The Rundown - Week 5

We're one month into the season already, and there are some storylines that are appearing in each division. Week Five's games may give us more insight as to which teams have a legitimate shot at representing Canada West in Elmira, Ontario in March, but we're only 48 hours into November so there's still time for teams outside the playoff picture to make changes. The Mount Royal Cougars got a chance to kick back, do some scouting, and watch the other eight teams battle this week, so let's check out the action from three of four western four provinces on this week's edition on The Rundown!

THURSDAY: We'll start in Edmonton for a rare Thursday night game on the Canada West schedule as the Calgary Dinos headed north to face the MacEwan Griffins. Calgary was looking to overtake the idle Mount Royal Cougars to remain in the race for first-place in the East Division while MacEwan was looking to build on win over Trinity Western last weekend. Depending on other results this weekend, MacEwan could move out of the basement of the overall Canada West standings if they could keep the winning feeling alive. Might we see that?

Dinos goals: Sydney Mercier (2), Sydney Mercier (3)
Dinos assists: Kyla Mitenko (1), Eden Carius (2), Alex Spence (4)
Dinos netminder: Amelia Awad (21/22)

Griffins goals: Megan Dolynchuk (3)
Griffins assists: Jordan Brown (1), Sydney Olsen (2)
Griffins netminder: Lindsey Johnson (25/27)

Result: 2-1 victory for Calgary over MacEwan.

FRIDAY: After another road win, the Dinso returned home to host the MacEwan Griffins on Saturday as the series shifted to southern Alberta. A win today would move the Dinos into first-place atop the standings, so they were coming home hungry for more. MacEwan showed that they can play with teams that can make noise again, and it seems like they may be turning corner. It's a slow turn, but a turn nonetheless! Could they find some Griffins magic on Friday?


Griffins goals: Sydney Olsen (1)
Griffins assists: Claire Hobbs (1), Sydney Jack (1)
Griffins netminder: Lindsey Johnson (28/28) in 61:36 of action

Dinos goals: none
Dinos assists: none
Dinos netminder: Maisie Cope (18/19) in 61:36 of action

Result: 1-0 overtime victory for MacEwan over Calgary.

FRIDAY: If you were home on Friday to hand out candy to Halloweening tykes, you may have caught this game on cbcsports.ca or the CBC Youtube Channel. The Saskatchewan Huskies loaded up the bus and headed southeast to the Manitoba capital where the Bisons were waiting as these two opened a series. Both teams were looking for points as they looked to climb in the standings, and a divisional matchup meant that points were important to earn. This storied rivalry added another chapter on Halloween!

Huskies goals: Sara Kendall (1), Kendra Zuchotzki (1), Sara Kendall (2)
Huskies assists: Jayde Cadieux (2), Jayde Cadieux (3), Bronwyn Boucher (1), Jayde Cadieux (4), Jacquelyne Chief (1)
Huskies netminder: Colby Wilson (37/38)

Bisons goals: Norah Collins (2)
Bisons assists: Aimee Patrick (4)
Bisons netminder: Emily Shippam (15/18)

Result: 3-1 victory for Saskatchewan over Manitoba.

SATURDAY: The Huskies grabbed two big points on Friday night, and they had a chance to move past the Regina Cougars in the standings depending on the Cougars' results. Their win also ensured that Manitoba would remain behind them in the standings even if they dropped Saturday's game. Manitoba, on the other side, just needed to find ways to score goals and win games. Anything else would be a bonus as they looked to split thw weekend series with Saskatchewan.

Huskies goals: Peppi Virtanen (2)
Huskies assists: Jayde Cadieux (5), Jacquelyne Chief (2)
Huskies shootout scorers: Peppi Virtanen, Sara Kendall Huskies netminder: Colby Wilson (45/46) in 65:00 plus 2/3 in the shootout

Bisons goals: Julia Bird (2)
Bisons assists: Dana Goertzen (2), Hanna Bailey (2)
Bisons shootout scorers: Kelsey Huibers Bisons netminder: Cypress Classen (19/20) in 65:00 plus 1/3 in the shootout

Result: 2-1 shootout victory for Saskatchewan over Manitoba.

FRIDAY: The Trinity Western Spartans hopped the mountains and headed to Edmonton for a two-game set with the Pandas. This series may go a long way in determining playoff spots for these two teams as wins and head-to-head wins are criteria for teams tied in the standings. Two points separated these two teams heading into the weekend, so both were playing for wins as Alberta looked to move back into second-place in the West Division while TWU looked to open up a big gap in the standings and put pressure on the Pandas.

Spartans goals: Chloe Reid (5), Kyla Anderson (1), Kara Yackel (4), Kadence Dansereau (1)
Spartans assists: Jordyn Matthews (2), Sadie Isfeld (4), Kara Yackel (3), Chayce Kullman (2), Sadie Isfeld (5), Kara Yackel (4), Jordyn Matthews (3)
Spartans netminders: Kate Fawcett (22/24)

Pandas goals: Abby Soyko (3), Ryann Perrett (2)
Pandas assists: Jadynn Morden (3), Brayden Stewart (2), Abby Soyko (3)
Pandas netminder: Mackenzie Dojahn (27/31)

Result: 4-2 victory for Trinity Western over Alberta.

