The Rundown - Quarterfinals

It's finally here. Playoff hockey got underway this weekend in Canada West women's hockey, and there were two pretty entertaining series to be watched as the four teams in action looked to take one step closer to the U SPORTS National Championship in Charlottetown, PEI. As we discussed on The Hockey Show earlier this week, the statistics pointed to two teams that should advance if the trends all continue in the same direction, but the reason they play the games is because anything can happen in the playoffs, specifically in Canada West hockey where these teams are very familiar with one another. Let's see whose seasons ended and whose will continue on this week's edition of The Rundown!

The fifth-seeded Regina Cougars traveled to Calgary to meet the fourth-seeded Mount Royal Cougars in the all-Cougars series as Mount Royal hosted their first-ever Canada West playoff series in school history. Regina has been one of the better teams in the second-half of the season, but enter the series on a 1-3-1-1 record in their last six games. Mount Royal comes in with a 3-2-1-0 record in their last six games, but they've been very good at home this season and finished the campaign with three-straight wins at Flames Community Arena.

All three games in this series would take place at 2:30pm MT, so the time change might affect both teams in terms of getting quick starts. There were no surprises in the choices made for goaltending in this game as Jane Kish started the game for Regina while Mount Royal opted to start their statistically-superior rookie netminder in Kaitlyn Ross.

The start of this game on Canada West TV was delayed thanks to some technical issues being experienced by the Yare TV crew at Flames Community Arena, but luckily there were no goals scored during the blackout. In fact, there were no goals scored once they got the video feed back up and running as the two netminders and the two teams were very stingy in their own zones when it came to shooting lanes and potential second chances on rebounds. I'll spare you paragraphs on the stalemate, but through 60 minutes of hockey, the teams remained tied at 0-0 with Regina leading 20-17 in shots. How about some free hockey to start the playoffs in the very first women's hockey playoff game at Flames Community Arena?

Overtime saw the two teams trade a few chances, but, as expected from the previous three periods of play, the defensive zones were locked down tightly as both teams knew that the next goal - the first goal - would put one team up in the series and the other into a hole out of which they'd have to dig. The good news? Neither team could find the back of the net. The bad news? We'd get set for another 20 minutes of overtime as this game had a feeling of perhaps creeping into the start of the Mount Royal men's hockey game at 7pm.

The second overtime period started, and Anna Purschke forced a turnover in the Regina zone before reversing it to Nicolette Seper. Seper sent the pass back to Daria O'Neill who one-time the puck towards the net where Jayden Thorpe got a stick on the puck, redirecting it past Kish just 24 seconds into the frame, and the Mount Royal Cougars claimed their second playoff win ever and their first on home ice ever with the 1-0 double-overtime win! Kaitlyn Ross made 22 saves for the Cougars' first playoff shutout in Canada West play while Jane Kish stopped 22 shots before the deflection got by her.

Mount Royal leads the best-of-three series 1-0!

Highlights of this game are below!

Pretty simple storylines in today's game: Mount Royal wins and they advance for the first-time ever in Canada West play to the semifinals while Regina had to win to force a Game Three to keep their season going. Jane Kish was back in the net for Regina after surrendering just one goal the night prior while Kaitlyn Ross was sent back out to the Mount Royal net after pitching the shutout one night before.

The game started like the game went yesterday - tight-checking and very few chances. The period rolled on through the opening eight minutes like this before Tatum Amy's point shot seem to hit someone in front of Jane Kish and deflect past the netminder at 8:13 to put Mount Royal up 1-0! The rest of the period felt like the same hockey as before Amy's goal, and we'd close out the first frame with the Cougars-in-white up over the Cougars-in-green 1-0 despite Regina holding the 7-6 edge in shots.

The teams opened the game up a little more in the second period as the long change led to a handful of chances at either end, but Ross and Kish were going save-for-save in this period. There was very little to report on the one Regina power-play opportunity and on the two Mount Royal power-play chances as the horn sounded with MRU still leading 1-0 and the teams tied 16-16 in shots.

Would you be surprised if I told you the third period looked a lot like any of the five periods played before it? Nursing that 1-0 lead, Mount Royal was far more aware in their defensive zone to prevent good scoring chances by Regina while Regina was certainly transitioning quick out of thei zone to push the play back up the ice to the MRU zone. Kish and Ross were outstanding once again, but Regina was forced to pull Kish for the extra attacker at the 17:03 mark as they needed the goal to keep their season alive. That hope would be smashed 25 seconds later when Morgan Ramsey fired the puck from just outside the Regina blue line into the yawning cage, and Mount Royal advances to the Canada West semifinal round with a 2-0 victory! Kaitlyn Ross made 24 saves to shutout the Cougars in this game and 46 saves in the series to help MRU advance while Jane Kish and her Cougars squad will head home and regroup after the senior netminder stopped 21 of 22 shots she faced.

