The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is going to get you set and ready for the two big tournaments heading to Toronto and Saskatoon, respectively, as U SPORTS looks to crown its men's and women's hockey champions for the 2023-24 season. While not every conference has decided who will be representing them at these two events, our hosts will discuss the likelihood of who you'll see competing. Both men's and women's hockey have had an outstanding run this year at the U SPORTS level, so make sure you tune into The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT tonight to get all the details on who may be travelling in March for hockey!
Being that it's a Leap Day, Teebz and Jason are going to leap into the U SPORTS men's and women's hockey playoff picture to get you up to speed on who's in, who's out, who's still figuring their next few weeks out, and what to expect when the eight teams finally arrive in either Saskatoon or Toronto. The Canada West Awards were also handed out to a number of outstanding players, and our hosts will look at those winners' seasons as well. If you've been needing an update on everything U SPORTS National Hockey Championships, the two hosts will likely talk about it tonight! Expect predictions, prognostications, discussions and more about the two biggest university hockey championships in Canada tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com as Teebz and Jason get you the info you need!
If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The new UMFM website's online streaming player is pretty awesome if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store. If you use the TuneIn app, you won't be disappointed. It's a solid app.
If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard!
Tonight, Teebz and Jason discuss the teams who have qualified, teams who are still in the hunt, the surprise upsets, the award winners, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!
You may know Abbey Murphy for her work with Team USA at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship, or the 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship, but you'll normally find her on a sheet of ice in Minnesota. Murphy has been a Minnesota Golden Gophers women's hockey player since 2020, and she's shown all sorts of exceptional ability that has allowed her to skate at three consecutive IIHF World Women's U18 Championships before jumping to the senior American National Team. In short, Abbey Murphy can play the game.
What makes Minnesota so great is that they have a pile of fantastic NCAA women's hockey programs in the state. Along with Wisconsin to the east, Minnesota is one of those places where NCAA women's hockey is thriving, and the competition among the teams within the state is fierce. Whether it's Minnesota, Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota State, St. Thomas, St. Cloud State, or Bemidji State, anytime two of these teams meet on the ice, there's usually intense competition.
There should be no surprise that these teams have contempt for one another at times, but it seems Abbey Murphy may have dialled it up a few notches after she capped off Sunday's game between Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth with an empty-net goal that resembled one recently seen in the NHL. Here's the video of Murphy's goal.
Let me be blunt by saying that if clapbombing a puck into an empty net becomes some new trend that everyone does, it loses its spectacle. I'm not reading deeper than what MUrphy did was score a goal, but the chirping after the play when the Bulldogs player skated by and was directed away by the official seems to show some bad blood between these two squads. If Minnesota-Duluth needed a villain, it seems Abbey Murphy will be that person.
What Murphy did was similar to what Ottawa's Ridly Greig did against Toronto, and the intention was the same as he blew off some frustration while icing the game for his team. If people want to read deeper into these goals, one is certainly welcome to write whatever narrative one likes. My entire outlook on this goal is that if Minnesota-Duluth doesn't like what Murphy did, don't let her have that opportunity. Otherwise, an empty-net goal scored with a slapshot is no different than any other empty-net goal.
Clara Van Wieren clearly didn't like it as she was the player who went over to Murphy after the goal, and it seems she said something to Murphy that caused the Gophers forward to say something back. Clearly, Van Wieren sent whatever message was necessary in her mind, and Murphy had her own thoughts on the matter. What should be noted is there was no violent outburst from Van Wieren after the goal - she responded like a well-adjusted and rational human being.
In games between these two fierce rivals, this ramps up the dislike for one another for the next meeting. With WCHA Playoffs beginning on Friday, the Bulldogs and Gophers may not see one another again, though, as the Gophers enter the playoffs as the third-ranked team while the Bulldogs are the fourth-ranked team. Unless there's an upset or these two can knock off the teams ahead of them, there won't be a chance to renew the hostility seen in Sunday's game.
I'll give Clara Van Wieren and the Bulldogs some credit for not overreacting like Morgan Rielly did, but it's just an empty-net goal. If you don't like how Abbey Murphy scored that goal, don't give her that opportunity. On the other side of the coin, Abbey Murphy shouldn't make slapshot empty-netters a habit either.
Normally, having important dignitaries coming to one's city is usually a chance to roll out the red carpet. And perhaps the carpeting was changed for this evening at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, but the arrival of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly wasn't really an opportunity to celebrate as they were in the city for business - specifically, the lack of business the Jets seem to be experiencing as per the team's owner. Tonight, the "dynamic duo" of Bettman and Daly sat down with the media and worked to reassure fans that the NHL team's situation in Winnipeg isn't as bad as everyone seems to be making it out to be.
For the most part, there wasn't much fencing with the Commissioner as some reporters seemingly want to do. Bettman matter-of-factly stated that the Jets had a problem, they were working to fix it, and the NHL believes that everything will work out betweent the team and its fanbase. Yes, season tickets sales have to be increased, but Bettman sees no long-term chaos coming for the Winnipeg franchise.
"I don't view this as a crisis," Bettman said. "But I do believe, as with any team in any market, there needs to be collaboration between community and the fan base and the club. And I believe ultimately it will be here."
After CBC's Bartley Kives wrote a sobering article that contains more truth than speculation on the team's long-term future, I do believe that Gary Bettman is being honest when he says that Winnipeg is a "strong hockey market". Jets fans are some of the best in the league when it comes to supporting their team, but Bettman and Chipman recognize that the margin for error in the league's smallest market doesn't allow for a lot of wiggle room when things don't go well.
Echoing Kives' article when it comes to the investments made in and around Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg, Bettman made sure Jets fans heard some reassurances about the market and the team's long-term viability based on ownership strength.
"This is a place where hockey matters," Bettman told reporters. "I believe that this is a strong NHL market. I believe that ownership has made extraordinary commitments to the Jets, to this arena, to the downtown area, involving hundreds of millions of dollars, and I’m not sure why people are now speculating that somehow they're not going to be here."
