It should be no surprise that if someone mentions Sault Ste. Marie, the first hockey team that comes to mind is the OHL's Soo Greyhounds. Based on their longevity in the city, that's completely understandable, but there is another team that plays in Sault Ste. Marie despite them being in another country. As you may know, Sault Ste. Marie straddles the Canada-US border, so half of the city resides in Michigan rather than Ontario. That's where the NCAA's Lake Superior State University Lakers call home, and the Lakers have put their name on the hockey map a few times thanks to winning the NCAA National Men's Hockey Championship!
From their website, the Lakers play in Taffy Abel Arena, a 4000-seat rink with a 200x85-foot ice surface. Taffy Abel was established in 1976, and, in 1995, the arena was renovated to its current size which happened after Laker Hockey won their fifth National Championship. It was named after American ice hockey player Clarence "Taffy" Abel who was born in Sault Ste. Marie. It is the only on-campus hockey arena in the United States which has a seating capacity greater than the enrollment of the school for which it's used, and the arena serves a number of purposes in the community including hosting youth hockey games and practices, community events, and summer camps.
You may have noticed that little detail above where it says "fifth National Championship". That is factual as the Lakers own the 1972 and 1974 NAIA championships along with the 1988, 1992, and 1994 NCAA championships. There is also an unofficial asterisk on that total, however, because the 1993 NCAA Men's Hockey Championship apparently ended prematurely thanks to some video footage that should have been reviewed long ago. Could Lake Superior State have been a three-peat champion in NCAA's men's hockey?
Apparently, the answer is yes. According to Flo Hockey's Tim Rappleye, Lake Superior State University head coach Jeff Jackson was given a plaque following the 1993 NCAA championship game that reads, "1993 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championships National Champion". The only problem with that plaque is that the Maine Black Bears are the 1993 NCAA champions based on all historical records. So how did Jackson end up with this plaque from the NCAA if Maine has the trophy?
In Rappleye's article, he frames the final moments of the game where a "point-blank scoring chance by Lake State junior Sean Tallaire with 50 seconds remaining appeared to bank off the crossbar" in a documentary called "Out of the Woods". Let's run that clip here.
I have watched this clip over and over again, and I still can't figure out if Tallaire scores on that move to the front of the net while goaltender Garth Snow scrambled in the crease. Yes, the puck goes up and looks like it hit the crossbar, but I can't tell if it pinged off the iron or went under the bar and into the net.
In 1993, the NCAA had yet to institute video review, so the option to go to the film wasn't there. The official's call on the ice would be the only call that the NCAA would accept, and the lone referee on the ice ruled that the puck had gone off the crossbar. If you watch the clip again, the referee isn't even in the picture or standing near the net to make an accurate call, so the 5-4 finish would stand and Maine would be crowned the 1993 champion.
Except we still have that plaque that makes no sense if Maine won.
What we need is another angle or a more definitive look at the goal. I went hunting for more evidence, and I discovered that a YouTube user named TJ Rogers had uploaded the highlights from this game. In that 26-minute highlight package is this moment from a number of different angles. Let's take a look at this moment again with different angles included as we try to figure out if Tallaire actually scored.
Two different looks and a third replay at the same broadcast angle while slowed down doesn't give us anything definitive except that the puck appears to disappear for fractions of a second in that final replay under the bar as opposed to ricocheting off the iron. To be fair, I have never seen netting cause a bounce-back like that, so the puck may have hit the back crossbar and come back out. Again, the quality of the replay doesn't have enough definition to say that it happened like that, but it seems that it could be plausible.
Jeff Jackson recalls the moment still, telling Rappleye, "I remember Sean came back to the bench and said, 'That puck was in, Coach!'"
Perhaps this is simply a moment of wanting to believe that Tallaire scored, but Jackson claims he has other evidence. He told Rappleye, "Every time I watched the clip, I noticed something was weird, so I kept on rewinding it back on the old VHS systems and trying to determine. You couldn't see the puck go in the net. But what I did see was the skate lace tying down the water bottle on the top of the net, flying in the air. That's when I knew the puck had gone in."
This is the part that becomes hard to explain because Jackson is right in noticing the skate lace move. If you watch the angle from behind the net, you can see the skate lace on top of the net that was used to tie the water bottle down securely move as the puck appears to either hit the bar or go in the net. In the video above, it's just to the left of the water bottle, and its position clearly changes. Is that enough proof to change the outcome? I'd say no, but it seems to lend credence to the idea that Tallaire did score.
Rappleye added this nugget in his article as well.
"Unlike the low-resolution analog footage that Jackson was using to edit his piece, a clean tape, one generation removed from the original footage, was rescued from ESPN's tape truck an hour after their championship telecast went off the air. Four replay angles of Tallaire's tying goal, images that were never broadcast, were dubbed off onto a digital cassette, a relic that was last seen buried in the NHL's video archives.
"The cassette got into the hands of a college hockey producer in November of 1993 and was employed during an intermission feature during a live broadcast of a Lake Superior/Vermont clash from Burlington, Vermont. It was there that the end-zone camera angle of Tallaire's shot finally made air on the now defunct Prime Network, rolled in slo-mo, allowing the viewers to see incontrovertible evidence: the 1993 NCAA championship game—the game that would have secured Lake Superior's bid for a historic three-peat—had been tied up in the final minute."
By this measure, it seems that Tallaire did indeed score on that shot, and it should have sent the 1993 NCAA Men's Hockey Championship towards overtime with Maine and Lake Superior State tied 5-5. Of course, that video would need to be seen and verified to become the smoking gun in this dispute, so Maine remains as the rightful winner of the 1993 NCAA Men's Hockey Championship until that time.
