crowd for the men's final.

Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/winter/2013/indexTrentino 2013 website: http://www.universiadetrentino.org/en  

TEAM CANADA RESULTS

Dec. 10: Canada 12, Japan 1
Dec. 13: Canada 11, Ukraine 0
Dec. 15: Kazakhstan 4, Canada 2
Dec. 18: Canada 6, Slovakia 0 (quarter-final)
Dec. 20: Canada 2, Russia 1 (semifinal)
Dec. 21: Canada 6, Kazakhstan 2 (final) 

SCORING SUMMARY (official boxscore: BOXSCORE)

Canada 6, Kazakhstan 2

FIRST PERIOD

SCORING:

1. KAZ Alexandr Shin (3) (Yevgeniy Rymarev), 0:14
2. CAN Mike Cazzola (3) (Michael D'Orazio), 3:39
3. CAN Josh Day (2) (Lucas Bloodoff), 5:25
4. CAN Matthew Maione (1) (Cory Tanaka), 7:16   

PENALTIES:

Viktor Ivashin (KAZ) hooking, 8:58;
Alexandr Lipin (KAZ) interference, 9:44;
Chris Desousa (CAN) interference, 12:32;
Matthew Maione (CAN) boarding, 14:17. 

SECOND PERIOD

SCORING:

5. CAN Chris Culligan (2) (Tyler Carroll, Éric Faille), 5:24
6. CAN Nick MacNeil (7) (Chris Culligan, Christopher Owens), 12:03 PP2 

PENALTIES:

Alexandr Kaznacheyev (KAZ) tripping, 2:16;
Alexandr Kaznacheyev (KAZ) checking to the head, 5-minute major, 7:28;
Alexandr Kaznacheyev (KAZ) game misconduct, 7:28;
Tyler Carroll (CAN) cross-checking, 7:28;
Mike Cazzola (CAN) hooking, 8:06;
Alexey Vorontsov (KAZ) spearing, 5-minute major, 10:54;
Alexey Vorontsov (KAZ) game misconduct, 10:54;
Alexandr Lipin (KAZ) charging, 15:46;
Konstantin Savenkov (KAZ) hooking, 18:11;
Alexandr Shin (KAZ) 10-minute misconduct, 18:11. 

THIRD PERIOD

SCORING:

7. CAN Chris Culligan (3) (Marc-Antoine Desnoyers, Josh Day), 8:32 PP2
8. KAZ Alexandr Shin (4) (Rodion Zharkikh, Yevgeniy Rymarev), 12:27 PP  

PENALTIES:

Artem Ignatenko (KAZ) slashing, 3:58;
Konstantin Savenkov (KAZ) boarding, 5:41;
Leonid Metalnikov (KAZ) delay of game, 7:49;
Konstantin Savenkov (KAZ) slashing, 8:16;
Michael D'Orazio (CAN) holding, 11:16;
Cory Tanaka (CAN) charging, 12:27;
Rob Slaney (CAN) hooking, 14:23;
Chris Desousa (CAN) roughing, 5-minute major, 14:23;
Chris Desousa (CAN) game misconduct, 14:23;
Georgiy Petrov (KAZ) roughing, 5-minute major, 14:23;
Georgiy Petrov (KAZ) game misconduct, 14:23;
Rodion Zharkikh (KAZ) roughing, 5-minute major, 18:05;
Rodion Zharkikh (KAZ) game misconduct, 18:05;
Nick MacNeil (CAN) roughing, 5-minute major, 18:05;
Nick MacNeil (CAN) game misconduct, 18:05;
Marc-Antoine Desnoyers (CAN) boarding, 19:11;
Marc-Antoine Desnoyers (CAN) roughing, 5-minute major, 19:11;
Marc-Antoine Desnoyers (CAN) game misconduct, 19:11;
Damir Ramazanov (KAZ) roughing, 5-minute major, 19:11;
Damir Ramazanov (KAZ) game misconduct, 19:11;
Andrey Yankov (KAZ) delay of game, 19:11. 