Again, Bettman's stating the very obvious in a way that doesn't give away the secret. David Thomson, one of the planet's richest men, owns the Canada Life Centre, and he wants to see butts in seats so he can continue to profit off the financing of the arena in Winnipeg. This is why the Manitoba Moose play there, this is why they work to attract all the biggest concerts, and this is why they are the top venue in Winnipeg for shows like Cirque de Soleil and Jerry Seinfeld.
By having an arena that has a guaranteed 13,000 people coming in for hockey on 41 nights per year means that his cut of ticket sales, concession sales, merchandise sales, and parking fees all remain strong. If the Jets were to leave, Thomson, as co-owner, would be the living embodiment of cutting one's nose off to spite one's face. Letting the main tenant for his hockey arena - the tenant that he co-owns! - leave for another city would hit him hard in the pocketbook as the arena's owner. In short, it's not happening.
Again, playing in the NHL's smallest market has it's challenges when it comes to making profits, but the Jets have been doing well enough for a while that a few down years on the ice haven't hurt them financially. What has hurt them is their interactions with fans who sought other ticket options rather than full season-ticket packages. Bettman made reference to this, but he kind of swept it under the rug despite trying to turn it into a positive.
"At the end of the day, we could go through a litany of reasons, that either are true or are speculated to be true, as to how the attendance situation got to where it is — it kind of doesn't really matter," he said. "Because teams go through different ups and downs. I believe that the season-ticket base and the attendance will evolve back to where it was."
It doesn't matter? It sure seemed like it mattered to Mark Chipman when he spoke to Chris Johnston. But, please, do go on.
"I share Mark's view," he continued. "But Mark isn’t issuing any deadlines — he's focused on what he can do to make sure the fanbase is maximally engaged, and I applaud the effort. We're not operating under the Sword of Damocles, or on a razor's edge — this is part of the evolution of what franchises sometimes go through. I remember a number of other Canadian franchises, for example — some of them considered to be small-market — where the season-ticket base aged out, and they had to go rebuild it with younger fans. It happens."
Ok, fair point. I do recall Edmonton and Ottawa facing similar issues in years gone by, and they've seen an upswing in support since then. Edmonton has two of the most exciting players in hockey skating for them, so that helped their cause immensely. Ottawa changed ownership, has seen a focus on drafting good players, and they're trying to turn the corner. Winnipeg can claim it has both, so let's be honest in saying that this problem lies at the feet of the front office who sell the game rather than making idle threats about the viability of this team.
Not surprisingly, people don't like, if you'll excuse the borrowing of a phrase, the Sword of Damocles held to their throats when it comes to supporting an entertainment product at the prices the Jets are charging without some sort of return on the investment. Yes, you get to see NHL hockey, but that's also available on TV. Give me a reason to come to the rink, and I'll make the effort. Offer better giveaways; give me some sort of solid entertainment before, during, and after the game; and, by all means, make me feel like my fanship and my dollars matter to you.
"This is a team that's widely regarded around the league as a model franchise," deputy commissioner Bill Daly added to the press conference. "Well-run from top to bottom, has a competitive hockey team, puts a competitive hockey team on the ice, spends to the cap, but also invests in the community. We wish we had 32 of these."
From an NHL perspective, I don't doubt that everything Daly stated is true. True North Sports and Entertainment has done everything the NHL has asked of them to the letter, and they don't rock the boat very often when the waters get a little rough. From the hockey side of things, Bettman and Daly will never have an issue with an ownership group and a team that does what its told and never complains. The Jets are, in one phrase, easy for the NHL to like.
The drop in attendance had nothing to do with how the Hockey Operations Department was running the team, though, so this pat on the back for the organization is moot. Jets fans aren't complaining about how the team is run, but they are complaining about their experiences at the arena and when dealing with the account managers employed by the Jets. The Hockey Operations Department has causes some ripples with player moves, but these moves aren't why fans are unhappy with their experience at the rink. This comment by Daly unfortunately missed the point entirely.
With respect to this problem being a mountain that developed from a molehill, the Jets are starting to see the attendance climb once again, and part of that is due to the Jets putting a good product out on the ice. Competing for top-spot in their division, conference, and overall is certainly worthy of a few extra butts in seats, and the Jets have seen that happen since Christmas.
The catch here is that while attendance is returning, this "problem" will always be something the Jets have to address each day because Winnipeg is a blue-collar town with a white-collar mentality. That's not a dig on my hometown, but it's a matter of economical balance - disposable income is tight right now, so people are prioritizing things differently. If people feel like their hard-earned dollars aren't valued, that money will be redirected to something else. The Jets, unfortunately, are feeling that squeeze right now.
Knowing that, what advice does the NHL Commissioner have for fans?
"Get over your anxiety and come to games," Bettman offered as a solution. "There's no better way to deal with anxiety than rooting for your hometown team."
I'm not sure from where Gary's getting this diagnosis of anxiety, but let me be blunt in saying that people not coming to Jets games has very little to do with anxiety. If anything, people were anxious when Mark Chipman dropped the veiled threat of the Jets potentially not being viable here, but this is a clear message to the brains behind the operations that people aren't satisifed with the entertainment value they're being charged. Jets fans have made that clear by taking their money elsewhere or by re-prioritizing what's important in their lives.
The good news for the Winnipeg Jets is that there is an immense amount of community pride for this team, and everyone who was a season-ticket holder is willing to engage with the Jets with ideas on how the franchise can attract those dollars back that have migrated to other entertainment options. If some of those ideas are put in place, the flow of money and the fans will return to the rink and this entire exercise will be nothing more than something to study for academics.
At the end of the day, the customer isn't always right, but happy customers will almost always be returning customers. That's the part that the Jets need to embrace if they're going to be one of the top entertainment choices in this city. I have no doubt that the Jets will turn this around if they listen, and that turn-around will be because Winnipeg is as, Commissioner Bettman stated, a "strong hockey market".
