Russian captains with Scottish accents aside, Captain Marko Ramius, played by Sean Connery, stated the line shown in the image in the Hollywood adaptation of Tom Clancy's book, The Hunt for Red October. While he was talking about his crew's chances of surviving their escape and defection from the Soviet Union, one could have also applied those same odds to the IIHF's impending decision about reinstating Russia and Belarus into international ice hockey competitions in 2025-26. That decision was announced yesterday.
After meeting yesterday regarding reintegration, the IIHF announced that "the IIHF Council believes it is not yet safe to reintegrate the Russian and Belarusian National and Club Teams to its championships for the 2025-2026 season. As the current security conditions do not allow the necessary requirements for the organization of tournaments guaranteeing the safety of all, the IIHF must maintain the current status quo until further notice."
I'm not sure anyone would be surprised by this announcement given that Russia is still bombing Ukraine while Belarus cheers on their Russian neighbours, so this decision seemed like a no-brainer to most people. Had the IIHF reintegrated the two countries, I'm not saying that anything bad would come to its players or staff, but why would the IIHF want to risk any sort of liability if something did happen?
Dominik Hasek continued to be outspoken against the Russian attack in Ukraine, and I respect that he's speaking honestly and openly about his feelings over Russia's and Belarus' potential reinstatement to international hockey. On Twitter, he wrote,
"Until the Russian army leaves Ukraine and Russia takes full responsibility for all the lives lost and maimed and for all the damage caused during the war in Ukraine, no Russian athlete is allowed to compete. Every Russian athlete is unfortunately an advertisement for terrible Russian crimes. If these athletes, such as Russian hockey players, could play, it would cost a lot of human lives, including Russian ones. And we must not allow that. Human life is more than, an athlete's career."
You don't have to like Dominik Hasek as a player, but he's showing that he understands how the political machine in Russia uses sports and sporting achievements to bolster their messaging about how Russia is the greatest country on the planet. He's also showing intelligence by putting the safety and sanctity of human life above sporting events and athletic achievements. Like him or not, Dominik Hasek has a point that is difficult to debate.
Some of you will read this and have that mantra of "keep politics out of sports" running through your head. You're welcome to think that if you want, but that's not how life works. Sports is a microcosm of society, so you can see the very fabric of life sewn into sports. I'm not here to tell you who to vote for or which politicians are better or worse than others, but it's hard to keep politics out of sports when politics uses sports as a marketing tool in Russia.
In any case, it will be another full calendar year before Russia and Belarus will be reconsidered for reintegration into IIHF-sanctioned events as the first opportunity to discuss the matter will happen in May 2026 at the IIHF Council meeting ahead of the IIHF Annual Congress. My hope is that Russia will realize its wild miscalculation and withdraw from Ukraine sooner rather than later, but that seems like a pipe dream at this point after everything Russia has sunk into their siege of Ukraine. So much for "three days", right?
What shouldn't be forgotten is that the IIHF was a lot like Ukraine yeterday as they denied Russia and Belarus once again. Once again, we have proof that sports is a microcosm of society.
It's been nineteen years since this man last skated in the NHL. Not surprisingly, it's been 29 years since he last wore a Winnipeg Jets uniform, but centerman Alexei Zhamnov is back in the news today for reaching a mark that no one else has. This has nothing to do with his scoring prowess on the ice where he notched 249 goals and 719 points in 807 NHL contests, but he is still working in hockey as a head coach over in the KHL! Since fans of the Jets always like a good story about one of their hockey heroes, Zhamnov's new mark should bring a smile to faces in the Manitoba capital. The man they called "Archie" is now in one team's history books over in Russia thanks to his work behind the bench! What did Alexei Zhamnov do today? I don't celebrate KHL stuff often, but let's find out!
