2014-15 AUS men’s and women’s hockey schedules released

(HALIFAX, N.S.) – Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2014-15 men's and women's regular season hockey schedules. The men's regular season is set to begin Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, and the women's Friday, Oct. 17.

The men's regular season format will once again see all teams play a 28-game schedule while the women's format will consist of 24 regular season contests for each team.

The men's and women's teams will play in a single division, with the top six qualifying for postseason play. The top two regular season finishers will receive byes to the conference semifinals.

The 2014-15 season will also see the continuation of the AUS women's hockey championship format as a three-round playoff series where teams will play each other in best two-of-three series.

Last season was the first year for the new women's championship format, which was previously played as a four-day tournament at a single venue.

In its inaugural year, the playoff series format was met with a warm reception with record-breaking attendance in the best-of-three final series between the Moncton Aigles Bleues and the Mount Allison Mounties.

Link to full 2014-15 AUS men's hockey schedule here.

Link to full 2014-15 AUS women's hockey schedule here.

MEN

All eight AUS men's hockey teams will see action during the opening week of regular season play.

Looking to rebound after missing the 2013-14 postseason with a seventh-place finish in the AUS standings, the St. Thomas Tommies will host the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus on opening night, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, at the Grant Harvey Centre in Fredericton, N.B. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.

The remaining six AUS teams will see action Saturday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. The defending champion Acadia Axemen visit the Dalhousie Tigers while the UPEI Panthers host the UNB Varsity Reds.

The StFX X-Men, hosts of the 2015 CIS University Cup next March in Halifax, will play host to the Saint Mary's Huskies. Last season, the Huskies entered the postseason in fifth place and upset the top-seeded Varsity Reds to make it all the way to the AUS championship finals. They eventually lost out to the champion Acadia Axemen.

The Axemen will raise their championship banner during their home opener Friday, Oct. 17 at the Acadia Arena when they play host to the UPEI Panthers.

Of note, the 2014-15 season is set to open a week earlier than in previous years to allow for more breathing room in the regular and postseason schedules.

The regular season schedule will wrap up Saturday, Feb. 7 and will be followed by the 2015 Subway AUS men's hockey playoffs.

This year's AUS playoff format will feature a pair of best-of-three quarterfinal series, followed by a best-of-five format in the semifinals and a best-of-three final round.

AUS is guaranteed three berths in both the 2015 and 2016 CIS men's hockey championships, being hosted at the Halifax Metro Centre by StFX and Saint Mary's, respectively.

Should the X-Men advance to the 2015 AUS final round, a best-of-three consolation final series will be held to determine the third team from the Atlantic conference to compete in the CIS championship.

The 2015 CIS University Cup will be held March 12 to 15.

WOMEN

The 2014-15 AUS women's hockey schedule will kick off on Friday, Oct. 17 with a pair of games in
Sackville and Charlottetown.

Finishing fifth in the 2013-14 regular season standings, the Mount Allison Mounties were impressive in two playoff upsets, taking out the St. Thomas Tommies in the quarterfinals and the No. 1-seeded and defending AUS champion StFX X-Women in the semifinals.

The Mounties will look to build on last season's success and runner-up finish as they kick off their regular season by playing host to the Dalhousie Tigers at 7 p.m. at the Tantramar Veterans Memorial Civic Centre in Sackville on opening night.

The Tigers will look to redeem themselves after missing the 2013-14 postseason.

After being taken out by the eventual champion Moncton Aigles Bleues in triple overtime in last season's quarterfinal playoff series, the UPEI Panthers will look to impress in their own Friday home opener when they will play host to the 2013 CIS bronze medalling StFX X-Women at 7 p.m.

The Panthers will then play host to the Saint Mary's Huskies Saturday night at 7 p.m. The Huskies were also taken out by the Aigles Bleues last season, in three games of a semifinal series.

Moncton's own home opener will take place Saturday at 7 p.m. when they raise their AUS championship banner and play host to the 2013 champion StFX X-Women.

The women's hockey season will once again consist of 24 games with all seven teams playing the other teams in the conference four times, twice at home and twice away.

The 2014-15 regular season wraps up on Friday, Feb. 6 and the top six teams in the standings will move on to postseason play. Three rounds of playoff series will be played with the top two seeds receiving byes into the semifinal round.

Quarterfinals will feature the third place team taking on the sixth place finisher, while the fourth place team will face off against the fifth place team.

The quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds will all again be best-of-three affairs using a 'home-away-home' format where the higher seeded team will host the opening game of the series as well as the third and deciding game, if necessary.

The 2015 CIS women's hockey championship will be hosted by the University of Calgary March 12 to 15.