The Rundown - Semifinals

Four teams took to the ice this week in Canada West women's hockey as all four looked to advance to the Canada West Final where the final two teams would be able to book their tickets to the U SPORTS National Championship in Charlottetown, PEI. Alberta, Calgary, Mount Royal, and UBC would enter the weekend, but only two will play next weekend for the Canada West banner and the right to go as the higher-seeded Canada West team to Nationals. Let's see how this weekend played out and who will head to PEI on this week's edition of The Rundown.

UBC advanced to the semifinal with a thrilling two-game sweep over Saskatchewan in Saskatoon with both games being won in overtime. Whatever problems plagued UBC in the regular season were erased with the two-game sweep as they got set for another big test. Alberta watched last week as they earned the bye by finishing in first-place, so they were well-rested to enter to this weekend's play.

As a bit of a surprise, the Pandas had offensive dynamo Alex Poznikoff back in the lineup after she missed most of the second-half of the season with an injury, so it seemed they had all hands on-deck for Friday's game! There was no doubt who would start for either team as Tory Micklash was in net for the Thunderbirds while the Pandas went with Kirsten Chamberlin.

I'll save you a lot of reading about nothing, but there were chances throughout the sixty minutes of play by both teams only to see both Micklash and Chamberlin deny all the opportunities. Game One of the semifinal would require overtime as the two teams were still tied 0-0 at the end of regulation time with Alberta leading 29-19 in shots.

The first overtime period was the short ten-minute period where both teams played a little more cautiously, but no winner would be found after Micklash and Chamberlin stood their ground in this period. Shots were 32-22 with 0-0 score still intact.

The second overtime period saw Alberta carry the play for the majority of the frame, but a late power-play for UBC looked like a break the T-Birds needed. They wouldn't be able to solve the Alberta penalty-killing units nor Chamberlin, though, and we'd need another reset as the teams remained tied at 0-0 with Alberta holding a 40-24 margin in shots.

Alberta continued to press in the third overtime period with UBC doing their best to weather the storm. However, on the 48th Alberta shot of the game with Alberta on the power-play, Taylor Anker made a move around Kenzie Robinson who had advanced out towards her, skated into the right face-off circle, and let a wrist shot go that went over the glove of a screened Micklash for the 1-0 triple-overtime victory! Kirsten Chamberlin picked up the shutout and the win by stopping all 26 shots she faced in 107:01 of play while Micklash stopped 47 shots in the triple-overtime loss.

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

Highlights of this game are below!

After a marathon-type game the day before, one had to wonder if these teams might look a little slower in Saturday's game. UBC was in must-win mode to keep their season from ending while Alberta was one victory from returning to PEI where they finished in fourth-place one year ago. In a roster note, Alberta's Alex Poznikoff was not in the lineup for this game. Tory Micklash and Kirsten Chamberlin squared off in the nets once again as they stood 200-feet from one another in Game Two.

Again, I'll spare you a lot of reading about nothing as the T-Birds and Pandas battled hard through sixty minutes only to see Micklash and Chamberlin deny all opportunities. UBC played a much more aggressive game in being the designated home team as they looked to push the play in needing to find goals to keep their season going, but we'd head back to overtime once more as the score sat at 0-0 when the horn sounded on regulation time despite UBC outshooting Alberta 20-19.

The overtime period would go back and forth before we'd see a winner six-and-a-half minutes into the frame. Autumn MacDougall's sharp angle shot went over Micklash's right shoulder as she was tight against the post, and the incredible snipe by Canada West's top scorer this season at the 6:28 mark was the difference in the game as Alberta prevailed 1-0 in overtime once again! Kirsten Chamberlin picked up her second-straight shutout and win in blanking UBC on all 22 shots while Tory Micklash suffered the second-straight overtime loss in making 20 of 21 stops.

Alberta sweep the best-of-three series 2-0, and advances to the Canada West Final while becoming the first Canada West representative to qualify for the U SPORTS National Championship in Charlottetown, PEI!

