The Rundown - Week 1
The first period saw these two teams looking for cracks in the other's defensive system, but neither would yield many opportunities. Mount Royal did has a power-play just before the midway point of the period, but Oswald and the Alberta penalty-killers stood tall against the Cougars. After one period of play, the score remained 0-0 with Alberta leading 6-4 in shots on net.
The second period saw Mount Royal come out far more aggressive as they put more pucks on the Alberta net, and they'd be rewarded early as Courtney Kollman kept on a two-on-one, and she wired a shot past Oswald to put the Cougars up 1-0 at the 4:55 mark! But, as we know, visiting teams winning at Clare Drake Arena happens as often as leap years, and Alberta wouldn't let that goal stand. Madison Willan would find the twine behind De Beauville at 15:36 of the second period, and we'd head to the final period locked in a 1-1 battle with Mount Royal leading in shots 13-11.
Mount Royal came out in third period with guns a-blazing as they fired pucks from everywhere at Oswald, but the Alberta netminder was equal to the task on all 15 attempts. Alberta put six shots on De Beauville, but none of those would find the back of the net either, so we were off to our first overtime game of the season!
In the first extra frame, there were no goals with four-on-four play, so we'd move to the three-on-three period where we'd find a winner! Natalie Kieser's initial shot was stopped by De Beauville, but Tori Williams couldn't flip it by Madison Willan who picked up the puck, skated to the De Beauville's right before feeding a wide-open Kieser on the backdoor who tapped it into the yawning cage for the 2-1 Pandas overtime win! Halle Oswald records the win in the opening game of the season with a 29-save performance while Zoe De Beauville suffers the overtime loss despite making 18 stops.
Highlights from this game are below, and I should note that Kieser's goal was her first of her Canada West career along with being the first overtime goal of her career and the first game-winner of her career! Congratulations, Natalie!
SATURDAY: Despite both teams earning points one night earlier, it's doubtful either would be happy with not earning a full three points. They'd get a chance to meet that challenge as they reconvened on Saturday for the second-half of this two-game set at Clare Drake Arena. Kaitlyn Ross of the Cougars would square off against Kirsten Chamberlin of the Pandas in a rematch of the goaltenders who played for the Canada West final last season, so this might be another low-scoring affair knowing how they played the last time they met.
Mount Royal decided that they weren't going to wait in this game for scoring as Tatum Amy opened the game with a goal just 34 seconds in, and MRU was off and running with a 1-0 lead! Both teams showed some better offence in this first period compared to the night before as the period progressed, but we'd head into the break tied at 1-1 after Alberta evened the game at 14:39 when Madison Willan centered a puck to Danica Namaka, and the rookie forward notched her first career goal for the Pandas!
I'm not exactly sure about the reason, but the Pandas came back out with Halle Oswald in the net as Kirsten Chamberlin was on the bench. Regardless, the game pressed on as Oswald settled in. Chances were had at both ends, but we'd see the stalemate broken at 15:47 mark when Tianna Ko picked off an Alberta pass coming out from behind the net and threw a backhand shot on Oswald that she stopped, but Aliya Jomha was in the right spot to bang home the rebound for her first Canada West goal! That lead would only last for 2:05, though, as Alberta used a power-play to even the score when Grace Tam's shot from the faceoff dot on the left side beat a screened Kaitlyn Ross to make it 2-2 and her first Canada West goal and power-play goal! That score would hold through the break, and we'd go to the third period with the teams looking for a winner!
Despite Mount Royal outshooting Alberta 7-6 in the third period, neither team would find the back of the net. That trend would continue through the first overtime period, and it would happen again in the second overtime period. That means we needed a shootout to determine a winner in this game!
Tianna Ko and Madison Willan would both be stopped. Courtney Kollman and Natalie Kieser would be denied. Aliya Jomha and Danica Namaka were stopped in Round Three. However, after Madison Willan was stopped for a second time, Breanne Trotter found room past Oswald for the shootout winner as Mount Royal prevails 3-2 over Alberta! Kaitlyn Ross earned the win with 27 saves and four more in the shootout while Halle Oswald takes the shootout loss after replacing Chamberlin despite stopping 21 shots in regulation time.