I won't deny that Lake Superior State has a case to be made, but it makes one appreciate the high-definition reviews we get in hockey today that much more. I can't explain why the NCAA gave that championship plaque to Lake Superior State when it seems that there is no definitive evidence to change the results, but perhaps the NCAA saw the same Prime Network video that was aired in November 1993.
I'm not suggesting that anyone change history at this time, but this may be one of those moments that will be lost to time if that Prime Network video never surfaces. The Maine Black Bears will always be the 1993 NCAA Men's Hockey Champions, but it seems clear that the Lake Superior State Lakers have a valid reason to contest that result. Until the evidence is found, though, Lake Superior State will have to be content with their championship plaque that isn't an NCAA Men's Hockey Championship trophy.
In my discussion about the Thunder Bay Flyers yesterday, I received a couple "what about..." emails when it came to specific teams. I'm not saying there haven't been exceptional teams in the communities of northern Ontario, and there has even been a Stanley Cup winner who called the region home. If that surprises you, we're talking about history that's more than a century old, but the fact remains that Kenora, Ontario once called the Stanley Cup theirs. While they didn't win four cups in one single year on both sides of the border, the Kenora Thistles do deserve a tip of the cap for the history they made in the early 1900s.
Before we get into the history of the Thistles, there is a fact that needs to be examined first. Back in the 1890s, the town of Kenora was actually known as Rat Portage. The name was a rough translation of the Anishinaabe name "Waszush Onigum" which, in English, meant "carrying place to the muskrat country". Clearly, that phrase isn't going to work for a city's name, so the town was renamed as "portage du rat" by the French and it was coined "Rat Portage" after the name was adopted by the Hudson's Bay Company and a post was established in the town. That same year, the communities of Keewatin, Norman, and Rat Portage were encouraged to amalgamate, but all three remained independent.
Being that the hockey team was founded in 1894, they took that town name and named themselves the Thistles, becoming the Rat Portage Thistles. Rat Portage played in and around Manitoba in leagues throughout the Keystone province thanks to their proximity to Manitoba, and would eventually join the Manitoba Hockey Association in 1902. Thunder Bay, then known as Port Arthur, sits some 500kms away from Kenora whereas Winnipeg is just 200kms away from the city. Clearly, it made more sense to travel west than east back then, and having a line in the town for the Canadian Pacific Railway only furthered that logical conclusion.
The Thistles began as a team of wealthy individuals. George Dewey, one of the wealthiest people in the town whose source of wealth seems to lost in history, donated the initial funds for the team, and was named the club's honorary president thanks to his considerable donation. Most of the initial Thistles' players were from wealthy families or independently wealthy, meaning they had the means to take time off work and to cover the considerable expenses associated with ice hockey at the time. Because there was very little support from town businesses or investors with profitable businesses, the team relied solely on the players' wealths in order to play games.
The Thistles played well in the second tier of the Manitoba and Northwest Hockey Association in 1894, winning games and showing they could skate with the more polished Manitoba teams from larger communities. While the team wouldn't win a championship in the circuit for a few more years, they showed that the Rat Portage boys were there to play. As the junior Thistles matured, a new wave of talent joined the club, pushing the team to new heights by the turn of the millennium as they began to show how good they could be.
In 1900-01, the Thistles won a tie-breaker to claim the second-tier championship. In 1901, the team opened the season with a blowout, leading to concerns that non-competitive games would cause a drop in revenue if people stopped coming out to watch them play. As a result, they applied for a spot in the Manitoba Hockey Association. To prove they could play competitively in the league, the MHA organized a game against the former Stanley Cup champions in the Winnipeg Victorias, and the Thistles played extremely well despite a close loss. However, they were denied access in 1901 to the league after it was determined they had applied too late to gain entry.
For the 1902-03 season, the Rat Portage Thistles made their debut in Manitoba's top hockey league. However, the two Winnipeg teams threw a hissy fit and opted out of the league, citing concerns over distance to both Rat Portage and newly-admitted Portage la Prairie, leaving Portage, Rat Portage, and Brandon as the only teams playing one another. The Thistles handled the other teams easily as they won the three-team championship, and were allowed to issue a challenge for the Stanley Cup as a result. They made that challenge, and they would face the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa for the Stanley Cup.
The two-game series would be decided on total goals between the Thistles and the Senators. Game One didn't go well for the Thistles as they dropped a 6-2 contest to the Senators with the press noting that thr Thistles looked nervous. Game Two was an Ottawa 4-2 win as well as they retained the Stanley Cup, but the Thistles gained valuable experience against one of the country's best teams.
In a stunning turn of events back home, the Thistles were welcomed back to Manitoba by having the two Winnipeg teams - the same two who wanted nothing to do with the year before - offer a spot in the Western Canadian Hockey League for the 1903-04 season to the Thistles. Apparently, they were impressed with the Thistles' showing against Ottawa, so they extended the invitation. The Thistles, however, declined the offer and staying in the three-team league with Portage and Brandon. Brandon would win the league that season and challenege Ottawa, but the Senators claimed victory once more.
In 1904, the Manitoba Hockey Association and the Western Canadian Hockey League (with only the two Winnipeg teams in it) merged under the Manitoba Hockey Association name. The Thistles, bolstered by the addition of goaltender Eddie Giroux from Toronto who was lured to Rat Portage to work in the lumber industry, were the class of the league in 1904-05, going 7-1 to win the MHA championhip. This would grant them challenge rights once more, and the Thistles had their focus on Ottawa as they descended on the nation's capital for a best-of-three series.
