The Rundown - Week 3
Both the Dinos and Cougars were looking for that all-important first goal, and they tried to help each other out by exchanging power-plays over the first 17 minutes of the game. Defensively, both sides were on their games as not a lot of pucks were reaching the two netminders, but the puck movement was solid as goals were sought. We'd finally get one on the second power-play awarded to the Dinos late in the period as Brooklyn Fry's long point shot from the left side found room through the screen in front of Ross to find the twine, and Fry's first Canada West goal with 16 seconds to play in the period gave the Dinos the 1-0 lead as the intermission hit! Each team had five shots in the opening period as well.
The second period saw Mount Royal carry more of the offence as they pushed for an equalizer while receiving two power-plays to Calgary's lone advantage in the middle frame, but Durante stood tall in the Calgary net. Mount Royal's power-play really needs to start clicking as they're getting the opportunities they need, but simply have not found the net as often as they may want for those opportunities to be called advantages. Nonetheless, the horn sounded on the second period with Calgary holding that 1-0 lead still, and with Mount Royal leading 14-9 in shots.
Both teams came out in the third looking for goals as the pace quickened, but only one team would spill ink on the scoresheet. At 12:44, Jerzey Watteyne beat Durante to tie the game at 1-1 before Jori Hansen-Young scored her first Canada West goal at 15:03 to put the Cougars up 2-1! Mount Royal wasn't done, though, as Sydney Benko added an insurance marker at 17:44 to make it a 3-1 game before Gabby Lindsay scored her first Canada West goal into an empty net with four seconds to play. The final score saw the Mount Royal Cougars down the Calgay Dinos by that 4-1 score! Kaitlyn Ross picked up her second win of the season with an 18-save night while Gabriella Durante suffered the loss after stopping 18 shots as well.
I don't work at or for Mount Royal University, so I struggle to understand how there are no highlights produced for the reigning U SPORTS National Champions. Making matters worse is that it seems MRU isn't even bothering to clip goals from games any longer to be posted on social media. This is a travesty considering that team sent two players to the professional ranks in the past two seasons. Congratulations on failing Marketing 101, Mount Royal. Epic fail.
The first period was fast-paced, but the ice seemed to be tilted in favour of Mount Royal as they peppered the Calgary net with shots through the opening frame. A late breakaway for Jordyn Hutt was turned aside by Durante among that flurry of shots she faced, and the teams would enter the break tied at 0-0 while the Cougars held a 12-3 advantage in shots.
Calgary would break the tie early in the second period when Jada Johns found a rebound off an Evelyn Lawrence chance in tight on Ross, allowing Johns to bury her first Canada West goal of her career at 4:20 for the 1-0 Calgary lead! I'm not saying that I have any affect on any team after typing up yesterday's game recap, but the Cougars may have got the message about power-plays because they decided to put theirs in motion for the remainder of this game. While on a power-play midway through the frame, Aliya Jomha went five-hole on Durante at 10:31 for her second goal of the season, and this game was tied at 1-1. A couple of power-plays later in the frame were killed by the Dinos, and these teams would remain tied at 1-1 as the second break hit with the Cougars holding a 26-12 edge in shots.
One of those power-plays from the second period bled into the third period, though, and that's where the Cougars would strike as a deflected shot pinballed around in front of the net before Athena Hauck buried her first goal of the season just 1:16 into the period for a 2-1 MRU lead off a second power-play goal. Calgary and Mount Royal decided to throw caution out the window as they went north-south for the remainder of the period, firing pucks from all angles in an effort to find goals. However, it would be Allee Gerrard who would finally find the twine with an empty net goal while on the power-play to put the Cougars up 3-1 with 28 seconds to play, and that's your finish as the Cougars defeated the Dinos. Kaitlyn Ross earned her third win of the season with a 27-save effort while Gabriella Durante took the loss despite making 33 saves in 58:35 of work.
Calgary's social media person was clearly busy on Saturday because Jada Johns' first Canada West goal isn't documented anywhere nor were there any highlights produced for this game. It's so great when you see schools and athletics departments doing their best to make their athletes feel important. Solid effort, Calgary!
