The Rundown - Week 1
Before we jump into the games, let's not forget that the format of The Rundown will change based on the efforts given by each of the schools. I'm not the marketing department for Canada West or any of the schools, so the recaps found here will reflect the efforts given by the schools when it comes to marketing themselves and their players. If you're not a fan of that, neither am I, but the harsh reality is that I'm not the marketing department for any school or the Canada West conference. If you want these recaps to change, you know where to direct your displeasure. In saying that, let's look at the games!
The opening period of hockey saw both teams playing with purpose while defending their nets well. UBC showed a champion-like resolve in generating scoring chances, but they would be denied by the Calgary defence and Durante. The first frame felt like ti flew by as neither team found the back of the net nor did either side commit a penalty. After 20 minutes, UBC and Calgary remained tied at 0-0 with the T-Birds doubling the Dinos in shots at a 14-7 count.
The second period would begin with the same style of play seen in the first period, but we'd see one team finally break the stalemate early. Sydney Mercier dropped a puck off to Kate Wagner on the blueline who threw it cross-ice to Emma Tait, and Tait's long shot from the point eluded the traffic in front to beat Hugens for her first goal as Calgary took the lead at the 4:56 mark!
That goal seemed to refocus the Thunderbirds once again as they killed off the first penalty of the game minutes after the goal with the solid pressure they put on the Dinos. Late in the frame, they'd get the equalizer as Mackenzie Kordic and Karine Sandilands tore down the ice with Kordic feeding Sandilands in stride, and Sandilands roofed the puck past Durante at 18:31 to make it a 1-1 game! That was the score as we hit the break with the T-Birds holding a 27-14 edge in shots as well.
We didn't wait long to see a goal in the third period as Sandilands was back at it after scoring her first before the break. On this play, a turnover at the blueline gave Mackenzie Kordic a chance to fire a puck from the right faceoff circle that was stopped, but Sandilands jumped all over the rebound to pot her second goal of the night at 1:47, and UBC had their first lead at 2-1!
Calgary knew they needed another goal and they stepped up their attack to find one. A failed clearing by the T-Birds after a stick lift landed on the stick of Brooklin Fry who fired the puck deep, and it found the stick of Kyla Mitenko behind the UBC defence as she went backhand over the glove of Hugens at 10:18 for her first goal, and we were tied up at 2-2!
The remaining ten minutes of the game was played with both sides giving up very little ice in their defensive zones, and the final horn at the end of 60 minutes had these teams still tied up so opening night in Calgary gave us free hockey as we moved to overtime at 2-2 and with UBC holding a 36-20 edge in shots! Unfortunately, neither overtime period helped in finding a winner, so we'd move to the skills competition where one familiar name made the difference.
After Brooklyn Anderson was stopped on Calgary's first attempt, Karine Sandilands skated down the middle of the ice and went high and hard to the top corner on the glove side of Durante to put UBC up 1-0. From there, Elise Hugens did the rest as she stopped both Kyla Mitenko and Sydney Mercier to help UBC secure the 3-2 shootout victory! Hugens made 21 stops along with three in the breakaway portion for the win while Gabriella Durante stopped 39 shots and one of two breakaways in the shootout loss.
The Dinos continue their excellence with more highlight reels this season! If you want your team at the top of The Rundown, make highlight reels. I can't promote excellence from the athletes if there's no evidence of that excellence. This isn't a hard concept, is it?
SATURDAY: UBC and Calgary met again for the back half of the two-game set, and I almost want to see more games between these two because of this rivalry that's developing between them. I know we'll have more games later this season, but that three-game series last season plus yesterday's tightly-contested match is what every hockey fan wants to see! Elise Hugens was back in the crease for the T-Birds while Amelia Awad got her first start for the Dinos on Saturday.
To say things started off wrong for the Dinos might be an understatement. Just a few seconds after the opening faceoff, the puck was passed back to Brooklin Fry who lost her footing, giving the puck up to Mackenzie Kordic who skated to the middle the ice and sniped a shot over Awad's blocker just nine seconds into the game as UBC took the 1-0 lead.
The Dinos weren't deterred by the early setback, though, as a former TWU Spartan made her mark for the Dinos. Off a faceoff win by Sydney Mercier on an early power-play, Brooklyn Anderson stepped into the faceoff circle and fired a low shot inside the far post past Hugens to tie the game at 1-1 at 2:06! And she wasn't done there as Anderson finished off a three-way passing play down low between herself, Mercier, Kyla Mitenko to put the Dinos up 2-1 at 9:23! Anderson's success against UBC will be discussed further below!
Anderson was on the wrong side of the next goal, unfortunately, as she was in the penalty box when Jaylyn Morris' low point shot past traffic in front found the inside of the far post on Awad's glove side, and that tied the game at 2-2 at 16:51! That score would be how these teams finished the first period after an entertaining opening frame where Calgary outshot UBC by a 10-8 margin!