Mount Royal wins the best-of-three series 2-0!

Highlights of this game are below!

The sixth-seeded UBC Thunderbirds traveled to Saskatoon for their series against the third-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies. UBC struggled down the stretch, going 1-4-0-1 including losing both games against Mount Royal to end the season. Saskatchewan was rolling along before hitting the final few weeks of the season where they gave up a three-goal lead to Manitoba in a loss and traded extra-time wins against Regina, giving them a 3-1-1-1 in the six games leading into the playoffs. Saskatchewan has been good at home while UBC has been dreadful on the road, so the statistics seemed to favour the team in green-and-white as this series opened.

All three games in this series were scheduled for 7:00pm ST, so there should be no weird time issues to deal with in this series. There was zero chance that either team would start a back-up netminder as a "1A" option as UBC had Tory Micklash in their crease while the Huskies went with their ace in Jessica Vance.

Saskatchewan leaned heavily on what they're known for - stout defensive hockey - in the first period as they denied chances in their zone by UBC at all points. UBC, for their part, worked to prevent the speedy Saskatchewan forwards from getting good looks on Micklash. However, Saskatchewan would crack the UBC defence open six minutes in when Holly Angus' shot from the top of the circle was stopped, but Abby Shirley was in the right spot to pot the rebound inside the left post before Micklash could recover to put the Huskies up 1-0 at 6:03! The remainder of the period? Yeah, defensive hockey as Saskatchewan and UBC combined for just six shots over the 14 minutes. At the end of 20 minutes, the 1-0 score would hold with Saskatchewan leading 7-3 in shots.

The second period was all about the power-play as the teams used their respective power-plays to find the back of the net. Saskatchewan would use good puck movement to get Larissa Bohlken an open shot from the high slot, and she ripped the puck high glove-side with the wrist shot past Micklash at 7:40 for the power-play goal and the 2-0 Huskies lead! It seemed the Huskies were in complete control until a late penalty was called on them, sending the T-Birds to the power-play. Mathea Fischer did a great job in controlling the puck before sending a puck through the slot to a wide-open Tiffany Chiu who went shelf in a hurry on Vance for the UBC power-play marker at 17:50 to make it a 2-1 game! After 40 minutes, Saskatchewan's one-goal lead was still holding with the Huskies up 13-11 in shots.

Saskatchewan went into full lock-down mode in the third period, sacrificing offensive chances in order to protect their lead. Unfortunately, Brooklyn Haubrich would be whistled for tripping, and the UBC power-play came back out on the ice looking for the equalizer. It would be the Norwegian playmaker once more as Fischer skated the puck down below the goal line before centering a pass to Hannah Koroll who pinched in off the point and one-timed the pass past Vance into the net at 11:39 to tie the game at 2-2! The "prevent" defence that Saskatchewan played continued through the remaining eight minutes, so we'd need some extra hockey to find a winner in this one! The game moved to sudden-death overtime with the teams tied 2-2 and UBC leading 18-17 in shots.

The teams would trade power-plays early in the overtime period, but it was clear that UBC was feeding off their momentum from the third period as they had better chances than Saskatchewan did. Neither side would find the net on those advantages, but, 1:02 after the Saskatchewan power-play expired, Hannah Clayton-Carroll's shot from the right side was blockered away by Vance only to have Mathea Fischer would bat it out of midair by Fischer on the left side into the back of the net at 9:44 to give the T-Birds the 3-2 overtime victory! I don't know if baseball is big in Norway, but the officials conferred and concluded that Fischer's stick was below the shoulder and crossbar, so UBC wins Game One over the Huskies! Tory Micklash looked solid in her 16-save performance while Jessica Vance stopped 19 shots in a losing effort.

UBC leads the best-of-three series 1-0!

Highlights are below!

There was a pretty elementary understanding of what had to happen in today's game. If UBC won, they'd advance to the Canada West semifinals. If Saskatchewan won, they'd live to play another day as they'd host Game Three. Tory Micklash was back in the net after her win the night before while Jessica Vance was looking to avenge the loss in overtime.

I'm not sure how the highlight package below is as long as it is, but I'm pretty sure it helps when you include 1:03 of routine saves and blocked shots as the Huskies' highlight team put into the video. There were chances, including UBC's lone power-play opportunity, in the first period, but the netminders were content with not allowing pucks to get behind them. After one period, the score remained 0-0 with Saskatchewan up 6-4 in shots.

The second period saw Saskatchewan pepper the UBC net with shots as they came out focused, used two power-play opportunities to get good looks, and their team speed to generate chances. Unfortunately, they didn't generate goals, but they were also good at preventing goals as UBC's late power-play chance in the period saw it go unfulfilled. With two periods in the books, the 0-0 stalemate stood with the Huskies leading 19-11 in shots.