The masked man to the left is Calgary-born netminder Matt Davis. Davis guards the net for the NCAA's University of Denver Pioneers where he's 12-4-3 this season with a 2.82 GAA and a .901 save percentage. Davis played a couple of seasons in the AJHL with the Spruce Grove Saints before spending one season with the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers, but his numbers have been pretty consistent throughout his career no matter where he was playing. While this season has seen him play games for Denver than any before, I'm not certain that what happened Saturday night has ever happened to Davis in his career. What we need to ask is how well do people know the rulebook at the NCAA level when it comes to what Davis did Saturday night!
With Denver leading 2-0 over the University of Miami-Ohio Redhawks late in the first period, there was a delayed penalty awaiting to be called on Miami's Ryan Sullivan for holding. That prompted Davis to head to the bench for the extra attacker as Denver had possession in the Miami zone, and that's where we'll go to the video below.
As explained in the video, the centering pass by Tristan Broz is deflected by Miami's Robby Drazner which causes the puck to go off the boards and down the ice before it ends up in Denver's net. Because Miami didn't gain possession of the puck, the delayed penalty wasn't called, and end result was the Miami goal stood, the penalty was finally called, and Denver went on the power-play as they led 2-1. For the record, Denver would win this game by an 8-1 score.
It's technically not an own-goal by definition, but that's not why we're here. Instead, Davis stopped all 27 shots he faced on the night, and was in no responsible for the puck that slid down the ice after the deflected pass caused it to come to rest in his net. Let's find out how well you know the rule book because, technically, he wasn't scored on and stopped every shot sent his way, so he should receive a shutout, right? Or maybe an asterisked shutout? After all, Denver published the recap with a headline that seems to indicate that Davis will see an increase to his shutout total this season. Are they correct?
It turns out that the Denver writer was incorrect in his headline as Matt Davis will not see his shutout total increase as per the NCAA's Ice Hockey Statisticians’ Manual. Section 6, Article 3 on goaltending has a note that reads, "Note: Empty-net time (i.e., during a delayed-penalty call) does not preclude a goaltender from being awarded a shutout. If a goal is scored during an empty net situation, then the goalie does not receive a shutout."
So there you have it: case closed on whether this was a shutout in the eyes of the NCAA - it was not. While I'm not here to call out the writer doing the recaps for the Denver Pioneers, it seems that headline is somewhat inaccurate since Davis will get credit for the win and making 27 stops on 27 shots, but he does not get an increase in the shutout column for his efforts on Saturday.
Some will say, "Teebz, everyone knows it's not a shutout if you get scored on," but this is one of those weird moments in hockey where Matt Davis didn't get scored on over the course of the game, yet he doesn't get to record a shutout. It's the same as when two goalies split a shutout - neither gets credit for the shutout - despite both goalies denying every chance. Of course, that's the risk a team and a goalie take when they opt to throw the extra skater on as an errant pass can end up in the vacated net. And there goes the shutout.
After this weekend, Denver sits in third-place in the NCHC, two points up on Colorado College and four points back of St. Cloud State. Denver will play St. Cloud State on March 1 and 2, so things could very interesting if they can post a couple of wins, and they'll finish off the regular-season schedule with a home-and-home with Colorado College, so Denver truly may control their own destiny when it comes to where they'll finish in the conference.
Of course, goaltender Matt Davis will be a big part of that finish with how he's played, and we'll see if he can record an authentic shutout in the final four games as opposed to having one taken away because of a deflected pass that took the right angle off a bounce while he was trying to help his team!
Four teams remained in the picture for the lone Canada West berth at the 2024 GFL U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship as the weekend began, and that number would be cut in half by the time Monday arrived on the calendar. The two Calgary-based teams were taking their respective shows on the road to Vancouver and Edmonton as the Calgary Dinos met up with the UBC Thunderbirds while the Mount Royal Cougars would tangle with the Alberta Pandas. Would the extra week of hockey benefit the visitors? Would the bye week enjoyed by both UBC and Alberta benefit them in their preparations for their opponents? We'll answer those questions as semifinal action is on the menu this week here on The Rundown!
Before we get to the games, here's a quick reminder of the bracket.
If you're wondering about those 3pm PT start times for Calgary-UBC, the UBC Thunderbirds men's hockey team was also hosting a series this weekend as the Alberta Pandas were the guests. I guess the women's team drew the short straw when it came to game times, but the games will be played in Vancouver starting in mid-afternoon.
We'll start with those early games as the Dinos and Thunderirds kicked the weekend off on Friday afternoon. As mentioned last week, the Dinos were the only team to defeat the Thunderbirds in regulation time and on UBC ice this season, so one had to wonder if that was in the back of the minds of the players on both sides of the puck. One had to wonder if Gabriella Durante's shutout streak would continue into this series after Calgary's masterful defensive performances against Saskatchewan one week ago, but UBC is also a vastly different team than the Huskies. Gabriella Durante got the start for the Dinos in this game while Elise Hugens took her skills to the Thunderbirds' crease.
If there was one thing Calgary could carry into this series, it's that they had killed off 12-straight power-plays for their opponents. The only problem, as stated above, is that UBC isn't Saskatchewan, and they struck early on the power-play when Chanreet Bassi's shot from a sharp angle found space under the bar past Durante, and the Thunderbirds went up 1-0 at 4:29 off Bassi's marker. A couple of UBC penalties would slow the momentum they had from that early goal, but the Dinos couldn't convert on those advantages. Two Calgary penalties later in the frame wouldn't hurt the Dinos, but the T-Birds took the one-goal lead to the break as they led 9-4 in shots.
The second period saw both teams looking for more scoring chances, but neither was willing to trade an offensive chance if it meant a defensive lapse. UBC did own more of the offensive zone time in this period, but the Dinos met the challenge. With no penalties being called and no goals being recorded, UBC carried their 1-0 lead into the third period after leading 19-9 on the shot counter.
Calgary, needing to find an equalizer upped their offensive tempo as they looked to strike. The Thunderbirds were doing well before Brooke Dennett decided to show off her hands. Getting the puck off the half-boards, Dennett made a great move to the middle past UBC defender Sierra LaPlante before firing a backhander through Hugens at 6:39, and we had a 1-1 game. That goal seemed to kick the Thunderbirds back into attack mode as they'd restore their lead when Bassi went tape-to-tape to Jacquelyn Fleming at the top of the Calgary crease for the tap-in t make it a 2-1 game at 10:26.
