The Rundown - Week 15

There comes a time in almost every team's season where wins become "must-wins" if they hope to keep their season alive. That may come in the playoffs where teams face elimination or it could be in the regular season where playoff spots are up for grabs. There was a must-win situation among the four series this weekend while another team was looking to cancel travel plans for the last half of the month. Two teams could play spoiler in an effort to disrupt the Canada West standings, so Week 15 had all sorts of intrigue as we recap the action on The Rundown!

FRIDAY: We'll start with the first-place UBC Thunderbirds who were looking to add points to pull away from the idle Alberta Pandas and wrap up first-overall in the conference, guaranteeing themselves home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. Trinity Western travelled an hour north as the Spartans were looking to move up in the standings while holding off the Fluffy Cows. Two points were important to both teams in this one as Kate Fawcett took the Spartans' net while Elise Hugens got the nod for the T-Birds.

The opening frame was exciting and fast as both teams found opportunities, created chances, and went north-south on the ice. The goaltenders, though, were on their games as well as they showed their skills in keeping the opposition off the boards. No ink was splashed on the scorehseet as we went through a goalless, infraction-less period as we hit the intermission still tied at 0-0 with UBC leading 14-10 in shots.

The second period was all about one player, though, as she went off. After the teams traded unsuccessful power-play opportunities, Grace Elliott broke the deadlock at 9:22 when she beat Fawcett with a shot, and the Thunderbirds were up 1-0. Elliott would make it a pair in the second when she banged home a rebound on the left side of Fawcett at 19:18 to put UBC up 2-0, and the home side took that two-goal lead into the break with a 32-14 margin in shots after peppering the Spartans in the second frame.

The third period saw the Thunderbirds once again overwhelming the Spartans by playing in their zone for most of the period. Mackenzie Kordic would chip a puck past Fawcett after Ireland Perrott wrapped a centering pass around the post from behind the net, and UBC held a three-goal advantage at 6:34. The T-Birds didn't take their foot off the gas, though, as they surrendered just two shots in the period en route to a 3-0 win over the Spartans! Elise Hugens was stellar in stopping all 16 shots she faced for her fourth shutout and 12th win of the season while Kate Fawcett likely deserved a better fate after stopping 47 shots in this game.

I'll have more on this below, but the number 14 is going to be important for the Thunderbirds moving forward in the playoffs.

SATURDAY: The final game between these two provincial rivals happened in Langley as the back-half of the home-and-home went to Spartans territory. With a win today, UBC would clinch home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. With a win today, TWU would make it nearly impossible to be knocked out of a playoff spot. The storylines were clear for both teams as Kate Stuart was between the pipes for the Thunderbirds while Kate Fawcett was back in the blue paint for the Spartans.

Similar to Friday night, these two squads came out firing on all cylinders as they both wanted an early tally, but the netminders stood tall through the opening frame. An early UBC power-play went without a goal, but some fencing at the end of the period saw Trinity Western tagged for an additional penalty as they'd start the second period with a player in the sin bin. Through 20 minutes, though, it was a 0-0 game with Trinity Western up 11-7 in shots.

That penalty at the end of the period would prove costly in the second period. Sophia Gaskell teed one up from the point, and her shot dented twine through traffic at 1:08 as the power-play marker put UBC up 1-0. The squads would continue to battle after the reset, though, and Trinity Western missed out on a power-play opportunity of their own in seeking an equalizer. Another late power-play for UBC would carryover into the final frame, but the 1-0 score held firm through two periods despite TWU holding a 20-15 margin in shots.

Again, the early power-play in this period saw UBC capitalize. Grace Elliott got a stick on Sophia Gaskell's shot and deflected it into the net past Fawcett just 48 seconds into the period, and UBC held a 2-0 lead. UBC would get another early power-play, but the Spartans would kill off the penalty. With just under seven minutes remaining, Chelsea Debusschere fed Brooklyn Anderson with a backhanded pass in front of Stuart, and Anderson converted the pass at 13:14 to cut the deficit to 2-1. Trinity Western continued to push for an equalizer, pullung Fawcett with 1:55 to play, but it wasn't to be on this night as the Thunderbirds earned the 2-1 win over the Spartans! Kate Stuart picked up her tenth win with a 23-save effort while Kate Fawcett made 22 saves in the setback.

