The Rundown - Semifinals

The Canada West women's hockey playoffs was into its "final four" phase as four teams remained from the original nine who started the season. Alberta, Mount Royal, Saskatchewan, and UBC were vying for two berths in the Canada West Final where the Catherwood Cup and the Canada West championship banner would be awarded, but two wins were needed for that opportunity. Nothing would come easy for any of these teams, but the winners of these series would also extend their seasons until the end of March with an invitation to the U SPORTS National Championship awaiting the victors as well. Needless to say, there was a lot riding on the outcomes of the semifinal series, so let's take a look at who is still standing on The Rundown!

The stage was set for semifinal action in Vancouver as the second-ranked UBC Thunderbirds hosted the third-ranked Alberta Pandas in this best-of-three series. UBC was 2-0 against Alberta this season with a combined 7-1 score against the Pandas in the two games played at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Center in November. UBC needed to play its brand of hockey - fast, physical, scoring in bunches - to be successful while the Pandas were looking to implement their systemic plan in both the offensive and defensive zones. Halle Oswald got the start for the Pandas in this game while Elise Hugens started her first Canada West playoff game!

The first period was all about establish pace, and it seemed that UBC carried that pace as Alberta found itself watching from the sin bin for a portion of the period. Despite being awarded three power-play opportunities, though, the UBC Thunderbirds cashed in on none of them thanks to a stout Alberta defence and some solid goaltending. At the end of the opening period, the game remained 0-0, but UBC carried a 7-4 edge into the second period.

The second frame was a 180-degree swing from the first period as UBC found itself watching from the penalty box while Alberta stepped up their game. Like the first period, though, UBC rejected the Alberta opportunities generated through out the period, including the three power-plays they were awarded. Through 40 minutes, this game was deadlocked at 0-0 with the shots tied 14-14 as well!

If this game felt like it might have overtime queued up, UBC's Kennesha Miswaggon wasn't having it. Her point shot at 3:35 found its way past the screen in front of Oswald as well as the Alberta netminder to open the scoring, and the Thunderbirds owned the 1-0 lead! The chess match would resume as both teams looked for another goal, and we'd get one with four minutes remaining in the game. Jenna Fletcher's shot from the slot was stopped by Oswald, but she slid into the crease and got a second whack at the puck that landed behind Oswald with 4:03 remaining as UBC went up 2-0!

As we know, Alberta never goes away quietly, and Payton Laumbach would turn a Natalie Kieser rebound into a goal as she went high over Hugens with 2:28 to play to make it a 2-1 game! With the time ticking off the clock, the Pandas pulled Oswald for the extra attacker, but the Thunderbirds were able to withstand the assualt in the final seconds to claim then 2-1 victory over the Pandas! Elise Hugens records her first Canada West playoff win with a 21-save night while Halle Oswald takes the loss after making 21 stops as well. UBC leads the Canada West semifinal 1-0.

Highlights of this game are below!

Alberta entered the Saturday afternoon game with their backs against the wall after the Thunderbirds' victory in Game One. There wasn't much to set up here as Alberta had to win to extend the series while UBC was looking to close out the semifinal and punch their ticket to PEI with a victory. Halle Oswald was defending the nets for Alberta while Elise Hugens stood 200-feet away from her for UBC in a rematch from one night earlier!

UBC came out more aggressive in this game as they found lanes for shots on Oswald, but the Alberta netminder was equal to the task. The teams traded opportunities through the frame, but Alberta would break the deadlock. A stretch pass from Taylor Anker found Megan Wilson all alone, and Wilson went five-hole through Hugens' pads on the backhand while on the breakaway to give Alberta the 1-0 lead at the 18:08 mark! 30 seconds later, though, Kennesha Miswaggon teed up a loose puck that went through traffic and Oswald to dent twine as UBC tied the game at 1-1! That score carried into the break with UBC leading 10-6 in shots.

The back-and-forth would continue into a period that was filled with penalties for both sides, but Chanreet Bassi would capitalize on the power-play. After Alberta couldn't clear and Hannah Koroll held the line, Bassi picked the puck up on the left half-boards, skated it across the zone, and unleashed a wicked wrist shot at the right face-off dot that eluded Oswald up high for the power-play marker and the 2-1 UBC lead at 9:29! There would be no further goals scored despite the power-play opportunities awarded to both teams, and UBC carried the 2-1 lead into the third period after posting a 25-11 edge in shots.

The third period started off with UBC pressing once again. Sophia Gaskell's point shot was stopped by Oswald, but the rebound came to Kenzie Robinson who was stopped as well before Karine Sandilands finally knocked the puck past Oswald at the 3:00 mark to make it 3-1 for UBC. Just past the midway point of the period, Grace Elliott's shot eluded Oswald's glove at 11:30 to make it 4-1, and Jenna Fletcher would redirect Chanreet Bassi's feed in front of the net past Oswald 3:03 later to make it 5-1. That would be more than enough for the Thunderbirds on this night as they would emerge victorious over the Pandas by that 5-1 score! Elise Hugens earned her second playoff win in a 16-save effort while Halle Oswald suffered the loss despite making 32 saves. UBC wins the semifinal series 2-0 over Alberta.

