SFU to face first-ever NCAA Division I opponent in October

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The Simon Fraser University Men’s Ice Hockey program is pleased to announce that its inaugural match-up against NCAA Division I competition is confirmed to come this fall when the Clan will face off against Air Force Academy in an exhibition game set to take place in Wenatchee, WA on Saturday, October 1st.

Air Force Academy, based in Colorado Springs, CO, are the defending champions of the Atlantic Hockey conference and have earned one of 16 available spots in the NCAA’s Postseason Tournament in four of the past five years.

The Falcons’ finished the 2010/11 season with an overall record of 20-12-6, good for 18th in the season’s final USCHO/CBS national poll. Their season ended with a first-round NCAA Tournament loss in overtime to Yale, who were the tournament’s #1 overall seed.

“We’re very pleased for the chance to play Air Force and measure ourselves against an accomplished NCAA Division I opponent,” says SFU general manager Jeff Dubois.

“This opportunity is a reflection of the great competitive strides that our team has made in recent seasons by being able to attract elite players exiting junior hockey. We expect this to be an exciting first, but also the first of many games against teams of this calibre.”

SFU enters the 2011/12 campaign as back-to-back defending champions of the seven-team B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League. The team’s strong returning cast, which includes former Saskatoon Blades forward Ben Van Lare and BCHL graduates Christopher Hoe, Mitch Labreche, Patrik Martin and Colby Kulhanek, has been buoyed by commitments from 11 incoming Junior A veterans.

That group is headlined by 2010 RBC Cup-winning goaltender Graeme Gordon and BCHL All-Star forward Michael Krgovich. The game, which is set for a 5:35 PM start, will be played at the Town Toyota Centre in Wenatchee, home of the North American Hockey League’s Wenatchee Wild. Online video and audio broadcasts will be available.

“This game came about because a number of Wild players had gone on to play their collegiate hockey at Air Force and this was conceived as something of a homecoming game for those guys,” says Dubois.

“When you factor that in with us going up against a well-known American opponent, it’s a safe bet that it’s going to feel like an intense road game environment for our guys and I expect that they’ll relish the challenge.”