GOALS (by period)

CAN: 3-2-1: 6
KAZ: 1-0-1: 2 

SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)

CAN: 26-18-10: 54
KAZ: 10-5-6: 21 

POWER PLAY:

CAN: 2-11
KAZ: 1-6 

GOALTENDERS

CAN – Anthony Peters (W, 4-0, 21 shots, 19 saves, 2 GA, 60:00)
KAZ – Andrey Yankov (L, 4-1, 54 shots, 48 saves, 6 GA, 60:00) 

REFEREES: Lars Johan Hall (SWE), Marian Rohatsch (GER)

LINESMEN: Gustav Jonsson (SWE), Frederic Monnaie (BEL)

ATTENDANCE: 2,600

Source: CIS Communications

Remembering former Tommie Fred Savoy

We said farewell to our beloved Fred on December 13, 2013 at the QE2 Hospital in Halifax. Born in 1947, Fred grew up in Dalhousie, NB.

He excelled in sports and after high school went to Ontario to play Junior hockey. When he returned to New Brunswick he was a proud member of St. Thomas University's Varsity Men's Hockey Team where he finished as captain. Fred's passion for hockey continued all the way through to Old Timers Hockey and as an active coach with both the Woodstock Minor Hockey Association and the Woodstock High School Team.

Fred also had a well-accomplished baseball career. He is on the Dalhousie Sports Wall of Fame (member of the Dalhousie Dodgers Provincial Championship team) and led the Restigouche Baseball League in hitting averages on several occasions. Fred went on to play in the NB Senior Baseball league in Marysville and Woodstock, winning the provincial championships with Marysville in 1973.

Photo Credit:
E. Fitzsimmons

Fred graduated from St. Thomas in 1972 (BA) and 73 (BEd) and went on to work for 30 years in various roles in the education system, mainly in the Woodstock and Oromocto school districts. He ended his career as principal of Sudbury West School in Fredericton Junction.

Fred was a proud Canadian. He loved golfing, reading, cooking meals for Linda, and watching sports, always cheering for the Maple Leafs and the Dodgers. Most important to Fred was his family. His smile was never as beautiful nor his eyes so bright as when he was with them.

Fred will be deeply missed by his wife Linda, his beautiful daughters Sarah (Mansoor Amir) and Martha (Jason Archambault), grandson Daaniyal Amir, mother-in-law Elsie McCarthy, siblings: Judy, Lynn, Bonnie (Emerson), Joe (Jocelyn), as well as many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Fred will be greatly missed by his many friends and his in-laws, to whom he was like a brother: Jan (Don), Cheryl (John), Dinah (Mike), Pat (Lucie), Tim (Gwen), Keith (Mary), Paul (Terri).

He was predeceased by parents Cele and Walter.

The Celebration of Life Mass will be held at the Holy Family Church, Hanwell, on Tuesday, December 17th at 2pm with reception to follow.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Brendon Oreto Foundation or the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

We will be ever grateful to the amazing staff at the QE2 and we encourage everyone to be organ and blood donors. The importance of these gifts of life cannot be overstated.

WUG Special: Team Canada Information

Jon Groenheyde in his Team Canada Jersey

We are very excited here at stutommies.com for the 26th World Universiade Hockey Tournament  to begin tomorrow, Decemeber 10th in Trentino, Italy.  We are equally excited to see our Tommies representative Jon Groenheyde represent Canada and St. Thomas University in international competition.

Here are some important links and information that we want to share with Team Canada, AUS, and Jon Groenheyde fans.

Team Canada will begin play tomorrow afternoon December 10th against Japan. The following list shows games at local Atlantic time and Pacific time in brackets.  TIME ZONE CONVERTOR

TUESDAY DEC. 10    - TEAM CANADA vs. JAPAN 3PM ATL (11AM PST)
FRIDAY DEC. 13        - TEAM CANADA vs. UKRAINE 3PM ATL (11 AM PST)
SUNDAY DEC. 15      - TEAM CANADA vs. KAZAKHSTAN 3PM ATL (11 AM PST)

NONE OF THE GAMES IN THE REGULATION ROUND INVOLVING TEAM CANADA WILL BE  WEBCAST.  Streaming Schedule (Excel format)

