The first period was relatively quiet if one overlooks some of the physical play seen. Of course, we don't do that here, but the Dinos and Huskies were each whistled for checks to the head in the opening frame, but neither could capitalize on the power-play opportunity given. With no goals scored and some rough stuff seen, the game would moved to the second period tied 0-0 with Calgary holding a 9-8 edge in shots.
I don't know what it is with these two teams, but they always seem to bring out the worst in each other. That started early in the middle frame with Rebecca Clarke being called for body-checking, and Saskatchewan made her pay for her lack of discipline when Kate Ball turned a Taylor Wilkinson setup into a goal at 4:27 for the 1-0 Huskies lead!
Again, I don't know what it is that causes these two teams to play as physically as they do against one another, but Rebecca Clarke's night ended early after she decided to play linebacker midway through the period when she crushed Sophie Lalor on a blindside hit that left Lalor in a world of hurt. Clarke would be assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for her poor decision as Calgary dropped down a skater, but the Huskies wouldn't fare much better as Lalor was unable to continue in this game. More on this situation below.
Calgary would even the score with 1:25 to go in the period when Sydney Mercier scored her first Canada West goal off a setup from Elizabeth Lang, and the frame would close with the two teams deadlocked at 1-1, Saskatchewan leading 21-16 in shots, and both teams shaken by the incident midway through the period.
Like the first period, the third period would see both teams awarded a single power-play, but there would be no goals scored on either opportunity. Despite both sides seeing scoring chances, we'd get some free hockey after the goalies held their end of the bargain by keeping this a 1-1 game despite Saskatchewan having a 28-25 edge in shots!
Saskatchewan simply exerted their will in the four-on-four overtime period as they recorded all six shots on net. The key in this was that the sixth shot off the stick of Kennedy Brown found twine at 4:25 of the extra time to push the Huskies to a 2-1 overtime win over the Dinos! Camryn Drever picked up her first win of the season with a 24-save effort while Gabriella Durante suffered the loss despite making 32 saves.
The fallout of the Clarke-Lalor incident is that the game misconduct means that Rebecca Clarke automatically misses Saturday's game. Saskatchewan did appeal to Canada West for a second look, and it sounds like Clarke will miss next Friday's game against Mount Royal as well. On the Saskatchewan side of things, it doesn't sound like Lalor will be back anytime soon. The injury she suffered from that hit will keep her out of the lineup for some time, so I want to wish Sophie Lalor a speedy recovery because she's a big piece of that Saskatchewan Huskies team.
Saskatchewan does this particularly annoying thing in posting a sponsored "Plays of the Week" highlight package days after the weekend ends, so they won't have any highlight packages devoted entirely to women's hockey. While I appreciate that corporate sponsorship money is important for a school's athletic department, I guess we won't see highlights all season from Saskatchewan.
SATURDAY: After a particularly rough Friday night, the Dinos and Huskies met at Merlis Belsher Place on Saturday evening for the second game of the series. Obviously, there was no Rebecca Clarke nor Sophie Lalor, so the coaches had some adjustments to make to their lineups, but we did see Gabriella Durante back between the pipes for Calgary in her fourth consecutive start while the Huskies went with Colby Wilson in this game.
The first period saw both teams with a power-play opportunity, but neither side would find the back of the net. The rough stuff seen one night earlier was also toned down as the physical play had been replaced by two teams looking to earn a regulation win. With no lamps lit in the opening frame, the 0-0 score held while Saskatchewan claimed the early 8-7 edge in shots.
The second period saw the stalemate continue as both goalies were putting on a goaltending clinic. Chances were had, but they disappeared once the netminders got involved. Saskatchewan had three more power-plays to Calgary's single opportunity in this period, but the same story held as the first period as the 0-0 tie pushed into the third period with Saskatchewan up 19-15 in shots.