Hihglights of this clinching game are below!

The first-seeded Mount Royal Cougars played host to the fifth-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies this weekend as the second semifinal series got underway in Calgary. The Cougars were 2-0 against Saskatchewan in the regular season with a pair of 1-0 victories in Calgary, so it appeared that these two may be a closer in how they're built than what their seedings indicated. Camryn Drever was in the net for the Huskies to start Game One while Zoe De Beauville had the blue paint for the Cougars!

Both teams came out looking to establish an offensive presence in this game, but it would Saskatchewan who capitalized first as a broken play saw a loose puck sit in the slot before Kara Kondrat wired it high blocker-side on De Beauville at 3:09 to put the Huskies up 1-0 early in this one! Camryn Drever, coming off a shutout against Manitoba one week earlier, continued her strong play in the opening frame as she kept the Cougars off the board for the first 20 minutes of play. At the horn, the Huskies carried the 1-0 lead into the break despite Mount Royal leading 10-7 in shots.

The second period saw the Cougars up their attack as they peppered Drever throughout the frame, but the Saskatchewan goalie wasn't having it as she turned away the Cougars time and again. De Beauville, for her part, went save-for-save with Drever as the middle frame produced no goals, and we'd move to the third period with the Huskies clinging to that 1-0 lead with Mount Royal holding a 21-11 advantage in shots.

The Cougars came out with a more focused attack in the third period as they sent wave after wave of Cougars into the Huskies' zone only to run into a wall named Camryn Drever. There were some close calls where the Saskatchewan defence cleared pucks after Drever made the first save, but the important note was that she made all the saves on this night as the Cougars couldn't solve Drever in the 1-0 Huskies win! Camryn Drever picked up her second shutout of these playoffs with a spectacular 32-save performance while Zoe De Beauville suffered her first regulation loss of the season in a 12-save effort. Saskatchewan leads this Canada West semifinal 1-0!

Highlights of this game are below!

Saskatchewan, who upset Manitoba one week earlier, was looking to do the same against Mount Royal as they were one win from advancing to the Canada West Final. For the Cougars, they were in must-win mode for the first time this season as the top-seeded team in Canada West had their backs against the wall. We'd get a goaltending rematch in this one as Camryn Drever was between the pipes for her fourth start in the playoffs while Zoe De Beauville was back in the crease for the Cougars!

The battle waged by these two teams continued into Game Two as the Huskies and Cougars refused to concede goals at any point. Their netminders refused to give the other team any advantage in the first frame as we'd see another period posted with no goals being scored, and we'd go to the intermission with the 0-0 score intact while Mount Royal held a 10-6 edge in shots over Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan opened the second period on the power-play as Jori Hansen-Young's penalty carried into the middle frame, and the Huskies made the Cogars pay for that indiscretion as Larissa Bohlken's point shot from the top of the power-play formation found room past De Beauville on the glove-side 1:50 into the stanza to put the Huskies up 1-0! The battle would continue as it did one night before, but Mount Royal would finally beat Drever late in the period when Breanne Trotter escaped the checking of Bohlken to get loose before she went shelf over Drever's shoulder with 2:28 left in the period! Despite both teams finding goals, the 1-1 tie would carry into the break with the Cougars leading 29-16 in shots as the defence evaporated in that period!

The third period saw Mount Royal abandon caution as they threw everything they had at the Drever, but the Saskatchewan netminder was on another level she stopped 22 shots in this frame alone! None of the Cougars were able to solve her at any point while the Huskies were stopped on all six attempts they had on Zoe De Beauville, so it was off to sudden-death hockey for the first time in these Canada West playoffs as we needed overtime to solve this game!

As you may recall, overtime starts with a ten-minute period where there is no intermission and teams occupy the same ends where they finished the game, so it was a quick pause and we were back at it. That may have been a key in this final because at 3:42 we'd see a winner as Bailee Bourassa's original shot was stopped on her rush, but Kennedy Brown fired home the rebound for her second game-winning goal of these playoffs as Saskatchewan earned the 2-1 win over the Mount Royal Cougars! Camryn Drever made 52 saves for her fourth win of the postseason while Zoe De Beauville suffered the loss in overtime despite making 22 stops. Saskatchewan wins the semifinal best-of-three series 2-0 over Mount Royal.

Highlights of this extra-time game are below!

Again, these aren't really "standings", but this is how the final weekend of Canada West women's hockey will play out before one team claims the Catherwood Cup, the Canada West championship banner, and all the bragging rights for 2021-22!

The times listed above on the image are in Pacific Time, so make your adjustments as necessary for tuning into these games. The final will be carried on Canada West TV, but the Huskies have been getting great coverage from Daniella Ponticelli on the HuskieFan app and website which I'll happily promote because anytime there's a radio broadcast, I'll push it!