Zhamnov was drafted in the fourth-round of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft at 77th-overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the same draft where Keith Tkachuk was selected with the 19th selection. It should be noted that Martin Brodeur was taken immediately after Tkachuk while Vyacheslav Kozlov was taken 45th-overall by the Red Wings. The top of the draft was very solid with Nolan, Nedved, Primeau, Ricci, and Jagr going in the top-five picks, but the rest of the draft evened out very quickly as only a handful of stars emerged.
Zhamnov was drafted out of the Moscow Dynamo system in Russia where he had scored 11 goals and 17 points in 43 games with the Russian SuperLeague team. His numbers improved from there, and only Sergei Zubov and Peter Bondra scored more points as players taken after Zhamnov had been selected. He played for four teams as he wore uniforms for the Jets, Blackhawks, Flyers, and Bruins, and he retired in 2006 after injuries continually plagued his play.
After retiring, the Russian centerman went back home where he found work in the KHL as a GM with Vityaz Chekhov, Atlant Moscow Oblast, and Spartak Moscow. There was nothing particularly outstanding when it came to his time as the general manager of any of those teams, but he was the general manager when the Atlant Moscow Oblast team ceased its operations. He bounced to Spartak Moscow as their GM the following season, and he's done a little coaching when needed for that franchise as well.
Zhamnov embraced the role of coach in 2022 when he was named as the head coach of the Russian Olympic Team, beating out a number of more experienced candidates for the position. Some will point to his work with the athletes in PyeongChang including scouting and recommending players from the KHL. He was on the bench in South Korea as an assistant coach for that 2018 gold medal, and he added a silver medal as the head coach in Beijing after Russia fell to Finland.
Following his return from the Olympics and in preparation for the 2023-24 season, Zhamnov took over the head coaching duties for Spartak Moscow and hasn't looked back. Spartak went 40-20-4-4 under Zhamnov as they finished second in the Bobrov Division before falling in the second round to Metallurg Magnitogorsk in six games. Players like Nikolay Goldobin, Shane Prince, and Alexander Burmistrov helped to push the pace for Spartak, and they looked like they could be dangerous in the 2024-25 season.
Fast forward to this season, and Spartak is certainly holding their own as they lead the Bobrov Division by two points over perennial powerhouse SKA St. Petersburg with a game in-hand. Currently sitting with a 24-14-6-7 record, Goldobin is leading the team in scoring once again, but he's just ahead of former Flames forward Adam Ruzicka while Flyers' draft pick German Rubtsov is showing solid improvement. Spartak is fourth-overall in the KHL's West Division, but they trail second-place CSKA Moscow by one point.
In short, the 54 year-old Zhamnov has his team playing solid hockey as they're 4-1-2 over the last two weeks and looking to do more damage on Thursday against Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod.
So what's this record he's set, you ask?
With their victory today over Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Zhamnov recorded the 76th win behind the bench for Spartak Moscow, putting him atop the leaderboard for wins by any coach in Spartak history. For a team that has played in the KHL since 2008 for all but one season, that's a remarkably low number for coaching wins when one considers that this team is 17 years into its history. Why is it so low? Well, they've had 15 head coaches over that period including both Boris Mironov and German Titov, and have had three head coaches in the same season three times in their history! That's not good at all.
To give you an idea just how volatile the Spartak coaching position has been, Zhamnov is just the third head coach to make it through two full seasons behind the bench. The others were Latvia's Olegs Znaroks and Czechia's Milos Riha, making Zhamnov the first Russian to survive two winters as the head coach of Spartak Moscow. As the team moves forward, it's 76 wins and counting for Zhamnov so it doesn't appear he'll be going anywhere soon. But, of course, this is the KHL and things could change overnight.
In any case, I thought it was a cool little statistic to bring forth considering that Alexei Zhamnov was a fan favourite while he played in Winnipeg. Nicknamed "Archie" by his Jets teammates for his red hair, it seems that the playmaking Russian has become a solid coach in both the KHL and on the international circuit for Russia, and his accolades - including this new record - are evidence of that.