Highlights are below, but I have to ask why Alberta cut the highlight reel during the Breanne Trotter shootout attempt? Get it together, Alberta. This isn't just a Pandas highlight reel.
The first period saw the ice slanted towards the TWU end as UBC outshot the Spartans 9-2 in the opening frame. Maltais, however, was good on all nine shots as the Thunderbirds couldn't solve her. Hiddleston wasn't tested often, but she too stopped both shots she faced. Through one period, the two BC teams remained tied at 0-0.
History was made at 2:51 of the second period when a neutral zone UBC turnover led to a two-on-oh for Trinity Western. Jordyn Matthews initial shot was stopped, but Ashlee Wolfe chipped in the rebound past Hiddleston, and Trinity Western had their first-ever Canada West goal in history as they took the 1-0 lead! The jubilation would last all of 24 seconds, though, as the UBC power-play struck when the pinching Rylind MacKinnon chipped a rebound with one hand past Maltais to even the game at 1-1! UBC would use a second power-play to add another goal later in the period as MacKinnon centered a pass to Mackenzie Kordic, and she fired home a power-play marker at 16:53 to give the T-Birds a 2-1 lead! That one-goal lead would stand as the period ended with UBC leading 21-13 in shots.
The third period saw chances for TWU, but they couldn't beat Hiddleston. At the other end, UBC used another power-play to add to their lead as Kenzie Robinson on the backdoor finished off a gorgeous passing play from Chanreet Bassi and Joelle Fiala at 8:23 to give UBC the 3-1 advantage. That score would hold on a night where the two teams combined for 19 penalties, 28 penalty minutes, and 17 total power-plays as UBC wins the season-opening game on this rivalry by the 3-1 score. Reese Hiddleston made 17 saves for her first Canada West victory while Mabel Maltais stopped 29 shots in the loss.
Highlights of this game, including every angle from every corner of the arena of each goal, are below as it appears Trinity Western is using a dozen cameras for coverage this season!
SATURDAY: As you know if you've read one of these recaps before, The Rundown never celebrates blowouts out of respect for the team and its players who suffer a long, unhappy night. With that foreshadowing posted above, you likely know what happened in Game Two of this home-and-home series as the Spartans visited UBC on Saturday night. Kate Fawcett got the start for TWU while Elise Hugens was in the blue paints for the Thunderbirds.
The first period seemed pretty similar to the night before as UBC put up a ten shots to TWU's two shots, but all those shots amounted to little as Fawcett stopped them all. Hugens denied both pucks sent her way, so we'd go to the second period with these two teams locked in a 0-0 battle for the second-straight night.
The puck was dropped for the second period, and that's when the wheels came off for the Spartans. UBC scored six times on 14 shots as they showed TWU no mercy. Jenna Fletcher scored at 1:56, Chanreet Bassi scored at 5:17, Rylind MacKinnon added a power-play goal at 10:52, Bassi scored her second at 14:02, Emily Moore put her first career Canada West goal and the fifth UBC goal on the board at 15:19, and Ireland Perrott rounded out the second period goal-scoring party by adding her marker at 19:25. Needless to say, this game got away from Trinity Western as they were down 6-0 after 40 minutes.
UBC would add a pair of goals in the third period - Mackenzie Kordic at 1:25 and Sophia Gaskell scored her first Canada West goal at 10:25 - as this game was all Thunderbirds in the 8-0 victory. Elise Hugens made 13 stops for her first Canada West win and first Canada West shutout while Kate Fawcett was in the net for all eight goals as she stopped 24 shots in the loss.
UBC has yet to post highlights from the game at the time of writing this article, so I have no highlights to occupy this spot. Get it together, UBC. I get that you're on the left coast, but these highlights need to be posted sooner than later for Canada West hockey fans!
We may want to forgive these two teams for settling into a defensive effort, but the first period saw all shots denied as Kliewer made eight saves while Bender turned away 12 shots. There were certainly chances as both teams found spaces, but the goaltenders were up to the challenge in the opening frame as we'd move to the second period deadlocked at 0-0.