Despite a late power-play against the Thunderbirds where the Dinos pulled Durante for the extra attacker, the Dinos could not solve Hugens or the UBC defence for a second time on this day as UBC grabs the series lead thanks to a 2-1 victory. Elise Hugens picks up the win with a 16-save effort while Gabriella Durante made 29 saves in the setback. I should also note that Durante's shutout streak ended at 157:13 with that Bassi goal in the opening frame, but that's still a heckuva run from Gabriella Durante in these playoffs.
UBC now leads the series 1-0 over Calgary.
I almost choked on my coffee as I was writing this because the UBC Thunderbirds did a highlight reel from this game! Kudos to UBC for this effort - it is appreciated! Here are today's highlights!
With Calgary having been in this same predicament one week earlier, they knew the stakes they were facing. Down a game in a best-of-three series meant that was must-win from this point on, so the Dinos had to bring their best on Saturday. For UBC, they were looking to close out this series and book their appearance in the Canada West Final for the third-straight season, but sending the Dinos into extinction for this season was proving to be a tough task so UBC had to be ready for another tightly-contested game. Gabriella Durante and Elise Hugens took their spots in front of their respective nets as the rematch got underway.
UBC clearly wanted to put this one away early as they brought the firepower and peppered the Dinos' net. The only problem was that Durante was writing a different story as she was in denial mode in the opening frame. The game was decidedly in favour of UBC in shots, but Calgary moved the puck well. They simply couldn't get many clean chances at Hugens. The scorekeepers had an easy time of it in the opening frame as there were no penalties and no goals, and we'd move to the second period with these teams tied at 0-0, but with UBC up 10-4 in shots.
Calgary wasn't waiting around for an invitation to get the scoring started. Just 62 seconds into the middle frame, a puck was chipped to Rebecca Clarke by Jada Johns, and Clarke's quick shot found the net on the blocker side past Hugens as Calgary grabbed the 1-0 lead. Again, the Calgary goal seemed to spark the Thunderbirds as they brought the heat, but Durante was equal to the task as she denied the T-Birds once again. Undeterred, UBC pressured throughout the frame, but the story was Durante and the Dinos' defence as they kept UBC quiet. At the end of 40 minutes, Calgary stood with the 1-0 lead, but UBC owned a 24-11 shot margin.
The third period saw UBC begin with some urgency as they looked for an equalizer, but the Dinos did a good job is skating with their checks. A shortened power-play for either side didn't help the scoring situation, and the teams would continue to battle. With time winding down and becoming an enemy of UBC, they pressed even more which gave Calgary a chance thanks to a breakaway, but that chance was turned aside by Hugens. With a final flurry of chances, the Thunderbirds could not solve Durante or the Dinos on this day, and the Calgary Dinos claimed the 1-0 victory in Game Two! Gabriella Durante picked up her third win and third shutout with a 32-save clean sheet while Elise Hugens stopped 14 shots in this game.
With the Calgary win, the series is tied 1-1 with Game Three scheduled for 3pm PT on Sunday!
Another round of applause for UBC because they have highlights!
There isn't much to write about a Game Three because it's win-or-go-home time for both sides. UBC obviously wants another shot at a Canada West banner while looking to secure the Canada West berth for Nationals. Calgary was looking to continue their Cinderella run after knocking off the Huskies while advancing to a Canada West Final in which no one would have thought they'd be playing. For the third time in three days, Gabriella Durante stood 200-feet from Elise Hugens as this one got underway.
I'm not one to talk about "Cinderella" runs or anything, but the last two weekends saw the Calgary Dinos play inspired, outstanding hockey against teams that were statistically better in most categories than them. Today, they were bettered by a team who simply has more weapons in their quest for a Canada West banner. It started in the first period when Cassidy Rhodes scored off an offensive face-off win just 3:44 into the game to put UBC up 1-0. That became a two-goal lead when Madisyn Wiebe found twine after deflecting a Sophia Gaskell shot at 18:20, and UBC carried that lead into the break despite them only having a 9-8 advantage in shots.
UBC made life even more difficult for Calgary in the third period as Ashton Thorpe potted a rebound off a Makenzie McCallum shot at 3:16. That combo would make it a 4-0 game at 9:55 when Thorpe's initial individual effort was stopped, but McCallum knocked home the rebound from in close. 2:25 after that goal, Grace Elliott's leg was the point of deflection on a Joelle Fiala shot, and that redirected puck got by Durante for the 5-0 lead. While the game certainly wasn't over by any means, a five-goal deficit would be difficult to overcome in most circumstances for any team. That would be the hole the Dinos were in as UBC finished the second period with the 5-0 lead while being up 23-17 in shots.
I'll credit the Dinos for not just rolling over in this one as Brooklyn Fry's long point shot just after an early power-play expired went through traffic and beat Hugens at 5:33 to make it 5-1. UBC was all about preserving its lead while the Dinos pressed, and they'd find a second goal when Josie McLeod's shot appeared to go off a body and past Hugens at 14:01, but time was now the bigger enemy for the Dinos. They'd pull Durante early to try and force the issue in their comeback, but that would be put to rest when Chanreet Bassi teed one up on the rush from the right circle and buried the final nail in this one as the UBC Thunderbirds skated to the 6-2 victory, eliminating the Calgary Dinos in three games. Elise Hugens picked up her second win on a 27-save night while Gabriella Durante stopped 24 shots in her final game this season.
UBC eliminates Calgary in three games, and they will move on to the Canada West Final where they'll host the series.
There's another highlight package! Isn't life better with highlights?
Thanks to these two teams being the second- and third-seeded teams in Canada West, the rivalry between Alberta and Mount Royal would have another chapter written into it this season. As you may recall, Mount Royal needed three games to send Alberta home last season before the Cougars went on to shock the university hockey world with their National Championship effort. I suspect the Pandas haven't forgotten about that, and will want to make sure that doesn't happen again as they have their own championship dreams. Kaitlyn Ross was out in the Mount Royal blue paint while Halle Oswald was protecting the Pandas' net.