With another edition of the Female World Sport School Challenge wrapped up after yesterday's gold medal and bronze medal games, that puts the final touches an outstanding event once again. The hockey was awesome as the women from the twelve teams that participated all deserve a round of applause from me as I was treated to some incredible teamwork, fantastic individual efforts, and some of the best hockey action I've seen all year. That's where I'll start because there's a lot of people to thank!
To the players, you all deserve some serious kudos as we were witness to your athletic abilities and dedication to the game. Whether it was Mullen MacIntyre going bar-down on a rush up the ice, Isabella Mann capping off a two-on-one in overtime, or Ivy Perkin dancing between defenders, these were just three of the plays that were most memorable on the PCL Rink at the Hockey For All Centre. And there were so many more incredible plays! To the twelve teams and all the players who took part, thank you for your outstanding skill and play this weekend! I can't wait to see what you do next!
To the coaches and trainers who are preparing these women for the next steps in their lives and careers, thank you for your dedication to the craft and your ability to keep these players reaching higher. The players certainly put on a show for the four days of play, and they executed systems, adjusted to opponents, and played their best thanks to your coaching and direction. Players found ways to suit up for games we thought they'd never see thanks to the trainers and medical staffs, and it's because of everyone on those benches that a lot of these women will move on to bigger and better, even if it's not on the ice. Thank you for your commitment, your time, and your work in helping these women find that next level!
To the parents of the players who made the trek to the Hockey For All Centre for the Female World Sports School Challenge, thank you for your support of the players, the teams, and the tournament. While it's true that there can be only one team who prevails, I saw more smiles, more high-fives, and more cheering this weekend from the stands than I can remember. Crowds were loud, lively, and engaged, and it made the games that much more fun to call on the radio. Thank you for all you do in keeping your daughters striving for excellence with your support at home and in the stands!
To the players and the coaches of the Flames Prep Hockey team, thank you for allowing us to work with you, to chat with you about your lives and team, and to be proud to partner with you in broadcasting this tournament. Things may not have ended up how you wanted, but you finished the weekend with a win while playing extremely hard in the other three games. There is nothing over which anyone should hang their heads as the effort, the grit, and the tenacity was on display all weekend. I'm proud of the partnership and the friendships we've forged, and I hope we can continue that moving forward. Thank you for being so welcoming to me, to UMFM, and to our craziness. We're excited to see the next chapter!
To the parents and volunteers who committed so much time to the tournament to make it run smoothly, you are the heart and lifeblood of the Female World Sport School Challenge. From all the nutritious snacks that go to the players to the great food featured in the tournament office, from the stats and standings on the website to the Player of the Game presentations, from welcoming each and every person who came through the doors to simply allowing a couple of goofy radio guys have some laughs with you, we cannot say "thank you" loud enough or often enough. It's not often two goofballs are welcomed into a family as you have done for us, but we are beyond grateful for your hospitality, your generosity, your warmth, and your friendship. Thank you so much for everything!
To our newest radio star, Gene Pelland, thank you for jumping into the broadcast seat and absolutely knocking the play-by-play out of the park as the "Voice of the Flames"! Gene had been calling games while filming the action for Flames fans all season long on his Facebook feed, but his jump over to the UMFM airwaves was seamless! Gene will certainly be welcomed back in future tournaments assuming he wants to wear the headset again, but we want to thank him for his knowledge, expertise, and call at this year's tournament! We'll need to sign him before Sportsnet does!
Of course, this tournament is resurrected every year thanks to the efforts of Larry and Kathy Bumstead who spent countless hours leading up to, during, and after the tournament making sure that every player, every team, every coach, and every volunteer feels like he or she is the star of the show. Every single volunteer has clear directions from Kathy, every coach knows Larry or Kathy can be reached at any time, every player is celebrated, and every team is welcomed as they extend that warmth to all who attend.
