The Rundown - Week 1
Regina came out strong in this one as they controlled the action for most of the opening frame. Three-straight penalties through the game's opening ten minutes saw Regina playing a lot of hockey with the player advantage, but they couldn't capitalize on those chances. They would capitalize, though, when Paige Hubbard spotted Jenna Merk alone in the high slot from behind the net, hit Merk with the pass out front, and Merk wired a high shot past Sank at 14:05 to put the Cougars up 1-0 on Regina's first goal of the season!
Despite having another power-play minites later, Regina could not find the twine again in the opening period, and we'd move to the intermission with the score 1-0 in favour of Regina and the shots showing an 11-5 advantage for the Cougars as well.
Penalties would continue to break up the flow of this game as Regina was whistled early for an infraction in the second period before MacEwan handed two more power-play chances back to the Cougars. Regina would finally find the back of the net on their sixth power-play opportunity of the night when Olivia Leggett, fresh off the bench, wired a shot from the high slot that Sank stopped with the left pad, but Jenna Merk was standing on the doorstep to poke the puck past Sank for her second goal of the game, the season, and her career to give Regina the two-goal lead at 7:06!
The teams would again trade power-play oppoertunities later in the period with no success for either side, so we'd move to third period with Regina holding the 2-0 lead and a 23-10 edge in shots!
Stop me if you've heard this one before, but MacEwan got into penalty trouble early in the final frame as Regina went to work on a five-on-three power-play at the 5:27 mark. Jenna Merk would be in on this goal as well as her shot from the top of the umbrella would be stopped by Sank, but Olivia Leggett got a stick on the puck to get it past Sank to score the power-play goal after Sank was unable to secure the rebound at 6:54 to push the score to 3-0 in the Cougars' favour.
After finally shaking their sin bin parade route, the Griffins rallied to beat Kliewer when Makenna Schuttler at 12:36 for MacEwan's first goal of the season and her first Canada West goal, but Kliewer would close the door the rest of the way in leading the Regina Cougars to the 3-1 victory over the MacEwan Griffins. Arden Kliewer made 13 saves for her first victory of the season while Brianna Sank stopped 30 shots in the loss.
It appears we're going to have another season of "teams who refuse to make highlight packages", and the Regina Cougars are the first offender. It's been 48 hours since this game was played, so what gives? Get on it, Regina. I am not posting individual clips all season.
SATURDAY: The undefeated Regina Cougars took to the ice on Saturday looking to extend their one-game winning streak to start the season while the MacEwan Griffins were looking to snap their season-starting losing streak of one game. All jokes about records aside, both teams looked to claim victory today as Brianna Sank got her second-straight start for the Griffins while Natalie Williamson was in the blue paint for the Cougars for her first start of the season!
A much more focused MacEwan Griffins squad took to the ice in this game as they were the more aggressive team to start this game. Their early pressure on the Cougars saw them capitalize as Aryn Chambers beat Williamson with a shot at the 8:37 mark, and the Griffins had their first lead of the season at 1-0. Regina's attempt to respond would be thwarted thanks to a couple of infractions called against them, and we'd head into the intermission with MacEwan up 1-0 and leading 14-7 in shots.
The second period was played somewhat more evenly as both sides traded two power-plays opportunities each with nothing to show for any advantage on scoreboard, but there would be a goal scored as Claire Hobbs found some space to put a puck past Williamson at 17:05 for her first Canada West goal, and the Griffins claimed a two-goal lead heading into the third period after holding a 25-14 edge in shots through 40 minutes.
Old habits seem to die hard, though, and MacEwan fell into penalty trouble once again midway through the final frame as Regina played with the advantage for nearly eight-straight minutes. Regina could capitalize early on their first power-play of the period when Hannah Pennell's long shot from the point beat a screen Brianna Sank at the 9:27 mark for her first Canada West goal, and it was a 2-1 game.
That result lasted for all 55 seconds when Heather Fiske got a stick on Rachel O'Toole's point shot to redirect the puck past Sank at 10:22, and we were tied at 2-2!
Further power-play time didn't get Regina any additional goals, and MacEwan withstood playing most of this period in their own zone. Time for some free hockey as this game went to overtime tied 2-2!
It wouldn't take long to find a winner in the four-on-four portion of overtime as Mila Verbicky netted the game-winner just 1:40 into the extra time as the MacEwan Griffins bounced back with a 3-2 overtime win over the Regina Cougars! In a bit of a coincidental moment, both of Verbicky's goals in a MacEwan jersey have been game-winners, so it seems like having her on the ice late in tied games might be beneficial! In any case, Brianna Sank earned her first win with a 23-save effort in 61:38 of work while Natalie Williamson suffered the overtime loss despite making 27 saves in 61:31 of time.
