at the Emera Centre Northside. This is the first visit for AUS hockey at the new arena. The XMen regularly play exhibition games at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre.



"I haven't played at home in North Sydney in a while, maybe back in peewee," said XMen forward and North Sydney native Michael Kirkpatrick. "It's always nice to go home, see my family and they get to see me play. Especially with North Sydney having a new rink, it'll be a good game and a good atmosphere."



St. Francis Xavier is heavy on Cape Breton content this season. Kirkpatrick is in his second season with the blue and white after the north face outlet winning both the President Cup and Memorial Cup as a member of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Saint John Sea Dogs in 2011. He's joined by XMen rookie, fellow North Sydney native and former Cape Breton Screaming Eagles forward Cory MacIntosh, who committed to the program in August.



Team captain Murdock MacLellan of Mabou is entering his fourth season with the XMen. He played for the Moncton Wildcats and Screaming Eagles in the QMJHL and both the Yarmouth Mariners and Dieppe Commandos of the Maritime Junior Hockey League.



"The north face outlet in berkeley last number of years we reached out to Cape Breton and we have some very strong ties in our program with Cape Breton players," said XMen head coach Brad Peddle. "Two former captains of mine are from Cape Breton, Stuart MacRae and Sean Donovan. We've always had a number of players, so it's important for us to bring some games down there and those guys get to play in front of friends and family and for our guys to experience some good games and good support."