Highlights of this game are below!

In the first-ever "Battle of Calgary - Playoff Edition", the second-seeded Calgary Dinos would host the fourth-seeded Mount Royal Cougars who were playing in their first Canada West semifinal series ever! Mount Royal downed the Regina Cougars in two-straight games to advance to the semifinal while the Calgary Dinos spent the week resting up and getting ready after earning the quarterfinals bye thanks to finishing in second-place.

It was expected to be a mixed crowd at Father David Bauer Arena as the Dinos fans and Cougars fans came out to support their Calgary-based teams. Both coaches went with their aces in the nets as Mount Royal started Kaitlyn Ross following her successful series against Regina while Calgary had veteran Kelsey Roberts in their net to start this semifinal series.

The Cougars came out fired up and firing pucks on Roberts in this game, and it paid off early as Kate Hufnagel won a puck battle behind the net and got the puck to Tianna Ko who stepped out in front and slid the backhander under Roberts at 8:40 to put the Cougars up 1-0! That goal seemed to wake up the Dinos as they stormed back. A long pass to Rachel Paul was sent up to Holly Reuther quickly as the Dinos broke out of their zone and turned it into a 2-on-1 where Ruether fed Sage Desjardins on the left side, and she chipped the puck past a sprawling Ross to make it 1-1 at 10:59! 2:06 later, Reuther was at it again as she made a short pass to Emily Hill, and Hill's long wrist shot found room on the glove side past Ross who may have been partially-screened to put the Dinos ahead 2-1! Both teams had a power-play in the latter half of the period that was unsuccessful, and we'd head into the intermission with Calgary leading 2-1, but Mount Royal up 14-8 in shots.

The second period saw the teams even out the chances as Calgary tightened up their play in the defensive zone while Mount Royal took away some of the space for the Dinos that hurt them in the first period. There were great chances to score for either team, but it would be the Cougars who found twine in this frame just past the midway point of the period. Off a goalmouth scramble that saw Breanne Trotter tangled up with a Dinos defender and Roberts trying to smother the puck, Trotter tapped the loose puck to Tianna Ko standing outside the crease and the diminutive sniper picked up her second goal of the game as she had Roberts down-and-out at 12:05 to make it 2-2! The goalies would handle the final eight minutes with no other lamps lit, and we'd go into the second intermission tied 2-2 with MRU leading 23-16 in shots.

The third period saw both teams work to lock down the defensive zones once more as the shots in this period were considerably less than either of the previous two periods, but it would be good puck movement that resulted in a goal seven minutes into this frame. Elizabeth Lang hit Sara Craven with a pass at the Calgary blue line before jumping up into the play. She took the return pass from Craven as she blew by a defender, allowing her and Delaney Frey to come in on the 2-on-1 where Lang fed Frey perfectly and she fired the puck high as Ross slid across low to put Calgary up 3-2 at 7:33!

Calgary would then defend like their lives depended on it, but were assessed a penalty with 1:00 remaining in the game to allow Mount Royal to go 6-on-4! There were a number of chances had by Mount Royal, but Roberts was stellar in keeping her net clean. With 26 seconds remaining, MRU was whistled for a penalty of their own, and that was the break Calgary needed to hang on for the 3-2 victory in Game One! Kelsey Roberts earned her first win of these playoffs with a 27-save effort while Kaitlyn Ross suffered her first loss after making 17 stops.

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

Highlights of this game are below!

Mount Royal would assume the role of home team despite them heading back to Father David Bauer Arena with their playoff lives on the line for the first time this season. If Calgary were to win this game and sweep the Cougars, they would advance to play Alberta next week for the Canada West banner. Kaitlyn Ross and Kelsey Roberts would stand 200-feet apart for these two teams once again.