There will be daily highlights and they will be available at this website…BOOKMARK IT.

http://www.livefisu.tv/

The medal round for hockey begins next Wednesday, December 18th.  Game times have not been determined.  All of the medal round games WILL BE WEBCAST.  Same link as above http://www.livefisu.tv/

WEDNESDAY DEC. 18 - QUARTER FINALS TBD
FRIDAY DEC. 20    - SEMIFINALS TBD
SATURDAY DEC. 21 - BRONZE MEDAL GAME 5:30AM ATL (1:30 AM PST)
SATURDAY DEC. 21 - GOLD MEDAL FINAL 10:00 AM ATL (6:00 AM PST)

We will update the medal round game times as soon as they become available.

Here are some more valuable links.

Comprehensive WUG link with stats, schedules, game rosters, stats, etc..

WUG Hockey Website
CIS Hockey page with Team Canada Roster and information
WUG Hockey Rules, Regulations, Schedules, information (PDF format)

Twitter links to follow.

Us - @STUTommies
Jon Groenheyde - @JonnyG3141
FISU - @FISUnetwork
WU Game Trentino - @WUTrentino2013 
Official CIS - @CIS_SIC
CIS Hockey - @CIS_Hockey

GOOD LUCK to all participants, BEST OF LUCK to Jon Groenheyde and his Team Canada mates. GO CANADA GO!!!!!!

IN JONNY WE TRUST!

Mounties slip past Tommies

The Mount Alison Mounties weathered a first period storm and a third period blitz to hold on for a 2 to 1 victory over the Tommies.

STU dominated the first period but couldn't beat Kate O'Brien in the MTA net and had to settle for out shooting them 11 to 3.

The Mounties were a different team when they came out in the second period.  They scored first at 16:59  and out shot STU 11 to 8.  The Tommies would tie it up with a 1:21 to play when Emily Francis gathered up an Erin MacIsaac rebound for her fifth goal of the season.

The first part of the third period saw MTA control the majority of the play and they would take the lead for good at 3:52 when Lindsay James slid the puck past a sprawling Kristin Wolfe.  The Tommies pressed hard in the final 10 minutes but could not find the equalizer - coming close several times - to tying the game.  STU was perfect on the PK killing all four MTA attempts but they failed to score on five powerplays of their own.

St. Thomas heads into the Christmas break in third spot despite the loss.  STU rookie goaltender Makayla Campbell has left the team and will not be returning.  Currently former STU forward and current Video Coach Carly Critch has been called to active service as back-up goaltender.  We'll see what transpires over the holidays on the goaltending front.

Christmas Came Early?? Tommies Win!!

Player of the Game, Stephen Sanza.

Tommie's gave their fans an early Christmas present closing out the 1st half of the schedule with a hard fought 5-4 win over the visiting St. FX X-Men.

 

After losing a squeaker to SMU last night the Tommies jumped on the X-Men early and hit the score sheet first as Robert Zanbeek tallied an unassisted goal at 7:14. The X-Men tie it at 17:20 to end the 1st period.

In the 2nd, the Tommies scored 3 times; once on the PP, once 5 on 5 and once SH. Steve Sanza (Childerley-Levesque); Jason Trott (Levesque-Cheremetiev) and Randy Cameron (Sanza-Poulin) scored for the Tommies. The X-Men answered with 2 goals in the period giving the STU boys a 4-3 lead heading into the 3rd.

Tommies struck first in the 3rd at 42 seconds as Yuri Cheremetiev (Leduc-Bonneau) gave the home team a 2 goal edge.

 

The X-Men scored at 6:38 to close the gap to one but could not find the equalizer as the Tommies would win the squeaker on this night.

 

Playing short staffed, this was an all out solid effort by the boys and a well deserved win......the 4th of the year, one more than our total last season.....and 9 points going into the break.

St. FX out shot the Tommies 34-18.....Jon Groenheyde recorded the "W" and Steve Sanza was "Player of the Game"

 

Many thanks for your support during the past year. We wish you and your family a Joyous Holiday Season and look forward to seeing you at the GHC in the new year for more exciting STU Tommies Hockey.