Beyond that, these two have consistently welcomed UMFM and myself as the radio broadcasters of the tournament each and every year for a number of years now, and we are always grateful that we're welcomed back as we realize how important it is for parents to be able to hear their girls' teams play while at a major tournament like Female World Sport School Challenge. We hold that responsibility in high regard, and we're grateful to be the radio partner of the tournament. Thank you, Larry and Kathy, for allowing us to call some incredible hockey, be part of an incredible crew of volunteers, and having us back this year. We're already looking forward to next year!
Tomorrow, it's back to work and back to life as we count down the days to next season's tournament. If you're reading this, get out and support your local AAA and CSSHL female teams because these women are the next generation of stars at the university level and beyond! We can certainly attest to that after the amazing talent and plays we watched this past weekend, so do yourself a favour and catch these women showing off their skills before they're playing in some other corner of the continent!
If nothing else, we'll see you at next year's tournament!
I fully admit that I watched very little Canada West hockey this week thanks to my involvement at the 2025 Female World Sport School Challenge. I did get to see some incredible performances from players heading to schools next season, and I'll chat about those players below the recaps. With the Crowchild Classic this week and Saskatchewan playing in their "Find A Cure" game, there were some games to be highlighted! Let's find out how everyone did in their respective games this weekend on this edition of The Rundown!
FRIDAY: We'll kick things off in the Scotiabank Saddledome where the annual Crowchild Classic games were being played between the Calgary Dinos and Mount Royal Cougars! The ladies had the early draw in this year's event, but they had a solid crowd on-hand by the third period as fans made it down to the arena after work.
Mount Royal was looking to end Calgary's hopes of a playoff spot with a win while gaining points on UBC while Calgary was trying to stay alive mathematically with a win and some help. Full marks to both schools for going colour-on-colour for jerseys in this game as well as Kaitlyn Ross was in the visitors' net for Mount Royal while Amelia Awad took to the blue paint for the Dinos!
The first period saw both sides trying to establish an early lead as chances were had, goal posts were hit, but none of the pucks sent towards the nets found twine. Nonetheless, the opening twenty minutes saw both sides play a clean frame as no penalties were called either. With no ink on the scoresheet, we'd hit the first intermission tied at 0-0, but Mount Royal held a slight 8-6 shot edge.
The middle frame got started with some fun as Summer Fomradas' long shot from the point just 2:11 into the period got past the screen in front and past Awad to dent twine as Mount Royal went up 1-0 on Fomradas' third goal of the season! A penalty shortly after that goal to the Dinos didn't help them respond, but they did kill the infraction successfully. A second penalty late in the period almost saw Sydney Mercier score on a partial breakaway while shorthanded, but she could not beat her FISU teammate in Ross as the period ended. At the second break, Mount Royal led 1-0 and had a 23-15 edge in shots.
The Cougars continued to look to add to their lead in the third period, but Awad and the Dinos' defence were having none of that. Shots and chances were thwarted in the Calgary end while shots were blocked and passes were disrupted in the Mount Royal end. We would see a goal just past the midway point of the period, though, when Brooklyn Anderson danced along the goal line from the corner, took a quick pass from Sydney Mercier, and snapped a shot that found room between Ross' pads to tie the game at 1-1 at the 12:54 mark! While both sides had chances through the final seven minutes, the score at the end of regulation stood at 1-1 so we were off to overtime with the Cougars holding a 32-19 shot margin!
The five-minute overtime period solved nothing between these two rivals despite a handful of glorious chances to end the game, so the skills competition would find a winner. The opening round of shots produced no goals, but Sydney Mercier would come in on the angle from the left wing and rip a shot five-hole past Ross for a goal! Kiana McNinch would be denied and Brooklyn Anderson was stopped, so it came down to Mount Royal leading scorer Aliya Jomha.
On her attempt, she looked to go five-hole, but Awad denied her as the Calgary Dinos earned the 2-1 shootout win over the Mount Royal Cougars! Amelia Awad stopped 34 shots plus three more in the shootout for her seventh win of the season while Kaitlyn Ross was tagged with the shootout loss after stopping 23 shots.