While the shot total may have been decidedly favouring one team in the first period, the play on the ice was the opposite of what the shot counter showed. Alberta controlled this game from start to finish, it seemed, as the Griffins struggled to build any sustained offence. Natalie Kieser would put the Pandas up when she rang a puck off the post and in to finish off a 3-on-2 rush at 8:15 as Alberta took the 1-0 lead on their only recorded shot of the period. The Pandas did surrender an early power-play, but the Griffins could not convert as this game hit the first intermission with Alberta leading 1-0 despite MacEwan holding a 6-1 advantage in shots.
The second period was literally all Alberta as the Griffins found out how polished this Pandas squad is. It started just 12 seconds into the frame as Reagan Yewdall found the net for her first goal for the 2-0 lead. Jadynn Morden added her conference-leading fifth goal and first even-strength goal at 11:20 to make it 3-0 for Alberta, and Megan Wilson notched her first goal at 18:41 to make it 4-0 as Albwrta outshot MacEwan 19-0 in the period! That 4-0 score was the count as the second break as Alberta jumped to a 20-6 edge in shots.
Penalties were the story in the third period, but neither team could use them to their advantage. MacEwan was whistled for three infractions to Alberta's two penalties, but the goalies held their part of the bargain. At the horn, that 4-0 score would be the final score as the Alberta Pandas downed the MacEwan Griffins. Halle Oswald picked up her fourth win and second shutout of the season with an 11-save clean sheet while Lindsay Johnson suffered the loss despite stopping 29 shots.
No highlights from the Pandas. Hold your disbelief, please.
As you may be aware, this blog doesn't celebrate blowouts, and a blowout is any score that is decided by six goals or more. In foreshadowing what's coming, Natalie Kieser opened the scoring with a shorthanded marker at 7:17 before Jadynn Morden added her sixth goal of the season to put Alberta up 2-0 after one period of play. Shots were 9-5 in favour of Alberta.
The assault continued in the second period as Bree Kennedy got into the action with a goal at 9:10. 52 seconds later, Jadynn Morden added her seventh goal of the season to make it 4-0 for Alberta. And, to close out the, Maia Ehmann scored her second goal of the campaign at 18:08 as Alberta closed the second period with a 5-0 lead and a 15-10 edge in shots.
The third period saw just one goal scored as captain Izzy Lajoie made it 6-0 at 8:15, but Alberta locked down the defensive zone in not allowing MacEwan any clean looks at Glover. The result was a 6-0 victory for the Pandas as they sweep the Griffins with back-to-back shutouts. Grace Glover picked up her first Canada West win and shutout with an 11-save performance while Brianna Sank was on the losing end of a 19-save night.
You know MacEwan doesn't do highlights, but there weren't many highlights for them to have as the Pandas absolutely hammered their crosstown rivals in this series.
Again, I don't celebrate blowouts, but there's a lesson to be learned here which I'll discuss below. The scoring in the first period saw Madisyn Wiebe put the T-Birds up 1-0 at 7:51 while Mackenzie Kordic doubled the lead at 11:31. Aside from the goals, both teams played fairly solid hockey, but the first intermission saw the Thunderbirds holding a two-goal lead with the shots even at 7-7.
Madisyn Wiebe added her second goal and fourth of the season just 1:54 into the second period. Mackenzie Kordic will follow her once again as she scored on the power-play at 11:39, ending Davidson's night as Emily Shippam replaced the Flufy Cows' starter. A new goalie wouldn't matter, though, as UBC would make Manitoba pay again for taking penalties as Sophie Gaskell scored at 13:36 on the power-play, and it was 5-0 for UBC through 40 minutes of play in Winnipeg with UBC up 19-16 in shots.
The Thunderbirds just kept it rolling in the third period as well as Rylind MacKinnon scored 2:52 into the final frame to make it 6-0. Brenna Nicol would get one back on the power-play at 12:42, but MacKinnon would add a power-play goal of her own at 15:52 to restore the six-goal lead. Mackenzie McCallum added her third of the season on the power-play at 16:27 to make it 8-1, and the final goal would be a "too little, much too late" goal from Dana Goertzen with 1:09 remaining as the UBC Thunderbirds provided the Manitoba Fluffy Cows with a forgettable 2023 home opener with an 8-2 victory. Elise Hugens picked up her third win on a 23-save night while Kimmie Davidson took the loss after surrendering four goals on 15 shots in 31:39 of work. For the record, Emily Shippam stopped eight of 12 shots she faced in 28:21 of play.