Ottawa was the favorite going into the series, but the Thistles got the jump on them by showing a new formation and style of play where passing and puck possession was the name of the game. Rat Portage took Game One by a 9-3 score using this new style where passes were made to trailing players (no forward passes in those days) who could skate the puck further up the ice. With their defencemen spread across the ice, cross-ice passes opened new lanes of attack for the Thistles! Speed helped them win as Rat Portage went up 1-0.
It didn't help that Ottawa superstar Frank McGee missed Game One for the Senators, but his return in Game Two showed his importance as he helped the Senators square the series at 1-1 in a 4-2 victory as he was shadowed almost all game by a Thistles player. That win setup the all-important deciding game where McGee broke out in a big way, scoring a hat trick for the Senators including the game-winning goal with two and half minutes to play in a 5-4 Ottawa victory! The Thistles were close, but, as we know, that only counts in horseshoes.
In 1904, Rat Portage Town Council had raised the town name issue once more. The people of Rat Portage seemed completely against the idea of changing the name at this time with letters and petitions being sent to Toronto to prevent the change from taking place. The municipal election on January 2, 1905 made the name change one of the issues on the ballot due to the candidates running, and a special Council meeting was held where the name change resolution was passed. However, many townspeople rejected the idea at Town Council meetings that followed to the point where the Ontario provincial government stepped in and demanded that a vote be taken on the name change.
The "Wins" Of Change
In 1905 under Mayor AS Horswill, the name of the city changed to Kenora, derived from the first two letters of names of three communities KEewatin, NOrman, and RAt Portage. Despite locals still rejecting the idea, the Thistles assumed the new name as the Kenora Thistles, and this may be where history smiled upon them as the 1905-06 season finished tied atop the MHA standings and won the one-game tiebreaker with the Winnipeg Hockey Club.
In December, the Winnipeg clubs and Kenora banded together to ask the Ottawa Senators to visit for exhibition games in what might have been a preview of what was to come. As champions, the Thistles had the chance to challenge for the Stanley Cup, and they'd take that opportunity for the third time in a few short months. On January 6, 1906, however, the Thistles and Senators met in Winnipeg for the exhibition game, and the Thistles would shock the Stanley Cup champions with four goals in the final eight minutes to earn victory!
For anyone wondering if there was an article written in the Manitoba Free Press about the game, there definitely was one, but there are a number of racially-insensitive descriptions used in the article that I, frankly, don't want displayed here on HBIC. I know society has evolved, but some of the imagery published shouldn't have been used back then and certainly not today. Because of this, all you get is the headline and scoring summary above here on HBIC.
Some newspaper writers weren't convinced of the Thistles' win in Winnipeg, though. Printed in the January 13, 1906 edition of the Winnipeg Tribune, it seems someone at the Montreal Herald thought that Kenora got off easy by not having to face Ottawa's best team. While I'm sure 1906 was long before there was true bulletin board material, one has to wonder if the lads from Kenora saw the comments made by a Montreal writer. With the Montreal teams not able to secure the Stanley Cup from Ottawa, I also wonder if this is a little bit of sour grapes considering how well Kenora had played against Ottawa in Winnipeg. Only history will know, though.
On March 9, 1906, however, the Winnipeg Tribune gave the Thistles credit after beating the Winnipegs in the championship.
With Kenora set to battle the reigning Stanley Cup champions in another challenge opportunity, it was expected that the Thistles may give the Stanley Cup holder a run for their money. After all, they had beaten the Senators in December, and now had won the Manitoba championship again. So where would the Thistles be going?
Well, they got an answer despite it not being the one they wanted.
The Montreal Wanderers had wrestled the Stanley Cup away from the Ottawa Senators, but it seems they weren't too keen on having anyone challenge their reign over the Dominion of Canada. The Thistles, as stated in the article, were determined to play for the Stanley Cup one way or another, and they weren't going to take "no" for an answer. Whether it was the Montreal Wanderers or the Ottawa Senators, the Kenora Thistles were determined to play for the Cup!
On October 19, 1906, it was determined that the Wanderers and the Thistles would meet between January 10 and February 20 for the Stanley Cup after a deal was reached by James Bell to have the series played. Despite the Wanderers wanting to play the challenges for the Stanley Cup after their season had concluded, Bell had also convinced both the Senators and Wanderers to play a three-game series in Winnipeg for each team in late December and early January potentially as a way for the Wanderers to prepare for the Thistles' challenge in early 1907. Whatever the case may be, the dates had been set for the Thistles' challenge they had earned at the end of the 1905-06 season!
By December 6, 1906, it was known that the Thistles and Wanderers would meet in Montreal for a two-game, total-goals series on January 7, 1907 with a second game potentially on January 9. Those dates weren't firm, though, and the games would eventually get shifted to January 17 and January 21. Game One was a 4-2 victory for Kenora as Tommy Phillips scored all four goals for the Thistles. They'd need to play well in Game Two to secure hockey's ultimate prize, and Tommy Phillips would add three more goals in an 8-6 win for the 12-8 total to win the series! For the first time in their history, the Kenora Thistles would have their name on the Stanley Cup!
For those wondering, their reign as Stanley Cup champions lasted all of two months as the team returned home, were challenged by the Wanderers in a rematch, won the Manitoba championship, and then lost the two-game, total-goals series to Montreal by a 12-8 score. Montreal was named the Stanley Cup champions once again while the Thistles saw a number of their players leave for green pastures and better pay in other professional leagues. By the end of 1908, the Thistles were disbanded as costs went up and they could no longer ice a competitive team.
