The Rundown - Week 3

Two weeks were in the books. One team entered Week Three needing its first points, one team entered Week Three without a loss, and one team - the Regina Cougars - sat at home watching the action and preparing for Week Four. We're seeing teams figure out systems and building chemistry, players finding scoresheets, goalies standing tall, and points being earned. Storylines will develop as the season pushes on, but this first month of the season is where important points can be earned when it comes to playoff spots. In saying that, let's see who earned those important points this week on The Rundown!

FRIDAY: The Manitoba Bisons headed out on the road for the first time this season, landing in Calgary for a two-game set with the Dinos. Both teams were looking to strengthen their position in the standings, and this divisional battle could prove important when it comes to tie-breakers. In short, both teams were looking for wins, goals, and points as these two teams took to the ice at Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary on Canada West TV and on cbcsports.ca!


Bisons goals: none
Bisons assists: none
Bisons netminder: Emily Shippam (24/27)

Dinos goals: Emma Tait (1), Sydney Mercier (1), Sophia Zuck (1)
Dinos assists: Sydney Mercier (1), Jada Johns (2), Amelia Awad (1), Brette Kerley (1), Jess Martens (1)
Dinos netminder: Amelia Awad (30/30)

Result: 3-0 victory for Calgary over Manitoba.

SATURDAY: After a night where the Bisons couldn't find any goals, they were looking to even up the series with a better effort on Saturday. The Bisons had chances the night before, but the middle of the ice always seemed to have Dinos in it. The Dinos were aiming to do the same on Saturday as they looked for the two-game sweep, control of the season series, and their fourth win of the season!


Bisons goals: Julia Bird (1), Sadie Keller (1)
Bisons assists: Alyssa Rasmuson (2), Dana Goertzen (1), Brenna Nicol (2)
Bisons netminder: Emily Shippam (15/19)

Dinos goals: April Klarenbach (1), Evelyn Lawrence (1), Evelyn Lawrence (2), Solana Cooper (2), Jess Martens (2)
Dinos assists: Evelyn Lawrence (1), Caitlyn Perlinger (2), April Klarenbach (1), Alex Spence (1), Caitlyn Perlinger (3), Evelyn Lawrence (2), Eden Carius (1)
Dinos netminder: Maisie Cope (30/32)

Result: 5-2 victory for Calgary over Manitoba.

FRIDAY: The MacEwan Griffins headed south the Calgary to open the weekend set against the Mount Royal Cougars. MacEwan was looking for their first points of the season as they arrived in Calgary after battling both Canada West finalists in the previous two weeks. Those games didn't end the way they wanted, but it may have prepared them for these games. Mount Royal, meanwhile, was looking to build on their two-game streak after downing the Dinos the week before while preventing MacEwan from earning their first points.

Griffins goals: none
Griffins assists: none
Griffins netminder: Lindsey Johnson (26/28)

Cougars goals: Sydney Benko (2), Sydney Benko (3)
Cougars assists: Jori Hansen-Young (2), Allee Gerrard (3), Kiana McNinch (3)
Cougars netminder: Scout Anderson (5/5)

Result: 2-0 victory for Mount Royal over MacEwan.

SATURDAY: After an impressive defensive game by the Cougars in which they allowed just five shots, they headed north to visit the MacEwan Griffins on their ice. Mount Royal was looking for the same effort on Saturday while MacEwan was needing a much bigger effort. I spoke about their scoring struggles last week, so they needed a big push at home if they wanted to declaw the Cougars.

Griffins goals: Rian Santos (1), Megan Dolynchuk (2)
Griffins assists: Jordana Jones (1), Sydney Olsen (1)
Griffins shootout scorers: none
Griffins netminder: Taya Currie (44/46) in 65:00 plus 1/2 in the shootout

Cougars goals: Sydney Benko (4), Julia Duke (2)
Cougars assists: Kiana McNinch (4), Jaselyn Hojnocki (1), Summer Fomradas (2), Ava Metzger (2)
Cougars shootout scorers: Jordyn Hutt
Cougars netminder: Katherine Dolan (23/25) in 65:00 plus 3/3 in the shootout

Result: 3-2 shootout victory for Mount Royal over MacEwan.