If it's not football, there won't be highlights made by the Fluffy Cows. Of course, when the defending champs come into your barn and stomp the life out of you, there aren't many highlights.
SATURDAY: After the thrashing seen one night earlier, one had to believe that any pride that the Fluffy Cows had would kick into overdrive and motivate them to bounce back. UBC, meanwhile, was looking to extend their win streak and jump into first place. Elise Hugens was back in the net for the T-Birds while Meagan Relf was sent out to try and do what she could to stop the Thunderbirds.
The teams traded power-play chances in the first period with neither side finding goals, but the Thunderbirds were still riding their momentum for the night before as they looked more confident in their attack. The Fluffy Cows' defence was doing what the could to neutralize the offensive chances, but there were few opportunities on Hugens in the T-Birds' zone. The score remained 0-0 at the horn despite the Thunderbirds holding a 7-3 edge in shots.
I'm not sure if the Fluffy Cows fully grasp the concept of power-plays, but giving them willingly to one's opponent generally results in bad things happening. Manitoba went ahead and gave UBC four power-plays in this period, and found themselves in a deep hole when the frame ended. Jacquelyn Fleming scored her first of the season at 4:53 on a 5-on-3 power-play, and Rylind MacKinnon scored her fourth goal 43 seconds later on the power-play as well to make it a 2-0 game. Mackenzie Kordic scored her seventh goal of the season 13:56 before Mackenzie McCallum scored her fourth goal on the power-play at 17:29 to make it 4-0. That score would hold into the second intermission as UBC held a 21-13 edge in shots.
Jaylyn Morris would add her first Canada West goal in her career at 7:59 for a five-goal UBC lead, but the damage was already done as UBC locked down the defensive zone in preventing Manitoba from clawing their way back into this game. When the final horn sounded, the T-Birds skated out of Winnipeg with four points in a weekend sweep after defeating the Fluffy Cows 5-0 on Saturday. Elise Hugens picked up her fourth win and first shutout of the season with a 20-save effort while Meagan Relf took the loss after stopping 22 shots.
If you want a highlight, let me highlight that Manitoba had two weeks to prepare for the Thunderbirds and appeared to do absolutely nothing to be ready for their arrival. What exactly did the Fluffy Cows do over the last two weeks? I'll have more on the Fluffy Cows below, but I think this may have been the answer for the question of "What did you do to prepare for UBC's arrival this week?"
Just 61 seconds into this one, we had a score as Kate Klassen pounced on a rebound off an Ella Boon shot, and she buried it behind Kliewer for the early 1-0 Spartans lead! Beyond that early marker, the Spartans and Cougars played a pretty evenly-matched first period. Back-to-back penalties late in the period gave Regina a chance to tie the game, but the Spartans killed off the opportunities as they took the 1-0 lead to the break despite Regina leading 8-7 in shots.
We also got a quick start in the second period as we had a goal light on just 50 seconds into the frame. Makena Kushniruk's quick shot off the half-boards seemed to surprise Fawcett, but her third goal of the season tied the game at 1-1! Trinity Western began to find ways to break down the Regina defence, but the stalemate remained as the two sides played without any infractions. After 40 minutes, we had a 1-1 tie with Trinity Western holdings a 21-16 edge in shots.
TWU ran into some early penalty trouble in the third period, but one of their players decided to relieve a little pressure when Ashlee Wolfe blocked Paige Hubbard's point shot and went the other. She toe-dragged around Megan Long before cutting across the crease where she went to the backhand and dented twine behind Kliewer at 5:43 to put the Spartans up 2-1! From there, Kate Fawcett did her part to keep Trinity in front she repeatedly denied Regina's scoring attempts, and the horn would sound on the 2-1 Trinity Western victory! Kate Fawcett picked up her second win of the season with a 23-save performance while Arden Kliewer made 29 stops in the loss.