It should be noted that Kenora remains the smallest town in hockey history to win the Stanley Cup, and it's the smallest town to win a major North American professional championship. The 65-day span as champions also remains the shortest in hockey history. The Thistles did see four players inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as Si Griffis, Tom Hooper, Billy McGimsie, and Tommy Phillips all were inducted. The Stanley Cup-winning team was also inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1982. As part of the team's legacy, there are several hockey teams in Kenora now named the "Thistles" who play at different levels!
While I still maintain that the Thunder Bay Flyers were the best team ever for the number of accolades they collected in one season, there certainly is room in the argument for the Kenora Thistles. As a Stanley Cup-winning team, that's a pretty high accolade that not many teams have equalled, and the Thistles deserve to be mentioned for their accomplishments as well!
I'm on the road today, so I needed to work my destination into the mix here on HBIC. I'll be in Thunder Bay for a day as I've been dispatched to do some work out here, but we need to talk about Thunder Bay's entry into the USHL in the 1980s. As you're probably very aware, the United States Hockey League has no Canadian teams as part of its roster, but they made an exception for the 1984-85 season when the Thunder Bay Flyers joined the circuit after the Thunder Bay Junior Hockey League folded. Wanting to remain in a high-level league, the Flyers were admitted into the USHL in 1984, but it was one season that put the Thunder Bay Flyers on the map in both nations!
The Flyers were in a fairly unique position as a Junior A hockey program in Canada because their inclusion in the USHL gave them a very good league in which they could play, but they still qualified for the Centennial Cup National Junior A hockey championships. There were some struggles in the early going as the team adjusted to the USHL's play and opposing teams, but a 20-25-3 season in 1984-85 put them in seventh-place in the ten-team league. The next season was a little less memorable as well as the Flyers fell to 15-32-1, landing them in ninth-place in the league.
The 1986-87 season is where things went dramatically better for the Flyers as Dave Siciliano was hired as the head coach, and his efforts to find good hockey players in northwestern Ontario paid off in a big way. The Flyers would finish in second-place in the USHL with a 35-10-3 record as Terry Menard emerged as the USHL MVP following a campaign where he scored 53 goals and 54 assists in 46 games! The Timmins, Ontario native played in a number of leagues, but he would leave after one season for the WHL and the Brandon Wheat Kings where he went on a tear again as he scored 56 goals and 71 assists!
That 1987-88 season saw the fans show up in droves as Thunder Bay got behind the Flyers as Siciliano took them to new heights with a 40-7-1 record, good for first-place in the USHL despite being tied in points with Kevin Constantine's Rochester Mustangs. The Flyers would claim the Anderson Cup for the first time in their history, and they'd follow that effort up by winning the Clark Cup in four games over the Rochester Mustangs in the USHL playoffs. However, the wheels came off as they competed in the Central Canada Junior A Playoffs where the Pembroke Lumber Kings swept the Flyers to end their season. Clearly, it wasn't the ending that the Flyers wanted, but better days were still to come for the franchise!
Four Cups In One Year
The excitement for the Flyers didn't slow down as the crowds cheered the team to another incredible season in 1988-89! Siciliano guided the Flyers to a 40-6-2 record and top spot in the USHL for the second-straight season, but the experience of the previous year's battles proved important this season. The St. Paul Vulcans were the Flyers' opposition for the Anderson Cup, and they would need every second of both games to claim victory. With 14 seconds remaining in Game Two, Wayne Sawchuk converted a pass from Darryl Blazino to push the Flyers to the 7-6 win! The Thunder Bay Flyers were the USHL's Anderson Cup champions as regular season champions!
The Flyers weren't done there, however, as they advanced as the top-seeded team in the USHL's Clark Cup Playoffs, and they'd dispatch the Omaha Lancers in three-straight games before downing the North Iowa Huskies in a 3-1 series win to setup a rematch with the St. Paul Vulcans in the Clark Cup Final. Just as they played in the Anderson Cup showdown, the Flyers would need all five games to claim victory with a 5-3 win in the fifth and deciding game to give them the Clark Cup and the USHL championship!
Making things even more fun was the fact that the Flyers were also competing in the Centennial Cup's Central Canada playoffs at the same time as the USHL playoffs were happening, and they were doing a pile of winning there too. Thunder Bay needed the minimum eight games to win the two series against the Sudbury Cubs and the Pembroke Lumber Kings to win the Dudley-Hewitt Cup as the Central Canada Junior A champions as they booked their spot in the Centennial Cup championship tournament in Summerside, PEI!
Things didn't slow down for Thunder Bay in PEI either as the Flyers entered the tournament with an incredible record, but got zero respect for their efforts through the 1988-89 season.
"The host Summerside team commented at the coaches press conference that Thunder Bay couldn't be very strong since they played in a U.S.-based league," recalled Siciliano. "I know it fired me up to prove him wrong and I am sure the players took it personally also."
Playing a chip on their shoulder, the Flyers hammered the Vernon Lakers 8-2 in their round-robin game, defeated the Moncton Hawks 6-2, but ran into a tough Summerside Western Capitals team that beat the Flyers 5-4. Their 2-1 record through the preliminary round would put them in the three-way tie for first-place, and their goal differential proved to be the difference as the Flyers were given the top seeding and a berth in the Centennial Cup Final. Summerside would down Moncton in double-overtime to set up the final between the host Western Capitals and the Thunder Bay Flyers.
"We knew the arena would be packed and loud cheering for them," offered Siciliano. "We emphasized to remain calm and disciplined. The Capitals were going to try and run us out of their building. I believed they didn't have much respect for us since they had beaten us in the round robin."