The very one-sided highlights of this game are below!

FRIDAY:The goal for the Dinos was to wrap up a playoff spot with three points in the two games in Winnipeg over the weekend. Defeating the Fluffy Cows on their ice would also put their playoff hopes in serious jeopardy, so the Dinos were looking to kill two birds with one stone this weekend. It should be no surprise that the Dinos started Gabriella Durante on Friday night.

The Dinos would fall behind five minutes into this game before Brette Kerley scored her first Canada West goal on the power-play just 1:29 after falling behind. Shots were kept to a minumum through the opening frame as the two teams played solid defence, but the damage had been done with the scored locked in at 1-1 and the shots even at 6-6.

A fairly evenly-played second period looked like the first in terms of both teams getting limited opportunities, but back-to-back penalties saw the Dinos fall behind 2-1 at 14:50. The Dinos would respond before the end of the period, though, as Madeline Stanley found the back of the net for her first Canada West goal with 1:01 to play, and we'd hit the second break with the game tied at 2-2 with Calgary holding a 15-14 edge in shots.

The Dinos got a boost just before the seven-minute mark when Rebecca Clarke found twine with her shot as the Dinos went up 3-2 at 6:52. From there, the Dinos had to fend off an aggressive Fluffy Cows team as they pressed for the equalizer, but the horn would sound on a Calgary Dinos victory by that 3-2 score! Gabriella Durante picked up her 11th win on a 20-save night to help the Dinos take one big step closer to clinching a playoff spot!

Just like how the Dinos knocked off the Fluffy Cows in this game, here's Rex knocking off Zurg in Toy Story 2! Good ol' Pixar!


SATURDAY: One point is all the Dinos needed to clinch a playoff spot in 2023. Two points would possibly mean they ended the weekend in fourth-place depending on other results, so the Dinos were coming into this game looking for a win while putting a serious strain on the playoff hopes for the Fluffy Cows. Gabriella Durante was in the crease for the Dinos in this one.

I had mentioned in the 2023 Team Resolutions article that the Dinos needed consistent scoring and goaltending every week. I wrote, "Elizabeth Lang and Alli Borrow were playing some incredible hockey before the break, and the Dinos need them to continue to be hot in the second-half. Secondary scoring needs to emerge, and it may come down to head coach Carla McLeod trying different line combinations to get a few players trending in the right direction. Gabriella Durante played a ton of minutes in the first half as well, and she'll have to see if she can raise her game a little more to deliver a playoff berth."

What the Dinos got on Saturday was exactly all of that. Rebecca Clarke opened the scoring off a gorgeous feed from Alli Borrow at 13:04 of the second period before Alli Borrow doubled the lead 27 seconds into the third period. Gabriella Durante was ridiculous all night as she was making saves and thwarting chances at every turn. The Fluffy Cows pulled their goalie with 3:13 remaining, but Clarke would notch her second goal into the undefended cage with 2:15 to play. The Fluffy Cows would pull their goalie once more only to have Alli Borrow hit the abanadoned net with 25 seconds to play as the Calgary Dinos skated to the 4-0! Gabriella Durante made 44 stops for her seventh shutout and 12th win of the season!

While it's a buffalo who is lowered into the cage, the Dinos absolutely wrecked the Fluffy Cows this weekend with their sweep.

FRIDAY: MacEwan headed south to Calgary where they met the Mount Ryal Cougars with both teams' playoff fates already known. MacEwan was playing spoiler for the remainder of the season while the Mount Royal was in. The only question was where Mount Royal was going to finish in standings as wins put pressure on the teams around them. Points mattered to the Cougars as Brooke Fawcett got the start for the Griffins while Kaitlyn Ross was in net for the Cougars.