Again, a lack of highlight packages from the Regina Cougars is baffling. The last time that the Cougars posted a YouTube hihglight package for women's hockey was January 25, 2020. Did we just forget how to make highlight reels over the last two seasons? Are we on some sort of highlight strike? Let's get the video going, Regina.
The Pandas are always tough when playing at home in Clare Drake Arena, and they were intent in getting pucks on net early. However, an early penalty would set them back a goal as Tatum Amy's long shot through traffic in front of Oswald found twine on the power-play at 7:33 to put the Cougars up 1-0! 2:17 later, though, the Pandas would equalize when Megan Wilson dropped a pass to Abby Soyko who made a nifty move to get by Kiana McNinch before going five-hole on Ross with a quick shot to tie the game 1-1 at 9:50 as she notched her first Canada West goal! A late power-play in the period for Mount Royal yielded no further goals as we headed into the intermission tied 1-1, but with Alberta up 11-7 in shots.
The Cougars seemed to come out with a little more fire in their skates to start the second period, but a penalty would slow them down. The game showed some elements of physical play along with good opportunities and better goaltending, and the end result was that the 1-1 stalemate remained despite two power-play opportunities for Alberta and one for Mount Royal. Those two power-plays did allow Alberta to double their shot total, though as they went into the third period holding a 22-12 edge in shots.
Early in the third period, we got to see a little Willan magic as the Pandas sniper went give-and-go with Payton Laumbach before finishing with a forehand-backhand over the outstretched right pad of Ross, and Willan's marker put Alberta up 2-1 at 2:38! Mount Royal would push the offence as they needed to find a way to even the score, and it looked like Aliya Jomha may have midway through the period, but the clang off the iron said no. Late in the period with Ross on the bench for the extra attacker, Mount Royal held the line and found Ava Metzger on the left side who slapped a puck towards Oswald where the puck ricocheted off an Alberta player in front and ended up behind the goal line to tie the game at 2-2! The credit for the goal went to Ava Metzger who records her first Canada West goal with ten seconds to play! That means we'd be heading to free hockey on the first night of the season!
The first period of free hockey saw no one score, so the four-on-four went to three-on-three for another period, and we'd see a winner here when Cassidy Maplethorpe broke away from the pack, skated in alone on Ross, nearly lost the puck, but was able to pull it to the backhand for the winner at 2:40 as the former Brock Badger scored her first Canada West goal at 2:40 of double-overtime for the 3-2 Alberta Pandas win over the Mount Royal Cougars! Halle Oswald earned the win in 67:08 of work as she stopped 22 shots while Ross took the double-overtime loss in 65:25 of work despite making 31 saves.
The Pandas have highlights! Here are the game's big moments!
Full disclosure on this game: I was nowhere near an internet connection in order to stream this game, and I have yet to watch the replay. As a result, this recap is being done in minimalist fashion because Mount Royal doesn't believe in posting clips or highlights of their teams. Or something like that.
Courtney Kollman scored on the power-play unassisted at 12:58 to give the Cougars the lead. They'd double that lead in the second period when Emma Bergesen found the back of the net off a blast from the point on a power-play as well, and it was 2-0 Mount Royal at the 15:51 mark of the middle frame. Aliya Johma would score at 12:20 of the third period to put Mount Royal up 3-0. It looked like Alberta got one back, but the officials determined that the puck had been directed past Ross by a high-stick, and it was waved off to keep the game at the 3-0 count.
In a sequence that needs explanation, Emma Bergesen scored on Alberta's empty net at 17:17 for her second goal of the game, but was also assessed a cross-checking penalty at the same time as per the scoresheet. Was the penalty assessed after she scored? Was Bergesen the last to touch the puck before Alberta misplayed it their own empty net on the delayed call? Whatever the case may be, Bergesen tallied the fourth Mount Royal goal on the night to make it 4-0 before Taylor Kezama's high shot on the power-play found room past Ross to snap the shutout with 2:09 to play. Alberta would get no closer, though, Mount Royal skated to the 4-1 victory over the Pandas! Kaitlyn Ross made 16 saves for her first win of the season on this night while Halle Oswald stopped 25 shots in the loss.
As stated above, there are neither highlights nor clips posted on social media that I can sew together as a highlight package, so I'm not exactly sure what Mount Royal is doing this season. Get it together, MRU, as I want to showcase your stars! You should too!