Kliewer and Bender weren't interested in any goals being scored in the second period either as they blanked all shooters they say - Kliewer with another 12 saves while Bender turned away seven shots. With MacEwan leading 20-19 in shots through two periods, it's pretty evident there were scoring chances, including the three power-plays for each team in the second period, but the goaltenders were the story through 40 minutes of play.
The third period, though, was different. Raea Gilroy opened the scoring for Regina after Lilla Carpenter-Boesch fed her in the slot from behind the net, and Gilroy's first Canada West goal at 8:02 put the Cougars up 1-0. They'd double their lead when Heather Fiske teed up her first Canada West goal with a one-timer from the left face-off dot at 15:16 to make it 2-0 for Regina. MacEwan would make things interesting when Hailey Maurice entered the Canada West record books for scoring the Griffins' first-ever Canada West goal and her first Canada West goal at 18:44 to make it a 2-1 game! However, the Griffins couldn't complete the storybook come-from-behind effort as the final horn souned on the 2-1 Regina Cougars win. Arden Kliewer earned her first Canada West win with 26-save effort while Natalie Bender suffered the loss despite turning away 27 shots.
Hi. This is where highlights go. You're probably looking for highlights, but there aren't any at this point in time because MacEwan hasn't posted them yet. I know the schools have 24 hours to post those highlights, but this is now two schools who need to make this happen. Especially for a Friday night game that happened, by my count, more than 24 hours ago. Make it happen, MacEwan.
SATURDAY: Despite falling one night earlier to the Cougars, the Griffins showed they can hang with at least one Canada West team. The next step would be to outscore that team, and they were looking to do that against the Cougars in Game Two of the two-game set while the Cougars aimed to return to Saskatchewan with a 2-0 record on the season. Katie Crowther started for the visiting Couagrs while Brianna Sank got the nod for the Griffins.
Like Friday's game, the two netminders weren't interested in blemishes on their records in the first period. Crowther stopped seven MacEwan chances while Sank was the busier of the two netminders in turning away 12 Regina shots as the teams literally registered a clean sheet = no goals and no penalties - in a 0-0 first period.
The second period, though, saw the Griffins find their game. Rylee Gluska opened the scoring with her first Canada West goal at the 7:03 mark before MacEwan's active leading ACAC scorer Chantal Ricker made it a two-goal game with her first in CanWest 4:58 later! The Cougars wouldn't let this period end without a goal, though, as Trinity Grove's partial breakaway turned into a goal low on the blocker side as she beat Sank at the 18:27 mark to send this game into the break with MacEwan holding a 2-1 edge.
The third period saw MacEwan lock down the defensive zone as Regina outshot the Griffins 13-5, but they couldn't find twine behind Sank as the Griffins' netminder backstopped the squad to their first-ever Canada West regular season win by that 2-1 score! Sank stopped 37 shots in the win for her first career Canada West victory while Katie Crowther stopped 21 shots in the loss.
I know I poked fun at the Griffins above when it comes to highlights, but did you know that the last thing that was posted to the "MacEwan Griffins" account on YouTube was from seven years ago? How do they have no sports highlights of anything in the last seven years? This needs to be corrected immediately by posting the video highlights from two women's hockey games this weekend. IMMEDIATELY.
The scoring in this game would start early as the Dinos, down Annaliese Meier as she sat in the penalty box, got some offence from the penalty kill as Dinos captain Rachel Paul beat Relf on the shorthanded breakaway between the wickets for the first goal, chronologically, of the 2021-22 Canada West season just 3:35 into this game! That lead would last for just over 11 minutes before Kate Gregoire broke down the left wing, cut towards the net, and fired a shot over the glove of Durante at the 14:47 mark! The Dinos, however, would restore the one-goal lead 4:01 later as Alli Borrow ripped a shot high glove-side on Relf for her first goal as a Calgary Dino at 18:48! The Dinos would head into the break up 2-1 despite being outshot 12-7 in the frame.