Fans didn't have to wait long for the scoring to start in this game as a bouncing puck in the Mount Royal zone would be backhanded across the crease by Sara Craven only to find Elizabeth Lang at the back post who swept the puck into the open cage just 1:15 into this game, and Calgary was up 1-0 early! The Dinos kept coming after that goal, but Ross settled down in the net and kept her team within a goal despite some great chances from the Dinos. Roberts, at the other end, was tested, but nothing got by her, so we'd hit the intermission with the Dinos leading 1-0 on the scoreboard and 12-6 in shots.

After an early breakdown in the second period that saw Kaitlyn Ross make an unbelievable save on a rebound, Mount Royal raised their game in both zones to look much better than they had. They would press in the Dinos' zone on a number of occasions, but we wouldn't see a goal until late in the period when a face-off was pushed out to the left side off the right dot in the Calgary zone where Tianna Ko picked it up and went shelf from the hash marks past Roberts at 14:51 to tie the game at 1-1! However, 55 seconds later, Sara Craven chipped a puck past a defender that led to a partial 3-on-1, and Craven fed Lang in the middle who ripped a shot past Ross high on the blocker side to put Calgary back up by a goal at 2-1! The time would tick off the clock as we moved into the second intermission with the Dinos up by that one-goal margin and holding a 19-15 edge in shots.

Mount Royal wasn't content with going quietly into the night, and they jumped on the Dinos early in the third period when Breanne Trotter found room past Roberts just 1:35 into the frame, giving us a 2-2 hockey game! Calgary wasn't interesting in playing a third game based on their response, but Kaitlyn Ross made a number of fantastic saves as this period grew older to keep the teams tied. Those saves might have been the turning point as well because the Cougars would weather the storm to see Breanne Trotter skate down the left wing across the line and center the puck to Tianna Ko who fired a shot over the glove of Roberts with 32 seconds to play as MRU grabbed the 3-2 lead! The Cougars would hold off any further Dinos goals through the remaining 30 seconds of play, giving them the 3-2 victory! Kaitlyn Ross was outstanding in earning her third playoff win with a 29-save effort while Kelsey Roberts suffered the loss on a 21-save night.

The best-of-three series is tied 1-1, and we'll need a Game Three to decide a winner!

Highlights of this one are below!

It's really just one story line for this game: win and you're in. One win for either side will see them travel to Edmonton for a date with the Pandas for the Canada West banner as well as booking tickets to Charlottetown, PEI for the U SPORTS National Championship. For the third-straight night, Kaitlyn Ross was in net for the Cougars while Kelsey Roberts guarded the Dinos' net.

This game started with Mount Royal showing their teeth as they had a few good offensive chances on Roberts before the Dinos came down and tested Ross in the Cougars' end of the ice. This was a quick period in terms of elapsed time, though, as there were few whistles, no penalties, and no goals as the netminders were perfect. Through one period, the game remained tied at 0-0 with MRU leading 10-7 in shots.

The second period saw the teams play more evenly as neither side was willing to give the other any clear looks thanks to blocked shots and clearing rebounds quickly. Shots that did find their marks were easily turned aside by the goaltenders who seemed like they were content with the 0-0 stalemate. Calgary had the lone power-play opportunity in the frame, but it was unsuccessful as the teams went into the second intermission still tied at 0-0 and Mount Royal up 17-13 in shots.

The third period saw both teams bear down and look for the goal that could end the series. Roberts made a handful of incredible stops while Ross made a couple of highlight-reel saves of her own. Each team was awarded a power-play, but neither came away with a goal on the advantages. The horn sounded on regulation time with the teams still deadlocked at 0-0, and we'd go to overtime for the fifth time in these Canada West playoffs with the score showing goose eggs. Mount Royal still held the edge in shots at 29-23.

The ten-minute overtime period started a little more tentatively as neither side was looking to open things up in the "next goal wins" scenario, but there were a few chances. Kate Hufnagel rung a shot off the crossbar behind Roberts late in the period as that was the closest we saw this game ending to that point, but we'd head into another break still knotted up at 0-0 with the Cougars up 32-25 in shots.