UBC would break things open early in the second period. Karine Sandilands had a chance off a Mackenzie Kordic rebound, but the late trailer would clean things up as Chanreet Bassi notched her first goal of the season at 4:50 on the second chance opportunity. They'd add another 90 seconds later when a centering pass from behind the net found Mya Bierd, and she roofed a shot past Awad to make it a 4-2 game at 6:20. That would be all the scoring in the middle frame as the T-Birds carried the 4-2 lead and a 19-18 edge in shots into the third period.
Like they did in the second period, UBC struck early in the third period to potentially put this game out of reach. Grace Elliott fought off a check to score from her knees on an Annalise Wong centering pass at 1:56 to make it 5-2, and Sophie Gaskell teed up a puck to hammer it by Awad on the glove side at 5:56 to make it a 6-2 game. Caitlyn Perlinger would score a power-play goal on an end-to-end rush late, but the damage had been done as UBC skated to the 6-3 victory. Elise Hugens picked up her second win of the season with a 19-save effort while Amelia Awad made 28 stops in the setback.
Highlights of this game are below! They did get the right highlight reel on here despite the intro saying it's men's soccer, so no harm, no foul on this one. Thanks again, Dinos!
Cougars goals: Athena Hauck (1), Jerzey Watteyne (1)
Cougars assists: Abigail Borbandy (1), Kiana McNinch (1), Athena Hauck (1), Summer Fomradas (1)
Cougars netminder: Kaitlyn Ross (25/25)
Spartans goals: none
Spartans assists: none
Spartans netminder: Kate Fawcett (35/37)
Result: 2-0 victory for Mount Royal over Trinity Western.
SATURDAY: This style of write-up will continue until the home team gets its act together. Until then, these minimalist boxscores will be the only recaps I provide.
Cougars goals: Aliya Jomha (1), Jerzey Watteyne (2), Ashley Grice (1), Julia Duke (1)
Cougars assists: Sydney Benko (1), Athena Hauck (2), Jordynne Hojnocki (2), Allee Gerrard (1), Lyvia Butz (1), Aliya Jomha (1)
Cougars netminder: Scout Anderson (23/23)
Spartans goals: none
Spartans assists: none
Spartans netminders: Kate Fawcett (9/11) through 12:50; Mabel Maltais (19/21) through 47:08
Result: 4-0 victory for Mount Royal over Trinity Western.
Pandas goals: Maia Ehmann (2), Abby Soyko (1), Brooklyn Tews (1)
Pandas assists: Sara Kazeil (3), Jadynn Morden (2), Holly Magnus (1), Abby Soyko (1)
Pandas netminder: Grace Glover (6/6)
Griffins goals: none
Griffins assists: none
Griffins netminder: Brianna Sank (29/33)
Result: 4-0 victory for Alberta over MacEwan.
Griffins goals: none
Griffins assists: none
Griffins netminder: Lindsey Johnson (30/32)
Pandas goals: Abbey Bourdeaud'Hui (1), Sara Kazeil (2), Natalie Kieser (1)
Pandas assists: Ryann Perrett (1), Izzy Lajoie (2)
Pandas netminder: Misty Rey (17/17)
Result: 3-0 victory for Alberta over MacEwan.
Cougars goals: Shaylee Scraba (1), Kaylee Dyer (1)
Cougars assists: Pippy Pritchard (1), Megan Long (1), Lauren Focht (1)
Cougars netminder: Natalie Williamson (25/26) in 63:37
Huskies goals: Kahlen Wisener (1)
Huskies assists: Jayde Cadieux (1), Kendra Zuchotzki (2)
Huskies netminder: Colby Wilson (34/36) in 63:37
Result: 2-1 overtime victory for Regina over Saskatchewan.
Of course, you could head to the Canada West website to check the boxscore, but you'd also find this as of 11:30AM on Sunday morning.
Huskies goals: none
Huskies assists: none
Huskies netminder: Emma Backman (17/18)
Cougars goals: Kaitlyn Gilroy (1)
Cougars assists: Jules Stokes (1)
Cougars netminder: Natalie Williamson (23/23)
Result: 1-0 victory for Regina over Saskatchewan.
| School | Record | Points | GF | GA | Streak | Next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | 2-0-0-0 | 4 | 7 | 0 | W2 | @ MAN |
| Mount Royal | 2-0-0-0 | 4 | 6 | 0 | W2 | @ UBC |
| UBC | 1-0-1-0 | 4 | 8 | 5 | W2 | vs MRU |
| Regina | 1-0-1-0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | W2 | @ MAC |
| Saskatchewan | 0-1-0-1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | L2 | vs CAL |
| Calgary | 0-1-0-1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | L2 | @ SAS |
| Manitoba | 0-0-0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | n/a | vs ALB |
| Trinity Western | 0-2-0-0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | L2 | BYE |
| MacEwan | 0-2-0-0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | L2 | vs REG |
Honour Roll
I'm adding this new feature to every edition of The Rundown I post where I highlight the best performances from the weekend's games. It won't always be the top scorer or the best goalie, but I'll have a reason for who gets picked each week. This week's Honour Roll candidate is Regina Cougars netminder Natalie Williamson!Natalie Williamson has been through a lot in her time in Canada West since 2021-22. Since joining the Cougars, she was 2-17-1 in her career prior to this weekend, and she's now 2-0-0 on this season. Imagine equalling the number of wins you had in the previous three seasons in one weekend, and doing it against a team that finished in sixth-place at Nationals by shutting them out in one of two games. There was never any doubt about Williamson's abilities after an impressive run with the Westman Wildcats in the MFHL, and it looks like the Cougars are ready to help her earn more wins this season as they push for a playoff spot. If they are to secure a spot, Williamson will be an important part of the Regina resurgence!