Regina didn't bother to post any highlights, but I'm struggling to understand why Trinity Western has decided to post highlights to Instagram as opposed to sticking with Twitter. I don't know who runs the Spartans' social media accounts, but if they decide to move to Bluesky or Mastodon or Threads I'm gonna snap. I'm not spending all day looking for highlights! Figure it out!
SATURDAY: The Spartans continued to pick up wins on Friday in their quest to claim a second-straight playoff spot this season while Regina was left asking how they find more goals. They'd have a chance to try a few more things on Saturday as the Spartans and Cougars battled in the second game of the weekend series. Changes were seen in net as Mabel Maltais got the nod for the Spartans while Natalie Williamson was in the Cougars's crease!
The two teams were up and down the ice early in this game with Trinity Western finding a couple more shots than the Cougars. The first goal would be seen after the midway point with Trinity Western on the power-play as Kailey Ledoux notched her first goal of the season to put the visitors up 1-0! The Spartans would double the lead a couple minutes later when Brooklyn Anderson's shot found room past Williamson at 15:52, and the Spartans would carry that 2-0 lead into the intermission while holding a 10-5 edge in shots.
An early power-play for the Spartans would lead to more pain for the Cougars as Kate Klassen picked up her third goal at 5:50 while on the power-play for the Spartans' third goal of this game. Nearly two minutes later, though, Paige Hubbard struck on the power-play as her backhander off a rebound banked into the net off Fawcett at 7:42 for to cut the Spartans' lead to 3-1! Despite having two more power-plays before the period ended, the Cougars couldn't pull any closer in this frame as the intermission hit with TWU leading 3-1 and holding a 22-14 lead in shots.
Anotehr power-play for Trinity Western resulted in a deeper hole for Regina as Jace Scott scored her first Canada West goal in her career with her tally at 6:19 to make it a 4-1 game for the Spartans! The power-play goals kept coming for TWU as Regina seemed to want to play the third period down a player, but Olivia Leier scored her second of the season while on the power-play at 9:36 to put the Spartans up four goals. Paige Hubbard would score her second of the game and of the season on the power-play with 7:11 to play in the game, but the Spartans had this one in their grasp long before that goal as they skated to the 5-2 victory over the Cougars! Mabel Maltais picked up her first win of the season with an 18-save effort while Natalie Williamson stopped 28 shots in the setback.
Because there are no highlights, you're just going to have to take my word that six of the seven goals were scored on the power-play in this game. The team that had four power-play goals won the game. Win the special teams' battle, and you likely win the game. This game isn't that hard in its most simplistic forms.
| School | Record | Points | GF | GA | Streak | Next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UBC | 5-0-0-1 | 11 | 29 | 8 | W4 | vs TWU |
| Alberta | 4-1-1-0 | 10 | 19 | 5 | W3 | @ CAL |
| Saskatchewan | 4-0-0-0 | 8 | 14 | 5 | W4 | @ REG |
| Mount Royal | 3-2-1-0 | 8 | 17 | 9 | W2 | BYE |
| Trinity Western | 3-0-0-1 | 7 | 13 | 8 | W2 | @ UBC |
| Calgary | 1-4-1-0 | 4 | 11 | 16 | L2 | vs ALB |
| MacEwan | 1-5-0-0 | 2 | 6 | 20 | L5 | @ MAN |
| Regina | 0-5-0-1 | 1 | 7 | 28 | L6 | vs SAS |
| Manitoba | 0-4-0-0 | 0 | 4 | 21 | L4 | vs MAC |
Read The Room
If you happened to be on Instagram this week, you may have caught this little video from the Manitoba Fluffy Cows where someone in their athletics department decided to ask the women about their goal-scoring celebrations. That would be the same Fluffy Cows team who has been shutout twice this season. That would be the same Fluffy Cows team who has scored just four goals total this season - lowest in the conference. That would be the same Fluffy Cows team who has yet to see any player score more than once this season. That would be the same Fluffy Cows team who has scored three garbage-time goals out of the four goals they've scored. That would be the same Fluffy Cows team that has yet to score on Saturday this season. This would be the same Fluffy Cows team that has yet to record a point this season.Read the room, Fluffy Cows. There shouldn't be any player celebrating when you're 0-and-4 with only one goal scored that could have had an effect on wins and losses. Maybe focus more on scoring goals rather than the celebrations? That might actually translate to wins which would be cause for celebration, but what the hell do I know? I'm just a blogger.