As expected, these two teams played a very even period through the opening minutes as neither side allowed any room to move in the offensive zones. An early Mount Royal penalty didn't help the Pandas, and an Alberta penalty minutes later was an opportunity missed for the Cougars. Later in the frame, Madison Willan was knocked down in the slot before Jadynn Morden got a shot away, and the rebound was left in front where Willan had recovered as she swept the puck past the left pad of Ross to make it 1-0 for Alberta at 14:38. Mount Royal would look to tie the game before the break, but the Pandas carried the 1-0 score into the break along with a 10-9 edge in shots.
Alberta found their legs in the second period as they egan to control play. However, before the midway point, a turnover allowed Breanne Trotter to find Aliya Jomha in the high slot, and Jomha wired her third playoff goal inside the post to tie the game at 1-1 at 8:45. The tie game lasted all of 1:51, though, as a turnover at the Cougars' blue line allowed Maia Ehmann to find Allison Reich in the slot, and Reich went high glove-side on Ross to make it 2-1 at 10:36. Alberta continued to press after the goal, but the Mount Royal defence and Ross worked in tandem to keep it a one-goal game. After 40 minutes, the Pandas led 1-0 while holding a 21-13 shot margin.
Mount Royal knew they needed to score, and they upped their offensive pressure right out of the gate. Despite their chances, Oswald was showing why she was named a Second Team All-Star this season. A late penalty called on the Cougars killed their efforts to pull Ross and play with six players, and that sealed the deal on a 2-1 Alberta Pandas victory. Halle Oswald picked up the win with a 22-save effort while Kaitlyn Ross stopped 24 shots in the setback.
Alberta now leads the series 1-0 over Mount Royal.
It seems Alberta got the same message as UBC because they made a highlight reel as well! Here are those highlights!
The defending national champions were on the ropes as the Mount Royal Cougars were in must-win territory after the Pandas won on Friday night. The Pandas were looking to close out the series and get ready for the Canada West Final, but it wouldn't be easy. The fourth- and fifth-ranked teams as per the national rankings were back for Game Two as Kaitlyn Ross and Halle Oswald were back in their respective creases for this game.
The first period was all about the defence as neither side was looking to give any looks at the net for the opposition. An early Alberta power-play didn't generate much offence, and the Mount Royal power-play that followed was virtually a power outage as well. The good news, though, is that the pressure generated by the Cougars allowed Aliya Jomha to find Breanne Trotter, and her quick one-timer beat Oswald at 5:53 to put Mount Royal up 1-0. From there, the two teams went back into complete denial mode as very few shots found their targets. Through one period of play, Mount Royal held the one-goal lead while the teams were tied 3-3 on the shot counter.
Things got back to normal on the offensive sides of the puck in the second period as both Mount Royal and Alberta found the net with shots more often. The only problem was that the netminders weren't letting anything get past them. Two Mount Royal power-plays in the first ten minutes did nothing to help the Cougars, and the final ten minutes of the period saw both sides trying to solve the goalies. At the end of 40 minutes, Mount Royal still had the 1-0 lead and owned a 13-12 edge in shots.
The third period was played much like the second period where chances were had, but both sides were quick to limit additional chances. Midway through the period, though, a centering pass was poked away by an Alberta defender, but Kiana McNinch whipped a shot from the slot past Oswald off the broken play and it was 2-0 for Mount Royal at 12:21. Alberta was granted a power-play minutes later that was killed by the Cougars, and the Pandas finished the game on the power-play, but nothing came from that either. When the final horn sounded, the Cougars had prevailed with the 2-0 win! Kaitlyn Ross picked up her third win and second shutout afetr stopping 21 shots while Halle Oswald made 21 saves on the night.
With the Mount Royal win, the series is tied 1-1 with Game Three scheduled for 7pm MT on Sunday!
More highlights from the Pandas! Enjoy this highlight reel!
There was little room for error in this one as both the Pandas and the Cougars knew the results of being on the wrong side of the score. A win today would send the Pandas to Vancouver in search of another Canada West banner while a win for the Cougars would keep their national title defence alive as they hunted for their first Canada West banner. One team would move on while the other would prepare for next season as Kaitlyn Ross and Halle Oswald stood 200-feet from one another for the third time this weekend.
The Pandas made the first move in securing a Canada West Final berth just 61 seconds into this game when Allison Reich cricled the net into the right corner before throwing a centering pass into the middle that found the blade of Madison Willan, and Willan did what she does best in giving the Pandas the lead with her second goal of the playoffs. That early goal seemed to set the stage for the game as both sides ratched up the offensive pressure at both ends of the ice. A couple of Mount Royal penalties in the period helped Alberta's shot total, but did nothing for their goal total, but a rather quick period in terms of pace and tempo came to an end with Alberta leading 1-0 and up 14-10 in shots.
The second period was more of the previous 19 minutes of hockey as these two teams traded chances only to watch the netminders and defences turn them aside. As this period progressed, it seems as if the Cougars lost a step as the Pandas had more offensive zone chances through the latter half the period, but both sides would hit the second intermission with nothing to more to show for their efforts. After 40 minutes, Alberta still held the 1-0 lead, but jumped ahead 28-16 on the shot counter.
If this was a title fight between two of the top boxers, I'm not sure that either side would be leading in points outside of that early score by Willan. Back and forth was the name of this game as these two squads set up offensive chances only to be denied by good defence and goaltending. An early Alberta power-play was killed, and a Mount Royal power-play with five minutes to play produced nothing. The Cougars opted to pull Ross for the extra attacker with just over two minutes to play, but were denied in their attempts as the hemmed the Pandas in their own zone. A late face-off win allowd the Pandas to relieve the pressure, and Hayleigh Craig would ice this game and series with an empty-netter with ten seconds to play as the Alberta Pandas eliminated the Mount Royal Cougars by a 2-0 score in Game Three. Halle Oswald picked up her second win and first shutout with a 20-save effort while Kaitlyn Ross stopped 32 shots in her final game of the season.