The opening period between these two former ACAC champions felt like a bit of a playoff game as good scoring chances were hard to come by thanks to the teams' defences. When called upon, the goalies were solid as well. Both teams played fast and controlled as there were no penalties called in the first twenty minutes, and we'd go into the intermission tied at 0-0 with Mount Royal up 8-5 in shots.

The second period saw the dam burst. Courtney Kollman scored 26 seconds into the frame on a wrap-around, and Athena Hauck made it 2-0 by going shelf at 4:53. MacEwan pushed back as they looked to cut the deficit, drawing a couple of penalties midway through the period, but were unable to convert. Off an offensive zone face-off after MacEwan was called for a penalty, Aliya Jomha set up Kollman for her second of the period off the draw as Mount Royal extended the lead to 3-0 during 4-on-4 play. 57 seconds later, Emma Bergesen launched a missile from the point while on the power-play to make it a 4-0 game for the Cougars through 40 minutes as they held a 17-9 edge in shots.

Claire Hobbs would get one back for the Griffins when Allee Isley fed Hobbs from behind the net for the 4-1 goal at 12:46, but Ava Metzger made it 5-1 seven seconds later as she restored Mount Royal's four-goal lead. Kaia Borbandy would add a sixth goal for the Cougars with 30 seconds to play, and Mount Royal skated to the 6-1 victory over MacEwan. Kaitlyn Ross picked her 14th win of the campaign after a 16-save effort while Brooke Fawcett made 23 stops for MacEwan.

Since Mount Royal isn't doing highlights, let's check in on a couple of Tampa Bay Lightning players who are planning their futures!

SATURDAY: The same storylines as Friday carried into Saturday as the series shifted to Edmonton for the back-half of the home-and-home. MacEwan was looking to spoil the Cougars' party while Mount Royal needed a win over the Griffins to move within a point of idle Alberta. Scout Anderson was in net for the Cougars on this night while Brianna Sank was back in the blue paint for MacEwan.

Mount Royal wasn't interested in wasting any time as Athena Hauck fired a quick shot from the left side that Sank whiffed on, and it was 1-0 for the Cougars just 28 seconds into the game. She'd recover as MacEwan got their legs under them, and the two teams battled through the next fifteen minutes after trading unsuccessful power-play chances. However, Mackenzie Loupelle would score her first Canada West goal at 16:24, and Laura Cook cashed in another goal just 67 seconds later. When the horn sounded on the opening frame, Mount Royal held a 3-0 lead and a 10-6 advantage in shots.

It was a different MacEwan team in the second period as they came out and generated scoring chances. They'd find twine on a Sydney Hughson shot that was tipped past Anderson by Makenna Schuttler at 5:57, and MacEwan was down 3-1. The teams would continue to press as neither side looked to be done scoring, but MacEwan would get another before the horn when Claire Hobbs shot from the right face-off dot eluded Anderson while on the power-play at 18:58, and the lead was down to one through 40 minutes of play despite Mount Royal holding a 21-15 lead in shots.

The renewed battle continued in the third period, and the teams traded power-plays that saw no goals added to the scoreboard. Three minutes past the midway point of period, Mount Royal's Mackenzie Butz teed up a shot that went off the post and in at 13:07. Before the goal was announced, it was 5-2 as Courtney Kollman scored on a backhander at 13:34. The quick strikes took some of the wind out of MacEwan's sails, and Sydney Benko capped off the night by scoring with 26 seconds to play. The final score would show that the Cougars downed the Griffins by a 6-2 count. Scout Anderson picked up her second win with a 21-save effort while Brianna Sank was on the wrong side of a 36-save night.

Since I referenced both teams playing in the ACAC, we need a couple of references from the early 2000s. How about VCRs, Blockbuster, and Circuit City? Those are throwbacks to the past!