Equalling your career win total in one weekend over your interprovincial rivals? That's worthy of the honour roll!
Schedule Quirk
Be aware that the Alberta-Manitoba series takes place on Saturday and Sunday next week which means that The Rundown will not be published until Sunday evening or Monday morning. I'm not quite certain why there isn't a game on Friday when Monday is Canadian Thanksgiving, but Alberta and Manitoba will tangle at 7pm CT on Saturday and 4pm CT on Sunday.Of course, knowing that Manitoba fails to post highlight reels on YouTube means a Sunday evening publication time might be completely feasible since I suspect they won't do them again this season. That means they'll get the new format, and that format won't take me long to update. I'm not daring them to, but if they wanted to mess with me even a little bit, producing a highlight reel for YouTube on that night would be a good way to do so. Hint, hint.
New Colours, Same Anderson
Brooklyn Anderson, mentioned above, has jumped from the Trinity Western Spartans to the Calgary Dinos for this season, but it seems her scoring abilities haven't gone anywhere, specifically against UBC. In total, Anderson has scored 25 Canada West goals in her career to this point, and seven of those have come against the Thunderbirds! Of her 44 total points, ten have been recorded against UBC as well!That's not to say that she hasn't found the net against other teams, though. She has five goals and three assists against Manitoba, is stuck at four goals and four assists against Calgary, and has two goals and five assists against Regina. If you're doing the math, that's 33 points against just four teams! On the other side, Saskatchewan has held her to one goal while MacEwan has only surrendered two goals to Anderson, and there will be a time - specifically six games - where she'll have a shot to score against all nine Canada West teams when she faces off against Trinity Western.
UBC will see her four more times this season - November 15 and 16, and February 14 and 15 - while Manitoba will see her once on November 22 and 23. We'll have to see if she can keep her torrid scoring pace against those two teams going while wearing Dinos' red!
An Olympic Opportunity
In case you missed the news on The Hockey Show this week, the Calgary Dinos will lose one of their impact players in the next few weeks as she leaves for a chance to skate at the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy!Goaltender Gabriella Durante has opted to join the Italian ice hockey team and needs to play with Team Italy for at least a year for her to become a naturalized citizen, giving Team Italy two U SPORTS goalies when it makes its Olympic debut in hockey in 2026. Guelph Gryphons goaltender Martina Fedel, who was born in Trentino, Italy, will skate for Team Italy in 2026, but it would appear that Durante is the second goalie that Italy will dress in most games at the Olympics when the event starts!
Selfishly, it sucks losing a talented player from Canada West like Durante, but I'd be making the same arrangements if I were in her shoes. We'll keep an eye on Durante for when she leaves, but I want to wish her all the luck in the world when it comes to this opportunity! Maybe we'll see Durante steal a game or two in Milan in 2026? Looks like I need to find a Team Italy jersey before then!
The Last Word
I'm not saying that one leads to another, but if teams either don't have the available staffing or simply don't have the want to have people running their social media accounts including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok on a regular basis, should we be surprised if these are the same schools that will use generative AI to write their stories for them?People wonder why Canadian university sports is an afterthought for most, and I can honestly say that it's because the powers-that-be who run the system are wholly incapable of doing so. Whether it's U SPORTS or the respective conferences or the schools themselves, there should be clear policies set by U SPORTS that all of the conference follow. From there, respective policies pertaining to the schools within those conferences should be set by the conferences themselves that not only support U SPORTS and their policies, but the conference-basesd schools as well. After that, school policies should be enforced by the schools themselves as long as they support the policies above them and the athletes and programs below them.
That's how the NCAA runs, and we should be looking to them for guidance in building a proper hierarchy when it comes to policies including both highlight production and generative AI usage. I'm not saying we need to adopt their policies, but the hierarchy of who makes policy for whom to follow should be something that Canadian university sports discovers sooner rather than later.
I say this because the first wave of AI-generated stories on school websites and the Canada West website is less of an "if" and more of a "when" based on how little social media activity there was from schools this weekend when the majority of winter sports got underway. Like writing style guides, AI is a tool, not an author, but it feels like we're losing the people who tell the stories in the west.
If you don't believe this is a problem, just look at the minimalist recaps above when it comes to how many schools aren't even doing the bare minimum. Even AI-generated stories need some sort of factual input to be accurate. As stated repeatedly on this article, if you want to see things get better for your team and its athletes, demand more from your athletic department now.
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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