Alberta eliminates the defending national champion Mount Royal Cougars in three games, and they will move on to the Canada West Final where they'll visit UBC starting next Friday.
Highlights for this game are below!
The Bracket
Here is the updated bracket with scheduled game times.
Again, it should be noted that those times shown for the Canada West Final series are for the Pacific Time Zone. The ladies will play the earlier games because the men seemed to have won another contest when it came to game times. Set your clocks accordingly to catch the Pandas and Thunderbirds in action next weekend!
Booking Their Tickets
The RSEQ decided which two teams were coming to Saskatoon this weekend, but it certainly wasn't an easy decision by any means.
The defending U SPORTS silver medallists from last year in the Concordia Stingers will be back to try to add a third medal in as many years after finally beating the Ottawa Gee-Gees in three games. The 25-0-0 RSEQ regular season champs took Game One by a 5-1 score before dropping their first game this season by a 2-1 score in Ottawa to force Game Three. As I've made clear a couple of times, Concordia is a good team, but I was not expecting a 13-0 BLOWOUT to wrap up the series. Ottawa may have kicked a hornet's nest that the other seven teams at Nationals will have to manage.
The drama, however, came during that final sequence of the double-overtime period as the teams had each been whistled for a penalty, meaning it was 3-on-3 hockey. As Montreal entered the zone prior to Lehoux's goal, the video broadcast of the game caught a fourth Montreal player hopping over the boards onto the ice where her skates clearly made contact with the ice surface. That, of course, would be a too-many-players penalty, but the officials missed the infraction. Despite Bishop's protests after the goal, the officials would not be swayed, and Montreal was awarded the victory.
The RSEQ representatives have been chosen after winning one round of hockey, and they will play in Saskatoon from March 14-17.
The Other Two
In the OUA, we already know that Guelph, York, and Waterloo were gearing up for the semifinals. One spot remained as Queen's and Toronto battled this weekend, and that went to a Game Three played today. Would we see Toronto fall in the quarterfinal like Nipissing did or would they prevail and move on?
UPDATE: The OUA threw me a curveall with some crossover series! According to the schedule, Guelph will play the Varsity Blues in their semifinal after Toronto hammered Queen's by a 6-2 score, leaving York and Waterloo to tangle to see who will compete in the one-game-takes-all McCaw Cup Final. Whoever wins that game is looking at a top-four ranking when they land in Saskatoon, but it should be noted that the Guelph-Toronto series will mean another U SPORTS Top-Ten is eliminated before Nationals.
Out in the AUS, both semifinal series are still running as the teams play a best-of-five series in the Maritimes. The StFX X-Women and the St. Thomas Tommies were tied at 1-1 entering today's action, and the Tommies used an Ekaterina Pelowich penalty shot in overtime to down the X-Women 2-1 to take a 2-1 series lead. If the Tommies can win one of the next two games, they would advance to the AUS Final where they would become one of the AUS representatives at the National Championship. Game Four goes Monday night, so we could know by tomorrow if the Tommies will be heading to the prairies.
In the other AUS semifinal, the UNB Reds held a 2-0 series lead over the Saint Mary's Huskies. The Huskies were in must-win mode as any loss will send UNB to the AUS Final where they too would be one of the AUS teams in Saskatoon. It may have taken extra time as well, but Jillian Duggan's double-overtime marker gave SMU the 2-1 win over UNB as that series now sits at 2-1 in favour of UNB. The Huskies aren't out of the woods yet, but they'll get another chance to send this series back to UNB on Monday in Game Four.
The Last Word
The trend continued this week: every team that has scored first in these Canada West Playoffs has won that respective game. Teams that score first are now 11-0 in these playoffs. Scoring first seems to matter. A lot. Hint: there's never a bad time to open the scoring!
I'll give each of the four Canada West teams credit this weekend for their penalty-killing efforts, but I'm also going to warn both UBC and Alberta that they had better find ways to hurt other teams when given advantages. In the six games this weekend, the four teams went 1-for-28 on the power-play, and that lone goal was scored 4:29 into the first period on Friday by Chanreet Bassi. In other words, these four teams played 355:31 of hockey with 27 advantages awarded, and no one scored with the extra player on the ice.
Making matters worse for themselves were Calgary and Mount Royal who were a combined oh-fer-13 on the player-advantage, especially when one considers Sunday's games where Calgary received a power-play trailing 1-0 in the first period and Mount Royal received a power-play trailing 1-0 with 5:39 to play in the third period. Both of those power-plays could have potentially changed those deciding games, and the results may have been different.
Why am I preaching this now? As you know, games at the U SPORTS National Championship are single-elimination contests, so taking advantage of every advantage you're given will only help your cause when seeking that vaunted gold medal. I get that there hasn't been a team who has been perfect on every player-advantage, but I'll wager that the National Champions from each year have scored at least one power-play goal over three games. In short, get the power-play clicking if you want to be successful because those opportunities can win you games.
The good news? Both UBC and Alberta can get those power-plays firing on all cylinders next weekend when they meet for the Canada West championship and the final Canada West berth at Nationals. If one of those two teams can light up their power-play units, we should know who is the next team heading to Saskatoon to compete for U SPORTS' greatest honour.
Dr. Ian Malcolm, the character portrayed by Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park, was trying to introduce people to the idea of Chaos Theory in the original movie. The entire concept is based on the premise that within the apparent randomness of chaotic complex systems, one can still find patterns, repetition of data, fractals, and a pile of other non-chaotic mathematics. I'm no mathematician by any means, but "The Butterfly Effect" is a recognizable term used in chaos theory where if a butterfly moves its wings, there's a resulting hurricane on the other side of the planet. Without breaking that all down, tomorrow - Sunday, February 25, 2024 - has all the makings of a chaotic day in U SPORTS Women's Hockey, and we're going to take a look at the possibilities of that chaos happening.
First, let's get up to speed surrounding our Top-Ten teams as ranked by U SPORTS and their idiotic, inexplicable ranking system.
As you can see, Sunday is going to be a busy day, so let's look at the potential chaos and where you can watch it happen in real-time if you choose to subject yourself to that kind of day. The hockey should be good, though!
