SFU faces off with Northeastern U in Stanley Cup challenge

Courtesy of SFU

VANCOUVER, BC--Simon Fraser University President Andrew Petter took off the gloves today with a playoff challenge to Northeastern University President Joseph E. Aoun in Boston.

In the unlikely event that the Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks for the Stanley Cup, Petter has agreed to post a picture of him "wearing the bear"--a Bruins jersey--on the SFU home page, and ship a fresh West Coast salmon to Aoun.

For his part, Aoun has agreed to suffer the agony of a Bruins defeat by similarly sporting the Canucks' Orca jersey online, and delivering a freshly caught Atlantic lobster to Petter.

"Our American cousins in Boston are as passionate about hockey--almost--as we are in Vancouver," says Petter.

"And since this playoff round is going to be all about 'schooling' the Bruins in Canada's game, I thought it appropriate for our two fine institutions of higher learning to engage in a bit of healthy competition."

Says Aoun: "We welcome global challenges at Northeastern. Our campus is home to the world's oldest indoor hockey rink so we know a little bit about this sport to be confident in the Bruins' ability to win."

Northeastern has strong ties to the Bruins: its historic Matthews Arena, which opened in 1910, was the Bruins' original home and is the oldest ice arena still used for hockey in the world.

Game One in the series gets underway tonight in Vancouver.

About Simon Fraser University: With three campuses located in British Columbia's largest municipalities--Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey--SFU was recently ranked as Canada's leading comprehensive research-intensive university. SFU's undergraduate student exchange program partners with many international universities, including Northeastern in Boston.

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