The University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) Panthers are out of Charlottetown, PEI ... Anne of Green Gables and lobster country.
They are one of the more undisciplined teams in the AUS (Atlantic University Sport) conference and do take their share of penalties. Historically they have played with a bit of an edge, and it a preseason game this year there was fight at the end of the match with one of their AUS rivals that saw fighting majors handed out to the two combatants ... so they're not all shrinking violets!
Checking from behind calls in the AUS can be chintzy ... if the victim has his back squarely to the hitter along the boards then it is just about always called, even if it is a soft hit. The discretion is whether it is a two-minute minor or five-minute major. An automatic game misconduct is tagged on, no matter whether the original call is a minor or major.
Back to UPEI. They always seem to be a dark horse in the AUS. They bring in some good recruits, they start to run with the big guns, and then the wheels start to come off in the second half. Sometimes it is injuries, sometimes it is who knows what? They usually play a spirited game, so you should find it entertaining.
As a CIS team, they will be older, bigger and slower than the typical NCAA team. They wear visors, not full-face protection.