Concordia and Ottawa will play Game Three in Montreal at Ed Meagher Arena. Concordia won Game One at home by a 5-1 score before losing their first game this season in their 27th contest by a 2-1 score to Ottawa in Ottawa. Concordia will have home-ice advantage in this game while Ottawa has only scored one goal in each of the four games they've played at Ed Meagher Arena this season, including in that Game One loss. You can watch the game for free via this link as it begins at 3pm ET.
I'm not sure that UBC was expecting to be playing on Sunday, but they'll take the ice against the Calgary Dinos in the third-and-deciding game of their best-of-three Canada West semifinal series. UBC won 2-1 on Friday afternoon while Calgary responded with a 1-0 win on Saturday afternoon to force Game Three. It should be noted that Calgary hasn't allowed a goal in a Game Two or Game Three situation yet this postseason while UBC has to figure out Gabriella Durante and the Dinos' defence as Calgary has won 2-of-4 games in regulation on UBC ice. Assuming you spent the money, you can watch this game on Canada Waste TV at 3pm PT.
Assuming the schedule doesn't change for the semifinal round, Guelph will begin their OUA semifinal against the Waterloo Warriors on Wednesday, February 28. I'll note that Guelph was 1-1-1-0 against Waterloo this season, scoring just three goals against the Warriors in those games. This series could be very closely-contested with a McCaw Cup berth on the line!
It's never a good look when U SPORTS has one of the top-five teams eliminated from Nationals,
but here we are. The Alberta Pandas won Game One by a 2-1 score on Friday evening, and the Mount Royal Cougars rallied on Saturday with a 2-0 win to force Game Three on Sunday. These two teams know what it takes to win, but, unfortunately, either the most successful team in U SPORTS Women's Hockey history in the Alberta Pandas will go home after Sunday or the defending U SPORTS National Champion Mount Royal Cougars will head back to Calgary dejected. Assuming you spent the money, you can watch this game on Canada Waste TV at 7pm MT.
The St. Francis-Xavier X-Women will look to take a commanding 2-1 series lead over the St. Thomas Tommies on Sunday as they play Game Three in Fredericton, New Brunswick. St. Thomas won Game One by a 3-2 score on Wednesday while StFX prevailed 4-3 in overtime on Thursday. After a couple of days off, I expect these teams to come out with some fire under their skates as both sides look to grab the lead in the series. Assuming you spent the money, you can watch this game on AUS TV at 3pm AT.
The Toronto Varsity Blues will host the Queen's Golden Gaels in Game Three on Sunday. Queen's shocked Toronto on Wednesday as the visitors took a 3-1 win in that game before Toronto rallied on Friday with a 2-1 win in double-overtime to force Game Three. You can watch the game for free via OUA TV as it begins at 4pm ET. The winner will play York in the semifinal.
UNB is looking to punch their ticket to the AUS Final and Nationals with a Game Three victory over Saint
Mary's. UNB won Game One by a 3-2 score before adding a Game Two via a 3-0 score to put them up 2-0 in their series. Again, another U SPORTS Top-Ten team could go home on Sunday if UNB can earn that third victory. UNB was 3-0-1-0 against Saint Mary's this season, including being 1-0-1-0 at the Dauphinee Centre. The Huskies will need a big effort to extend the series on Sunday. Assuming you spent the money, you can watch this game on AUS TV at 7pm AT.
Here's where the chaos comes into the equation. Assuming all of Ottawa, Calgary, and Queen's win their respective games today, we could see as many as six ranked teams eliminated by the end of the day - Concordia, UBC, Toronto, and Saint Mary's along with one of Alberta or Mount Royal. Add in Nipissing who were eliminated on Friday, and that's 60% of the U SPORTS Top Ten who won't set foot in Saskatoon for the National Championship. How many times has that happened? Zero times if history is correct (and it usually is).
If St. Thomas were to defeat StFX next week, Waterloo were to defeat Guelph in the OUA semifinal, and Alberta or Mount Royal were to lose to Calgary in the Canada West Final, nine of the ten teams on the national ranking system would be eliminated before Nationals had even started. In theory, the only team that wouldn't be in danger of being eliminated from Nationals would be the winner of the UNB-Saint Mary's semifinal. How crazy is that scenario?
Clearly, tomorrow has a big role to play in the chaos that could be witnessed at Nationals, so it'll be a day for scoreboard watching for all conferences. Every single team that has made it this far has certainly deserved it, and there will be a number of teams and players who will be forced to wrap up their seasons when the dust settles tomorrow. For others, it will be moments of jubilation before the work starts again next week.
Enjoy the hockey action tomorrow, folks. I know I will. The Rundown will be published late thanks to that Alberta-Mount Royal game starting at 8pm CT, so watch for it late Sunday or early Monday depending on how much gets written!
Consider me shocked. I was at work today, so I never got a chance to watch this game while it happened, but I did watch the replay when I got home because I was stunned by the outcome in Toronto today. It's not that I don't expect upsets or are shocked by a team having a bad game, but those bad games get magnified in a short three-game series. With the Nipissing Lakers losing in Game One after Emma Wedgewood's amazing performance in the net for York, it was must-win territory for the gals from North Bay. The weird part was that the game began at 11:30am at York University for some reason, so there may be a question as to whether the weird start time would affect either team when the final horn sounded on this one.
I'm fully of the belief that one wins as a team and loses as a team, and I refuse to blame any single player if a loss occurs. After all, hockey is a game of mistakes where some end up in the back of the net while others are erased from memory, but the ebbs and flows of a game through sixty minutes means there's usually enough time for teams to rally from mistakes and learn from others.
This one was, however, was a tale of two teams. Part of that could have come from the boisterous York crowd that showed up for the midday contest, but the Lions seemed to feed off that energy from warmups right through to the final horn. They took control of this game from the opening puck-drop and never looked back as they handed Nipissing a convincing second loss. What happened, you asked? Let's find out.