SATURDAY: Friday's win put the Spartans up four points on Alberta in the West Division, and a sweep would open up a six-point spread that would give the Spartans some breathing room. The Pandas' first loss on home ice since February 28 put them in a bit of a hole, and they needed the split to start climbing out to keep pace with the Spartans.

Spartans goals: Kara Yackel (5), Kyra McDonald (4), Jordyn Matthews (3), Chloe Reid (6)
Spartans assists: Kyla Anderson (1), Kelsey Ledoux (2), Chloe Reid (4), Chloe Reid (5), Kasey Ditner (3), Jordyn Matthews (4), Presleigh Giesbrecht (4)
Spartans netminders: Olivia Davidson (21/21)

Pandas goals: none
Pandas assists: none
Pandas netminder: Misty Rey (17/21)

Result: 4-0 victory for Trinity Western over Alberta.

FRIDAY: UBC came off a bye week by travelling to Regina to meet the Cougars for a two-game set. The Thunderbirds were rolling early in this season, undefeated through six games, and they were looking to keep that win streak going. The Cougars have been hot and cold this season, but there's nothing like a test against the best to see where a team measures up. The Cougars had a shot, if they could snap the win streak, to add another team to the dance near the top of the East Division standings, so this game had meaning for both squads!

Thunderbirds goals: Audrey Church (1), Ashton Thorpe (1), Grace Elliott (5), Mya Healey (2)
Thunderbirds assists: Jacquelyn Fleming (2), Jaylyn Morris (1), Karine Sandilands (1), Kailee Peppler (1), Vanessa Schaefer (3), Mia Bierd (1), Jaylyn Morris (2)
Thunderbirds netminder: Elise Hugens (16/16)

Cougars goals: none
Cougars assists: none
Cougars netminder: Natalie Williamson (55/58)

Result: 4-0 victory for UBC over Regina.

SATURDAY: After being shutout on home ice, the Cougars needed to find their claws if they hoped to bring down the high-flying Thunderbirds. The shot totals were clearly on one side's favour, so we'd have to see if the ice was tilted once again on Saturday. UBC looked for the sweep while the Cougars aimed for the split!

Thunderbirds goals: Grace Elliott (6), Grace Elliott (7), Grace Elliott (8)
Thunderbirds assists: Annalise Wong (7), Jaylyn Morris (3), Annalise Wong (8), Elle Lorenz (1), Vanessa Schaefer (4)
Thunderbirds netminder: Mya Lucifora (16/17)

Cougars goals: Makena Kushniruk (2)
Cougars assists: Olivia Leggett (2), Quinn McLaren (3)
Cougars netminder: Amy Swayze (53/55)

Result: 3-1 victory for UBC over Regina.

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	8-0-0-0	16	25	6	W8	vs MAN
Trinity Western	3-3-4-0	14	28	18	W2	BYE
Calgary	6-3-0-1	13	17	14	L1	@ SAS
Mount Royal	4-2-2-0	12	17	10	W5	vs ALB
Saskatchewan	2-2-2-2	10	12	15	W2	vs CAL
Regina	2-3-1-2	8	13	15	L2	@ MAC
Alberta	3-5-0-2	8	18	25	L2	@ MRU
MacEwan	1-7-1-1	5	9	23	W1	vs REG
Manitoba	0-4-1-3	5	11	24	L7	@ UBC

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. I could award this to two UBC Thunderbirds this week, but I'll discuss their marches towards history below. Instead, there was one woman who was in on every goal scored in regulation time this weekend for her team, and that stands out. They only scored four goals all weekend aside from the shootout, but Saskatchewan's Jayde Cadieux was in on every one of those goals and that's how she adds her name to the list!

Cadieux not being recruited was always a mystery to me, so seeing the Huskies reach out and offer her a spot after she spent one season with the ACAC's Lakeland College felt like a wrong had been righted. Her first two seasons with the Huskies didn't see her net a pile of points, but the Huskies aren't the most offensively-minded team either. Instead, she's worked hard to become a solid 200-foot player, she wins face-offs, and she's shown a knack for playmaking with seven helpers last season and five more this season already!

She had one assist entering the weekend, but she went on a blitz against the Bisons, registering four primary assists on the four goals scored by the Huskies as she found teammates who could finish this weekend. It isn't often that one player records four primary assists in one weekend, let alone being the primary assist on every goal scored by her team that weekend, but Jayde Cadieux did that this weekend, and that's how she makes the Honour Roll this week!

March Towards History

UBC's Grace Elliott scored four goals this weekend, including a hat trick on Sunday. That alone should have people at the professional levels of hockey drooling over her skillset, but her eight goals this season now have her tied for the ninth-best total with 59 goals in a Canada West career alongside former Pandas forward and current MacEwan Associate Director of Athletics Lindsay McAlpine! More notably, it leaves Elliott just two goals shy of UBC's all-time record of 61 set by Tatiana Rafter! It appears she'll set a new record!