Using their speed and discipline, the Flyers jumped out to a 1-0 lead off a goal by forward Bruce Ramsay who was known more for throwing punches than scoring goals. Ramsay totalled 781 PIMs in three seasons with the IHL's Grand Rapids Griffins from 1996-1999, so seeing him score the first goal in Thunder Bay's biggest game likely surprised people as his reputation in Junior A hockey was well-known.
With tournament all-star and leading scorer Greg Johnson carrying the play for the Flyers, the Western Capitals couldn't muster much offence as Thunder Bay skated to the 4-1 victory in the final! Johnson, who would go on to have a very successful 12-year NHL career, was named as the Canadian Junior A Player of the Year in 1988-89 after helping to lead the Flyers to the Centennial Cup, their fourth major championship of the year, and becoming the first team from northwestern Ontario to claim the title!
"1988-89 was a special and memorable year for me my teammates, and in so many ways, was a turning point in my career," Johnson reminisced about the season. "The entire group was unselfish and team-first. Great leadership from our captains and veteran players and our coaching staff did an amazing job with many great decisions. To win the USHL, Dudley-Hewitt Cup and Centennial Cup in the same year was an incredible accomplishment."
At the conclusion of the Centennial Cup, the Thunder Bay Flyers had won the USHL's Anderson Cup, the USHL's Clark Cup, the Dudley-Hewitt Cup, and the Centennial Cup on the strength of a 60-10-2 record. There hasn't been a season of hockey like this one in Thunder Bay since 1988-89, and the vast majority of their lineup was sourced from Thunder Bay and communities in northwestern Ontario. In short, this was a special team that put Thunder Bay on the hockey map in both Canada and the US!
Members of that team included captain Darryl Blazino, Jason Bortolussi, Brian Caruso, Dwight DeGiacomo, Peter Grant, Greg Hankkio, Todd Henderson, Todd Howarth, Chris Hynnes, Greg Johnson, Brad Kennett, Darren Leishman, Barry McLeod, Ian Milne, Don Osborne, Craig Pages, Michael Power, Neal Purdon, Bruce Ramsay, Wayne Sawchuk, Gary Wenzel, head coach Dave Siciliano, assistant coach Sean Donohue, manager Ray Bohonis, trainer Dino Martin, and trainer Gaetan Joubert.
The Flyers would win more championships in the following years - Anderson Cups in 1991 and 1992, the 1992 Dudley-Hewitt Cup, and the 1992 Centennial Cup - but they did not win all four championships in the same year ever again.
The Flyers played their last game in 2000 in the USHL before the franchise was folded, and the void was filled by the Superior International Junior Hockey League in 2001. With the Lakehead University Thunderwolves men's hockey program becoming the highest level of men's hockey in Thunder Bay, they've seen some success, but they still haven't been able to have a season like the 1988-89 Thunder Bay Flyers had.
For one season, Thunder Bay had the best Junior-A program on either side of the border. No other team can claim that distinction, and that's why the '88-89 Thunder Bay Flyers may very well be the best northern Ontario hockey team ever assembled!
We're nearly two months into the season, and it's fairly clear that certain have playoff aspirations while others may be looking to plan for next season. Seven teams have played their way into the playoff discussion, and that number will be reduced to six by February. The good news is that all nine teams can still earn a playoff spot based on their schedules if they start winning now, so let's find out how the games went for eight of the nine teams on The Rundown!
FRIDAY: If there's one team that has given the UBC Thunderbirds headaches over the last couple of seasons, the Calgary Dinos may be that team. While Calgary has yet to earn two wins in a weekend over UBC, they've certainly been in a pile of games that UBC eventually has found a way to close out. Calgary was looking for points again this weekend as they attempted to be that thorn in UBC's side once more at home while the T-birds were looking to extend their division lead. Elise Hugens was in the UBC crease while Amelia Awad got the call for Calgary to begin this weekend's fun.
Both squads had some jump in their skates as they battled in the first period. UBC was plagued with penalties through the opening frame as four minor penalties were called in the frame, and they all went against the Thunderbirds. They would weather that storm, though, while still finding good offensive chances, but the goaltenders were strong in the opening period as the horn sounded on a 0-0 period despite UBC holding a 10-8 edge in shots.
Early in the second period, UBC got their legs going after killing over a penalty that beld into the middle stanza. Annalise Wong caught Jaecia Joyce flat-flooted as she broke into the zone on the left side, and her speed allowed her to get to the slot where she wired a shot past Amelia Awad's blocker for the opening goal at 2:35! Somehow, that didn't get onto the highlight reel below, so it's posted here. Nevertheless, the score stood at 1-0 following Wong's marker.
Calgary would see their first penalty called against them at the six-minute mark, but it was no reason to stop looking for offence. Brooklyn Anderson poke-checked Jacquelyn Fleming at the blue line, and she was off to the races where she went through the five-hole on Hugens for the shorthanded marker at 6:18 to tie the game at 1-1!
Penalties, though, would come back to haunt the Dinos in this period as Grace Elliott finished off a gorgeous tic-tac-toe passing play from the bumper spot to make it 2-1 at 10:19 before Jaylyn Morris's shot from the point at 12:35 found room through traffic for another goal as UBC used two power-plays to take a 3-1 lead. A late goal by Ashton Thorpe at 17:15 after her initial shot was blocked would make it a three-goal advantage for UBC, and we'd hit the second break with UBC up 4-1 while holding a 20-14 edge in shots.