Highlights of this game are below! Thanks, Dinos!
SATURDAY: The home-and-home series reverted back to the Flames Community Arena for the second-half of the series as the Dinos met the Cougars in their barn. Mount Royal wasn't going to be thrilled in missing out on two points one night earlier in front of a near-capacity lower bowl in the Saddledome, so I expected a push from them in this game. Calgary was looking to keep their slim playoff hopes alive with another win over their intercity rivals. I'd like to show you the action, but Mount Royal has opted not to do highlights at all this season.
Dinos goals: Josie McLeod (4), Sydney Mercier (3)
Dinos assists: Brooklyn Anderson (3), Josie McLeod (4), Evelyn Lawrence (2)
Dinos netminder: Amelia Awad (24/28)
Result: 5-2 victory for Mount Royal over Calgary.
FRIDAY: Normally, a battle for second-place in any division would have both teams pushing hard for wins and points, but Regina and Manitoba seem to be daring each other to take control of that second-place standing. Both entered the weekend playing .500 hockey or less in their last ten games, so this could be a weekend where one of these two make a serious push for that second-place mark. No highlights, of course, because Manitoba's athletics department understands that no one likes to see players doing amazing things on highlight reels. Or something.
SATURDAY: Two points separated these two teams in the standings once more, and Regina was looking for the sweep to hold the tie-breaker over the Bisons. Manitoba needed some sort of response to a January that looked rather anemic offensively, and the two points would benefit them greatly with a split in the series. Again, no highlights because Manitoba believes in using one's imagination for the goals, so here's the scoring summary.
Bisons goals: Kylie Lesuk (5), Sophia Anderson (2), Norah Collins (10), Ashley Keller (1), Sadie Keller (4)
Bisons assists: Dana Goertzen (6), Rachel Gottfried (4), Rachel Gottfried (5), Kelsey Huibers (1), Brenna Nicol (4), Rachel Gottfried (6), Norah Collins (3), Julia Bird (5), Aimee Patrick (9), Louise Fergusson (7)
Bisons netminder: Emily Shippam (22/25)
FRIDAY: Normally, a game between two teams clinging to their playoff lives wouldn't garner a lot of attention, but Friday's game at Merlis Belsher Place had all sorts of importance thanks to the cause for which the Huskies were playing. As they do every year, it was "Play For A Cure" night at the rink as the Huskies were looking to raise money in support of cancer research, treatment, and prevention at Jim Pattison Children's Hospital in Saskatoon, and they were playing for their own Brooklyn Stevely who missed most of last season while she battled ovarian cancer!
The good news is that Brooklyn has been given a clean bill of health, but the Huskies wanted to throw their support behind Brooklyn with a jersey for her and for Kent Logan, the father of a friend of Brooklyn. "EDWF" appears on this year's Play for a Cure jersey as a tribute to Kent who battled brain cancer for 27 years and adopted the acronym and saying for his battle. On Friday night, this was all that mattered as the Huskies and Griffins took to the ice!
Result: 1-0 victory for Saskatchewan over MacEwan.
SATURDAY: After an emotional night where a pile of cash was raised for cancer research, treatment, and prevention, the Huskies looked to remain in the hunt for a playoff spot with a sweep of the Griffins. MacEwan, however, has been embracing their role as spoiler so they wanted to head back to Edmonton with a split. There are no highlights of this game, but here's how the scoring went down.
Huskies goals: Bronwyn Boucher (8), Jayde Cadieux (4)
Huskies assists: Kendra Zuchotzki (7), Avery Gottselig (3), Kendra Zuchotzki (8), Bronwyn Boucher (4)
Huskies shootout scorers: none
Huskies netminder: Colby Wilson (30/32) plus four more saves
Griffins goals: Jennifer Andrash (3), Rian Santos (1)
Griffins assists: Shaelyn Hopkins (2), Tess Collier (4), Allee Isley (2)
Griffins shootout scorers: Shaelyn Hopkins
Griffins netminder: Brianna Sank (34/36) plus five more saves
Result: 3-2 shootout victory for MacEwan over Saskatchewan.