The third period saw the referees start to crack down on the checking as handed out five penalties - three to Saskatchewan and two to Calgary - but the goaltenders once again were disinterested in allowing goals. Calgary's two power-play opportunities went for naught while Saskatchewan's opportunity was also a no-go. No matter what these teams tried, Durante and Wilson were having none it. That means we'd head to overtime for the second-straight night as the 0-0 score remained in place despite the Huskies holding a 29-22 shot advantage.
The four-on-four overtime produced no goals despite the Dinos getting a late power-play, but that advantage would carry into the three-on-three overtime. The power-play would expire, but the Calgary Dinos finally would solve the scoring problem in this game when Elizabeth Lang's shot finally beat Wilson at 2:13 of double-overtime to give the Calgary Dinos the 1-0 victory over the Saskatchewan Huskies! Gabriella Durante earned her second win and second shutout of the season with 32-save clean sheet while Colby Wilson did everything she could in stopping 29 shots in the double-overtime loss.
Highlights? Nope. Don't even bother asking for them.
Before the game started, there was a ceremony to honour former Griffins star Jordyn Reimer who passed away in a car crash in May. Reimer, as we highlighted on The Hockey Show, played 117 games in Grffins' colours - more than any other MacEwan women's hockey player. Beyond that, the former Winnipeg Avros star was a fantastic human being, so it's great to see MacEwan honouring their fallen star. I'll have more on this in The Last Word.
The emotions were high in this one for the Griffins as they wanted to win for Jordyn, but it would be a quiet period for the scorekeepers as the only ink they used was for penalties. Alberta book-ended power-play opportunities around a MacEwan power-play, but all three extra-player chance went unsuccessful. After one period, the 0-0 score stood despite Alberta leading 9-4 in shots.
That set of donuts on the scoreboard wouldn't last long in the second period as MacEwan's Joie Simon took a pass from Makenna Schuttler in the high slot and ripped a shot high on the blocker side of Oswald just under the bar to make it a 1-0 game for the Griffins just 51 seconds into the middle frame! Alberta would regroup, though, and they'd erase the zero on their side of the scoreboard at 10:07 when Payton Laumbach found a loose puck, cruised in on Sank, and went high over Sank's shoulder for a beauty to make it a 1-1 game! Minutes later on the power-play, Alberta would double their score when Madison Willan got a stick on Jada Livingston's point shot to redirect the puck past Sank at 13:20 to put Alberta up 2-1! A late power-play for MacEwan brought no equalizer, so we'd jump to third period with Alberta up 2-1 and holding a 14-13 edge in shots!
In the third period, it was MacEwan who book-ended power-play opportunities around the lone power-play chance for Alberta, but the Griffins were denied on both opportunties by the Pandas while the Pandas came up short on their opportunity as well. As time ticked down, the Griffins poured pressure onto the Pandas, but Halle Oswald stood tall in the Alberta crease to help the Pandas defeat the Griffins by that 2-1 score! Oswald picked up her second win of the season after stopping 21 shots while Sank was on the wrong end of an 18-save night.
Since the MacEwan Griffins have decided not to do highlight packages anywhere, I'm going to use this space to highlight another group of Griffins. Get your act together, MacEwan, and I'll swap in the proper highlights. But since you haven't posted anything to YouTube in EIGHT YEARS(!!!), I'm not holding my breath. If I had, I'd be dead.
If there was a noticeable change in this game, it's that the Pandas donned their new white jerseys after only wearing green and gold jerseys for the past few seasons. I have thoughts on Alberta's new look after the standings board below, but we have action to recap as the first period may have been the most defensively-focused for both sides that I've seen played in this early season. There were no goals surrendered, and one penalty was assessed to MacEwan in the opening 20 minutes. The Pandas barely generated any offence on that power-play opportunity for maybe the reset at the intermission was needed? At the horn, the game was still tied 0-0 while MacEwan held a 6-2 advantage in shots!
