This game didn't start well for MacEwan as they were down a player just 11 seconds in, and they found themselves down a goal 33 seconds in when Chanreet Bassi went over Johnson's shoulder on the power-play to make it 1-0 for UBC! Johnson, however, settled in after that goal was scored and made some big saves in key moments to keep the Griffins close. The only problem was that UBC wasn't allowing much to get through to Hugens off the sticks of the Griffins. When the first intermission hit, that 1-0 score held while UBC held a 12-1 advantage in shots through the opening frame.
It seemed like MacEwan was going to even the score as UBC couldn't solve Johnson early, but they'd find a second goal when Cassidy Rhodes was sent in on a breakaway and she beat Johnson at 7:55 to make it 2-0 for the Thunderbirds! Sophia Gaskell scored her second goal of the season at 11:49 to make it 3-0, but the Griffins would get one back on a late power-play when Ali Macauley beat Hugens with her shot at 16:11 to make it 3-1! That score would carry into the break, and UBC held a 26-8 edge in shots.
Grace Elliott put UBC back up by three when she dented twine at 1:13! Exactly five minutes later, Jenny Andrash scored her second goal of the season when she beat Hugens at 6:13! Jaylyn Morris took advantage of a power-play by scoring her third goal at 8:50 to make it 5-2, and Madisyn Wiebe potted her sixth goal 42 seconds later to make it a 6-2 game! The final ten minutes saw UBC kill off two more penalties, and the final horn would sound on a 6-2 victory for the Thunderbirds over the Griffins! Elise Hugens picked up her sixth win of the campaign with an 11-save evening while Lindsay Johnson made 35 saves in the setback.
UBC and highlights are like oil and water - they just don't mix. We'll go with more Wes McCauley highlights, though, because at least he's entertaining when it comes to scoring or calling back goals.
SATURDAY: MacEwan seemed to be able to skate with UBC one night earlier for about 30 minutes before UBC finally scored in bunches to take Friday's game. The Griffins needed the same effort for 60 minutes on Saturday as they looked to hand UBC a loss. The Thunderbirds, though, were looking for another sweep to keep their winning streak going. Brianna Sank was in the MacEwan net while Reese Hiddleston got her first start of the season for the T-Birds.
HBIC isn't here to glamourize blowouts, but the first period was similar to the one the night before as Sophia Gaskell scored her third goal at 15:19 to put UBC up 1-0. That score would hold into the break as the ice felt tilted towards the MacEwan end with UBC holding a 17-5 lead in shots after one period.
The first 14 minutes saw that 1-0 lead hold, but UBC decided that they needed more so they went and got a handful of goals. Cassidy Rhodes added goals four and five for her season total at 13:54 and 18:01, respectively, to make it a 3-0 lead for the Thunderbirds. Chanreet Bassi would add one more goal before the break at 19:55, and UBC held a 4-0 lead on the scoreboard and a 35-9 margin in shots through 40 minutes of play.
Karine Sandilands made it a 5-0 game at 7:46 of the third period. Chanreet Bassi added her second of the game and fifth of the season at 14:16 for the 6-0 lead. Grace Elliott would score her fifth of the season at 17:19, and that score would stand as the final score with UBC defeating MacEwan by a 7-0 count. Reese Hiddleston earned her first win and shutout of the season with an 11-save performance while Brianna Sank likely deserved a better fate than a loss after she stopped 43 shots.
Once more, here's Wes McCauley wearing a GoPro camera as one of the referees during the Stadium Series game between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers on January 29, 2014!
The opening frame was fast-paced as both teams look to set the tone in this game. Chances at both ends were thrwarted by the netminders, but the tie would be broken just past the midway point of the period when Kaia Borbandy found room past Relf to score her first goal of the season as Mount Royal grabbed the 1-0 lead at 12:40! The final seven minutes saw both sides continue their efforts to find goals, but the horn would sound with the cougars up 1-0 and leading 14-6 in shots.
