Committed to improvement, UNB men's hockey team aims for golden end to perfect season

Growing up playing hockey in Saint John, N.B, Kale McCaullum knew about the University of New Brunswick men's hockey team, the contending force in Canadian university hockey from just up north.

Despite playing most of his hockey in his hometown going on to play major junior with the Saint John Sea Dogs for two seasons, the looming presence up the road became a clearer option as his junior career wore on.

"I didn't travel to Fredericton to watch the games growing up, but I had heard about the program and its winning tradition," the second-year defenceman said. "It was pretty special to get the call from [head coach] Gardiner MacDougall and [assistant coach] Rob Hennigar. It's known as the best program in Canada, and they bring a lot of high-character guys in."

McCallum, along with the rest of the Reds, will travel to Toronto this week in search of a second straight U Sports Men's Hockey Championship, hoping to build on their 2023 title won in Charlottetown and cap off a historic perfect season.

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When UNB drops the puck on their University Cup tournament on Thursday afternoon against the Brock University Badgers, they do so having won all 30 regular-season games before completing a perfect 5-0-0 playoff run.

They also won each pre-season contest, with their last loss coming in the 2023 playoffs on March 7, 2023 — a 6-5 overtime defeat to the Saint Mary's Huskies in the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) final.

"It's special, and the group has done a great job of the process. There's a lot of belief in the group that they're going to find a way to get the job done, and I think they have relished the process and are getting a bit better every day," MacDougall said