UBC seemingly claimed the third period by controlling the puck as Calgary couldn't find very many opportunities, but neither side would add more to their totals on the scoreboard. UBC would capture a 4-1 in over Calgary on this night. Elise Hugens improved to nine wins on the season after a 16-save effort while Amelia Awad was on the losing end of a 28-save night.
Most of the highlights of this game are below!
SATURDAY: For the first time all season, the Dinos found themselves in unfamiliar territory: outside of a playoff spot. Clearly, that wouldn't sit well with the Dinos as they looked to rebound from the night before and correct that problem against UBC. The Thunderbirds, however, were not about to let a chance for a double-digit win streak pass them by as they were 9-0-0 in their last nine games. Something had to give here as Elise Hugens was back in net for the Thunderbirds while the Dinos went with Amelia Awad for the second night in a row for a true rematch.
Calgary clearly was on a different level in this game compared to one night earlier as they started with all sorts of jump, but UBC were ready to respond as they showed their own brand of speed and skill. The doughnuts would be broken midway through the frame when Emma Tait dropped a pass to Josie McLeod in the slot, and her shot seemed to handcuff Elise Hugens as it found its way through the netminder and into the net for the 1-0 Calgary lead at 9:31! UBC had a few chances to tie the game later in the frame, but the Calgary defence was solid and Amelia Awad stood tall. The Dinos took their one-goal lead to the break with an 11-9 edge in shots.
The second period saw the defences step up as a lot of opportunities never reached the net. UBC had the lone power-play of the frame, but they couldn't make anything happen on that opportunity. Shots from further out saw no rebounds corralled, and those chances that got to the inside never materialized into goals on the scoreboard, so we'd hit the second break with Calgary still leading 1-0, but UBC holding the 15-14 shot lead.
The third period got off to a good start for UBC as Grace Elliott used that long stride and her long reach to beat a Calgary player to a loose puck, and then used that speed and reach to get around a defender and tuck the puck home under Awad at the 3:42 mark for her conference-leading ninth goal as UBC pulled even at 1-1! UBC certainly had the majority of chances in this period, but Awad and the Calgary defence worked together at bailing one another out as this game wound down. As the final horn sounded, the game was still tied at 1-1 so we'd have some free hockey to play as UBC held the shot advantage at a 26-17 count.
We wouldn't need long for this one to have a winner. Off an offensive zone face-off, the Dinos controlled the puck before Brooklyn Anderson returned a pass to Kate Wagner at the top of the zone for a quick one-timer, and it appeared that Hugens picked it up late as the puck seemed to fly over her glove and into the top-left corner for the game-winner as the Calgary Dinos earned the 2-1 overtime victory over the UBC Thunderbirds! Amelia Awad picked up her sixth win of the season after stopping 25 shots while Elise Hugens suffered the overtime loss in a 17-save effort.
Highlights of this overtime win are below!
FRIDAY: The top teams in Canada West's East Division met in Edmonton with their sights set on first-place in the division. With Alberta going 7-3-0 in their last ten games, one has to believe that the Pandas will be a serious contender to emerge for the Canada West banner, but Regina has shown a resilience and some scrappiness all season that suggests that one cannot count them out. Two different styles of winning games would clash in the Alberta capital - which would stand out? I wish I could show you, but there are no highlights from the Pandas despite them having 926 subscribers on their YouTube channel.
SATURDAY: After what one could call a convincing victory on Friday, the Pandas were looking to put some space between them and the rest of the division. Regina needed a win to keep pace with the Pandas in the standings as a regulation victory would tie them atop the division. Again, no highlights from the Pandas because why would they want to show off their athletes in these kinds of games?
Pandas goals: Ryann Perrett (3), Izzy Lajoie (1)
Pandas assists: Abbey Bourdeaud'Hui (1), Annie King (1), Jadynn Morden (3), Sara Kazeil (6)
Pandas netminder: Grace Glover (21/22) in 63:49
Result: 2-1 overtime victory for Alberta over Regina.
FRIDAY: Downtown Edmonton was also hosting games this weekend as the Trinity Western Spartans visited the MacEwan Griffins. Trinity Western was on a program-best four-game win streak entering Friday's game, and had climbed back into the West Division's playoff race because of it. MacEwan hasn't seen any sort of prolonged success this season, but they were looking to break out this weekend against their Canada West expansion cousins. Of course, there are no highlights because the Griffins can't be bothered despite having two different YouTube channels and 129 subscribers. That's a new level of apathy. Anyway, here's the scoring summary.
Result: 4-1 victory for Trinity Western over MacEwan.
SATURDAY: It's hard to take positives from an 11-shot outing in which everyone except the goaltender was outplayed, but something has to give for the Griffins. More on this below, but they need a much bigger effort from everyone if they wanted to topple the Spartans. Trinity Western was looking to extend their win streak to six games, so let's check out the scoring summary because there sure as heck won't be highlights.
Result: 3-0 victory for Trinity Western over MacEwan.
FRIDAY: The 2018 National Champions met the 2023 National Champions in Calgary as the Bisons made the trip west to southern Alberta. Coming off a bye, Manitoba had a week to prepare for one of Canada West's best teams this season while the Cougars always play the Bisons tough. In fact, in their history, the Cougars are 11-13 against the Bisons all-time, so Calgary has been anything but friendly for the Herd. Mount Royal seems to believe that the 420 subscribers to their YouTube channel don't care about highlights, so they don't make them. Instead, here's the scoring summary.
Bisons goals: none
Bisons assists: none
Bisons netminders: Emily Shippam (10/15) in 26:52; Paige Fischer (14/16) in 33:08
Result: 7-0 victory for Mount Royal over Manitoba.