We didn't have to wait long for last year's points leader to get on the board. Just 2:04 into the game, Hannah Koroll intercepted the puck in the neutral zone, stepped across the blue line, and passed across the ice to Chanreet Bassi who went high with a backhander that I'm sure Durante wants back, but Bassi lit the lamp with the shot to give UBC the early 1-0 lead! Calgary didn't need much time to respond as Jolie Nafziger spotted Brette Kerley out front, but her shot was stopped only for the rebound to bounce to Rebecca Clarke who buried it behind Hugens at 5:51 to make it a 1-1 game! 2:29 later, Clarke was fired a shot from the top of the circle that Hugens stopped, but her long rebound came to Nafziger who outwaited Hugens before going high on the netminder for her first Canada West goal to make it a 2-1 game in favour of the Dinos! The good news is we were all able to catch our breath after that as the scoring trailed off in this period despite UBC having a power-play, but we'd hit the intermission with Calgary up 2-1 and leading in shots by a 10-9 count.
The second period slowed down as both teams decided to spend some time visiting the sin bin. UBC was whistled for three infractions while Calgary was called for two penalties, but it was the last penalty against UBC that saw the Thunderbirds capitalize on a mistake. Mia Bierd threw a puck at Durante that she easily gloved, but it appeared she wanted to play it. The unfortunate part is that as she pinned the puck to the ice, the puck popped loose and Bierd, who followed her shot to the net, was able to sweep it past Durante on left side for a shorthanded goal and her first Canada West regular-season goal at 19:00 to tie the game at 2-2! UBC's goal would be the only one, and we'd go to the third period tied at two goals apiece and UBC holding a 23-22 edge in shots!
Just as they did last season, UBC used the third period to put their opposition away. A low shot by Ireland Perrott that, in this writer's opinion, Durante should have had made it 3-2 for UBC at 6:21 before Perrott doubled her goal total by winning a battle in front of Durante to chip home a rebound on the power-play at 16:29 to make it 4-2 for the Thunderbirds. Cassidy Rhodes would ice the game with an empty-netter - her first Canada West goal - as the UBC Thunderbirds downed the Calgary Dinos by a 5-2 score! Elise Hugens made 28 stops for her first win of the season while Gabriella Durante stopped 26 shots in 57:29 of work in the loss.
The Dinos are on their game with highlights early in the season!
SATURDAY: UBC looked to capture another regulation win on Saturday to make a perfect, four-point weekend while the Dinos needed to respond with a win of their own to keep pace with teams in Canada West. UBC knows the importance of wins when it comes to playoff standings while beating the Canada West champions would also send a statement that the Dinos, under head coach Carla MacLeod, were going to be a different team this season. Kate Stuart, the former Boston University netminder, got the call for the Thunderbirds in this game while Gabriella Durante was looking for a bounce-back game after Friday's loss.
This game had a different feeling to it as the Dinos seemed to be intent on controlling puck possession to limit the chances that the T-Birds had. UBC was still going to get their chances, of course, but it seems like the Dinos were far more controlled in their pace and play wth puck retrievals being much better on this day. Aside from one power-play that UBC received, there was no other ink on the scoresheet for the first period as the teams remained tied at 0-0 with UBC holding a 10-7 edge in shots as we entered the second frame.
The ice had barely frozen before the first goal was scored. Elizabeth Lang's shot from the point was redirected in front by Sophia Zuck for Zuck's first Canada West goal as the Dinos were on the board just 38 seconds into the period! Zuck liked that first goal so much, she camped out in front of Stuart again and was set up by Sydney Mercier on a feed out front that Zuck banged home for her second goal at 9:50 to put the Dinos up 2-0! The Dinos would get themselves into a bit of penalty trouble, but come away unscathed as they carried the two-goal lead into the second intermission as they held a 21-20 edge in shots!
The third period saw the Thunderbirds needing goals, but Calgary stuck to their game plan as they looked confident. Not lost on this writer was the newly-minted Clarke-Kerley-Nafziger line as Kerley carried the puck down the right side before feeding Clarke at the left post for the easy tap-in as the Dinos extended their lead to three goals with 4:37 to play! That would be more than enough offence for Durante on this night as she closed the door on the Thunderbirds, recording the season's first shutout, as the Calgary Dinos beat the UBC Thunderbirds by that 3-0 score! Durante was brilliant on this night in pitching the 28-save shutout for her first win while Kate Stuart suffered the 27-save loss in her Canada West regular-season debut.
More highlights? You betcha! Calgary's got them!
Saskatchewan added a number of solid offensive players this season, but Langley may just be the green-and-white's kryptonite as they couldn't find the back of the net in the opening frame despite having a pair of power-plays. Trinity Western had a power-play of their own, but the 0-0 score would stand tall after 20 minutes of play with the Spartans holding an 11-8 advantage in shots.
Mallory Dyer would break the stalemate 6:28 into the middle frame when her shot beat Mabel Maltais to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead, but the Spartans continued to push for an equalizer. They'd get one when a long shot on Drever late in the period trickled loose for Kyra MacDonald, the original shooter, that allowed her to sweep it into the yawning cage to tie the game at 1-1 at 18:22. Four penalties called on Trinity Western did slow the home team down, but it was 1-1 after 40 minutes with Saskatchewan holding a 23-17 edge in shots.