 

Tonight's game report compliments of our Friends at BUDGET CAR RENTALS.

Lady Tommies Tame Panthers

The Lady Tommies played their second to last home game of the first half of the season today at the GHC against the UPEI Panthers. The Lady Tommies played through the first period to a 0-0 tie with the shots on goal going to UPEI, 7-5.

UPEI opened the scoring in the second period at 2:09, the goal was scored by Kianna Strand (Grimmer), the Tommies matched the goal at 15:55 on a goal from Myfanwy Thomson with the assist going to alternate captain Cassidy McTaggart. The Tommies lead the shots on goal at the end of the second, 8-7.

The Tommies came out and scored at 3:15 in the third period, the goal was scored by Amy Duffield, assisted by Amanda Burns and Myfanwy Thomson. This was all the Tommies needed in order to get the "W" today. The shots on goal in the third period were 7-6 for the Panthers. The total shots on goal were 21-19 for UPEI but the final score went to the Tommies, 2-1.

The first star of the game was Myfanwy Thomson the rookie had a goal and an assist. Kristin Wolfe was in net for today's game, she turned away 20 of 21 shots.

The Lady Tommies play their final game of the first half of the season tomorrow at the GHC against the Mount Allison Mounties at 2pm.

Huskies trump Tommies

Paced by two goals in the first period the Saint Mary's Huskies defeated the Tommies 2 to 1 this evening at the Grant-Harvey Centre.  Jon Groenheyde was brilliant in the STU nets making several key saves to keep the game close.

Saint Mary's would score at 6:40 to take an early lead and would have a great come back shift to take a 2 goal lead 16 seconds later.  A strange play occurred late in the period as it appeared that Jon Bonneau was going to go in on a breakaway but the referee - out of now wheres - got between him and the puck negating the break.  The Huskies dominated the period out shooting STU 17 - 4 but Groenheyde held the fort during the barrage. 

The second period saw Steve Sanza (Bernier, Levesque) score on a partial breakaway at 48 seconds when he just tucked the puck past a sprawling SMU goalie to cut the lead in half.  The Tommies caught a break a few minutes later when a SMU goal was called back because a Huskie was in the crease.  The middle period was more even as the shots favoured SMU 6 to 5.  

STU attacked hard in the third and came close several times but could not solve Anthony Peters in the SMU net for the tying goal. 

St. Thomas will be back in action tomorrow evening at 7PM when the St.FX X-Men roll into the GHC.  This will be the final game of the first half for STU.

Tonights game report was compliments of our Friends at Truis Truck Center, 639 Bishop Drive, your one source for all your truck needs.

Men's Tommies Alumni Game

In STU Alumni Hockey yesterday at the GHC, Kevin Agar scored on a penalty shot with 31.4 seconds remaining to give the Scott MacKenzie captained "Green" team a hard earned 10-9 win over team "Gold ". Despite a protest by team Gold that there was some shenanigans going on with the score keeping, the referee over ruled awarding the game to team "Green"

The game write-up from The Friends of STU Hockey

The day started with the Alumni having a team breakfast with the current Tommies (before they took the bus ride to Moncton) as well as the Tommies that have since graduated. The former Tommies remained behind to face-off against one another in a Green and Gold hockey game. It was a great atmosphere and lots of laughs were had by all.

A special shout out to The Friends of STU Hockey for organizing this wonderful event and bringing the tradition of the Tommies from the past to the current players.

Head Coach Pat Powers addressing all of the Tommies during the Alumni breakfast.

Players enjoying their breakfast.