The second period was a good period if you're a Cougars fan because they brought their game in spades. Emma Bergesen wired one home on the power-play for her second of the season at 1:09, and MRU was up a pair of goals! The roof sort of caved in for Manitoba near the midway point as Allee Gerrard scored her fourth goal of the season at 9:28 followed by Sydney Benko getting her second goal at 10:42 which came before Athena Hauck scored her second goal of the season at 11:15! Mount Royal scored three times in 1:47 to push this game to a 5-0 score. A couple of penalties late in the period would be killed off by Mount Royal, but they hit the break fully in control of this game with a 5-0 lead and a 33-18 margin in shots.
The third period saw Manitoba push to find goals as Mount Royal went into defensive mode, but the Cougars were doing a good job at preventing the Bisons from getting good looks at the net. They would finally break the goose egg at 14:54 when Camryn Gillis dented the twine for the first time this season, but Kiana McNinch would add her fourth goal of the season 1:25 later to restore the five-goal lead! Mount Royal would prove to be the victor at the final horn with their 6-1 win over Manitoba. Kaitlyn Ross earned her fourth win of the campaign after stopping 28 of 29 shots she faced while Meagan Relf made 35 stops in the loss.
Mount Royal is only producing hype videos this year, it seems, despite having the defending U SPORTS National Women's Hockey program representing the school. You'd never know that was the case based on how many highlights you see of these women who brought the first national title to the school, but I guess it's a new season so that distinction no longer exists? As Eddie Murphy asks...
SATURDAY: If you're a Cougars fan, you want to see more goals coming in bunches like they did on Friday. If you're a Bisons fan, you want to see less defensive breakdowns, more saves, and more goals from your squad. Clearly, the Bisons had a longer list of things to improve in an 18-hour span, but all fans were hoping for a closer and more spirited game on Saturday. Emily Shippam was guarding the Bisons' cage in this one while Kaitlyn Ross was between the pipes for the Cougars for the afternoon contest!
Manitoba found itself struggling with penalties in the opening frame as they were whistled for four infractions in the period to Mount Royal's single penalty, so it seemed like one team carried most of the play. Manitoba's first penalty would be cut short when Mount Royal's Allee Gerrard redirected a Breanne Trotter pass past Shippam at 4:27 for the power-play goal and her fifth goal, and the Cougars went up 1-0! Manitoba settled in, though, and they locked down the defensive zone to prevent any further goals as they killed penalties, and the first period would end with Mount Royal leading 1-0 and holding a 9-1 edge in shots.
The second period saw Manitoba push back as they brought their offence to the ice, but Ross was solid early on to deny the equalizer. That would prove important as Mount Royal began to pin the Bisons in their own end at times, and we'd see Athena Hauck clean up a Jordynne Hojnicki rebound at 8:37 for her third goal as Mount Royal went up by a pair. 18 seconds later, though, Camille Enns cut the deficit back to one goal with her second goal of the season to make it a 2-1 game! Some more pressure later in the period by the Cougars allowed them to restore the two-goal advantage when Jordynne Hojnicki's blast from the point eluded the humanity in front of the Bisons' net to find twine for her first Canada West goal, and the Cougars were up 3-1 at 15:48! The two-goal cushion would hold until the break as Mount Royal led 3-1 with an 18-15 advantage in shots.
Manitoba, however, wasn't going to go away quietly as they continued to press. Ross and the Cougars' defence was able to withstand a few early opportunities, but Ashley Keller found the back of the net for her third goal at 13:39 to make it a one-goal game at 3-2! The Bisons continued to press when given chances, and Dana Goertzen would beat Ross with 3:05 to play for her second goal and, more importantly, a tie game at 3-3! The last three minutes would tick down with no further goals, so we needed some free hockey to decide this game as overtime loomed with a 3-3 tie on the screboard and Mount Royal up 26-24 in shots!
