The Rundown - Week 5
Mount Royal dominated early in this game as they flexed their muscles at both ends of the ice. Courtney Kollman would take advantage of some extra space on the ice on the power-play to go short side for the 1-0 lead at 9:25. The Cougars would double their lead at 18:04 when Aliya Jomha continued her torrid scoring pace by going top-shelf, and the Cougars took a 2-0 lead and a 14-4 shot advantage into the break.
I'm not sure if the Cougars were content to sit back after a dominant period, but they surrendered a pair of goals in the second period despite holding a 25-14 edge in shots, so this game was up for grabs as the third period began. Mount Royal would strike on the power-play early in the period when Tatum Amy fed Kollman with a fantastic cross-ice pass, and the MRU sniper made no mistake as Kollman buried her second power-play goal of the game at 5:56 to put Mount Royal up 3-2. The Cougars' defence would bend, but not break, as time wound down, but Ross was there to keep her team in the lead on the scoreboard. When the final horn sounded, the Mount Royal Cougars were victorious by that 3-2 score. Kaitlyn Ross made 22 stops for her fifth win of the season.
Mount Royal doesn't show off its seventh-ranked team in the nation with video clips, so let's load up another funny hockey commercial!
SATURDAY: The Cougars were looking to wrap up a sweep over the Fluffy Cows, but likely wanted a better performance than what was seen one night earlier. In knowing how this Cougars team plays, they wouldn't want to give up any points in their quest for a Canada West banner, so Kaitlyn Ross was protecting their net again in this game.
It didn't take long for the Cougars to draw first blood as Athena Hauck's wrist shot from just inside the faceoff circle was accurate at 2:38, and her goal gave Mount Royal the early 1-0 lead. The teams would trade power-plays later in the period, but the Hauck goal would be the only shot to get through in a rather quiet first period as the Cougars held the 1-0 lead despite trailing 5-4 in shots.
Early in the second period, a very scary moment was seen with the Cougars killing a penalty as Camryn Amundson was give a five-minute major and a game misconduct for cross-checking that resulted in a Fluffy Cows player needing assistance from the athletic therapists. The Cougars would kill off the penalties, though, and would double their lead shortly after when Mackenzie Butz, on a Mount Royal power-play, teed up a puck from the point that found its way through traffic and dinged in off the post to make it 2-0 at 9:23! The final ten minutes of the period would be far less action-packed, but the Cougars held the two-goal lead heading into the third period with the teams both having recorded 11 shots.
Mount Royal continued their solid defensive play in the third period, limiting shots on Ross once again. It would lead to a Morgan Ramsey goal at 8:34, and Tatum Amy would cap things off ten minutes later when she made it 4-0 at 18:26. That would be the final score in this game as the Mount Royal Cougars completed the sweep with the 4-0 win. Kaitlyn Ross picked up her first shutout of the season with a 17-save clean sheet in this game!
Another commercial in place of highlights? I can do this all season long, MRU. I'd rather post highlights, though.
To say the Pandas were flying in the opening frame might be understating how dominant they actually were. Kliewer and the Cougars were under siege for the entire 20 minutes of the first frame, and they did their best to weather that storm. However, a late power-play in the period saw Natalie Kieser take the pukc behind the net before wrapping the puck around Kliewer's left post before the goalie could get her skate tight against the iron to give the Pandas the 1-0 lead heading into the intermission after they outshot the Cougars 15-0 in the frame. No, that's not a typo.
The Cougars would record shots in this period in case you were worried, but it would be another late power-play where the Pandas would double their lead. Payton Laumbach spotted Madison Willan on the wide-open on the left side of the ice, and her cross-crease pass was on the money as Willan finished off the play at 15:29 to put the Pandas up 2-0. Through 40 minutes, the Pandas held the two-goal lead and the 24-5 advantage in shots.
The Pandas wouldn't take long in establishing a three-goal lead as Abbey Bourdeaud'hui poked the puck to Payton Laumbach after a Regina turnover, and Laumbach would just enough space past Kliewer's glove at 1:56 to make it 3-0. Midway through the period, Abby Soyko stripped a Regina defender of the puck, used her body to shield the puck from the defender, and finished up high as she cut to the net with the defender all over her in an amazing individual effort at 12:25 to make it a 4-0 game. That would be more than enough for Halle Oswald to hold the fort as all three aspect of the Pandas' game - offence, defence, and goaltending - were clicking as the Pandas downed the Cougars by that 4-0 score! Halle Oswald stopped 13 shots for her third shutout and sixth win of the season while Arden Kliewer made 30 stops in the loss.
Highlights? Alberta always has them. Well done, Pandas!
SATURDAY: It was no secret that the Cougars needed a better start than what they put up one night earlier, but a better overall effort was also needed to slow down thr Pandas. Alberta was looking to extend their win streak to four games as they were hungry for points as well. Natalie Williamson was in the Cougars' net for the start while Elle Boyko started her first Canada West game for the Pandas!