FRIDAY: The Trinity Western Spartans made the trek inland as they arrived in Saskatoon for a two-game set with the Saskatchewan Huskies. The Huskies were coming off a bye week where they put in some solid work as they looked to improve on their 1-1-0-0 record. The Spartans, meanwhile, had tangled with the Canada West finalists in successive weeks and had come away with positive results with room to grow. Saskatchewan wanted to open their home schedule with a win while the Spartans were looking for another solid game!

Spartans goals: Jordyn Matthews (1), Presleigh Giesbrecht (2)
Spartans assists: Kyra McDonald (2), Kasey Ditner (3), Kyra McDonald (3)
Spartans netminders: Kate Fawcett (14/15) in 60:22

Huskies goals: Shelby Williamson (1)
Huskies assists: Kahlen Wisener (1), McKenna Bolger (2)
Huskies netminder: Colby Wilson (26/28) in 60:22

Result: 2-1 overtime victory for Trinity Western over Saskatchewan.

SATURDAY: Trinity Western improved to 3-1 in one-goal games with their overtime win on Friday and 3-0 in extra time, and it was expected that Saturday's contest would be anothe tight-checking affair with the Huskies. Saskatchewan had yet to score more than one goal in any of their three games this season, so they'd have to keep this a low-scoring affair if that trend was to continue.

Spartans goals: Chloe Reid (3), Kailey Ledoux (1), Jordyn Matthews (2), Chloe Reid (4)
Spartans assists: Emily Karpan (1), Ella Boon (3), Chloe Reid (1), Kyra McDonald (4)
Spartans netminders: Olivia Davidson (17/20) in 60:13

Huskies goals: Kaysah Nurani (1), Kara Mitenko (1), Paris Oleksyn (1)
Huskies assists: McKenna Bolger (3), Jaiyana Nurani (1), Kaysah Nurani (1), Jaiyana Nurani (2)
Huskies netminder: Clara Juca (24/28) in 60:13

Result: 4-3 overtime victory for Trinity Western over Saskatchewan.

FRIDAY: The Canada West Final rematch took place in Vancouver as the Alberta Pandas returned to where they earned the 2024-25 Canada West banner as they met the UBC Thunderbirds. Both teams will profess that this is a new season and past results don't matter, but there's still pride on the line and both sides weren't interested in giving anything to the other. UBC wants to prove that Alberta's wins on their ice last was a fluke while the Pandas wanted to prove that the banner is where it belongs. This may be a key divisional matchup early in the season for both squads in their pushes for more banners!

Pandas goals: none
Pandas assists: none
Pandas netminder: Misty Rey (24/25)

Thunderbirds goals: Jaylyn Morris (4), Mya Healey (1), Karine Sandilands (2)
Thunderbirds assists: Annalise Wong (5), Presley Zinger (1)
Thunderbirds netminder: Mya Lucifora (20/20)

Result: 3-0 victory for UBC over Alberta.

SATURDAY: The Pandas wouldn't be happy after being shutout, so it was expected they'd come into Saturday's game like a bear with a toothache. UBC looked solid defensively in their play, but they likely wanted more goals in an effort to win the season series. The two empty-netters helped that cause, but a big win would go further as the Pandas and Thunderbirds closed out their weekend series.

Pandas goals: Emma Power (2)
Pandas assists: Janay Williams (1), Holly Magnus (5)
Pandas netminder: Grace Glover (19/24)

Thunderbirds goals: Vanessa Schaefer (3), Annalise Wong (2), Karine Sandilands (3), Annalise Wong (3), Grace Elliott (4)
Thunderbirds assists: Grace Elliott (2), Sophia Gaskell (1), Vanessa Schaefer (2), Grace Elliott (3), Jacquelyn Fleming (1)
Thunderbirds netminder: Elise Hugens (9/10)

Result: 5-1 victory for UBC over Alberta.

Don't even ask about divisions. I'm not interested in that setup. It's one conference, nine teams, and we'll see who is best in the west.