There was some early excitement in overtime as Mount Royal was forced to kill a penalty off, but Manitoba would also be whistled for an infraction which ended their early advantage. On the tail end of the Manitoba penalty, Breanna Trotter would find room past Shippam while on the power-play for her first goal of the season, and it was the game-winner in the 4-3 Mount Royal overtime victory over Manitoba! Kaitlyn Ross picks up her fifth win of the campaign after stopping 26 shots in 63:26 of work while Emily Shippam helped Manitoba grab a point with a 24-save effort 63:33 of time.
No highlights again, but the Mount Royal four-point weekend is a...
To say the first period started at a torrid pace might be an understatement, but it seemed very un-Saskatchewan-like to see as many shots getting to the net in their zone. I'll credit Trinity Western for showing good pressure and a commitment to putting shots on net, and that helped midway through the period when a Presleigh Giesbrecht shot ended up behind the net where Katherine Chadwick picked it up and wrapped it around the post on the far side before Wilson could slide across for the save as Trinity Western grabbed the lead at 10:29 on Chadwick's first goal in TWU colours! Aside from an early Spartans' penalty, it was a fairly clean period in terms of ink on the scoresheet, but Trinity Western took the 1-0 lead into the break despite being outshot 16-13 by Saskatchewan.
The period needed just 93 seconds to find another goal as Chloe Reid elected to keep on the two-on-one for the shot that was stopped, but she cashed in her own rebound for her second goal of the season at Trinity Western took the 2-0 lead! Saskatchewan looked to push back, but Katherine Chadwick would kill that momentum when she was left all alone in front of Wilson for the easy score at 4:07 to push the TWU lead to three goals which borught an end to Wilson's night as she was replaced by Camryn Drever. The Huskies picked up the pace after the goalie change as they realized they needed goals in a hurry, but Ella Boon would deliver another dagger as her point shot eluded the traffic in front of Drever to get by the goalie at 18:41, and Trinity Western carried that 4-0 lead into the second intermission despite Saskatchewan still holding a 26-22 edge in shots.
The third period saw the Spartans do everything in their power to keep the Huskies off the board as they went into defensive mode, but a late power-play goal by Kelsey Hall would break Fawcett's shutout at the 18:24 mark. It was too little and too late on this night, though, as the Trinity Western Spartans continued their success against the Huskies with a 4-1 win! Kate Fawcett was good on 39 shots to pick up her third win of the season while Colby Wilson stopped 13 shots as the goalie of record in the loss despite playing just 24:07. Camryn Drever stopped eight of nine shots she saw in her 35:53 of work.
Trinity Western can always be counted on for highlights of their goal-scorers, so here is that highlight package of the Spartans.
SATURDAY: The Huskies were looking to purge the previous game from their minds with a good effort on Saturday. The Spartans were looking for the sweep as they had a chance to hit double digits got points in just their eighth game of the season! Wins were still important for both teams early in this season, and this game was all about seizing opportunity. Camryn Drever was in net for the Huskies while Mabel Maltais looked to close out the weekend with a win!
The teams came out fairly even to start the game, but a pair of power-plays just past the midway point gave Trinity Western a couple of great chances that passed without incident. Those kills may have energized Saskatchewan because they'd find the first goal with minutes to play in the frame when Kara Kondrat found the puck in a goalmouth scramble and went shelf for her second goal of the season at 17:44 to put the Huskies up 1-0! That score would hold for the final two minutes of the frame as the Huskies went into the rooms with the lead, but the Spartans held a 15-9 margin in shots.