FRIDAY: The Alberta Pandas made the hop over the Rockies to land in Langley, BC for a series with the Spartans. Alberta brought their 16-game points streak with them as they got set to face Trinity Western. The Spartans were looking for wins to clinch a playoff spot for the second time in their short Canada West history, but they'd need a big effort against the Canada West East Division leader. As we know, the Spartans only do highlights of their own goal scorers, so we'll just jump to the scoring summary rather than teasing highlights.
Result: 1-0 victory for Alberta over Trinity Western.
SATURDAY: The Pandas were looking to move into first-overall in Canada West with UBC being idle, so they came into Saturday's game with some motivation. The Spartans weren't going to let Alberta leave with four points so easily after a strong showing on Friday as they aimed to go into the playoffs knowing they can defeat some of the top teams. Again, no highlights for the Pandas, but the Spartans do have their scorers on video. Rather than watching half the story without the Pandas being involved, here's the scoring summary.
Spartans goals: Kara Yackel (6), Kyra McDonald (11), Kyra McDonald (12)
Spartans assists: Jace Scott (4), Chloe Reid (7), Jordyn Matthews (6)
Spartans shootout scorers: Kara Yackel
Spartans netminders: Mabel Maltais (6/8) in 17:21; Kate Fawcett (11/12) in 47:39 plus two more saves
Pandas goals: Abby Soyko (8), Hayleigh Craig (3), Abby Soyko (9)
Pandas assists: Madison Willan (11), Ryann Perrett (4), Jadynn Morden (10), Madison Willan (12)
Pandas shootout scorers: Raegan Yewdall, Hayleigh Craig
Pandas netminder: Misty Rey (18/21) plus three more saves
Result: 4-3 shootout victory for Alberta over Trinity Western.
No, I'm not doing the stupid East and West Divisions on the standings board. One conference, nine teams, let's see who is best.
CANADA WEST WOMEN'S HOCKEY
School
Record
Points
GF
GA
Streak
Next
Alberta
17-3-5-1
45
67
27
W11
vs MAN
UBC
18-2-3-1
43
89
32
W10
@ SAS
Mount Royal
14-4-2-4
36
68
41
W1
@ REG
Manitoba
10-9-3-2
28
53
54
W1
@ ALB
Trinity Western
10-12-2-2
26
56
53
L2
BYE
Regina
6-10-4-4
24
39
52
L1
vs MRU
Calgary
5-15-2-2
16
42
70
L1
@ MAC
Saskatchewan
4-13-1-6
16
29
56
L1
vs UBC
MacEwan
1-17-3-3
11
21
79
L1
vs CAL
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 didn't score any points, but she had a huge impact on her team and community as Brooklyn Stevely's inspiring victory over cancer highlights this week's nomination.
Every year, the Huskies hold this game in honour of someone who has a relationship with someone on the women's team. We've seen family and friends honoured with a jersey worn by one of the Huskies women's hockey players, but never has the team had one of their own as the person for whom they are playing. Brooklyn's diagnosis last season was shocking and unexpected for a woman her age, and it seemed like she may to forced to step aside from hockey altogether while she battled to regain her health from the disease.
Brooklyn's battle was far from easy and nothing was guaranteed for her hockey future, but her resolve to make each day better seemed to be reflected in her overall health as well. That positive outlook carried her through the season with improving results until doctors gave her the green light to return to the ice during the U SPORTS National Championship where, on March 17, 2024 in her first game since ending cancer treatments, she took the ice and did this.
Brooklyn's inspiring return to the ice helped the Huskies defeat the StFX X-Women in the consolation semifinal, and her effort with the Huskies this season helped the program raise a pile of money for cancer research at Jim Pattison Children's Hospital.