SATURDAY: The Cougars now have defeated the Bisons in seven-straight games dating back to January 14, 2023. In five games during that streak that were played in Calgary, Mount Royal has outscored Manitoba 28-5. More on these stats below, but to say the Cougars have had the Bisons number in Calgary might be underselling just how dominant they have been. Could Manitoba bounce back after last night's thrashing?
Cougars goals: Athena Hauck (5), Jordyn Rivett (1)
Cougars assists: Aliya Jomha (8), Kaia Borbandy (1), Julia Duke (3)
Cougars netminder: Scout Anderson (14/17) in 62:17
Bisons goals: Norah Collins (6), Aimee Patrick (3), Dana Goertzen (2)
Bisons assists: Julia Bird (2), Kylie Lesuk (3), Kylie Lesuk (4)
Bisons netminders: Paige Fischer (24/26) in 62:17
Result: 3-2 overtime victory for Manitoba over Mount Royal.
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
UBC
9-2-2-1
23
43
22
L1
BYE
Mount Royal
7-2-1-2
18
33
17
L1
@ TWU
Alberta
6-3-3-0
18
28
15
W4
@ SAS
Regina
2-3-4-3
15
17
24
L3
vs MAC
Trinity Western
6-5-1-0
14
26
20
W6
vs MRU
Calgary
5-4-0-3
13
28
27
W1
@ MAN
Manitoba
4-3-2-1
13
22
19
W1
vs CAL
Saskatchewan
0-8-0-4
4
11
28
L12
vs ALB
MacEwan
1-9-0-2
4
9
40
L8
@ REG
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 will be the conference's top scorer as UBC Thunderbirds forward Grace Elliott adds her name to the list!
There's no doubt that the tallest player in Canada West might be one of its best after scoring double-digits in goals and more than 20 points in each of the last two seasons. This season, though, she's on the precipice of both in mid-November as she has nine goals and 19 points already this season, and there's no sign of her slowing down based on her play. She's been held off the scoresheet in just four of UBC's games this season, and she already has six multipoint games including a four-point night. She hasn't gone more than a game without scoring a goal, and she's been one of Graham Thomas's most consistent forwards over the last two-plus seasons.
With UBC having five of the top-nine scorers this season, there shouldn't be any surprise that a UBC player is leading the conference in scoring. What may surprise you, though, is that Elliott's nine points better than the next UBC player, and that means she's in on a large number of the scoring plays that UBC generates. That can't be overlooked when it comes to UBC's success again this season, and it's the reason why Grace Elliott is being added to the Honour Roll!
Shameless (Self)Promotion
We're back this week with another interview from The Hockey Show featuring a specific Canada West athlete. As stated, Canada West hockey is more than just hockey; it's joining a new school, finding new friends, discovering one's passions, and playing a little puck. On The Hockey Show, we talk about all this cool stuff going on in athletes' lives, so let's introduce you to another great person!
With PWHL camps getting underway and both Rylind MacKinnon and Kaitlin Willoughby at the Toronto camp, I thought it might be fun to bring back the interview I did with current PWHL Ottawa and former Calgary Dinos head coach Carla MacLeod. Carla's an incredible coach, an even better person, and she talks fondly of her career, her time in Calgary, coaching the Czechia team, and more! Three things stood out to me in this chat with Carla: she wants hockey to be fun and enjoyable for the players, she cares about her players, and she's an excellent communicator. Those three elements may explain why she risen through the various coaching levels as fast as she did, and she was one heckuva player in her time as well!
As much as I hate the team name, I do want PWHL Ottawa to do well this season after speaking to goaltender Logan Angers this summer, defender Savannah Harmon last season, and head coach Carla MacLeod before she made the jump to the PWHL! Here's hoping Ottawa is in the playoffs this season, and Carla MacLeod is recognized for her knowledge and abilities as head coach!
Anywhere But Calgary
I spoke of Manitoba's struggles above when playing Mount Royal, but there's a lot more to what's happening in this rivalry. As we know, Mount Royal's first-ever playoff appearance came at Wayne Fleming Arena in 2017 where Manitoba won both games at home, but it's been slowly tilting away from the Herd ever since that playoff battle.
Starting in that 2017 season, Manitoba rattled off nine-straight wins over Mount Royal between October 27, 2017 and October 12, 2019. On October 13, 2019, Mount Royal snapped that streak with a 4-0 win over the Bisons, and that was where the scales began sliding the other way. Since that October 13, 2019 game, Mount Royal is undefeated in regulation time against the Bisons in 17-straight contests, going 13-0-4 in those games. Specifically in Calgary, the Cougars are 10-0-2 against Manitoba since October 13, 2019.
Overall, the Cougars have outscored the Bisons 62-24 in those 17 games while outscoring the Bisons 45-13 in the 12 games in Calgary. Kaitlyn Ross has led the way between the pipes with a 14-0-2 record and five shutouts in those games while surrendering just 18 goals. Offensively, Athena Hauck has lit the lamp ten times against the Herd while posting 16 points in those 17 games, and there have been a total of 35 players who have recorded a point in the 17 games. To say that it's been one-sided isn't even close.
Of course, the stats don't reveal everything, though. The Bisons have lost five games by a goal while winning in overtime in four others. If the games go to extra time, Manitoba sports a 4-0 record in overtime since 2017 in those 17 games with two of those wins coming in Calgary. However, it's hard to look at the 17-game streak with no regulations losses and figure that Manitoba has a shot if they cross over to play Mount Royal. If I'm Manitoba, I'm doing everything in my power not to play Mount Royal in February in Calgary.