Whatever Jon Rempel said between periods seemed to spark the Bisons as they came out far more aggressive in the second period, and they were rewarded for the new approach. Ashley Keller picked up the loose puck in the high slot off a broken play, and she ripped a wrist shot past Durante on the glove side for her first Canada West goal to make it 2-2 at the 2:27 mark. Calgary would go up by a goal once more nine minutes into the period when Elizabeth Lang's wraparound found space under Relf's pad, and it was a 3-2 game. 14 seconds later, though, Kylie Lesuk outwaited Durante as she went down, allowing Lesuk to slide it past the outstretched leg of Durante for her first Canada West goal, and we were squared up at 3-3! Two minutes after that goal, Samantha Sichkaruk carried the puck into the slot area and threw a shot on net that might have surprised Durante as it went under her, but they count all the same and Manitoba had the 4-3 lead through to the end of the period!
Did I mention there were goals scored in this game? If I didn't, cue up the highlight reel because Molly Kunnas broke down the right wing, cut past the defender as she got a step on her, and roofed the puck past Durante for her first Canada West goal at the 4:08 mark for the 5-3 lead! Rachel Paul would make the Manitoba power-play pay once more at the 12:49 mark as she once again broke away from the pack and deked Relf glove-side where she only got a piece of the puck as Paul recorded her second shorthanded goal of the game to make it 5-4! Despite Calgary's pressure late, Ashley Keller would score her second of the game into the empty net as the Bisons downed the Dinos by a 6-4 score! Meagan Relf earned her first Canada West victory with a 24-save effort while Gabrielle Durante took the loss despite making 26 stops.
Highlights are below, but Manitoba's highlight package apparently didn't include Paul's second goal nor Keller's second goal. Let's get that corrected, Manitoba. Highlights include ALL highlights, ok?
SATURDAY:Considering that Manitoba didn't score more than four goals in a game in 2019-20 and only scored 34 all season that year, having them put six up in their first game was a surprise. Would we see more offensive fireworks from the Herd in the second game of the two-game set? Would Calgary tighten things up in the defensive zone in this one? We'd find out as the puck dropped on this one with Gabriella Durante earning her second start for the Dinos while veteran netminder Erin Fargey was in the crease for the Bisons!
Calgary would open the scoring in this one midway through the frame. Fargey misplayed a puck that she attempted to smother, and that allowed Elizabeth Lang to wrap the puck around the net. Fargey stopped Lang's attempt, but Holly Reuther was in the right place to chip the rebound past Fargey at 9:46 to put the Dinos up 1-0! Durante made a couple of key saves in the first period to keep the Bisons off the board, and the period would end with Calgary up a goal as the teams were tied 10-10 in shots.
The second period saw the Bisons come alive once again. Captain Lauren Warkentin fired home a power-play goal through traffic from the left side at 5:35 to even this game up at 1-1. In what was another highlight reel goal, Samantha Sichkaruk broke in on a two-on-one, drew the defender to her as she slipped the puck across to Jessica Haner, and Haner roofed the puck blocker-side on Durante from just in front of the crease in what could only be described as a "goal scorer's goal" for her first Canada West marker at 6:04 to put the Bisons up 2-1! In what will likely be heard a lot this season, Dennehy-to-Gregoire-to-Lesuk covered two-thirds of the ice with passes before Lesuk finished off the sequence with a partial-breakaway goal glove-side on Durante at 12:53 to make it 3-1 for Manitoba. Those three would make it 4-1 with a Gregoire-to-Dennehy-to-Lesuk goal that Lesuk finished from the slot at 13:59, and Ashley Keller would score Manitoba's fifth goal of the frame at 17:12 when she blasted another shot past Durante. Entering the third period, Calgary needed a major comeback to salvage points this weekend.
Calgary opted to have rookie Ella Howard in the Calgary net to start the third period, but it was Manitoba who locked down the defensive in the third period as they denied Calgary time and again. A late power-play goal on a blast from the point through traffic by Bridget Resanzoff with 2:30 to play pulled Calgary back to a 5-2 score, but the three-goal deficit was too much to overcome on this day as Manitoba defeated Calgary by a 5-2 score! Erin Fargey earned the victory with a 29-save performance while Gabriella Durante took the loss after making 12 stops in 40 minutes of work. For the record, Ella Howard surrendered no goals on three shots in her period of action.
