Saints hit the road after two-week layoff to face Victoria, VIU on island

The battle for first place in the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League standings hasn't held much drama through two months of regular season action on account of Trinity Western's 8-0-0-0 record, but the race for second place and a home playoff series is already heating up.

Selkirk College will look to close the gap in that department this weekend when they travel to Vancouver Island for games against Victoria and VIU.

The Saints will hope to shake off the rust following a pair of bye weekends when they visit the Vikes at the Ian Stewart Complex on Friday. Selkirk was last in action on November 8th and 9th when they dropped both ends of a two-game home series against TWU. They'll look to bump that minor slide against a UVic squad that id riding a three-game losing skid of their own and sits in last place in the league standings with a 3-8-0-1 record.

Selkirk's difficulties have been two-fold through eight games: on the one hand, they've struggled to generate offence consistently and sit fourth in goals per game with 3.25. On the other, they've had difficulty keeping the puck out of their own net with a BCIHL-high 4.50 goals-against rate.

Former Beaver Valley Nitehawks teammates Blake Sidoni and Dylan Heppler represent Selkirk's two point-per-game threats, and Sidoni sits amongst the league's rookie scoring leaders with 10 points. Parker Wakaruk and Tristen Cross have helped generate offence from the blueline, but it's a fair bet that the Saints will need more consistent scoring if they're to challenge for a fifth BCIHL title.

In Victoria, Selkirk will face a Vikes team that has proven themselves capable of grinding out wins on home ice. All three of the team's victories have come in at the Ian Stewart Complex, including a 4-2 victory over the Saints on October 5th.

First-year forwards Keenan Eddy and Keegan Durrance have led the way offensively for UVic, combining for seven goals and 18 points, while rookies Tyler Rennie and Daniel Paul have carried the lion's share of responsibilities in goal. Paul has the most appearances with eight but was victimized for 13 goals on a recent two-game Lower Mainland road swing.

On Saturday, Vancouver Island University will host the Saints following a confidence-boosting road sweep of Simon Fraser in Burnaby last weekend. The Mariners allowed just three goals in the pair of wins, with Jeremy Balyk likely solidifying himself as the team's starter after a BCIHL Player of the Week performance.

An explosive offence has been the Mariners' calling card for most of the team's existence, and this year's team continues to fill the net. The trio of Garrett Dunlop, Brett Witala and Gage Colpron has combined for 49 points and sits first, fourth and sixth in league scoring respectively.

Friday's game in Victoria is set for a 7:30 PM faceoff while Saturday's contest in Nanaimo will begin at 7:15 PM. Both games will be broadcast live on Hockey TV.