Press Release

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Hockey Aigles Bleus confident they can win over the X-Men

Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus (10-17-3=23pts, 6th position) have three of the top seven Atlantic University Sport point getters but the team will need a top performance by all elements to topple St. Francis Xavier University X-Men (16-12-2=34pts, 3rd position), in the best of three Subway quarter finals beginning Wednesday evening, in Antigonish.

The X-Men won three of five game between the two teams this season, scoring 20 goals and allowing 16. "This is a new season that we are approaching with lots of confidence," coach Serge Bourgeois said. "We did win 2 of the last 3 games between our teams. We are capable if we play our game. The X-Men have a very good team. We will have to perform 60 minutes, be disciplined in our emotions and play in our systems. We will pressure the puck handler."

Goaltender Brandon Thibeau will get the nod in the first game. He played very good in the last few games.

For co-captain Allain Saulnier, this will be his last playoffs in a blue and gold uniform. He says he will forget that the minute the puck drops. ‘’I may think about it at the end of the season, but I began my career with an objective of winning a Canadian championship with the Aigles Bleus and it is still real today,’’ said Saulnier. ‘’We have been playing very good hockey since January and (Brandon) Thibeau is doing well in nets. We had good games against the X-Men this season. I am looking forward to the first game. We cannot have a slow start in a short series. We need to steal a road win and it will be Wednesday.’’

"This is my fourth season in the league and all players are aware of the importance of every game in a short series," added Alex Saulnier. "It is never easy to play in Antigonish, but we did win a few games against them. We are playing much better since Christmas and even if the win column doesn’t show it, we had our chances. Both teams know each other well and there will be no surprises. The game will be decided on execution and special units. Every player in the dressing room knows the importance of the series, there will not be long speeches. We will play with intensity and keep the game simple."

In brief… Allain Saulnier was the top Aigles point getter with 41 points (6g-35s), fourth in AUS… Sharpe shooter Jean-François Plante is fifth with 40 points (28g, 12a). He is the top U SPORT and AUS scorer and wrote a history page for the Aigles Bleus, being the first player to score at least 25 goals in the last 30 years. He is fifth in history behind Claude Vilgrain (35), François Bessette and Jean-François Boutin (31) and Éric Galarneau (30)… Alex Saulnier (10-26) is seventh with 36 points… StFX scored 99 goals and allowed 102, in 30 games compared to 87-134 for Moncton, that had the worst goals against number.



Return to Press release