Ceremonial face-off between the Green and Gold teams. The puck was dropped by Harold DeCourcey

Bob Brown

Dave Reynolds

Peter Clark

Thatcher Bell

Scott MacKenzie

 

Jim Dalton

 

Quade Lightbody

 

Break away that lead to a penalty shot on goaltender Andrew Sim

 

Front Row-Peter Clark, Rod Clark, Bob Brown, Phil Daigle, Justin Bowers, Kevin Agar, Matt Seymour, Roger MacInnis
Stu Dunn, Gene Mitton.
Back Row-Garth Carruthers, Peter Pacey, Mel MacKenzie, Kyle McAllister, Andrew Sim, Thatcher Bell, Ron Vaive,
Craig Vaughan, Quade Lightbody, Jim Dalton, Scott MacKenzie, Dave Crossman, Pat Powers, Dave Reynolds
Chris Burns, Stefan DeCourcey, Harold DeCourcey

Tommies Fall at the Hands of UdeM

The Tommies first goal scored by Stephen Sanza assisted by
Marc-Andre Levesque and Sebastien Bernier

The Tommies travelled to LJL in Moncton to face off against the UdeM Les Aigles Bleus. The Tommies played hard through the first two periods with the score at the end of 40 minutes at 3-2 for UdeM. In the third period though scoring opening up for UdeM when they put six goals in during the frame.

The Tommies first goal was scored by Stephen Sanza assisted by Marc-Andre Levesque and Sebastien Bernier, the second goal was scored by Randy Cameron assisted by Jonathan Bonneau, this goal was a short-handed marker. Jonathan Groenheyde was in net for all nine goals. Total shots on goal were 41-21 for UdeM. The final score was 9-2 for UdeM. 

The Tommies are at home next weekend when they play St. Mary's on Friday night and St FX on Saturday. Both games are at the GHC at 7pm. These are the last games before the Christmas break.

 

Panthers squeak past Tommies

Jonathan Bonneau (Sanza and Thomas) scoring on Wayne Savage.

The Tommies played another good game tonight versus UPEI but lost 2 to 1 on the strength of a third period goal by the Panthers.

STU started the scoring in this tight game when Jon Bonneau (Sanza, Thomas) collected his fourth goal of the season at 6:48 of the first period.  It was the only one of the period that saw the Tommies out shoot the Panthers 12 to 11. 

UPEI scored the only goal of the second period when the Tommies had a poor line change just as a Panther penalty expired.  It created a 3 on 1 that Tyler Brown finished with a shot just inside the post past Jon Groenheyde in the STU net. No more damage was done as the shots favoured UPEI 12 to 5.

In the final frame UPEI scored just over half way through the period as they hit a goal post and the rebound was promptly potted into an open net for the game winner.  STU tried valiantly to tie the game up in the last minute but could not get the puck past Wayne Savage in the PEI net.  Final shots on goal were 34 to 19 for the Panthers.

The Tommies head to Moncton tomorrow night to take on Les Aigles Bleus.  Game time is 7 PM and the game will be live on www.AUStv.ca.  Follow @STUTommies on twitter for live in game reports. 

In AUS Women's play tonight from Prince Edward Island, the Lady Tommies defeated UPEI 1 - 0.  Emily Francis scored the only goal of the game on a first period breakaway and Kristin Wolfe made the lead hold up to earn her first shut out of the season.  

The Tommies will be home tomorrow afternoon vs. Les Aigles Bleues starting at 3PM from the GHC. 

Tonights game report was compliments of our Friends at Coca-Cola.

IT'S OVER!!! TOMMIES WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jonathan Bonneau scoring the game winning goal against former

teammate and Tommie Charlie Lavigne.

For the 1st time since Feb 2003 the Tommies were finally able to post a "W" vs. the V-Reds at the AUC. The "W" also halts the V-Reds winning streak vs the Tommies at 36. CONGRATS TOMMIES on a well deserved WIN.

Jon Groenheyde, Tommies netminder was lights out in the 1st and 3rd periods as the Tommies skated to a 3-2 "W" over the V-Reds at the Aitken Centre tonight before a crowd of 2200.

Tommies hit the score sheet first with 1st period with PP goals by Steve Sanza (Cameron,Levesque) at 13:40 and Colin Martin (Bonneau, Leduc) at 15:04.  In the 2nd, UNB opened the scoring on a 5 on 3 PP at 4:12 but the T-Men came right back at 8:42 to gain the 2 goal edge on a pretty breakaway goal by Jon Bonneau (Cameron, Thomas).