Logically Eliminated
Look, I hate to report on any team being eliminated at any time of the year because these women give it their all, but it may not be a stretch to suggest that the MacEwan Griffins are logically eliminated. Not mathematically, thankfully, but the numbers are starting to look more and more like it will be another campaign without a playoff game for the Griffins.
Through their 12 games, the Griffins have recorded just 166 shots. Manitoba, which has played two less games, sits at the next lowest with 268 shots - 102 more than a team that has played two more games! This isn't like this is a one-off statistic either as MacEwan was dead last in shots on net last season with 519; Regina was next lowest with 667 (148 difference). In 2022-23, they recorded 621 shots; Trinity Western had 627 as the next lowest. In short, MacEwan has been least offensively productive team over the last three seasons.
By averaging 13.8 shots on net through their first 12 games, MacEwan's total would end up being 387 shots on net total this season - far and away the least amount of shots for any team and that includes the 20-game 2021-22 season. The 5.5% shooting percentage that they currently have would be the lowest for any team as well, and would translate to just 21 goals for the season. Whatever they're doing at the Downtown Community Arena in Edmonton is going in the wrong direction, and it's starting to become evidently noticeable when they put together a 23-shot WEEKEND. Not for nothing, 5.5% of 23 shots is one goal - exactly what they scored this weekend.
I want the MacEwan Griffins to prove these stats wrong and start scoring like gangbusters, but they aren't even getting the shots on net to do so. There are still enough games left for the Griffins to make a run, and it would certainly help if they could beat Regina next week. It seems that something dramatic will have to change, however, for the Griffins to have any chance at making the playoffs this season, and that disappoints me considering their long history of winning.
Bye Week Craziness
I said I'd keep an eye on this, and I have: teams coming out of the bye week are now a combined 6-5-3. One would think that a team would buckle down, watch video, fix weaknesses, and work on exploiting their opposition's weaknesses, but being a game above .500 means a lot of teams don't seem ready to jump back into action. Granted, that record is better than the 2-3-1 record from earlier this season, but that's still a crazy record for teams with a week to prepare.
The Last Word
I want to take a moment here and congratulate all of the players who have scored their first goals, their first points, recorded their first assists, picked up their first wins, and earned their first shutouts that haven't gotten the credit that I normally give these players. You all deserve a mention, but it's not me who should be doing it as the primary point of contact as much as I want to be.
I know Canada West was trying to honour its SIDs and communications people this week, but it's hard for me to sit here and wonder why no one is making bigger deals any time someone hits a major milestone or accomplishment. I'll give MacEwan some credit for posting Sasha Malenfant's first-ever Canada West goal, but that should be the very minimum threshold for what's being done for athletes.
I'm not here to excuse Mount Royal as I do know why they don't tweet or post goals during games, but Dara Thompson had an incredible Friday night in posting three assists in her first Canada West game while Jordyn Rivett scored her first Canada West goal on Saturday. Total mentions are none despite them having a whole athletics department at their disposal. Further to this, the Trinity Western Spartans didn't even bother mentioning Brook Dorash's first Canada West goal this weekend nor did they clip a video of it. Why is this such a difficult task?
To everyone who got their "first" anything this season, I congratulate you. You're doing incredible things, and your team is benefitting from having you as part of it. I'm inspired by and in awe of your hockey abilities, and I'm overjoyed that you're finding personal success on the ice as well as succeeding off it. Keep up the great work, and hopefully, one day, things will change for the better. You certainly deserve it, and I want to be there to celebrate every milestone along the way.
Seven weeks are in the books. Keep up the fantastic play!
There's a part of me that wishes I was headed to white, sandy beaches, but the closest thing I may see to white sand are snow flurries as I head out on Monday. Due to my travel plans, HBIC is closed down today for final preparations so that I can make sure all the checkboxes are checked and all the supplies and necessities for travelling are completed. If there's one thing I hate more than anything, it's forgetting something that I swore I wouldn't forget, so I want to go through my list to check and recheck everything. That includes work stuff, but it also means making sure that I have all the necessary clothing, toiletries, and electronics for the trip.
I got a chuckle from a friend who asked me why I would be packing a roll of quarters, but I will be doing laundry on the trip at some point. I know most people just bring it home and start loads of laundry when they return, but I want to have an assortment of clean clothes for the second week of the trip. There will still be laundry to be done when I get home, but it will be less than two weeks worth of clothes.
In any case, I also made sure to pack some winter gear in the event that some inclement weather sweeps in and causes problems. The last thing I want to see is a blizzard forecast with me not having any winter gear... which has happened before. The forecasts aren't calling for any major snowfalls in any of the centers I'm visiting, but luck the favours the prepared as Edna Mode told us. That seems like good advice when the potential for cold weather is on the horizon.
Beyond that, it'll be the usual stuff one expects as the suitcase is ready to go, there are some snacks that have been prepared, and maps and directions have been printed. I don't have a lot of stuff that I bring with me on trips, but there are some bonuses for the roadtrip as I do have satellite radio in the car and I have the iPod full of tunes. I'm not sure how entertaining the drive will be, but I'm pretty sure that these options will get me through some long stretches.
For this space, The Rundown will appear tomorrow as I have been watching Canada West games, so expect that to be posted in the morning. Beyond that, there are some interesting pieces that I've written for the week, and I likely will add to it for the second week of travel as well. Being that I plan on doing some reading in the hotel rooms, a book review or two could be in the works, The Hockey Show will forge ahead on Thursdays, and I'll bring some interesting reviews of the hockey games I attend.
The open road calls, and I'll be following that call on Monday morning.
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