How much, you ask? Keep reading, but Brooklyn's successful defeat of ovarian cancer last season will help a lot of people in and around Saskatchewan moving forward thanks to the money the Huskies raised on Friday night. That's how Brooklyn Stevely made the list!
Update: No Update
We're now into two months of not having the media stats fixed on the Canada West Hockeytech site. I'm almost impressed with how little Canada West care about its own product at this point.
A Huge Number
The Huskies always do a great job on their "Play For A Cure" night when it comes to raising money, but this year's effort will reportedly set a new standard for the team to meet in future years. We've seen four- and five-digit dollar totals come out of these games for cancer research, treatment, and prevention that go to charities who assist in delivering these services, and the 2025 edition of this amazing night went one step further in establishing a new high!
According to reports, the Huskies raised some $17,960.10 this year through their jersey auction and silent auction efforts, and that's a massive sum of money that will go a long way in helping the Jim Pattison Children's Hospital in Saskatoon do a lot of good when it comes to cancer initiatives and research! Way to go, Huskies!
The Future Is Bright
Having called nine games at the 2025 Female World Sport School Challenge, I can say that the incoming class of freshwomen who will take their places on Canada West teams will certainly push for roster spots if they play as well as they did this weekend. It's incredible just how good these women were for their respective teams!
Manitoba signed Isabella Man of the Winnipeg Ice this weekend at the tournament, and they're getting a woman who is the epitome of canned energy. She was all over the ice for the Ice this weekend in helping them win a gold medal, and her five goals tied her for second-best at the tournament. She often was seen streaking back on a hard backcheck to take up a defensive position in helping the Ice secure their zone only to jump back into the play as the Ice entered the offensive zone. She was named a tournament all-star for her efforts, and she looks like she'll give opposing coaches fits next season when trying to gameplan for her.
Evy West of the Winnipeg Avros had already committed to the Saskatchewan Huskies next season, but she looked like a university player this weekend with her poise and solid play on both sides of the puck. She, too, was named a tournament all-star after leading all defenders in scoring with seven points at the event, and her defensive play was some of the best I've seen at the AAA or CSSHL level in a long time. Her size and smarts will make her a difficult player to match up against next season, and I'm quite certain the Huskies are excited about her arrival in Saskatoon.
Like West, Callie Hilhorst of the Westman Wildcats had already committed to the Regina Cougars prior to the start of the tournament, but she's going to be a tough defender to beat for any player at the Canada West level. Her size, skating, and smarts were a big reason why Westman was playing for the bronze medal as she consistently looked like the best defender on the ice when her team was playing. The Cougars will be excited about her play in the defensive zone as she was nearly impossible to beat.
I didn't get to see the Yellowhead Chiefs play this weekend, but Kirby Gray led her team in scoring as Mount Royal will want her scoring next season. The Chiefs admittedly are rebuilding this season and aren't quite at the level they want to be just yet, but Gray makes them better on every shift. She skates confidently, she distributes the puck well, and she jumps into high-traffic areas. Those are the kind of players that the Cougars love to have on their roster, so Gray should fit nicely with the Calgary-based Cougars.
In short, there's a lot to be excited about for next season if you're one of these four schools, and I imagine the other five will have dynamic rookies as well. The future is bright for Canada West teams!
The Last Word
Four games. That's all anyone has left. Some have just two games, but four is the maximum left on most teams' schedules this season. We know that Alberta has earned the bye through the first round, and we know that Trinity Western will travel to one of Winnipeg or Regina in their playoff appearance this season. UBC, Mount Royal, and Manitoba have all clinched playoff spots, and Regina is on the verge of doing so with a single point earned or any sort of loss by Saskatchewan. Based on tie-breakers, it appears that Regina has already clinched, but why worry about details, right, Canada West?