The Cougars did indeed get a better start on Saturday as they opened the scoring just 2:57 while on the power-play as Kaitlyn Gilroy beat Boyko to put the Cougars up 1-0! Alberta would begin to look like themselves as the period progressed, though, as they applied pressure on the Cougars' defence. It would finally pay off in the final minute of the period when Payton Laumbach sniped a shot past Williamson with 50 seconds remaining in what would be the start of a big night for Laumbach. The two teams went into the break, though, tied 1-1 with Alberta up 8-5 in shots.
Alberta would flip the script in the second period as they used an early power-play opportunity to take the lead. Payton Laumbach was back on the scoresheet when she dented twine on the advantage, and ger second goal of the game made it 2-1 just 3:21 into the middle frame. Alberta would be slowed somewhat in this period thanks to a few penalties called against them, but they'd go up by three goals on their second of two power-plays in the frame when Payton Laumbach capped off the hat trick with another goal at 18:08 to make it 3-1! That score would move into the intermission with Alberta holding a 15-11 edge in shots.
Madison Willan didn't wait long to make it a three-goal lead as she dented twine just 53 seconds into the third period, and Taylor Kezama would tee a shot up on the power-play 5:01 later to make it a 5-1 game. That was more than enough for rookie netminder Elle Boyko in the Alberta net to protect the lead as the Pandas swept the weekend against the Cougars with a 5-1 win! Elle Boyko stopped 17 shots in her debut for her first Canada West win in her career while Natalie Williamson was on the wrong side of a 21-save night.
For the first time this season, the Pandas missed out on highlights. I don't know what happened here, but my hope is this is just a blip on the radar. Not having Pandas highlights just doesn't feel right.
Let's just say that if there was any rust on the T-Birds, it wasn't detectable. The Thunderbirds were dominant in controlling the play in the opening period, earning three power-plays over the 20 minutes. The difference, though, was that the MacEwan defence was doing everything they can to help Lyndsey Johnson, and Johnson was making saves. Even with MacEwan receiving a power-play, the Thunderbirds still looked like they weren't affected, but the horn sounded at the end of the opening frame with the teams tied at 0-0 despite UBC outshooting MacEwan 17-1. Not a typo.
It would UBC's second shot of the period that finally broke the goose egg that Johnson was protecting as Sophia Gaskell won a race to the puck, threw the puck out front, and Mackenzie Kordic banged home the one-timer to give UBC the 1-0 lead at the 5:17 mark. 23 seconds later, it was 2-0 when Cassidy Rhodes when post-and-in on former AAA teammate Johnson. Despite having two more power-plays, UBC couldn't cash in on those, but the damage has been done in the middle frame as the T-Birds led 2-0 while holding a 32-4 edge in shots. Again, not a typo.
The Thunderbirds made it 3-0 before the new layer of water had frozen on the ice as Rylind MacKinnon's blast through traffic dented twine just 19 seconds into the period. Ireland Perrott made it a 4-0 game when she cashed in a Mackenzie Kordic rebound at 7:36, and Cassidy Rhodes would score her second goal of the game when she one-timed a feed from Chanreet Bassi while on a 2-on-1 at 16:25 to make it 5-0 for UBC. That was more than enough for Elise Hugens to lock down the T-Birds' net as UBC downed MacEwan by that 5-0 score. Elise Hugens recorded her first shutout and third win of the season with the 12-save clean sheet while Lyndsey Johnson, in her first Canada West game, made 38 stops on a night where she likely deserved a better fate.
MacEwan and highlights are like oil and water. They simply don't mix. Instead, here's another set of Griffins with a Halloween twist.
SATURDAY: After being shutout on home ice, the Griffins needed a big response on Saturday if they were going to escape the basement of the Canada West standings. Of course, they'd need to defeat the defending Canada West champions to do so - a difficult undertaking in any season - and it may be a big ask for the second-year team. They'd give it their all, though, as the MacEwan and UBC tangled in the second-half of the series. Kate Stuart started for the T-Birds while Brianna Sank was back between the pipes for the Griffins.
This game looked a little less one-sided from the start as both the Griffins and T-Birds had chances to score early on. The goaltending was up to the challenge, though, as the game remained even for 18 minutes. At the 18:01 mark, though, the Griffins would finally break through off a turnover in the neutral zone as Amanda Murray carried the puck into the UBC and pinpointed a laser beam to the top corner over Stuart's glove to put the Griffins up 1-0! That score would hold into the break despite UBC outshooting MacEwan 15-9 in the frame.
The second period was a series of ups and downs for the Thunderbirds. They started with an up as Chanreet Bassi deked Sank into opening the five-hole before sliding it into the net to make it 1-1 at 2:41. They'd then hit a down as the momentum shifted as they killed a penalty. It would go back to an up when Ireland Perrott tapped home a loose puck off a rebound on a Kailee Pepper shot at 12:59 for the 2-1 lead before another penalty would force UBC into killing off that opportunity. The momentum would swing back to UBC when Sophia Gaskell's shot had eyes and found the back of the net through traffic at 16:18 as the Thunderbirds jumped into a 3-1 lead. That would be the score when the horn sounded with UBC holding a 25-20 edge in shots.