The V-Reds completed the 2nd period scoring with a goal at 11:43 while out shooting the Tommies in the period 20-6.

No scoring in the 3rd as Groenheyde turned aside all 15 shot directed his way. Total shots 46-18 favour V-Reds. Groenheyde was 1st STAR and Subway "Player of The Game" while Randy Cameron received 3rd STAR honours.

Into the Squirrels Nest We Go

The Tommies Men's hockey team are headed into the Aitken Centre Wednesday night to face off against the 3rd ranked team in the CIS at 7pm. In the 2013-'14 version of the "Battle of the Hill" the Squirrels took the first game 3-2. The Tommies head into the Nest after a hard fought 6-5 battle against the St FX X-Men in Antigonish last Friday night that went to overtime and then a hard 9-1 loss to SMU Huskies on Saturday night. The Squirrels are heading into the game coming off a shoot out loss to the Acadia Axemen Friday night and a surging Dalhousie Tiger team gave them a run for their money on Saturday night in which they were able to hold off Dal and capture a 4-3 win.

Come on out and cheer on your Tommies, let's give them all the support we can!

Huskies squeak by Tommies in OT

If you didn't get to watch this afternoon's game between Saint Mary's and St. Thomas, well sorry for you because it was a goody.  The end result wasn't what Tommie fans were hoping for but the game itself was great with the Huskies pulling out a 4 to 3 OT win.

SMU scored the only goal of the first period but were outshot by the Tommies 10 to 8.

The Tommies took the lead in the second period on the strength of two powerplay markers by rookie Teah Anderson.

The third period saw SMU tie it up with under nine minutes to play.  Overtime loomed but Kelty Apperson scored unassisted with 1:58 to go to restore STU's lead.  However, the lead lasted exactly 10 seconds as the Huskies had a great bounce back shift to tie the game and force OT.

Saint Mary's would score at 2:31 to win the game but it wasn't without controversy. It isn't clear what the problem was but Coach Murphy argued with the refs for a while pleading his case.  The zebra's wouldn't change the call and the Lady Tommies saluted them with a tapping of the sticks congratulating them on SMU's win.

The game had a playoff atmosphere to it and the winner secured 2nd place in the standings.  Great to see Anderson getting a pair of ginos and it was GOOD to see Kenya Marcelline back on the ice after a long absence.

Lady Tommies defeat Mounties

I don't have very much information to go on but the Lady Tommies defeated the Mount Alison Mounties 6 to 2 this evening in Sackville.

The Tommies scored two goals in each period for a balanced attack against MTA.  Katie Brewster and Myf Thomson scored in the first, Teah Anderson and Jordan Miller scored in the second, while Stephanie Gates and Kelty Apperson rounded out the scoring in the third.

STU will be on the road tomorrow afternoon against Saint Mary's.  Game time is 2PM at Alumni Arena in Halifax.

Huskies maul Tommies

The Tommies continued where they left off last night and got pounded - then some - 9 to 1 against the Saint Mary's Huskies tonight in Halifax.

The first period was brutal with no redeeming features at all for STU. The Tommies were worse than flat and allowed Saint Mary's to completely control them. SMU scored at 2:56, 5:38, 8:56 and 12:46 which chased starter Jon Groenheyde from the net and brought on Alex St-Arnaud. The Huskies were 2 for 3 on the PP and outshot STU 15 to 7.

In the second period STU got on the board with a PP marker at 10:01 when Sebastien Bernier (Levesque, Cameron) scored on a point shot but SMU came right back with two of their own. The Huskies scored at 15:47 and 17:55 to take a 6 to 1 lead. Shots in the period were 8 to 7 for SMU.

Things only got worse in the third as SMU scored three more goals to make the final 9 to 1.

This game report was brought to you by absolutely no one.

Tommies drop OT decision to X

A tough overtime loss tonight for the Tommies earned them an important point in the standings but they were so close to earning two.  St-FX scored two goals in the final 2:04 of the third period to tie it and pulled out the win in overtime 6 to 5.