Whatever head coach Howie Draper said in the break seemed to light the fire under the Pandas as they came out far more aggressive in the middle frame. The Pandas would break the tie on the power-play when Cassidy Maplethorpe's initial shot was blocked in front of the net, and Danica Namaka found the loose puck in the scrum and flipped it past Sank from the side of the net at 6:13 to put Alberta up 1-0! 10:04 later, Alberta would use another power-play to double their lead when Tayklor Anker teed up a one-timer from the dot that went off Sank's mask, and the scramble in front saw Natalie Kieser chip the puck over the goal line for a 2-0 Alberta lead! Alberta cashed in on both power-plays they were given in the frame, and that 2-0 lead they held was complemented by the 17-9 edge in shots they held after 40 minutes of play!
Macewan attempted to push back in the third period, but the Alberta defence was swarming and blocking shots all over the defensive zone. Midway through the period, Isabelle Lajoie intercepted a pass in the MacEwan zone, skated in on Sank, and beat her inside the post low on the blocker side to make it a 3-0 game, and that would be all the offence that Halle Oswald needed on this night as she closed the door on the Griffins in helping the Alberta Pandas to a 3-0 win over MacEwan! Oswald was perfect on 15 shots for her first shutout and third win of the season while Brianna Sank made 25 stops in the loss.
Alberta always has highlights available. I appreciate them greatly.
If there was any doubt that Trinity Western is improving as a team, the three penalties they took in the first period of this game that resulted in zero power-play goals for Mount Royal shows they're improving. While no one is saying these two teams are at the same level yet, it's always nice to see teams taking steps forward. Mount Royal didn't look as polished as they usually do in the opening frame, but the 0-0 score held firm through the first period despite Mount Royal holding an 11-9 advantage in shots.
After killing a penalty early in the second period, the Cougars snapped out of their slumber. Tatum Amy got the scoring started at 4:12 to put Mount Royal up 1-0 before a breakaway for Ava Metzger 1:10 later saw her score to increase the lead to two goals. Last year, Trinity Western may have folded their tent, but they got a shot on the power-play with a two-player advantage midway through the period where Chelsea Debusschere buried a puck in a scramble to cut the lead to 2-1. Minutes later, Amy Potomak picked up her first Canada West goal when she beat Ross at 16:28, and we were tied at 2-2! 17 seconds after the Potomak goal, though, Courtney Kollman fired a puck off a face-off win by Tatum Amy past Maltais, and the Cougars were ahead once by a 3-2 score. The horn would sound on a busy period as MRU went into the brak up 3-2 over TWU and holding a 28-17 lead in shots.
The third period saw both teams play a little more defensively, but it was Trinity Western who got a couple of power-play opportunities to try and tie the game. Neither of those opportunities resulted in a goal, and Ross was good the rest of the way as that 3-2 score for Mount Royal from the second intermission is how this one would finish! Kaitlyn Ross picked up her second win of the season with a 19-save effort while Mabel Maltais suffered the loss on a 33-save night.
Since the Mount Royal Cougars also believe in not making highlight reels to show off their players' efforts, I'll be filling their highlight spots with European hockey commercials all season long. If you can't be bothered to show your players doing great things, we might as well put something entertaining in these spots, right?
SATURDAY: Mount Royal was looking to sit at or near the top of the Canada West standings with a second win over Trinity Western while the Spartans needed to keep pace with teams who had won on Friday. Needless to say, wins early in the season help immensely in the races for playoff spots, so both teams were back it Saturday afternoon. Mabel Maltais started her second-straight game for TWU while MRU went with Cassie Shokar in her first start of the season.
The captain of the Cougars wasn't interested in waiting for goals on Saturday. Tatum Amy cashed in an early power-play goal at 2:10 to put the Cougars up 1-0. It would take her another 15 minutes to double the score, but Amy cleaned up the rebound off a scramble following a Courtney Kollman shot, and the captain's second goal made it 2-0 at 17:53. The Spartans never really got their offence rolling as they were killing three penalties in the frame, and the result was the two-goal lead for Mount Royal along with a 10-5 lead in shots.