The Spartans started the period down a skater thanks to a late penalty in the first period, but a turnover along the board at center ice allowed Michela Naccarato to skate in all alone and she went five-hole on Drever shorthanded for her first of the season just 59 seconds into the frame for the 1-1 tie! The play settled down a little with neither side looking to fall behind, but the Huskies would explode for goals in a five-minute span late in the period. Jesper Desmarais finished off a two-on-one with Sara Kendall at 13:16 for the 2-1 Saskatchewan lead! Isabella Pozzi scored her second goal of the campaign at 14:47, just seconds after TWU's Kate Klassen clanged iron, and Mallory Dyer navigated to the slot where she went shelf at 18:22, putting Saskatchewan up 4-1! The Huskies took the three-goal cushion to the rooms despite the Spartans holding a 26-18 shot count.
The third period saw both teams continuing to pour on the pressure as pucks were counted as shots all over the ice. Trinity Western pressed for the entire frame, but it would only be a Brooklyn Anderson slapshot that found twine on the power-play for her fourth goal at 14:24 that made any difference. When the final horn sounded, the Saskatchewan Huskies claimed a 4-2 victory over the Trinity Western Spartans! Camryn Drever picked up her fourth win of the season with a 45-save night while Mabel Maltais suffered the loss after stopping 27 shots.
Again, here are the Spartans' goals. If you didn't know better, you'd think they shutout Saskatchewan twice since clipping their opponents' goals never happens. In any case, enjoy both goals shown here!
| School | Record | Points | GF | GA | Streak | Next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UBC | 9-0-0-1 | 19 | 53 | 13 | W8 | vs MRU |
| Alberta | 6-1-1-0 | 14 | 25 | 8 | W5 | @ SAS |
| Saskatchewan | 6-2-0-0 | 12 | 22 | 13 | W1 | vs ALB |
| Mount Royal | 4-2-2-0 | 12 | 27 | 13 | W4 | @ UBC |
| Trinity Western | 4-3-0-1 | 9 | 22 | 24 | L2 | vs MAN |
| Manitoba | 2-5-0-1 | 5 | 18 | 37 | L2 | @ TWU |
| Calgary | 1-6-1-0 | 4 | 14 | 22 | L4 | vs REG |
| Regina | 1-6-0-1 | 3 | 9 | 31 | W1 | @ CAL |
| MacEwan | 1-9-0-0 | 2 | 14 | 43 | L9 | BYE |
Wear The Gear
You've likely heard about Adam Johnson today as he was the young man who was playing for the Nottingham Panthers in the EIHL yesterday when he was clipped with a skate in the neck area. Johnson was rushed to the hospital where he later died, and the magnitude of that tragedy has been weighing on me today when I think of Canada West women's hockey where neck guards are often seen lying on the ice during the play.In no way am I trying to relate Johnson's tragic death with anything in Canada West, but I had to wonder if he may have been saved had he been wearing a neck guard. For a piece of equipment that costs around $50 maximum, it seems like everyone should be wearing one after the near-death experiences of Clint Malarchuk, Richard Zednik, and Ben Street in the NHL, but this "freak accident" seems less infrequent when one considers that Jenni Hiirikoski suffered a cut to the neck from a skate in SDHL last season, Army's Eric Huss suffered the same injury in the NCAA, and Vitaly Sitnikov's neck was clipped in the KHL. If you're counting, that's four leagues with a neck being cut in the last decade, and this is where I mention Teddy Balkind, a Connecticut high school player, who died when his neck was cut during a collision.
While a neck guard is mandatory for play in U SPORTS women's hockey, it's not mandatory for U SPORTS men's hockey where collisions are far more common. I know equipment isn't a sexy topic to discuss, but the $20 neck guards some players wear seem to end up on the ice rather than staying on the player. If the neck guard is on the ice, it isn't doing what it was intended to do, and Hockey Canada's rules state that a penalty should be enforced for any player who engages in the play while not wearing one. That's the right call for safety, and I fully support Hockey Canada's stance on this.
The Rundown rarely weighs in on men's hockey in Canada West, but it might be time for conference to adopt neck guards for its players. I'd rather players be on the safe side of things than the sorry side of things after reading about Johnson's passing. The university hockey programs in Canada would be wise to adopt the safer option sooner than later for the safety of the men who wear their uniforms.