For those that don't know, "garbage-time goals" are any goal scored when one team is leading by three-or-more goals in a game where the losing team doesn't make a comeback. All they count for are personal stats because they don't help the team potentially win or lose a game. The Fluffy Cows have scored four times this year, and three of those goals haven't mattered in the final result other than to add to a player's personal stats. Honestly, goal celebrations are the last thing this team should be even be discussing, let alone filming.
Stats Matter
While Calgary was the first team to lose after scoring first - something they did twice this weekend - there was a bigger statistic that jumped out at me as I watched games: special teams and who won games.The four teams that swept this weekend combined to go 14-for-31 on the power-play against their opponents - a 45.2% efficiency with the extra skater. The four teams that got swept this weekend went a combined 4-for-28 on the power-play - 14.3% efficiency. I warned everyone before the season started that adjusted power-play numbers mattered when it came to making the playoffs, but I guess there were a few people who didn't do the required reading.
While it's still far too early to talk about season-long trends, the top adjusted power-plays right now belong to UBC, Trinity Western, and Alberta. All three are playoff teams if the playoffs started today.
The worst three adjusted power-plays belong to MacEwan, Calgary, and Manitoba. At what point do those three teams realize that wasting opportunities is a good way to watch the playoffs from the comfort of a couch in February?
Wins Matter
If you're the Fluffy Cows and you're staring at the zero in both the wins and points columns, it might be time to figure out how you're going to dig out of this hole. Losing the first four games of the season in rather convincing fashion might be the foreshadowing of another long summer. The last team to lose its first four games to open a season in a similar manner was Trinity Western in 2021-22 where they finished 1-18-1-0. Trinity did win Game #5 in overtime against Saskatchewan by a 1-0 score, so the Fluffy Cows will try to break their slide when MacEwan visits on Friday.Prior to that, Calgary lost its first eight games of the 2018-19 season, but did pick up a point in Game #4 after losing in overtime to Saskatchewan. Mount Royal lost their first five games in 2016-17, but picked up a point in Game #5 against Calgary. Lethbridge lost their first five games of the 2014-15 season before defeating UBC in their sixth game of the season.
Of those teams who started with a string of losses, only Mount Royal made the playoffs in 2016-17 as they finished in sixth-place in the conference. In other words, starting the season in a deep hole is a situation that only one team has climbed out of over the last decade. And, for the record, Mount Royal was swept in two games in that opening playoff round. Do the math, Fluffy Cows, because things appear to be pretty grim right now when it comes to competing for a playoff spot.
Stats Matter - Part II
The MacEwan Griffins have surrendered three shorthanded goals this season already, and have scored just once on the power-play on 20 opportunities. Unless something dramatically changes at the Downtown Community Arena, you can mark it down on your calendar: Teebz is predicting on October 15, 2023 that the MacEwan Griffins will miss the playoffs again this season.The Last Word
Three days ago, Canada West members approved changes to the schedules for the 2024-25 season and beyond. In the new seasonal format, the hockey scheduling will change to reflect the following:
Depending on who is in each division, the number of games between teams will mean that some years will see very good teams play very bad teams more often to be able to make the playoffs more easily. This will also affect the U SPORTS Top Ten rankings which already had virtually zero logic built into them, but it seems that no one understands that a Canada West divided against itself actually makes the conference weaker by limiting the number of times good teams play one another. Some will say, "It'll be like the OUA!" which is not something to strive to be like and is entirely false since the OUA has two divisions that crossover in the regular season, but play within their divisions during the playoffs until the OUA Final.
I'm all for cutting costs when it comes to tuition costs, but we won't see that happen. I'm all for cutting costs when it comes to finding efficiencies within athletics departments. This move for the hockey teams in Canada just seems ridiculous at best, and it may spell the end of me doing The Rundown because uneven schedules create advantages for certain teams when it comes to playoff spots.
There's nothing sporting about the game if your team misses the playoffs because you're stuck in a stronger division playing tougher teams compared to another team who had weaker opponents to play more often.
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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