One more goal will put her alongside former Pandas sniper Alex Poznikoff who went on to play professionally. Her 61st goal, as stated, ties her with Rafter who played professionally. 62 gives her the new UBC record, and that leaves her seven back of former Dinos forward Iya Gavrilova who played professionally. If she can hit the 21-goal mark this season, Elliott will tie Kristin Hagg for fifth-most goals all-time, and Hagg played professionally as well. Sense a trend?

Grace Elliott has size, strength, great hands, a nose for the net, and a gift when it comes to denting twine. I'm not saying she will go on to be a professional hockey player, but, if she choose to do so, she has the skills and the numbers that should have her name on a lot of general managers' lists when she finally graduates. If you're heading down to Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Arena next weekend, you might be treated to a little history if Grace Elliott does what she does best.

Of course, if you're the Manitoba Bisons, you're likely going to have your hands full trying to contain #26 and her quest for history!

Quietly Doing The Same

It's not hard to see why Elliott has had the success she's found when she's been playing alongside talented players. That's not to say that Elliott hasn't put in the work to earn her accolades, but every great goal-scorer often has someone passing her the puck. That's where Annalise Wong comes in, and she had quietly begun a climb towards history herself as Elliott has been scoring all her goals!

Primarily used in a checking role for the first two seasons of her Canada West career thanks to her speed and relentless pursuit of the puck, Wong scored just one goal and ten assists in those first two campaigns. Whatever changed in Season Three is why Wong is now chasing history as she's piled up 52 points in 64 games - 42 of which are assists! If she continues her current pace for helpers, she should move past Tatiana Rafter into second-place all-time for assists in UBC Thunderbirds history. She's just three back from Rafter's mark, so it seems very achievable if she continues to play as well as she has!

She won't catch Chanreet Bassi for the top-spot in UBC history, but she passed Mackenzie Kordic's 51 assists this weekend. Assuming she equals her season-best 22 assists that she hit last year, she'll tie players named Madison Willan (ALB), Lauryn Keen (MAN), Julia Flinton (SAS), and Iya Gavrilova (CAL) for the 11th-highest total in Canada West history with 66 career helpers! How cool is that?

Scoring Would Help

If I'm Manitoba goalie Cypress Classen, I may be asking myself what I have to do to earn my first Canada West win. In three games this season, she's allowed just six goals, but currently sits with an 0-0-3 record as she's lost two games in the shootout and one in overtime. That second shootout loss came this weekend against the Huskies.

Having watched Manitoba a handful of times this season already, it's becoming fairly evident that the system they are playing either doesn't work or the players simply aren't able to run it. Defensive breakouts are slow and passes often miss their intended targets, there is almost no one attacking the middle of the ice in the offensive zone, and I'd estimate that 70% of their shots on net come from more than 20-feet out. As per the Ontario Minor Hockey Association, 55% of goals scored in the NHL in 2014-15 come from inside that 20-foot radius. This chart below shows the breakdown.

That number held fairly steady in 2018-19, and it seems to be trending that way again through each of the seasons since the shortened COVID-19 season. With goalies having less time to react to shots from that range, the rate of goals-per-shot should go up. This sounds obvious, but it seems that the Bisons have yet to discover this and they remain the only team without a regulation win. Not good.

Simply put, if you want to score more, go to the net. All the perimeter play by the Bisons hasn't accomplished anything when one considers they've scored six goals since October 17, been shutout twice, and have only scored three goals once this entire season. Something has to change for the Bisons or they're going to be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs by the December break.

The Other Conferences

Over in the OUA, the Guelph Gryphons are off to a 6-1-1-0 start to their season, Queen's is sitting at 4-2-2-0 to lead the East Division, Ottawa is right beside Queen's at 5-0-0-1, and Laurier is 4-2-2-0. Waterloo, who is hosting the National Championship again this season, is 2-4-1-1 so far, so giving them a free pass into the big tournament looks like a mistake early in this season. We'll see if they can improve before the OUA playoffs hit the calendar.

That four-team RSEQ conference looks remarkably like it did last season with Concordia off to a 4-0-0 start, defending national champions Bishop's sitting at 3-1-0, McGill at 1-2-1, and Montreal at 0-2-2. With all four teams making the playoffs in the RSEQ, the standings don't really matter outside of home-ice advantage, so we'll keep an eye on that conference as it moves along.

The AUS has seen a bit of a shuffle as UPEI holds the top spot right now at 7-2-1. UNB is right behind them at 7-2-0 with a game in-hand, StFX slots in at third-place with a 6-3-0 record, and Moncton at 5-2-1-1 has two games in-hand on division-leading UPEI. I was hoping that Moncton would make a run last season for a berth at the National Championship, but they fell short in the end. Maybe this is the year?

The Last Word

We're one month into a four-month season. Everyone has played one-quarter of their 28-game season. There are some great stories coming out of this first month with records on the verge of being broken, and there are some concerns in some cities when it comes to how teams are performing. Which side is your team on? Because if it's the latter when it comes to how the first month went, things need to change now if there are stories to be written about postseason hockey.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!