After the first period the game was tied at one's thanks to a marker by Steve Sanza (Cameron - Childerley).  Colin Martin (Bonneau, Leduc) and Jonathan Bonneau on a breakaway late in the second period gave STU a 3 to 2 lead going into the final period.

The Tommies took a two goal lead in the third period on a Randy Cameron (Poulin, Bonneau) goal at 4:15.  The X-Men responded but Yuri Cheremetiev scored with 4:50 remaining to regain the two goal advantage.  X scored on the powerplay with 2:04 remaining to cut the lead to one and then with only 9 seconds left - and their net empty - scored to tie it.  The STU defenders did all they could and actually blocked several shots but the puck landed on X-Men sticks each time before they eventually lifted the puck over Jon Groenheyde.  

With under 4 minutes to play in the OT period, Jason Bast of the X-Men collected his own rebound and roofed one for the winner. 

The Tommies Jon Bonneau did have a three point night and Jon Groenheyde made some big saves.  STU will be back at it tomorrow night at 7PM when they play the SMU Huskies at the Halifax Forum. 

Tonight's game report is compliments of our Friends at Budget Rent-a-Car. 452-8016.

Tommies get a gun. Add Matthew Bissonnette

Matthew Bissonnette
Courtesy QMJHL

The St.Thomas Tommies have added 6'4" forward Matthew Bissonnette to the their line-up for the second half of the AUS season.  Bissonnette is a proven point producer in junior hockey and will be the first Tommies recruit since Miguel Delisle in 2005-06 to have more than 80 points during a major junior season.

There is no lack of talent with this center and he is prepared to play.  He had signed in the ECHL earlier in the summer and said at that time “My best tools are my vision and hockey sense" but he isn't only an offensive player, “As I matured in the (QMJHL) I wanted to be a plus-guy and that was a big thing I tried to concentrate on. Finishing +22 (over last two seasons) was a big step in my game and showed I can play some defense.”

Last season Bissonnette (no relation to current Tommie Simone Bissonnette) was hampered by a groin injury but it really didn't limit his production, as he scored 1.21 points per game or 57 points in 47 games.  In 2011-12 he had 1.28 points per game scoring 83 points in 65 games. He was an assistant Captain last season for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and assumed a leadership role on that team.  Matt will be a huge help up front for STU and will be leaned on heavily to score.

Coach Powers is really doing positive things with this team and the additions of Bissonnette and Saab after Christmas should have Tommie fans excited for a strong playoff push.

Check out this unreal move by Matt when he was playing for Lewiston. OH yeah!!

Lady Tommies Tame the Tigers

Captain Katie Brewster with a hat-trick against the Dal Tigers

The Lady Tommies tamed the Tigers from Dalhousie this afternoon at the Grant-Harvey Centre. The Tigers came out and scored the first goal silencing the home crowd early in the first period at 3:44 but the Tommies rallied back four minutes later with a goal from team captain Katie Brewster she scored an unassisted, short-handed goal. The score remained 1-1 after one. The shots on goal 11-7 in favour of the Tommies.

Myfanwy Thomson (Katie Brewster, Kelty Apperson) opened up the second period scoring at 0:34 into the frame. This opened the flood gates as the Tommies kept pouring on the pressure, scoring again at 2:12 off the stick of Teah Anderson (Emily Francis). Not to be out done though, Katie Brewster (Myfanwy Thomson) put another one in to make the score 4-1. The Tigers managed to score their last goal of the game very late in the second period. The score at the end of the second period was 4-2, Tommies, they also held onto the shots on goal 10-7.

The Tigers came out strong in the third period throwing lots of shots on goal, rookie keeper Makayla Campbell stood her ground though holding Dal off the score sheet in the frame. The Tommies put a puck in the empty net at 19:50, this gave captain Katie Brewster (unassisted) her three goal hat-trick. The final score of the game was 5-2, shots on goal in the third 13-9 in favour of Dal, and for the game 30-27 for the Tommies.

The Lady Tommies are on the road in the upcoming weekend as they head to Mt. Allison for a Saturday night game against the Mounties and an afternoon game on Sunday in Halifax versus the St. Mary's Huskies.