UBC clinches a first-round bye if they earn a single point over their next four games. That would set Mount Royal up to host one of Manitoba or Regina in a first-round playoff series. The higher of the two teams - Manitoba and Regina - will host Trinity Western with Alberta watching from afar. UBC and Alberta are still in a battle for first-place overall when it comes to securing home ice throughout the playoffs, so we'll have to watch that race as well, especially since Alberta has a bye in the final week of the season.
For Calgary, Saskatchewan, and MacEwan, the preparation for next season begins now. Honour your graduating players, play your younger players who need that exposure to Canada West hockey, and start to build for 2025-26 season. We had solid playoff races right down to the end of January this season, and we likely could see that extend into February next year with a little work this season. Most of all, have fun over the next two weeks of hockey because it's a long time until September when classes and training camps start once again.
The playoffs loom large for the other six teams. There's a banner and two berths at Nationals in Kitchener this season to be had. Which two of the six teams will want one of those two spots the most? We'll find out as things play out over the next few weeks!
I'm not going to lie: I'm tired. One would think that broadcasting hockey games on the radio wouldn't be an overly-tiring job, but I can say that there have been a number of things that have led to me wanting to crawl into bed and not wake up for a few days. Some of that is due to being up late on Thursday thanks to games that ran late and being back at the Hockey For All Centre on Friday for an 8am game on Friday morning, but I do enjoy the work we do at the Female World Sport School Challenge so I won't complain. Gotta play through the fatigue, right? Onward and forward with more fun!
The semifinals ran today, and we were treated to a dandy overtime game between the MFHL's Winnipeg Avros and Winnipeg Ice who have quite the rivalry. These two teams always seem to be in the hunt when it comes to MFHL championships, and they're both near the top of the standings once again this season with the Avros holding down second-place while the Ice are in third-place.
The Ice prevailed 2-1 in overtime over the Avros as Isabella Mann chipped a puck over Adriana Almeida's pad on a 2-on-1, but both Almeida and the Ice's Bailey Grunewald were exceptional in their goaltending today. I know there has to be a winner in a semifinal game, but I selfishly wanted to see this game to run longer due to the skills shown by all the players today, particularly when it came to the netminding. This semifinal was fast, there were great chances, there were amazing saves, and we got a final in the overtime period.
After that hockey today, you can keep your NHL. I got a family-sized serving of incredible hockey earlier this morning, so I'm happy. So what did I do on a Saturday night where I could relax?
Well, I finished off a few blog articles, but I also did something I've been meaning to do for a while: I updated my GoodReads account! I'll be honest in saying that I don't use GoodReads very often, but I think I'm going to start cross-posting some of the book reviews I do over there because there are a lot of great authors who seemingly have very few reviews on their books at that site.
I get that Amazon dominates the online shopping market and there are a ton of reviews posted there for people to read. I'm not saying that should stop. Instead, what I am saying is that a site where people go to find information on books should have more information rather than less. Specifically, there were a lot of hockey books written for children that had very low ratings which, to me, is weird because they're meant for children. Why are GoodReads/Amazon users rating them like they're written by Stephen King or Nora Roberts?
In any case, I added a pile of books to my profile on GoodReads, so feel free to follow me over there if you have an account. As I said, I may start moving reviews over to that site when the time allows, so hopefully I can help a few authors sell a few more books with my opinions on their books. Beyond that, I'm hoping to potentially add a "library" page on HBIC where one can click the cover or spine of the book and be taken the review I wrote for it. We'll see how that goes.
In any case, I'll be in bed early as we're back at the Hockey For All Centre tomorrow for the 10am gold medal game as the Winnipeg Ice, coming off their 2-1 overtime win, will meet the Rink Hockey Academy Winnipeg who ran roughshod over the Westman Wildcats with a 7-1 win in the second semifinal game. It should be an incredible final if both teams play to their potentials, and we'll know who stands atop the mountain when all is said and done at the 2025 Female World Sport School Challenge!
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