SATURDAY: The only series that started on Saturday this season got underway in Saskatoon as the Regina Cougars headed north to meet the Saskatchewan Huskies for a U-Prairie Challenge game. Regina's fate has been set as spoiler, and they could do that to Saskatchewan's hopes of hosting a playoff game. Saskatchewan needed wins and points to claim a home playoff date, so they should be motivated coming into this game. Arden Kliewer was setup in the Regina net while Camryn Drever, fresh off her gold-medal win with Canada at the FISU Games, was back in the Huskies' net.

Saskatchewan seemed to have the early step in this game as they generated a number of good chances. They'd be rewarded for their efforts when Paris Oleksyn dented twine at 7:32, and they'd double the lead just 1:24 later when Jasper Desmarais found room past Kliewer to put the Huskies up by a pair of goals. Mallory Dyer would get in on the goal-scoring when her shot found twine at 13:47, and it seemed this game might be getting away from the Cougars. They'd make it to the break, though, down 3-0 and trailing 16-7 in shots.

The second period seemed to even out as the two teams battled through the opening ten minutes, literally, as four minor penalties - two for each team - were called. It would be the final penalty of those four that was assigned to Saskatchewan where we'd see a lamp lit. Hannah Pennell zipped a shot by Drever on the power-play at 10:58 as Regina cut the deficit to 3-1. However, Saskatchewan restored the three-goal cushion 53 seconds later when Sara Kendall found the back of the net to put Saskatchewan up 4-1. The battle would continue with more penalties through the final ten minutes, but we'd hit the second intermission with the 4-1 lead for the Huskies holding firm and with the Huskies up 26-14 in shots.

The third period was still a battle, but the parade to the sin bin cooled off. The two sides still found chances and opportunities for offence, but the lamps would remain off. That benefitted the Huskies as they maintained their three-goal lead through to the final horn as Saskatchewan downed Regina by that 4-1 score to win the game and the U-Prairie Challenge! Camryn Drever returned to her Canada West winning ways as she stopped 20 shots for her eighth win of the season while Arden Kliewer stopped 31 shots in the setback.

No highlights by the Huskies as usual. The Huskies negated the Cougars' attack with those three early goals tonight, though, so here's a husky negating a cat's potential attack quite efficiently.

SUNDAY: Saskatchewan was looking for more points as they tried to pull away from Calgary and put themselves in a good position to claim home-ice advantage for the quarterfinals. Regina was wearing their spoiler costumes once again as they looked to disrupt their provincial rival's efforts. Natalie Williamson got the call for the Cougars while the Huskies went back to Camryn Drever in this one!

The first period saw both teams get chances throughout the period thanks to a steady stream of players heading to the penalty box. It would be an even-strength goal that broke the tie, though, as McKenna Bolger snuck in from the right point to the right face-off dot, took a pass from Sara Kendall, and zipped a shot past Williamson at 6:27 to put Saskatchewan ahead 1-0. Regina looked to pull even before the intermission thanks to a couple of late power-play opportunities, but the horn would sound on the opening frame with Saskatchewan up 1-0 on the scoreboard and 11-8 in shots.

The physicality remained in the game and the scoring chances were still present in the second period, but the netminders were showing their skills as well. It wouldn't be until a Huskies penalty just past the eight-minute mark that gave Regina the break it needed. Heather Fiske brought the puck in on the left side, stopping just outside the circle before sending it in front where Lauren Focht deflected it by Drever at 8:56 to tie the game at 1-1! The game settled down after that goal as both sides looked to take the lead, but the final eleven minutes belonged to the goalies as we hit the second intermission tied at 1-1 with the Huskies holding a 21-17 edge in shots.

