Weekend Preview: Saints hit the road for Island swing at Victoria & VIU

Selkirk College will hit the road for the first time this weekend, traveling to Vancouver Island for a pair of games. On Friday, the Saints will take on the University of Victoria before heading north to Nanaimo to face former star forward Dallas Calvin and Vancouver Island University.

The four-time B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League champs played five good periods against Simon Fraser on opening weekend, picking up a win and then an overtime loss after seeing a 4-1 second period evaporate in the second game of the two-game series in Castlegar.

A pair of rookies led the way against the Clan, as former KIJHL snipers Dylan Heppler and Edward Lindsey each picked up four points in those two games. And they got lots of help from throughout the lineup, as 10 Saints players in total scored goals on the weekend.

Selkirk is expected to have one of the league's top tandems between the pipes in second-year Patrick Zubick and college transfer Tallon Kramer, who held SFU to a single goal on 40 shots on opening night.

On Friday, the Saints will face a Victoria team that lost both ends of a home-and-home series with VIU to open their regular season. The Vikes dropped a 6-4 decision on home ice Friday before watching a three-goal lead slip away in the third period in Nanaimo on Sunday.

Bright spots for the Vikes included a three-point showing from blueliner Kyle Bird, who named the BCIHL's Top Defenceman as a rookie in 2017. The Regina product saw his offensive production slip considerably in his sophomore season, from 23 points to 11, so his two-point night at home and assist on the road will be a welcome sight for a UVic team looking for consistent offence from their blueline.

Zack Wear and Michael Fredrick split the starts for Victoria against the Mariners and were victimized for 10 goals on 85 shots. The hosts will look to cut down on the workload for their goaltenders on Friday.

Meanwhile, VIU has five points from four regular season games and will look to leapfrog Trinity Western for top spot in the league standings when Selkirk vists the Nanaimo Ice Centre on Saturday.

There's been no shortage of offence out of the gates for a Mariners squad that features 17 veteran skaters, as well as a pair of explosive rookies in Brett Witala and Gavin Rauser. The duo, who joined on from the KIJHL's Kelowna Chiefs and BCHL's Powell River Kings respectively, combined for 10 points in their weekend sweep of UVic.

But the spotlight will be on another BCIHL star in Saturday's game, as three-time league all-star Dallas Calvin plays his first game against his former team. The Trail native netted 99 points in 59 games over three seasons with the Saints before a summer transfer to continue his studies at VIU, and the 2017/18 league scoring leader may well swing the balance of power against the team that eliminated VIU from last season's playoffs.

With TWU on the road for a pair of exhibition games against NCAA opponents in Minnesota and SFU idle, Selkirk's island road swing represents the only games on the BCIHL schedule this weekend. Friday's game in Victoria is set for a 7:30 PM puck drop while faceoff on Saturday in Nanaimo will go at 7:15 PM. Both games can be viewed live on Hockey TV.