For whatever reason, the roof seemed to cave in on the Griffins in the third period when it came to UBC's pressure and attack. Three power-plays for the visitors didn't help, but Sophia Gaskell added her second goal of the game with a great individual effort where she cut around the MacEwan defender, dragged the puck across the crease, and popped a shot past Sank to make it 4-1 at 1:47. That would be one of 26 shots recorded by UBC in the period as they simply didn't let MacEwan breathe in the final frame. When the dust settled, that 4-1 score would hold as the final the UBC Thunderbirds downed the MacEwan Griffins for the weekend sweep! Kate Stuart recorded her third win of the season on 24-save night while Brianna Sank was way busier with 47 saves in the loss.
No highlights, but here are the Griffins doing the Safety Dance after the MacEwan netminders faced 94 shots in the two-game set.
| School | Record | Points | GF | GA | Streak | Next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Royal | 8-1-0-1 | 17 | 34 | 18 | W2 | BYE |
| Alberta | 6-3-1-0 | 14 | 25 | 16 | W4 | @ MAN |
| UBC | 5-1-1-1 | 13 | 30 | 13 | W3 | vs CAL |
| Trinity Western | 4-4-0-0 | 8 | 20 | 22 | W1 | @ MAC |
| Saskatchewan | 1-3-2-2 | 8 | 11 | 13 | L3 | vs REG |
| Calgary | 2-4-1-1 | 7 | 13 | 19 | W1 | @ UBC |
| Manitoba | 3-5-0-0 | 6 | 18 | 28 | L3 | vs ALB |
| Regina | 2-5-0-1 | 5 | 13 | 22 | L3 | @ SAS |
| MacEwan | 1-6-1-0 | 4 | 11 | 24 | W1 | vs TWU |
Special Teams Win
The six games this weekend showed a very distinct separation between the teams at the top of the standings and the teams at the bottom of the standings. All three teams who won recorded a shutout in one of the two games they played, but the special teams battle between the teams might tell the bigger story.The three teams who swept their weekend sets went a combined 8-for-27 on the power-play while the three teams that lost went a combined 2-for-27. In fact, if we remove the UBC-MacEwan games where neither team recorded a power-play goal all weekend, the numbers get far worse as Mount Royal and Alberta combined to go 8-for-17 while the Fluffy Cows and Regina combined to go 2-for-20. Should we be surprised that Alberta and Mount Royal have the top power-play efficiencies while the Fluffy Cows and Regina have the bottom-two penalty-killing efficiencies in the conference?
I have said this over and over again since starting to cover Canada West, but games can be won or lost exclusively due to special teams in this conference. For teams either not practicing their special teams play regularly or hoping it will turn a corner through some unknown way, it's going to be a disappointing season if things don't improve. Mark my words.
Special Teams Effectiveness
Since we're already talking about special teams, measuring their effectiveness is a key statistic that some NHL coaches use to determine whether or not they're winning the special teams' battles. The general rule is you want your power-play efficiency plus your penalty-killing efficiency to be above 100% with numbers above 105% usually meaning that your team is efficient at both special teams' executions. Anything less than 95% means that you're better off playing 5-on-5.Being that we're just a quarter of the way through the season, one game can still cause big swings in these numbers, but there are only three teams currently sitting above 100% in overall efficiency - Alberta, UBC, and Trinity Western. There are two teams below 95% efficiency - the Fluffy Cows and Regina - so it's not surprising that they're near the bottom of the standings.
If there's one team taking advantage of advantages, it's the Pandas. Alberta's efficiency of 121.2% is aided in large part by their 13 power-play goals they've already scored this season which accounts for more than half (52.0%) of all the goals they've scored. In the three losses they've suffered thus far, Alberta is 2-for-16 on the power-play in those games. In their seven wins, they're 11-for-26.
Alberta is on a roll right now with six-straight win at home, and it's at Clare Drake Arena where they've been lethal on the power-play, going 10-for-24 (41.7%) in their opportunities there. That also means they're 3-for-18 (16.7%) on the road, so that's a huge swing in success on the power-play. If this trend continues, Alberta will want a home playoff date for one, if not two, playoff rounds because it seems they may be unstoppable there.
Teams who host Alberta shouldn't breathe a sigh of relief either. Just because the power-play hasn't been as successful as when Alberta has the last change doesn't mean it can't still be lethal. If you're the Fluffy Cows next weekend who hold the second-worst penalty-killing efficiency in the conference, you have a tall task ahead of you in one week's time.
The Last Word
The schedule this week could open up a gap between the playoff contenders and the playoff pretenders. Both Saskatchewan and Trinity Western will be looking to open that gap with games against Regina and MacEwan, respectively, while Calgary and Manitoba will try to keep pace with games against UBC and Alberta, respectively. No one is writing off the teams at the bottom after one month as we saw Regina rally and make the playoffs last season, but a slow start to the season is a tough obstacle to overcome in Canada West. If the teams in the bottom-half of the standings want to make changes, winning this weekend is a good start in changing their fortunes for the rest of the campaign.Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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