Regina got the early jump in the second period when the Kushniruk sisters broke down the ice on a partial 2-on-1. Makena fed Jadyn, and Jadyn took care of the rest by sending a backhander past the glove of Drever just 1:26 into the frame! Saskatchewan turned the pressure on after surrendering the goal, and Williamson was brilliant while her defence cleared pucks efficiently. Two Saskatchewan power-plays saw nothing added to their total, and the 52 seconds of 6-on-5 saw lots of pressure, but no goals. When the horn sounded, the Regina Cougars had defeated the Saskatchewan Huskies by the 2-1 score! Natalie Williamson stopped 37 shots for her first win this season while Camryn Drever was on the wrong end of an 18-save night.

No highlights once again, but this GIF sums up this game nicely.

CANADA WEST WOMEN'S HOCKEY

School	Record	Points	GF	GA	Streak	Next
UBC	19-2-3-2	46	89	35	W10	@ REG
Alberta	18-5-2-1	41	69	34	W11	vs MAN
Mount Royal	17-5-1-3	39	73	44	W4	vs SAS
Calgary	11-9-3-3	30	55	53	W2	vs MAC
Saskatchewan	9-10-4-3	29	46	45	L1	@ MRU
Trinity Western	8-13-3-4	26	53	66	L3	BYE
Manitoba	7-14-4-1	23	61	81	L2	@ ALB
MacEwan	5-19-1-1	13	36	81	L5	@ CAL
Regina	4-20-0-2	10	34	77	W1	vs UBC

Colour Coded

If your team appears in yellow, they've officially clinched a playoff spot. If your team appears in red, they've officially been eliminated. One playoff spot remains up for grabs for two teams. One of those teams will watch this weekend, so one team holds their fate in their own hands. Colour-coding will end next week.

Out Of Road

Trinity Western is the first team to reach the end of the road in Canada West as they've completed their regular season. They'll sit, wait, and watch now as they need some help from the Alberta Pandas if they're to make the playoffs this season, but it's out of their hands for the final weekend. The three-point edge they have on the Fluffy Cows is a nice cushion, but they could know as early as Friday if they're in and where they're headed if they make the playoffs.

It doesn't happen often, but the Alberta Pandas will have a pile of people cheering for them next weekend in Langley, BC.

The Rest Of The Scene

We already have a pretty good idea of the playoff scene.

• UBC: top-seed in Canada West and home-ice throughout the playoffs. They have a bye to start the playoffs.
• Alberta: two points next weekend guarantees them the second seed, and they'd have a bye to start the playoffs.
• Mount Royal: to earn the #2 seed, they need to finish ahead of Alberta. If they're tied, Alberta is #2 and MRU is #3.
• Saskatchewan: will finish as #4 or #5 depending on next weekend, and will play the Dinos. Home ice is up for grabs.
• Calgary: will finish as #4 or #5 depending on next weekend, and will play the Huskies. Home ice is up for grabs.
• TWU: will finish #6 if the Fluffy Cows don't earn 3 points. They'll play Alberta or Mount Royal on the road.
• Fluffy Cows: need three points against Alberta to win the tiebreaker over TWU. Any regulation loss ends the dream.

The playoff picture will be clear next Saturday night as to who is travelling and who sleeps in their own beds, but the only guarantee right now is that the UBC Thunderbirds will get a weekend off. We'll see who joins them next week.

Fourteen

I mentioned above that I'd discuss the number 14 a little more down here, and UBC will carry that with them into the playoffs. 14, you see, is the number of maximum home wins one can have in a 28-game schedule, and that means UBC was perfect at home this season as they went 14-0. Suddenly, UBC having home-ice advantage through the playoffs means something entirely different.

Officially, including last year's playoffs, UBC is 19-0 at home since starting this home-winning streak, and their perfect home record this year saw the Thunderbirds outscore their opponents 59-17 over those 14 games. Only one non-UBC team scored three goals at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Arena, and that was Trinity Western back on November 12. Since November 19, only one team has scored two goals at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Arena, and that was MacEwan on January 28. Only four times this season has a team scored two-or-more goals on UBC when playing in Vancouver.