CANADA WEST WOMEN'S HOCKEY

School	Record	Points	GF	GA	Streak	Next
UBC	6-0-0-0	12	18	5	W6	BYE
Calgary	4-2-0-0	8	13	8	W2	vs ALB
Mount Royal	4-2-0-0	8	10	8	W3	vs MAN
Trinity Western	0-2-4-0	8	14	14	W2	vs MAC
Alberta	2-2-0-2	6	12	15	L2	@ CAL
Regina	1-1-1-1	5	8	6	W1	vs SAS
Saskatchewan	1-1-0-2	4	6	9	L2	@ REG
Manitoba	0-2-1-1	3	7	13	L3	@ MRU
MacEwan	0-5-0-1	1	5	15	L6	@ TWU

Honour Roll

Each week on The Rundown, 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 a player who had an incredible weekend stopping pucks and contributing to the offence when she could. It isn't often that we talk about offence from a goaltender as it seems to happen rarely in Canada West, but it will be easy to see why Calgary Dinos goaltender Amelia Awad adds her name to the list!

Friday night on CBC's broadcast of the game, Awad stopped 30 shots for her second shutout of the season which leads Canada West. That shutout also dropped her GAA to an incredible 0.50, which also leads Canada West, as she's allowed just two goals in four games while going 3-1-0. Her 30 saves on 30 shots on Friday also pushed her save percentage to an impressive .983 in 237:52 of play, and that too leads Canada West. And just to top everything off, Awad picked up the second assist on Sydney Mercier's second period goal on Friday in the 3-0 win earned by the Dinos, giving her the lead for goalie points this season as she's the only goalie with offensive output!

With Awad being the top netminder for GAA, save pecentage, shutouts, minutes played, and points this season, she's been a large part of the reason why the Calgary Dinos sit atop the East Division standings right now. It's always a big weekend for a goalie when they earn a win and pick up a shutout, but getting the first goalie point of the season in that shutout victory is the cherry on top! That's how Calgary's Amelia Awad added her name to the Honour Roll!

New Looks - Part Five

The Saskatchewan Huskies broke out a new alternate jersey on Friday night for their game against Trinity Western, and this one has a pile of small details that need to be highlighted. As you can see, the Huskies are using the classic Saskatchewan "S" logo on the front, but the Huskies logo on the shoulders is their Indigenous logo which is a great addition assuming this jersey will be used all season. More Indigenous representation is always a good thing, so here's hoping this jersey gets regular rotation in the Huskies' closet. Beyond that, the black sleeves up to the collar give this jersey some good contrast, and the green "S" pops off the chest. I could use an additional green hem stripe above the black, thick stripe, but this jersey works as an alternate for the Huskies.

Shorty Season

We had another shorthanded goal scored this week, but I may have to asterisk this one. It still counts all the same on the scoreboard and on the stats page, but the situation is slightly different than the other four shorthanded goals scored this season. Those all came in the first and second periods of games whereas this one did not.

Mya Healey's shorthanded marker for UBC came with Jaylyn Morris sitting in the penalty box late in their game against Alberta on Friday, and the Pandas went with a 6-on-4 opportunity to try and tie the game. Again, this goal counts all the same for all scoring and statistical purposes so I want to be clear that I'm not faulting Mya for scoring on the empty net, but her shorthanded marker was different than the other four scored in that they all had to beat a goaltender.

Clearly, I need to go back and see how that affects last season's shorthanded goal total, so maybe that's a good project for one of the weeks where hockey isn't being played. Hopefully, before December!

Power Outage

Not surprisingly, the bottom two teams in Canada West - Manitoba and MacEwan - are the two teams with the worst power-play success rates in the conference. Manitoba has scored just once on 16 attempts for a 6.2% success rate while MacEwan is sporting an oh-fer-27 power-play right now. It's been said before on The Rundown in past seasons, but good special teams can win games in Canada West.

If you're wondering how this correlates to anything, last season's two worst power-plays were Calgary and MacEwan. Both not only missed the playoffs, but ended up at the bottom of their respective divisions. No one is saying that Manitoba and MacEwan will be in those positions when the season ends, but their odds would improve greatly of not ending up there if their power-plays could start scoring goals. Having effective special teams takes a lot of pressure off even-strength scoring and defence when games are low-scoring affairs.

