The University of Prince Edward Island men's basketball team has secured former Nova Scotia Canada Games and Citadel High point guard Deontay (D.J.) Smith for this coming fall. Smith will reunite with Panthers head coach Tim Kendrick who helped lead the Nova Scotia Canada Games team on a thrilling run to a silver medal at the 2009 Canada Summer Games held in PEI.

Smith was a standout when he played for Citadel High School in Halifax, the Nova Scotia School Athletic Federation high school runners-up to Horton High-and where Kendrick formerly coached-in the 2010-11 season.

'We are very excited to add D.J. to the Panthers line-up. He is a skilled player who is very tough and competitive. He brings a history of hitting the huge shots, and has the potential to be a lock-down defender. This fine young man will be a great fit with our team,' said Kendrick.

D.J. Smith is equally enthusiastic about joining the UPEI Panthers. 'I can't wait to get there! I am going to be reunited with a great coach and be going to a great university.'

In the past year, Smith has been consistently ranked among the top 30 high school players in the country.

In a dramatic double-overtime finish, the UPEI men's hockey team beat Acadia 6-5 Monday night in Game 3 of the best of three quarterfinal series to advance to the 2012 Subway Atlantic University Sport men's hockey semifinal playoff. Matt Carter scored the game winner before a capacity crowd at MacLauchlan Arena. The win sends the Panthers to the semifinals for the first time since 1996. (Read The Guardian article.)

The best 3-of-5 series will begin Friday, February 24 against the number one-ranked UNB Varsity Reds in Fredericton. Game 2 will also be played at the Aitken Centre, while Game 3 and Game 4, if necessary, will be played on home ice at MacLauchlan Arena.

Semifinal Series #1 (Best 3-of-5): UNB (1) vs. UPEI (4)

Game 1: Friday, February 24th - UPEI at UNB, 7:00pm
Game 2: Saturday, February 25th - UPEI at UNB, 7:00pm
Game 3: Wednesday, February 29th - UNB at UPEI, 7:00pm
Game 4: Thursday, March 1st - UNB at UPEI, 7:00pm*
Game 5: Sunday, March 4th - UPEI at UNB, 4:30pm*
(*if necessary)

The UPEI Box Office will open on Wednesday, February 29, time TBA.

Here's your chance to prove your spelling prowess. The UPEI Writing Centre is hosting its 2nd Annual Spelling Bee Smackdown on Tuesday, March 6, in the W.A. Murphy Centre's McMillan Hall. If you can spell "tchotchke" in 10 seconds or less, get your team together for some good old fashioned competition.

The UPEI hockey teams and men's basketball team are competing in playoffs this week and will face some tough competition, but they're up for the challenge.

The men's hockey team will once again face the top ranked reigning national champions, the UNB Varsity Reds, on Wednesday, February 29 at 7 pm at the MacLauchlan Arena. If the Panthers can come out with a win, they will play the fourth playoff game on Thursday at 7 pm. UPEI finished off the regular season in fourth place.

The women's hockey team will compete in the 2012 Subway Atlantic University Sport Women's Hockey Championship hosted by Dalhousie University, from March 1-4, at the Dalhousie Memorial Arena. UPEI will play on both Friday and Saturday at 3:00 pm. UPEI is currently ranked in 4th place heading into the playoff weekend.

On the basketball side, the Panthers will also head to Halifax this weekend, where they will first compete against 6th place contenders, Saint Mary's University Huskies. The game will take place on Friday, March 2 at 8:15 pm at the Halifax Metro Centre. The winner of the match will face second place Acadia on Saturday. UPEI heads into playoffs in third place.

He has often been called Canada's finest living English-language poet. No, not Leonard Cohen. And you won't spot Don McKay garbed in urban black; rather, in a parka, watch cap or khaki fedora, and hiking boots on a headland trail on the Newfoundland coast. But Don McKay's poetic music, imagery, and metaphors are every bit as luxuriant, unique, and memorable as Cohen's, and his insights into the natural world and human mind and spirit are spellbinding. He has mastered the art of writing poetry that is both clearly accessible and exquisitely crafted, that seamlessly blends elegant and everyday language.

Don McKay, birdwatcher, rockhound, baseball aficionado, warm and generous human being, and poet extraordinaire, will read from his works at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery on Monday, March 12, at 7:30 pm as part of the UPEI Winter's Tales Authors Reading Series.

As a poet, essayist, and teacher, McKay has been a primary inspiration in Canada for what is loosely called 'eco-poetics.' For those who love nature poetry, his writing is essential reading. Moreover, though nature is omnipresent in his writing, human experience is rarely absent. His poetry doesn't rely on blatant environmentalist 'messages.' Instead, he gracefully reveals his own and others' experience of the natural world, from the wilderness to the city and suburb, even in a Canadian Tire store! Through his poems, we experience the natural world on its own terms, apart from the impact of civilization. Often, he shows us the interaction of nature and our human needs, tools and striving, euphoria and discontents. McKay sees his writing as 'nature poetry in a time of environmental crisis.'

