Your Winter Is Booked

It has been said that the hardest thing to do in hockey is to repeat as champions, but the UBC Thunderbirds women's program did that this past season. They'll have the target squarely on their backs again this season as they look to three-peat, but eight other teams in the conference want what they have. Of course, that number will be reduced to six teams once the regular season ends, so all nine teams were waiting to see what the schedule held for them this season. Today, we got that answer as Canada West released the men's and women's hockey schedules!

The entire schedule for women's hockey can be found here, but there are some intriguing dates to keep an eye on throughout the season. Week 1 beginning on September 29 sees Trinity Western on the bye as the Fluffy Cows visit the Huskies, the defending U SPORTS National Champion Mount Royal Cougars visit the other Cougars in Regina, MacEwan heads south to tangle with Calgary, and the defending Canada West champion UBC Thunderbirds are in Edmonton to play the Pandas.

Trinity Western will open their 2023-24 campaign at home on October 6 as they host the Calgary Dinos, and that will also be the night where the Regina Cougars will be witnesses to a second-straight Canada West banner being added to the rafters of Thunderbird Arena at UBC. The Fluffy Cows get the week off in Week 2, so we'll see how things look after all nine teams finally hit the ice.

October 27 will see just six of the nine teams in action as Calgary, Regina, and Alberta all take that week off for their byes. I don't know why three teams get one week off when two of them could be playing one another, but I'm not the scheduler-maker. What I do know is that every team will have taken their first bye by the beginning of November. That should be your first checkpoint when it comes to measuring the success of your favorite team this season.

With Remembrance Day falling on a weekend this year, it seems that date will affect two teams as Regina is supposed to be in Winnipeg to battle the Fluffy Cows that weekend. However, the University of Manitoba's policies for staff and students is that Remembrance Day is a holiday at the campus, so it appears that the weekend set between these two squads was moved to accommodate that policy. As a result, the Cougars and Fluffy Cows will play Thursday, November 9 and Friday, November 10 rather than the standard Friday-Saturday games.

The final games of the first half of the 2023-24 season will be played on December 1 and 2 for everyone except Manitoba who starts their December break a week early thanks to the bye. Last year, seven of the nine teams had 14 or more points by that time, and all three teams that were at the bottom of the standings missed the playoffs. I'm not saying that's a trend or anything, but it's probably a good idea to have one's team in a playoff spot at the break if one wants to play in the postseason.

Regina is involved with another odd scheduling quirk in January as the opening weekend of the second half has them locked into an interprovincial battle with the Saskatchewan Huskies. Regina is in Sasaktoon to open the series on Friday, but both teams take Saturday off before the Huskies make the trip to Regina for the second-half of the two-game set. I can't seem to find any info on why this home-and-home is spread out over three days, but there will be a Sunday afternoon game on January 7 between the Huskies and Cougars for you to watch.

The season ends on February 9 and 10, and it's very likely that playoff spots may be decided on this weekend based on how last season went. The big matchup will be the UBC-at-MRU series that weekend as the Canada West finalists from one year ago are both looking to head back to Nationals this year in Saskatoon, so it could be a fun battle in Calgary with the Thunderbirds visiting the Cougars. Whether or not those teams will be atop the standings board when that date arrives will be up to them to determine.

Over on the men's hockey side, their full schedule can be found here, but there are certainly some scheduling quirks that need to be mentioned as well. The opening weekend actually starts on Thursday, September 28 for Canada West men's hockey as the MacEwan Griffins are in Calgary to play the Calgary Dinos while the Saskatchewan Huskies are in Winnipeg to battle the Fluffy Cows. Why we have two games from the opening weekend being played on Thursday is a mystery to me, but that's life in Canada West.

UBC and Trinity Western will tangle on a Thursday as well as they'll meet at 11am(!) local time on Thursday, October 19. Again, I don't have a reason for this unless the Spartans are hoping to fill their rink with university students for that interprovincial rivalry game, but the home-and-home is concluded on Saturday as well. These three-day, two-game sets are a little crazy for teams that are literally 45 minutes apart from one another.

Manitoba will play its second Thursday game on November 2 when they host Trinity Western at 7pm that day. With no other tenant in the building at Wayne Fleming Arena after the Winnipeg Ice left, I don't know what this scheduling is meant to do. The Fluffy Cows and Spartans play on Friday night as well, so it's not like there was some weird scheduling issue I can find. All I know is that Thursday nights are becoming hockey nights for Canada West men's hockey.

Remember that scheduling quirk with Regina and Saskatchewan above? Well, the men are following the same quirky schedule that weekend as the Cougars and Huskies won't play Friday, will play in Sasaktoon on Saturday, and then wrap-up their two-game set in Regina in the later game on Sunday following the women's game. I struggle to understand the timing and logic behind this scheduled week because there's no reason these four teams can't be playing in two opposite locations.

Just like they did in the first half, it will be a "Thursday Night Hockey Night" in Langley as the Spartans host the Thunderbirds at 7pm on January 18. They finish the two-game set the next night at UBC, but these Thursday games for the Spartans - that's three already this season - might be the weirdest thing I've seen one team go through on any schedule.

As it stands, there are 28 games for each of the men's and women's teams to play, and we'll see who stands atop the mountain at the end in Febraury 2024. With players training hard and staffs arlready preparing for next season, I expect it to be another season of excitement, intrigue, and fun, and HBIC will have another winter of The Rundown in store for those looking for insights and breakdowns on all the Canada West women's hockey action in 2023-24!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!