The third period felt like two boxers taking knockout swings at one another as the pace was torrid up and down the ice with pucks hitting their targets, but the goalies were exceptional in denying all chances. With neither side giving an inch and neither willing to concede a goal, we'd head to overtime for the second-straight night as this game would remain 0-0 through 60 minutes of play with the Huskies up 32-21 in the shot department.

Saskatchewan was the more aggressive team in the overtime period as they had a couple of good looks off the stick of Bailee Bourassa, but the Huskies sniper could not find the back of the net. Micklash stood her ground once again in the UBC net just as Jessica Vance did, and we'd find no winner through the first overtime frame. We'd move to a second period with the 0-0 score holding firm as Saskatchewan increased their margin in shots to 37-22.

Thanks to a power-play in the second overtime period, UBC began to build all sorts of offensive momentum as they found ways to get pucks to the net, but they couldn't put a puck past Vance. However, a shot by Mathea Fischer just before the midpoint of the period was deflected by Hannah Clayton-Carroll in front of the net past Vance, and the Thunderbirds would claim the 1-0 double-overtime victory over the Huskies! Tory Micklash was fantastic in her crease, stopping all 38 shots that the Huskies sent her way for the shutout while Jessica Vance suffered her second-straight overtime loss after stopping 28 of 29 shots.

UBC sweeps the series by a 2-0 count!

Highlights of this game are below!

While they technically aren't standings, here are how the semifinals will play out between the final four teams.

The Last Word

After UBC's shocking two-game sweep of the Huskies, there are a few things we do know regarding Canada West. It should be noted, before moving on, that overtime is the great equalizer in all series as stats go out the window. As we saw, pucks on net helped both Mount Royal and UBC find victories in the playoffs!

First off, there will definitely be a Calgary-based team going to PEI for Nationals as one of the Dinos or Cougars will emerge as a Canada West finalist this season. The steps that Mount Royal have taken in recent years has been remarkable, from making the playoffs for the first-time ever against Manitoba to winning their first playoff game last season against Saskatchewan to hosting and winning a playoff series this year. As Mount Royal continues to write their impressive history game by game, it's hard not to cheer for the Cougars in what seems like a story that has all the makings for a fairy-tale ending if they can get by the Dinos. Could they win their first-ever Canada West Championship? We'll find out if the hockey gods are with them next weekend!

The Dinos, meanwhile, find themselves in an unusual, yet well-earned, position this season after missing the playoffs for a number of years. Their second-seeding gave them a week to prepare and heal up some bumps and bruises for whomever would be their semifinals opponent, but I'm not certain they were expecting the Cougars. Nonetheless, the all-Calgary semifinal will be exciting and fun to watch with the Dinos holding a 3-0-1 record against the Cougars this season, and we might see the Dinos back at Nationals for the first time since 2015-16 when they hosted the championship. Of course, earning their way would be better considering that when they did go deservingly, they won a silver medal at the U SPORTS National Championship back in 2012-13 following a gold-medal performance at the 2011-12 National Championship. If the Dinos do win the Canada West title, it would be just their second CanWest championship in school history - hard to believe considering the talent they've had!

In the other series, it seems like the Pandas are always there, but they have a chance to win their 14th Canada West title if they can advance past UBC. After finishing a disappointing fourth-place at last year's U SPORTS National Championship, the Pandas have a chance to return to the scene of the crime and finish off some unfinished business they have in PEI. Alberta won their eighth U SPORTS Championship back in 2016-17, and have played in two of the last three National Championships. They're accustomed to winning, and I imagine that the senior players on the Pandas will want to end their careers in Canada West, if not in U SPORTS, on a winning note. They're the team to beat as the top-seeded team in Canada West, so expect the three remaining teams to vie for a shot at knocking them off the top of the mountain.

Standing in Alberta's way are the UBC Thunderbirds who, unfortunately, haven't been much of a roadblock as they'd like. In the four games against Alberta this season, the T-Birds have been shutout three times and have scored just one goal - that happened back on October 4, 2019 in the first game of the season. That being said, the Thunderbirds looked like a much better defensive squad against the Huskies, so this series might raise eyebrows if UBC can find some offence while minding their own zone. UBC is seeking their fourth Canada West title in school history, and are looking for their first berth at Nationals since 2016-17 where they finished with the bronze medal following a silver-medal finish in 2015-16. It should be noted that a sixth-seeded team has never advanced to the National Championship from Canada West without being the host team, so UBC has a chance to write a little history if they can get by the Pandas.

All of the action in the semifinals starts Friday, and you can catch the games on Canada West TV. Four teams remain. Two will move forward and qualify as the Canada West representatives at the U SPORTS National Championship with one of the Calgary-based teams being one of those two teams. We'll see how everything plays out next week on The Rundown!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!