Ava Metzger continued her hot start to her rookie season as she deflected an Emma Bergesen shot past Maltais during a four-on-four at 2:24 of the middle frame to make it 3-0. The Cougars would extend the lead again at 10:41 when Camryn Amundson found Lyndsey Janes alone in front, and she cashed in the backhander to make it 4-0. Mount Royal would run into penalty trouble later in the period, though, and that was the spark that the Spartans needed. Kailey Ledoux deflected a Brooklyn Anderson shot past Shokar at 15:36 for a power-play goal, and Olivia Leier added another power-play goal for TWU 1:04 later after some great puck movement with the player advantage to make it a 4-2 Mount Royal lead. That two-goal spread would hold into the break as the Cougars led 4-2 and were up 19-16 in shots.
The battle for this game would continue through the early part of the third period, but Lyndsey Janes added her second goal at 10:08 to push the score to 5-2 in favour of Mount Royal. Ella Boon would pick up her first Canada West goal when she beat Shokar with 4:56 to play, but the Spartans would get no closer as the Mount Royal Cougars secured the 5-3 win! Cassie Shokar picked up her first win of the season on 15-save afternoon while Mabel Maltais took the loss despite making 21 saves.
Again, since there are no highlight packages produced by Mount Royal, we're going back to the Lahti Pelicans of the Finnish Liiga for another commercial. Thankfully, no Zambonis were hurt in this ad.
The T-Birds would surrender an early goal in this game, but they righted the ship quickly when Mia Bierd poked a low shot home following a scramble at 7:25 to make it a 1-1 game. A couple of penalties were killed off after the equalizer was scored, but the Thunderbirds were looking every bit the part of champions as the 1-1 game moved into the second period with UBC holding a 17-10 lead in shots.
UBC absolutely dominated the second period as Ireland Perrott scored five seconds into a power-play at 1:13 when she deflected a Sierra LaPlante shot into the net for the 2-1 lead. UBC continied to throw pucks at the net, and it would be a newcomer who got on the scoresheet next as Cassidy Rhodes tore down the right side and sniped a perfect shot inside the far post at 11:04 to give UBC a 3-1 lead. Rhodes would take a late penalty, but it didn't seem to matter as UBC entered the second intermission with that 3-1 lead and holding a 37-13 advantage in shots.
Joelle Fiala got in on the scoring by one-timing Chanreet Bassi's feed into the net at 4:17 to make it a 4-1 game. Thanks to a number of penalties in the second-half of this period, UBC found itself with power-play time that allowed Cassidy Rhodes to go crazy. Rhodes found room in the slot at 11:03 and netted her second goal of the night off an Ireland Perrott pass while skating with the numbers advantage, and she would earn the hat trick 1:27 later when she whacked home a rebound off a Perrott shot. That was more than enough offence for Hugens on this night as the UBC Thunderbirds skated to the 6-1 win on a night where they put 48 shots on net! Elise Hugens earned her second victory of the season by stopping 17 shots on this night.
Highlights? I think this basically sums it up.
SATURDAY: After a solid win on Friday capped off by Cassidy Rhodes' first Canada West hat trick, UBC and Manitoba met for the second-half of their weekend series. A sweep would do UBC good in the standings so they would be looking to protect home ice on Saturday afternoon. In doing so, they sent Kate Stuart to the net for her second start of the season.
UBC surrendered another early goal in this game, but they'd answer back immediately as Mackenzie Kordic found the back of the net after pressuring the Bisons into turnover while she forechecked, and the score would be 1-1 after Kordic went shelf just 57 seconds after the opening goal. Late in the period, the Thunderbirds would fall behind 2-1, but they would respond again in quick fashion when Grace Elliott tipped an Ashton Thorpe shot just 10 seconds after being scored on, and we were tied 2-2 with 30 seconds to play in the period. That score would hold into the break with UBC holding a 10-7 edge in shots.