Rest in peace, Adam. You're gone far too soon, and this type of accident shouldn't happen to anyone else.
A Breather For MacEwan
The Griffins are on a bye this week which should give them time to work on a number of things that really could help them. Whether it be special teams, a breakout of their zone, or watching film on Trinity Western who they play in two weeks, this should be a nose-to-the-grindstone couple of weeks for the Griffins if they're going to make things interesting.As you can see on the standings board, they're three points back of the final playoff spot that Manitoba currently holds. A couple of big wins against Trinity Western will put them right in the middle of the race once again, and that's not a tall task for a team who has shown reliable goaltending, an ability to skate and find chances, and depth of scoring as ten players have recorded a goal this season.
It won't be easy - nothing ever is in Canada West - but MacEwan needs to get their engines going if they're going to make it a race for the playoffs. Forget the games against UBC like everyone else has, and move forward with solid preparation for the rest of the conference. This season isn't close to being over if points are earned in two weeks.
Hurt By Her Defence?
I read Ian Kennedy's article on UBC in The Hockey News this past week, and I can't deny that anything he wrote is wrong. UBC is rolling once again this season with only an overtime loss as the tarnish on their season right now, but he wrote a paragraph about goaltender Elise Hugens that spoke of improving her numbers to get closer to last season's numbers she posted. The key in this is that Hugens didn't win the Canada West Goaltender of the Year award last season; that went to Halle Oswald who played 25 games - eight more than Hugens - but finished second to Hugens in both goals-against average and save percentage.It got me thinking about why Hugens hasn't received more honours in her three years of stopping pucks for UBC, and it might be due to the action she doesn't see when standing in the crease. Here's the proof from the last three seasons:
- Elise Hugens: 759 saves in 39 games, or 19.46 shots/game.
- Halle Oswald: 908 saves in 43 games, or 21.12 shots/game.
- Camryn Drever: 967 saves in 39 games, or 24.79 shots/game.
- Kaitlyn Ross: 767 saves in 36 games, or 21.31 shots/game.
- Arden Kliewer: 1150 saves in 38 games, or 30.26 shots/game.
I feel fairly confident in saying that UBC's defence prevents less high-danger shots which may explain why Hugens has yet to win an award despite some of her statistic superiority, but I have no idea how Canada West is voting on which goalie is better when all of Hugens, Oswald, Drever, and Ross have been phenomenal for each of their teams over the last three seasons. Until Canada West can start providing better statistics than the 1970s' flavours of goals, points, plus-minus, saves, GAA, and save percentage, figuring out which players have the biggest impact on their teams' successes is nothing more than pulling names out of a hat.
I'll say this, though: Hugens' season last year was one of the best I've seen since the days of Lauren Taraschuk, Jessica Vance, Kirstin Chamberlin, and Tory Micklash. Those goaltending legends were in a class unto themselves when it came to the statistical side of stopping pucks, and I have zero reservations putting Hugens among those names of honoured goaltenders based on her numbers.
The Last Word
It's still early when it comes to predictions and projections, but it seems like the point total needed to earn a playoff spot in Canada West will likely be around 21-24 points. We just passed the quarter-season mark for all teams, and we're starting to see distinct lines emerging in the standings when it comes to who will be in, who will fight for the last couple of spots, and who may get the early roles as spoilers. Again, I cannot stress that it's still early and things can change, but that point total seems fairly reasonable.Last year's cutoff for playoffs was 26 points, and the 2021-22 season was around 22 points if a 28-game schedule had been played. The 2019-20 season saw the cutoff at 30 points, but I suspect that may be a little high for this year's teams. Obviously, I'll keep an eye on that projection as we move forward as it can move based on who does what in the standings, but a total of 22 points is what every team should be shooting for right now if they hope to make the postseason.
The scary part? UBC can hit that total next week against Mount Royal.
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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