We already know the road to the Canada West banner and the U SPORTS National Championship will run through Vancouver for one team. Only two teams - Alberta and Mount Royal - won't face the possibility of meeting UBC in the semifinal, but one of five playoff-bound teams will need to end the streak if they hope to defeat UBC in a three-game series. And then do it again within the span of two days to prevent UBC from repeating as Canada West champions.

I'm not a betting man so I won't put my money on UBC just yet, but the odds are certainly in their favour to repeat.

Home Ice?

The Saskatchewan Huskies and Calgary Dinos are so close in terms of the tie-breaker situation right now that it may come down to a coin flip as to who will play at home in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs. Both teams are 0-0-2-2 against one another with six goals-for and six goals-against. Both teams have 13 wins this season. Yes, the Dinos have one more point than the Huskies right now, but if they end up tied they'll have the same win percentage. The goal differential head-to-head is nearly the same, so this may come down to goal differential as the tie-breaker that determines which team hosts.

The irony is that the final tie-breaker is an actual coin flip. Personally, I hate the idea that home-ice advantage could be decided by a coin, so let's hope that Saskatchewan and Calgary sort themselves out before the coin comes into play!

He Said It

If you're going to make public statements that anyone can look up and compare to the results seen on the ice, you're smarter to underpromise and overdeliver. When the following statements were made this fall as the hockey season was about to start, I found them baffling considering how his team had just finished preseason play where they got absolutely crushed by good teams.

Hope springs eternal, though, so I let the words be. With the Fluffy Cows on the verge of missing the playoffs, though, here's what the head coach said at the time. Click on the image to blow it up.

Accountability matters in all facets of life, so seeing those statements in writing means we need to hold the head coach accountable for his statements. He said them, so he should be able to deliver on what was promised, right?

• "I like our progression and the direction we are headed as a program." - you finished in fourth-place last season, and you're in seventh-place this season. Show me the "progress". Is the direction "get worse before getting better"?
• "It was a good learning lesson... when we got bounced from the playoffs." - if you got bounced and the players learned something, what was it? I ask because you played at home against the Dinos this weekend with a shot at locking down a playoff spot and you got bounced once again. So let's be very specific: what lesson was learned?
• "They will have learned about what it takes to compete in Canada West...". - except they didn't because they're worse this year than they were last year.
• "... how to win playoff games, playoff series...". - you have to get there first, and you haven't won a playoff series since 2019. There's an entire generation of players moving through your program that haven't won a single playoff game. Better luck next year, I guess?
• "The players are motivated from the unpleasant feeling of being bounced in your own barn." - except they weren't or you'd be in a playoff position after sweeping Calgary. Only you didn't as you got swept on home ice - JUST LIKE LAST YEAR - and the chances of making the playoffs this season are virtually nil.

Some people may view me pointing this out as an act of vengeance. Some may believe it's a cheap shot or some sort of "gotcha" move on my part. I get that it may appear as that, but this is about accountability. If you sell people a bill of goods, you better come through with what was promised. That's accountability.

There are 29 women on this coach's roster who committed to this program because of its success and promised future success, and there are only two players on the roster currently who have experienced any playoff success. There are no women on this roster who have won a playoff game under its current head coach. It appears that this will be the second time in three seasons that this team misses the playoffs since the head coach returned from a sabbatical. Anyone seeing a trend and/or direction here?

If the Fluffy Cows show up in Edmonton and don't play like their lives depend on it, it might be time to start asking some hard questions about what he's teaching his players because the lessons he spoke of don't seem to have sunk in. And that's on you, Coach.

The Last Word

Five teams are in. One team is idle. One team has its own fate in its hands. The Canada West playoffs will certainly take place in Calgary at some point, and it's possible that Calgary could host both series depending on next weekend's final games. In other words, the final two games of the regular season are vitally important to a number of teams who still need to determine where they'll place in the standings.

Trinity Western will be cheering for Alberta next weekend as we know, but hockey fans cannot complain that the playoff races in Canada West haven't been exciting. At this time next weekend, we'll know who is in and who will be planning for next season. For a few teams, the playoffs start now.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!