Highlights from this game are still missing from the Bisons' YouTube account, so we're forced to wait. Eight games played this weekend, and four have no highlight package yet?
| School | Record | Points | GF | GA | Streak | Next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manitoba | 2-0-0-0 | 6 | 11 | 6 | W2 | @ UBC |
| UBC | 2-0-0-0 | 6 | 11 | 1 | W2 | vs MAN |
| MacEwan | 1-1-0-0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | W1 | @ CAL |
| Regina | 1-1-0-0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | L1 | vs SAS |
| Alberta | 0-0-1-1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | L1 | BYE |
| Mount Royal | 0-0-1-1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | W1 | vs TWU |
| Saskatchewan | 0-0-0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | @ REG |
| Calgary | 0-2-0-0 | 0 | 6 | 11 | L2 | vs MAC |
| Trinity Western | 0-2-0-0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | L2 | @ MRU |
Honour Them
Before I let everyone out of here, I should note that we, on the Bisons women's hockey broadcast, decided that the Lethbridge Pronghorns needed to be honoured. What happened at Lethbridge regarding their hockey teams is not up for debate here because it still makes me angry. Frankly, the people who made that decision won't be on my Christmas card list and, I suspect, I'm not on theirs, but women who wore the Pronghorns logo on their chests deserved better than the fate that was ultimately handed to them.On top of that, the school that failed the players so miserably never even gave them a proper send-off after destroying their dreams of comepting for a Canada West championship and more. It's in this regard that I threw together something to honour the women who still hold records in the Canada West record book and that final 2019-20 class who proudly represented the University of Lethbridge. Here is that video we ran on Friday night with a musical accompaniment.
It should be noted that people like head coach Chandy Kaip (named 2012 Canada West Coach of the Year), defender Jodi Gentile (2019 FISU Winter Universiade silver medalist), forward Megan Bach (2011 Canada West Student-Athlete Award winner), defender Jackie Stroeve (first Lethbridge women's hockey player to be named an All-Canadian and a CIS All-Star), defender Shelby Ballandine (2012 Canada West Second Team All-Star), and forward Sadie Lenstra (seen in the video and was the 2012 Canada West Rookie of the Year) helped to pave the way for a vast number of incredible athletes who wore the Pronghorns' logo, and they won't be forgotten for all the good they did in this conference.
Thank you to every single Pronghorns women's hockey player, coach, and staff member for always representing the school with pride and for being amazing competitors every time you stepped on the ice. You won't be forgotten by this writer.
The Last Word
It seems pretty clear, with all the "firsts" seen this weekend, that the Canada West Conference has changed since 2019-20. There were lots of new players who seemingly are poised to have breakout seasons, and that's exciting when it comes to the health of this conference. While the coaches picked Alberta and Mount Royal as the top-two teams in the conference, we shouldn't read too deep into the first week of play for any of the matchups we saw. Granted, it will be a tough year for Trinity Western based on how young that team is, but eight teams will compete for six playoff spots over the next 18 games. Based on performances in the first week of play, nothing is set in stone as to how these teams will finish.What should be noted, though, is that points and regulation wins earned in this first weekend may come back to haunt teams if there are tie-breaker situations needed at the end of the season. Regulations wins, as we know, are worth more than extra-time wins if two teams finished tied for points in standings, so this is why both MacEwan and Regina are ahead of Alberta and Mount Royal on my standings board. This isn't reflected on the Canada West standings board, and this could be how tie-breakers are broken this season once we get beyond the head-to-head records.
To be quite honest, there are a lot of things I don't like about the Canada West website in general when it comes to women's hockey, but I'll save those complaints for another time. Just remember that HBIC will always have the standings reflected according to tie-breaking procedures when teams are tied in points.
As always, get out and support the women in Canada West by buying tickets to games, subscribing to the Canada West TV package for your team, and by attending fundraising events they hold. This is the highest level of women's hockey that plays regularly in western Canada, and I can attest that these women play like they're competing for an Olympic gold medal or the Stanley Cup. Get down to one of the nine rinks in western Canada where they play and check out the action. I guarantee you're in for a good time!
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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