Today, the Canada West Conference released the schedules for all sports, but this blog is only interested in how the schedule would be built for men's and women's hockey. I should point out that this schedule "will be contingent on clearance from health authorities in all four Western provinces, member universities permitting sport competition, and the availability of venues suitable for Canada West competition" according to today's Canada West release.
According to the release, the 2020-21 regular season will see:
- 20 games played by each of the nine teams where each team will play the other eight twice with four additional games being played within regional locations.
- UBC and TWU will play an additional four games against one another based on BC region.
- Alberta and MacEwan will play two additional games against one another plus one additional game against both Calgary and Mount Royal.
- Calgary and Mount Royal will play two additional games against one another plus one additional game against both Alberta and MacEwan.
- Saskatchewan, Regina, and Manitoba will all play two additional games against one another.
Is this uneven schedule unfair to some teams? Yes, I'd say that MacEwan, in their first year of play, get a bit of the short end of the stick with four games against Alberta and three games against both Calgary and Mount Royal, but I'm guessing that Lindsay McAlpine will have her three-straight ACAC champion Griffins - who were on the verge of being four-peat champions - ready to win the four-way battle of Alberta from the moment the puck is dropped this season. Both the men's and women's teams from MacEwan will be in tough, but this should make them battle-hardened for the 2021-22 season when things hopefully get back to normal!
While the final schedules for each team have yet to be posted on any of the team sites nor the Canada West site, we're one step closer to knowing what Canada West men's and women's hockey will look like in 2020-21 with nine teams. If you aren't getting excited for another amazing season of Canada West hockey, you might want to check your pulse while getting out to see the new teams play!
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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