Saints test Alberta waters in a two-game set against Keyano College
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The Selkirk College Saints dominated the BC Intercollegiate Hockey League last season.
Now the men’s Hockey program get a chance to test the waters from across the BC/Alberta border when Selkirk plays its first-ever games against Alberta college league competition this weekend in Nelson and Castlegar.
Alberta- based Keyano College of Fort McMurray visits the West Kootenays for a pair of exhibition contests.
“We’re expecting Keyano College to be a very tough and talented opponent,” said Saints head coach Jeff Dubois.
“The Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference is a high calibre college league that’s been going strong for over 50 years, so we’re looking at these games as an important challenge for our group above and beyond our typical preseason preparations.”
Selkirk hosts Huskies on Friday night at the Nelson and District Community Complex Arena at 8 p.m. and Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. at the Castlegar Recreation Complex.
The Huskies finished seventh in the nine-team ACAC as an expansion team last season, posting a record of 7-17-1-3 and just barely missing out on postseason action.
The squad features a number of B.C.-born players, including former Beaver Valley Nitehawks forward Ryan Sookro and BCHL veterans Brody Lynott (Alberni Valley Bulldogs), Luke Hannas (Prince George Spruce Kings) and Steve Axford (Powell River Kings).
“We’re looking forward to seeing the style and intensity of play in the BCIHL,” Keyano head coach Paul Strand said.
“Many of our players are from B.C. and are looking forward to playing games in front of friends and family. These games will be a good test and hopefully will provide a memorable experience for the college and the players. It’s trips like these I remember most from my college days.”
The upcoming weekend set against Keyano marks the first of five match-ups for the Saints against ACAC opposition.
Selkirk travels to Edmonton to face Concordia University, the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and Grant McEwan University on the weekend of September 20-22.
The Saints will then return home for a pair of games against league rivals Trinity Western University on September 27/28 before the regular season begins on Friday, October 4 at home to Eastern Washington.
General admission tickets for both games this weekend will be available at the door for $5.
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