New Looks - Part Six

The Alberta Pandas decided to refresh their yellow look this week as they unveiled new jerseys. Previous Pandas players who wore the numbers presented the new jerseys to those wearing the numbers now as former Pandas defender Taylor Anker presented Taylor Breen her new #4 jersey. I don't mind the circular logo used on this jersey with the Pandas logo in the middle, and the jersey has nice contrasting colours so things pop well. Full marks to the Pandas and head coach Howie Draper for including the Pandas alumnae in this new jersey ceremony as that is a great way for a program to respect to the women who laid the bricks in the path upon which the current players walk! We'll likely see these new uniforms in action next weekend when the Alberta Pandas tangle with the Calgary Dinos!

On The Network

In case you were unaware, CBC Sports has been streaming one men's hockey game and one women's hockey game from the Canada West schedule all season so far. Yes, it's absolutely free, and, yes, you can watch it on any internet-connected device. The streaming schedule can be found here, and the dates shown go right up to November 28!

The only teams not to be featured over the next six weeks of play are Regina and Trinity Western. Both of those schools had their men's teams featured in at least one game, but the women aren't getting that same opportunity which is somewhat disappointing. However, it is encouraging to see CBC using their platform for these games.

I don't know who is responsible for this deal with CBC to have Canada West games streamed, but I tip my cap to whoever it is. Getting more eyes on the games will only give these exceptional athletes more exposure. Let friends and family know they can watch games via CBC Gem, via cbcsports.ca, or on the CBC Sports Youtube channel!

The Last Word

Big shoutout to Jess Martens of the Calgary Dinos who played her 100th game on Friday night. That's a big accomplishment as the century mark for games means that Martens has been a solid contributor to the Dinos program for her university career. She won't break the Dinos' record set by Chelsea Court in 2020 of 138 career games, but she's going to end up with a solid total once her fifth and final season concludes this year. Maybe it ends with a banner?

Grace Elliott hit a milestone last weekend with her Friday night goal as she cracked the 100-point barrier in her career! With two more points this weekend, Grace is up to 102 points for her UBC career, and she appears to be on pace to break the UBC career scoring record of 116 points shared by Chanreet Bassi and Tatiana Rafter. Based on how she, Annalise Wong, and Vanessa Schaefer are scoring this season, I'm saying Grace Elliott will break that record.

Elliott also scored her 55th goal this weekend which tied her for 12th-highest in Canada West history with some former player who goes by the name of Hayley Wickenheiser! She's six goals back of Tatiana Rafter's UBC record of 61 career goals, and I think she's going to smash that too! Not lost in all of this is that she also has three game-winning goals this season already, and that has her tied for 6th-best in a career with 16 game-winners. She already holds UBC's record, and she's four back of Wickenheiser's all-time record of 20!

Still looking at milestones, Alberta's Jadynn Morden didn't score a power-play goal this weekend after the Pandas went oh-fer-14 against UBC (ouch!), but Morden is currently tied for ninth-most power-play goals all-time with 20 in her career. That puts her alongside former Manitoba Bisons forward Meghan Ross, and she sits just four goals back of Alberta's record of 24 PPGs set by Leah Copeland, Tarin Podloski, and Autumn MacDougall. She won't hit the all-time record set by Saskatchewan's Breanne George with 37, but 25 would tie her for second-best with former T-Bird Tatiana Rafter. Jadynn could hit that mark if the Alberta power-play gets clicking!

Why am I talking about these milestones and records? It's simple: the women who play Canada West hockey are exceptionally talented, and they deserve to be celebrated. Some may go on to play hockey professionally while others will use the degrees they've earned to accomplish great things away from the ice. What can't be forgotten is that these women are currently doing exceptional things both in the classroom AND on the ice at the same time.

Again, they deserve to be celebrated for these achievements before going on to bigger stages and brighter lights, so get down to your local rink and cheer them on or watch on Canada West TV, CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca, or the CBC Sports Youtube channel. You could witness history made before these women go off and make more history!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!