Born in Owen Sound, Ontario, and raised in Cornwall, McKay taught creative writing and English for nearly three decades, including at the University of Western Ontario and the University of New Brunswick. He has published 12 books of poetry, won the Governor General's Award for Poetry twice, and won the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2006. His influence on Canadian poetry includes his roles as co founder of Brick Books, one of Canada's leading poetry presses, editor of the literary journal The Fiddlehead, and associate director for poetry at the Banff Centre for the Arts Writing Studio. He has also edited many books by fellow poets.

In 2008, McKay was made a Member of the Order of Canada, and now lives in St. John's, Newfoundland. His reading is co-hosted by the UPEI English Department and the Confederation Centre Art Gallery, with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts. Admission is free. A book signing and reception will follow.

UPEI's executive MBA program offers a high-quality learning experience for working business professionals. Starting September 2012, classes will be offered bi-weekly on Fridays and Saturdays, with the option to complete the program in 20 months. Specialized streams of study are offered in Innovative Management and Biotechnology Management & Entrepreneurship.

To learn more about the program and these changes, and to meet with staff, faculty, and students from the School of Business, we invite you to drop by our information session on Tuesday, March 6, any time between 4:00-6:00 pm in the Provinces Room at the Rodd Charlottetown Hotel.

Please call (902) 566-6474 or email mba@upei.ca to reserve a seat. For more information, visit http://business.upei.ca/mba.

March is national colorectal cancer month, so help students from the University 100 program raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society. Come out to the W.A. Murphy Student Centre on Sunday, March 4 anytime between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm for "Brunch, Bids, and Butts." Get your fill at our Sunday brunch while perusing the lovely selection of goods available for you to win at our silent auction!

Admission is $5 per person and tickets are available at the door. This student-lead initiative is supporting a great cause, so join them in raising money and awareness for colorectal cancer.

"Brunch, Bids and Butts" is a fundraiser being organized by five UPEI students involved in the 'Who Are You' Learning Community on campus. They are fulfilling the course requirements of UNIV203 - Introduction to Leadership Studies by developing, planning and executing a service learning project, giving students an opportunity to put the skills they learn in the classroom into practice through community service and involvement.

Trent Henry, UPEI Alumnus and current Canadian chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young LLP, delivered the keynote address during UPEI's 35th annual Business Society Luncheon on March 2.

Henry intrigued the audience of students, community leaders, and the Island business community, as he mentioned the changing economy and today's trends, as well as his pride in UPEI and its alumni.

Henry was born in Charlottetown and earned his bachelor of business administration from UPEI in 1989. He still credits much of his success to the high standard of principles at UPEI. Henry encourages others to never stop learning and believes it's crucial to focus on doing what you love.

UPEI head coaches, Tim Kendrick, of the men's basketball team and Bruce Donaldson, of the women's hockey team were awarded AUS coaches of the year this week.

AUS Coach of the Year: Tim Kendrick, men's basketball

Kendrick, in his first year at the helm of the UPEI program, becomes the first Panthers men's basketball coach to be named AUS coach of the year since George Morrison was honoured following the 1995-96 season.

This year, he guided the Panthers to a third place finish in the Atlantic conference with a record of 13-7, just one year removed from UPEI missing the AUS post-season with a 7-13 record. The 13 regular season wins this year are also the most by a UPEI squad since 1993-94 when the Panthers also finished with a 13-7 mark.

UPEI's women's hockey team claimed their first ever AUS hockey banner on March 4 during the AUS Championships in Halifax, NS. The team shocked fans and even themselves, when they downed the Mount Allison Mounties 3-0 to claim the AUS banner.

Ranked fourth heading into the championship weekend, the Panthers fate came down to the semi-final game on Saturday, March 3, against the top ranked AUS team and fourth ranked CIS team, StFX. The Panthers upset the X-Women defeating them 2-1 sending UPEI to the championship game on Sunday.

Fifth-year forward Jenelle MacKenzie expressed her shock to Charlottetown's newspaper, The Guardian, 'Back then (five years ago), we were lucky to keep StFX under 10 goals and we beat them yesterday.' For MacKenzie, beating StFX was a great birthday present, and her power play goal in the first period gave her team an early lead in Saturday's semi-final.

In Sunday afternoon's championship game, UPEI came out with the will to win. UPEI was strong on the defensive end and goaltender, Kristy Dobson had a solid showing. With minutes left in the third period, Mount Allison pulled their goaltender in hopes to make a comeback as UPEI led 2-0. UPEI's Amber Gaudette scored on Mount Allison's empty net to secure the win at 3-0.

Panthers Head Coach and 2012 AUS Coach of the Year, Bruce Donaldson, explained his pride to The Guardian during an after game interview, 'I just looked at them all and they had tears in their eyes and I'm pretty sure I had some in mine too. I said ‘I'm amazingly proud of what you have accomplished.''

UPEI's Christina Kelly and Kristy Dobson were named to the Championship Tournament All Star Team. Dobson was also named Championship Tournament's Most Valuable Player.

The Panthers are off to Halifax on Tuesday as they begin their journey to Edmonton for the 2012 CIS National Championships hosted by the University of Alberta. The games will take place from March 8-11.

Come on out to an informal send-off at the entrance of the MacLauchlan Arena on Tuesday, March 6 at 12 pm. Wear your Panther gear and/or green and white and show your Panther pride!