The second overtime period started with a rather strange no-call from the officials as Tianna Ko appeared to have a step on the Calgary defenders at the Dinos' blue line before a couple of slashes and hooks brought Ko down as the referee's arm stayed down as well! The Dinos may have gotten away with one there, and it seemed to give them a little life. Minutes later, though, Breanne Trotter won a puck battle behind the net and centered to Ko who was stopped by Roberts. Her rebound went to Tatum Amy who also couldn't bury the puck, but Trotter came back to the crease and shoveled the puck home amidst a crowd of Dinos to give the Mount Royal Cougars the 1-0 double-overtime victory! Kaitlyn Ross earned her fourth win and third shutout of these playoffs with her 28-save effort over 74:22 of work while Kelsey Roberts suffered the double-OT loss after stopping 33 shots.

Mount Royal wins the best-of-three series 2-1, and will advance to the Canada West Final to face the Alberta Pandas while becoming Canada West's second representative at the U SPORTS National Championship in Charlottetown, PEI!

Highlights of this game are below!

While they technically aren't standings, here is how the Canada West Final will play out between Alberta and Mount Royal.

The Last Word

And then there were two. Just the Alberta Pandas and Mount Royal Cougars stand after all the games have been played, leading up to this Canada West Final between the two Alberta-based teams. It will be a true "Battle of Alberta" in the final, so let's take a look at the numbers between these two teams.

Alberta won the season series 3-1-0-0 with Mount Royal winning the first meeting on home ice back on October 18, 2019 by a 1-0 score. After that, Alberta won the final three games of the season series by scores of 2-0 and 3-1 Clare Drake Arena and 3-0 at Flames Community Arena. In the last five years of play at Clare Drake Arena, Mount Royal is 2-5-1-0 in those eight games so things appear to favour the Pandas if the head-to-head scores are of any meaning.

Mount Royal's road record this season was a rather terrible 4-10-0-0 while Alberta was 11-3-0-0 at home. In these playoffs, Mount Royal is 1-1-1-0 on the road while Alberta is 2-0-0-0 at home. Alberta's power-play at home clicks at a 29% efficiency (18 goals scored on 62 attempts) and their penalty-killing units kill off 90.5% of power-plays (4 goals allowed on 42 shorthanded situations). Mount Royal's power-play isn't as lethal at just 7.3% (three goals on 41 opportunities) while their penalty-killing efficiency on the road is just 79.7% (12 goals allowed on 59 shorthanded situations). Alberta has scored five power-play goals on 17 attempts against Mount Royal this season while Mount Royal is oh-for-seven with the player-advantage against the Pandas. It seems pretty clear that special teams favour the Pandas as well.

Where this series may be determined could be based on who scores first. When trailing after the first period this season, Mount Royal turned in a record of 1-8-0-0 while the Pandas were 2-4-0-0. When trailing after two periods, Mount Royal's record was 2-13-0-0 while Alberta didn't have a third-period comeback all season long after going 0-6-0-0 in those situations. Comparatively, when leading after the first period, Mount Royal was 5-0-0-0 while the Pandas were 10-0-0-0. When leading after two periods, Mount Royal was 7-0-0-0 and Alberta was 17-0-0-0.

Based on the fact that Alberta is 2-0-0-0 and Mount Royal is 3-1-0-0 when scoring first in these playoffs, it would seem that whichever team gets a lead on the opposition might be in a good position to win. Perhaps even moreso when that lead comes in overtime as both teams are 2-0-0-0 in games where overtime started with a 0-0 score.

This should be a great final between two teams who know each other very well, and have a bit of a dislike for one other. Everything starts Friday at 7pm MT at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton, and I highly-recommend you get down to the rink to see these two rivals battle it out for the Canada West banner, the Catherwood Cup, the higher seed at Nationals, and bragging rights for a year! Only one team can "Win the West", and it comes down to a showdown between the Alberta Pandas and Mount Royal Cougars!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!