Getting Ready For Next Season

While we just finished off the final games of the 2024-25 season, it seems the preparation for next season starts now. Teams are going over their rosters, figuring out strengths and weaknesses, and identifying strategies and systems they're going to play, but the one thing that certainly helps in building for next season is a schedule. Canada West jumped all over that today by releasing their men's and women's hockey schedules for the 2025-26 season as Canadian university teams start building for next season! Let's take a look at some key games on the schedules!

The women's schedule will see things kick off in Regina as the early game on the 2025-26 schedule with the Cougars hosting the Calgary Dinos. The men's schedule sees the early game coming from Saskatoon as the Mount Royal Cougars meet the Saskatchewan Huskies in a rematch of last season's Canada West Final. Nine teams on both schedules will battle from Friday, October 3 until Saturday, February 14 to determine who will make the Canada West playoffs!

Here are some of the games that stand out on the 2025-26 schedule:

• Both UBC and Alberta start on the road for the women as the Thunderbirds will visit Edmonton with the new-look MacEwan Griffins whereas the Pandas will hit the road and visit BC for a date with the Trinity Western Spartans.
• Manitoba, who started the season with a bye, will see the women start at home as they host the Regina Cougars while the men head into Regina to battle the Cougars.
• The Canada West women's finalists meet in Vancouver on October 17 as the Pandas make their second trip to the lower BC mainland to meet the Thunderbirds.
• Jordan Colliton returns to Flames Community Arena on Friday, October 24 as the Colliton-coached Manitoba Bisons visit the Mount Royal Cougars. One province to the east, the Huskies and Cougars begin their interprovincial battle once again.
• Thursday, October 30 sees two women's games being played as the Huskies are in Winnipeg to meet the Bisons while the Dinos head north to battle the Griffins. Not sure why these games are on a Thursday, but that's the schedule.
• Eight women's teams and eight men's teams will play on Halloween. The only school who has time to be out collecting candy is Mount Royal as the Cougars have the bye this week.
• The November 7 weekend sees the rematches for the women of the Canada West semifinals. Alberta is in Calgary to play Mount Royal while the Bisons head to Vancouver to play UBC.
• We drop to six teams for the November 14 weekend as Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan take the weekend off. We'll see the first Cougars-vs-Cougars weekend of the season.
• The final weekend of the first half will be December 5 and 6. UBC and Trinity Western tangle for the first time this season while Saskatchewan and Regina battle for the second time.
• The season resumes on Friday, January 9 for everyone except the Pandas and Golden Bears as they have the bye in the opening weekend of the second half.
• It appears that the Crowchild Classic will be played on January 30 in the Saddledome with the Mount Royal Cougars hosting the Calgary Dinos. Always a big weekend in Calgary.
• The final weekend of the season is February 13 and 14, and UBC gets the weekend off with the bye. Will that affect them going into the playoffs? We'll have to find out!

Just as they did last season, each team will play a 28-game schedule over 16 weeks with the Canada West playoffs scheduled to begin on February 20 with the Canada West Final scheduled to begin on March 6. We'll see some divisional realignment again as the schools look to keep things competitive. This season will see Alberta, MacEwan, UBC, and Trinity Western in the West Division while Manitoba, Regina, Saskatchewan, Calgary, and Mount Royal make up the East Division.

If you're looking at the West Division, one of Alberta or UBC will not win the women's division this season - potentially neither could - so I'd expect those battles to be spirited this season. On the other side, all five teams could potentially take a run at the top of the division based on some of the turnover and some of the recruits, so these divisions could be a lot of fun to watch. Three months to go!

All nine teams for the men and women are looking to qualify for the National Championship this season. The women's tournament will be played in Waterloo for the second-straight season with the Warriors hosting the tournament while the men will head to Halifax, Nova Scotia as the Saint Mary's Huskies have the hosting duties. Both tournaments are scheduled to begin in their respective cities on March 19 through March 22, so clear your schedule for that action!

I'm working on the lists of recruits that teams will bring in next season, and that will be posted on July 1. As you're likely aware from years past, there are lists that will be incomplete because some teams inexplicably don't talk about the players they've scouted, spoken with, and are lucky enough to bring into their programs. This shocks me every year, but that's the reality of some of these schools.

In any case, we'll have more Canada West news next week! For now, get your schedules set for next season when it comes to figuring out which games and teams you want to see. I'm not promising anything, but I may do a road trip next season to a rink in one of the other cities. Nothing's written in stone yet, but I feel like I'm due to visit another Canada West rink. It will all come to down to scheduling, though, so I'll be watching the schedule as the season nears!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!