An early power-play in the third period was killed by Trinity Western before Saskatchewan negated a second power-play with a penalty of their own. A power-play for the Spartans was an opportunity missed as the 1-1 deadlock continued midway through the frame. We wouldn't see another lamp lit, in fact, until there was 1:08 remaining as Trinity Western held the blue line to keep the puck in before Jordyn Matthews fed McKenzie Mayo who teed up a shot high glove-side on a screened Camryn Drever for her first Canada West goal as Trinity Western took the 2-1 lead! 68 seconds later, there was celebrating to do as the Spartans opened their season with a 2-1 win over the Saskatchewan Huskies! Mabel Maltais was solid in stopping 29 shots for her first win of the season while Camryn Drever was on the losing end of a 24-save effort.
Trinity Western has this habit of only showing their own team's goals when they put together highlight packages, and it appears that trend will continue this season as Mallory Dyer's goal is not in the highlight package below. Highlight packages contain both teams, TWU, so let's correct this here and now before you play another home weekend series, mmmkay? At least they have some highlights, though.
SATURDAY: For the first time in their short Canada West history, the Trinity Western Spartans were above .500. Would we see them move to two games above .500? The Saskatchewan Huskies would have something to say about that as they looked to move back to .500 with a win in the second-half of this two-game set in southern BC. Colby Wilson was in the Huskies' net for this game while Kate Fawcett got the start for the Spartans to try to extend their winning ways!
The only problem? Nothing happened in the first period. No goals, no penalties, and no fights (thankfully). It was just shots and saves as we closed the period the same way we opened it at a 0-0 tie. Saskatchewan did hold an 8-7 lead in shots, though, so perhaps they could build on that?
Things appeared to be the same until we finally saw Trinity Western whistled for the first penalty of the game, and it didn't take long for Saskatchewan to make them pay. Ten seconds after Amy Potomak went to the sin bin, Kara Kondrat converted a Brooklyn Stevely pass into a power-play goal with her shot that beat Fawcett, and the Huskies had the 1-0 lead 7:57 into the middle period. Saskatchewan would get another power-play opportunity that was killed by the Spartans before the Spartans got a four-minute power-play thanks to a check to the head, but they too would come away empty-handed. One last power-play for the Huskies went with lighting a lamp, so the 1-0 lead was intact with the Huskies holding a 24-16 lead in shots.
Saskatchewan would get their legs going after an early infraction in the third period as Bronwyn Boucher found the back of the net at 5:28 to make it a 2-0 game for Saskatchewan, and that would become a three-goal lead at the 13:00 mark when Emily Holmes found room past Fawcett. It was a very Saksatchewan-like win in their efficiency and effectiveness as the Huskies earned the 3-0 victory over Trinity Western! Colby Wilson earned her first win and third career shutout with a 28-save clean sheet while Kate Fawcett stopped 28 shots in the loss.
In knowing that Trinity Western only posts highlights of their own goals, what do they do if the Spartans are blanked on home ice? They do nothing! Of course, that means there are no highlights whatsoever, so it was a light weekend of work for the TWU sports department.
| School | Record | Points | GF | GA | Streak | Next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Royal | 1-0-0-1 | 3 | 6 | 4 | W1 | vs TWU |
| Regina | 1-0-0-1 | 3 | 5 | 4 | L1 | BYE |
| Alberta | 0-1-1-0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | L1 | @ MAC |
| Calgary | 1-1-0-0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | W1 | @ SAS |
| MacEwan | 0-1-1-0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | W1 | vs ALB |
| Saskatchewan | 1-1-0-0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | W1 | vs CAL |
| Trinity Western | 1-1-0-0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | L1 | @ MRU |
| UBC | 1-1-0-0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | L1 | vs MAN |
| Manitoba | 0-0-0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | n/a | @ UBC |
The Last Word
There isn't much to say after one week of play. Some people will point to upsets between teams that were separated by a gap in points last season, but this happens every year. It takes time for teams to find chemistry and timing, and regular season games are played at a different level than preseason and exhibition games. The points still matter, mind you, but seeing all eight teams record points with no one getting blown out is a good sign.We'll see how next week's slate of games go as the Regina Cougars watch the rest of the conference battle while the Fluffy Cows get their first action after watching the Thunderbirds hang the Canada West championship banner in their barn. Having teams play close games all season long would be ideal as the races for playoff spots will heat up, but there's very little by which one should be bothered this week while having a lot to celebrate after watching a pile of new additions to squads score their first Canada West goals and points. Congratulations to all those players!
Oh, and if you're asking who the Fluffy Cows are, the full explanation is here.
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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