The best part of Daniella's coverage? It's free, and she's quickly become one of the best in Canada West when it comes to calling games. If you're not willing to fall into Canada West TV's trap of paying for another series of games, I highly recommend Daniella's call on the HuskieFan app and website as an alternative. You won't be disappointed!

Heading East

UBC and Saskatchewan have also earned the right to compete for the U SPORTS National Championship this season with their appearances in the Canada West Final, so they'll head east to Charlottetown, PEI for that tournament that runs from March 24 through to March 27. With the two Canada West spots locked up, the only questions remaining are who else will be in the tournament, and we can answer a couple of those questions today!

UPEI will obviously be there are the host team, and they're looking stronger every week. UPEI has one game remaining on their schedule that will be played today against St. Thomas, but it would appear that they'll be locked into the fourth-place position in the conference regardless of a win or loss today thanks to tie-breakers. That being said, a win today would leave them just three points back of first-place Saint Mary's, so this UPEI team won't be a pushover when they take to the ice at the U SPORTS National Championship.

The fourth team to lock up a spot at the National Championship is from the RSEQ as the Concordia Stingers defeated the Montreal Carabins to advance to the RSEQ Final where they await the winner of the McGill-Ottawa semifinal series. With their win, Concordia also RSVPed a spot in Charlottetown, and the Stingers look to be a solid team up and down their roster as they finished in second-place in the RSEQ - one point back of first-place McGill. Concordia is well-coached, has depth and scoring, and gets solid netminder, so they'll be another favorite in PEI.

We'll know the fifth team today when the McGill-Ottawa series wraps up at 2pm ET. The winner will join Concordia in the RSEQ Final and will also be heading to PEI for the National Championship tournament. McGill won Game One on home ice by a 5-1 score on Thursday with all five of their goals coming in the third period. Ottawa responded on home ice with a 1-0 victory yesterday as Mahika Serrazin stopped 33 shots for the shutout. Today will see Game Three played at McGill, so this should be a good ending to an exciting 1-vs-4 series in the RSEQ!

The OUA and AUS will start their playoffs this week as they look to round out the field that will visit Charlottetown at the end of the month, so keep an eye peeled for those results here on The Rundown in coming weeks as we narrow the field and find out who will compete for the U SPORTS National Championship this season!

The Last Word

It'll be the second-seeded UBC Thunderbirds against the fifth-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies for the Canada West title this season. The top-two goaltenders, statistically, still in the playoffs will faceoff against one another. The top-two defensive teams in the playoffs will square off. The top-two offensive teams in the playoffs will go mano-a-mano. In other words, these two teams are checking off all the boxes when it comes to being a championship team.

Make no mistake that these two teams have success because of how hard they work. Saskatchewan head coach Steve Kook mentioned the word "work" four times in a three-minute interview about his team's success on Friday night during the first intermission, and UBC's Jenna Fletcher mentioned "hard work" and "team effort" following the win over Alberta on Saturday. We, on Bisons broadcasts, often mention how hard it is to win Canada West because of the immense amount of talent seen in the conference, but that task is only more difficult because of how hard each team has to work to earn wins and points in Canada West.

It's tough to see two good teams in Alberta and Mount Royal wrap up their seasons tonight, but any of these final four teams in Canada West could have and would have represented the conference well in PEI. Saskatchewan was able to dispatch the second-ranked team in the nation with some spectacular goaltending and clutch scoring while holding Mount Royal's lethal shooters at bay. UBC used their phenomenal transition game and solid netminding to keep Alberta on their heels. That's how the puck bounces sometimes, so to speak, and we're left with two teams.

UBC and Saskatchewan met in Saskatoon in their only games this season with Saskatchewan winning 4-2 on November 26 before UBC bounced back with a 2-0 win over the Huskies on November 27. Camryn Drever and Elise Hugens were the goalies in both games, and I'd expect the same two netminders to get reacquainted with their opponents next weekend. Jordyn Holmes had two points in that November series for the Huskies while Ireland Perrott also had two points for UBC.

Since 2013-14, Saskatchewan and UBC have met four times in the Canada West playoffs with none of those meetings being the Canada West Final. In two quarterfinal series, the teams are 1-1 with Saskatchewan sweeping UBC 2-0 in 2017-18 before UBC returned the favour in 2019-20. In two semifinal meetings, the teams are 1-1 as Saskatchewan downed UBC in 2013-14 in three games before UBC did the same to the Huskies in 2016-17 in three games. It should be noted, however, that the only series of these four played in Vancouver was the 2016-17 series where UBC downed Saskatchewan. If trends mean anything, though, these teams have alternated series wins since 2013-14 with UBC winning the most recent meeting. Will that trend continue next week? We'll find out!

It should be an exceptional weekend of hockey in Vancouver next weekend, so make sure you tune into the games or, if possible, get down to Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre and cheer on the teams. These are the two teams who will make a run at the U SPORTS National Championship in PEI at the end of the month, so get yourself familiar with these two teams as Canada West looks to recapture the National Championship in 2021-22!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!