Just as they did the night before, UBC dented twine in the second period. Joelle Fiala tipped a Kailee Peppler shot into the net at 6:22 to make it 3-2 for UBC. Jacquelyn Fleming scored her first Canada West goal on the power-play at 10:58, and that was followed by Mackenzie Kordic scoring 1:24 later when she went low-blocker side on a 3-on-1 to make it a 5-2 game for UBC. Sierra LaPlante would record her first Canada West goal at the 18:30 mark when her shot from the point went underneath the bar to make it 6-2. The four-goal cushion would carry into the break for the T-Birds as they held a 19-17 shot advantage.
The third period was more about preserving the lead than piling on for more for the Thunderbirds as they used a lot of power-play time to find open shots. Regardless of UBC's lack of goals in the third period, they had already piled up enough offence as they skated to the 6-2 victory to sweep the weekend series! Kate Stuart recorded her first win with a 20-save effort in this game.
Highlights from a UBC weekend sweep? Not so much, but the effort?
| School | Record | Points | GF | GA | Streak | Next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Royal | 3-0-0-1 | 7 | 14 | 9 | W3 | @ CAL |
| Alberta | 2-1-1-0 | 6 | 9 | 7 | W2 | @ TWU |
| UBC | 3-1-0-0 | 6 | 17 | 8 | W2 | @ SAS |
| Calgary | 1-1-1-1 | 5 | 7 | 7 | W1 | vs MRU |
| Saskatchewan | 1-1-1-1 | 5 | 6 | 4 | L1 | vs UBC |
| Regina | 1-0-0-1 | 3 | 5 | 4 | L1 | @ MAN |
| MacEwan | 0-3-1-0 | 2 | 5 | 10 | L2 | BYE |
| Trinity Western | 1-3-0-0 | 2 | 7 | 12 | L3 | vs ALB |
| Manitoba | 0-2-0-0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | L2 | vs REG |
The New Threads
As I watched Alberta play in their new white uniforms, it felt as though I had seen a jersey design similar to the one they unveiled on Saturday. At first, I couldn't quite place it, but it hit me as I went looking for highlights for another game. Here's the similarity.
The weird part? I actually like UBC's white jerseys, and Alberta's new threads fall into the "like" category too. They're clean in their design, crisp in how the colours and logo pop, and they feel like hockey sweaters. That's a win in my books for both programs!
The Fallen Stars
Make no mistake that the ceremony before the MacEwan-Alberta game on Friday night for Jordyn Reimer was an emotional moment. I didn't know Jordyn whatsoever, but seeing her family overcome with emotion is hard because I know that wound will never heal.
Jordyn Reimer being honoured, of course, brought back memories of MacEwan's Nakehko Lamothe who passed away from cardiac arrest in 2019. We lost former UBC Thunderbird Amanda Asay this past January after she succumbed to injuries from a skiing accident. It's still hard to reconcile the passing of former Regina Cougars defender Emily Middagh, and the news of former Saskatchewan Huskies defender Matt Swaby passing away after a farming accident is another tough pill to swallow.
That's five exceptional hockey players we've lost in the last three years, and I hope that each of their families, friends, coaches, and teammates are finding ways to heal after losing these great people.
One Team Missing?
The Last Word
The 2022 Canada West Final took place at UBC, but we'll get a replay of that series in Saskatoon next weekend as the Thunderbirds battle the Huskies. UBC won two-straight games over Saskatchewan to capture the 2022 Canada West championship banner, but we saw Saskatchewan use timely scoring and solid defence to earn the U SPORTS National Championship bronze medal while UBC finished in fifth-place after falling to a defence-intense Nipissing in their opening game. With these two teams playing entirely different styles and systems, next week's series between the Thunderbirds and Huskies should be must-watch TV early in this 2022-23 season!Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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