Many of us have played the Battleship Game during our youth. This Battle of the Hill Puzzle is a spin off from this famous game (see instructions within the rules of the game).

Ask any fan in the Fredericton Area what game is the most fun to watch during the regular AUS season and you will be advised that it is between the Varsity Reds (UNB) and the Tommies (STU). Two local teams ....... it does not get any better than this. Below is the history of this battle.

(original text by By James Cavanaugh, Edited by Eric Drummie)

The 150th game to be played on Halloween (Oct. 31st) 2007 at the LBR - where the first game was played.

There are many intense sports rivalries throughout North America: Yankees - Red Sox, Leafs - Canadiens, Oilers - Flames, the list goes on. In Fredericton there exists high school rivalries FHS - OHS, and more recently FHS - LHHS, but the premier rivalry is the annual Battle of the Hill which features the city's two university men's hockey teams, the St. Thomas Tommies and the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds.

In 1962, a royal commission on higher education in New Brunswick recommended that St. Thomas University enter into a federation agreement with the University of New Brunswick and relocate to the campus of the latter institution. In 1964 St. Thomas completed the move to Fredericton from Chatham (which has since amalgamated into the city of Miramichi). And thus began the Battle of the Hill.

Before St. Thomas moved to Fredericton, the main rivals for UNB were Mount Allison and St. Francis Xavier. In the early years of the UNB/STU rivalry, both teams played out of the Lady Beaverbrook Rink, on University Avenue, until the Red Devils (UNB’s moniker until 1991) moved to the newly constructed Aitken University Centre (AUC) at the start of the 1976-77 season.

STU has not played in the Atlantic University Hockey Conference (AUHC) every season since their move to Fredericton. STU was not a member of the AUHC for four seasons, from 1975-76 to 1978-79. The hockey team returned for the 1979-80 season – which marked their first season in their own rink in Fredericton (the LBR) and their first visit to the Aitken University Centre (although they did play some exhibition games the previous season).

The Varsity Reds have certainly had the upper hand in the Battle of the Hill over the years with a record of 87-41-8 (.640) in conference play and a record of 9-4 (.692) in the playoffs for a competitive record of 96-45-8 (.644). Since Gardiner MacDougall took over the head coaching position to start the 2000- 01 season the V-Reds have compiled a record of 20-8-3 (.775) in conference play including a playoff series victory against STU in the 2002-03 season which continued the tradition of UNB dominance over their local rival.

It is interesting to note that the teams did not first meet in a playoff match in Fredericton until the 1994-95 season when STU defeated UNB two games to one in the best of three series, including a 9-3 drubbing of the Varsity Reds in the third and final game of the series at the AUC. This series marked the first time they had met in the playoffs in over 30 years and the LBR sold out in 20 minutes. Since then, however, the two clubs have met four more times in the playoffs and UNB has won each series. UNB enacted revenge in 1999-00 by winning game three at the LBR with a 7-0 shutout of the favoured home team. (1996/97 Playoffs (second meeting) - Toby Burkitt celibrates Peter MacKellar's triple ovetime goal to win game two (4-3) and the series 2-0)

Both hockey clubs have annual memorial games to honor one of their own who passed away unexpectedly. Since 1994, STU has honored Lou Chabot every year in their second home game of the regular season against UNB. STU is 7-6 in Lou Chabot memorial games including a 10-3 win over UNB in the 05/06 annual game, which was the largest victory ever by STU over UNB since the Battle of the Hill began in 1964.

Mark Jeffrey played for UNB for four years and later came back as an assistant coach for the team from 1987-91, and was head coach for the last half of his final season behind the bench. Mark provided leadership, determination and inspiration and was a friend to everyone he met. Tragically, Mark died in the summer of 1991. His #17 Jersey was retired by the team and the annual Mark Jeffrey Memorial Game is played every year now as UNB’s second home game of the season against STU. UNB has a 9-4-1 record in the annual Mark Jeffrey Memorial Game (UNB’s MJMG record is 9-5-1, but the second game was against Acadia and not part of the Battle of the Hill). Both Mark Jeffrey and Lou Chabot had a significant impacts on the two hockey programs and the annual games are the quintessential Battle of the Hill match-ups for each club.

UNB and STU have been rivals in the Battle of the Hill for over 40 years and the rivalry is sure to continue for many years to come. Including regular season and playoff games, the teams are closing in on their 150th competitive match in the Battle of the Hill (with four regular season matches to come this season, they would end the season at 149 meetings – the playoffs could put them over 150 match-ups or it could possibly come at Nationals in Moncton).

Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) men's hockey has many rivalry stories, such as McGill-Queen’s, Alberta-Saskatchewan, and RMC-West Point, but for Atlantic University Sport (AUS) and Fredericton in particular, the Battle of the Hill represents a unique rivalry between two teams that literally share a campus. Whereas McGill-Concordia, Dalhousie-Saint Mary’s and Ottawa-Carleton are within the same city – they are physically separated by geography – not so in Fredericton. As such, it makes for a unique and very ‘local’ atmosphere when the two teams meet.

The 200th game is projected 10-12 years out between 2017-2020 depending on regular season schedules and playoff meetings.

Battle of the Hill RULES

The campus of UNB and STU is under siege for the first time since 1995. Three Enemy PT boats have been seen lurking on the Saint John River threatening our landmarks. They must be located and sunk! We're counting on you, sailor!!!

On the game sheet is a modified Battleship game board game which consists of a 5X5 grid. Hidden on the grid are 3 boats, all of which are the ever-elusive “2 holed” (2 squares) PT Boats, named PT-1, PT-2, and PT-3. To find the coordinates of the battleship (final cache), you must first locate these 3 PT boats. Once they are located, you will have to do some slight calculations to obtain the coordinates of the final cache (battleship).

You will notice that each square has coordinates with a question (or statement) to answer by either a True or False. If you answer TRUE, then it is considered a HIT. If you answer FALSE, then it is a “miss”. You need 2 hits side by side for one boat. In total, since there are 3 ships, you will need 6 hits. It is not necessary to do all 25 squares If you are lucky, then you may need to only visit 6 locations provided all six have true responses to the statements. You will need to find all 3 boats in order to obtain coordinates for the final cache.

Once you have determined the position of all 3 PT boats, you will need to determine the orientation and move some numbers around. Listed below is all the information you will need to figure out the final coordinates – Good Luck:

1. Columns are vertical
2. Rows are horizontal
3. The front portion of a PT boat represents the columns (numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 )
4. The rear portion of a PT boat represents the rows (numbers 6, 7, 8, 9, 0) – (see below)
5. To translate the rows to numbers use the following scale 1. A=6; B=7; C=8; D=9; E=-0
6. On Grid, North is “UP”
7. All PT boats are either heading north or east
8. PT-1 is the most Western boat
9. PT-2 is the most Northern boat
10. PT-3 is the most Southern boat
11. Final Coordinates are:
    Latitude: N = 45° 56.(PT-3 rear plus 4)(PT-1 rear minus 4)(PT-2 front minus1)
    Longitude: W = 066° 38.(PT-3 front plus 2) (PT-2 rear minus 5)(PT-1 front minus 1)
12. The final cache is a regular size container on the UNB or STU campus. Find it and the battleships will be sunk and UNB and STU will be saved form sure destruction!. Move fast, sailor-the entire university student body is counting on YOU. HURRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!