It only took Kaitlin Teixeira 5:36 to open the scoring when her shot appeared to be misplayed by Chantelle Sandquist as the puck went right by her outstretched glove and into the net to put the Lions up 1-0. Jillian Milligan would add another goal 2:34 later to put York up 2-0, and it was pretty clear that one team certainly had more jump than the other. With 50-plus minutes to play, though, Nipissing couldn't be counted out, and they'd get a few good chances before the period ended, but Emma Wedgewood would continue her blank-sheet effort through 20 minutes. York led 2-0 despite being outshot 16-10 in the frame.
The second period began far more evenly with both sides finding scoring chances. However, just past the midway point, Sydney Hiltz tore down the left side and wired a shot just inside the far post from the faceoff dot as it looks like Sandquist may have been slightly off on her angle, and Hiltz's goal made it 3-0 while ending Sandquist's afternoon at the 11:03 mark of the second period. Nipissing would send rookie Jordan Sladics out to the paint to take over the goaltending duties.
I'm not against coaches trying something different when they don't have a lot to lose, and Nipissing head coach Darren Turcotte decided to roll the dice later in the second period. With York down a player thanks to a penalty, Turcotte opted to pull Slavics for the extra attacker so that Nipissing had a 6-on-4 advantage. The theory is sound, but it seems it wasn't a good idea in practice as Sydney Paulson hit the empty net from just outside the Lakers' blue line, pushing the score to 4-0 with her shorthanded marker at 17:25. To make matters worse, York would take another penalty, and the Nipissing power-play would score on the 5-on-3 when Maggie McKee beat Wedgewood at 18:07, ending Wedgewood's shutout streak at 112:19 in this series. The period would close with York leading 4-1 despite Nipissing nearly doubling York's shots at a 29-15 rate.
Whatever was said in the room by head coach Dan Church seemed to make the Lions invincible as they blitzed the Lakers from the opening face-off. It would pay off 82 seconds into the third period as Alexa Giantsopoulos dented twine which may have killed any hope that Nipissing had of a miracle comeback. Lola Massey would drive a final nail into the Nipissing Lakers' season at 8:30 when she scored on the power-play, and the 6-1 lead was more than necessary for Emma Wedgewood to hold the fort through the remaining 11:30 as York Lions eliminated the seventh-ranked Nipissing Lakers from the OUA Playoffs with an emphatic 6-1 victory in Game Two.
York's victory has bigger meaning that just an upset of one of the top OUA teams. It also means that Nipissing is the first nationally-ranked Top-Ten team to fall in their quest to appear at the U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship. If you're a reader of this blog, you know how much I dislike the national ranking system that U SPORTS uses, and there is absolutely zero proof the system is valid in its rankings in any way. The one thing we do know right now is that the 22-4-2 nationally-ranked seventh-seeded team will be watching Nationals from home while an 8-17-1-3 sits two wins away from a berth at the tournament in Saskatoon.
York just did the unthinkable in defeating the Nipissing Lakers, but, as I wrote on Wednesday, "York was well-equipped for this series against Nipissing" as they went 1-1-1-1 against the Lakers. As much as this was an upset on paper, these two teams were far closer than their records indicated, and the 3-1-1-1 record that York now boasts against Nipissing this season proves that nothing will be given and everything has to be earned.
For Nipissing, there will be questions that will go unanswered after it seemed like they may be a favorite to grab one of the two OUA berths at the U SPORTS National Championship. Instead, the "what-ifs" will echo for a while on an opportunity lost while scoring just one goal in 134 minutes of play. If there was any time that the Lakers needed their scorers to come alive, this week was it.
My congratulations go out to the York Lions on their victory, and they now await the winner of the series between Toronto and Queen's as their semifinal opponent. If they can continue to ride this momentum into their next series, we might be talking about York's second-ever appearance at the National Championship after their first appearance ended without a result thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing the cancellation of the event in Charlottetown, PEI in 2020.
My guess? They'll want to write their own history this time!
The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back on the cozy airwaves of UMFM tonight where all the biggest stories from the past couple of weeks will be brought to light. After Makenna Schuttler's fantastic interview last week, our hosts will jump into the murky waters of legal and political matters in this week's show before actually tackling a few smaller hockey stories that require some examination. Did we mention that Taylor Swift gets mentioned this week? Make a note of that as you tune into The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT tonight!
Tonight, Teebz and Jason will take you through the last two weeks of growing headaches that Ted Leonsis and Monumental Sports have been facing thanks to their efforts to secure over a billion dollars in public funds for the proposed $2-billion entertainment complex in Alexandria, Virginia. To say that the development has stalled might be an understatement. Beyond that discussion, the hosts will provide an update on Milan Lucic's legal woes, have a chat about the Columbus Blue Jackets finally parting ways with GM Jarmo Kekalainen, discuss Russia and Belarus continuing their suspensions under the IIHF's watch, and they'll make a case for Gardiner MacDougall being Hall-of-Fame worthy and how he got his start in Manitoba. There's also a Melbourne Moment to chuckle over, and they'll try to squeeze in a couple of quick hits before the hour is up! It's another busy show tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT, so make sure you tune in on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!
If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The new UMFM website's online streaming player is pretty awesome if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store. If you use the TuneIn app, you won't be disappointed. It's a solid app.
If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard!
Tonight, Teebz and Jason discuss arena woes, legal battles, overdue changes, upholding morals, amazing records, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!
People know I am dedicated to covering the action in Canada West women's hockey as I talk about it a lot and certainly write about every Sunday here on HBIC. What some may not realize is that I do watch the other conferences when I can because there are a number of good players and teams in each of the three conferences, and there's a guarantee that some of those teams will end up at the U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship. Tonight, I settled down in front of the ol' television to take in Game One of the OUA Quarterfinal series between the York Lions and the Nipissing Lakers, and I have to say that you missed a beauty if you weren't watching!
Playoff hockey is always better with storylines and a little dislike between the two teams, and there was a little of both when it came to York and Nipissing. These two teams played to 1-1-1-1 records in their four games against one another this season as York played them tough every time they met. Because of that edge that York carried into those games, Nipissing brought a little more physicality as well. In short, these two teams played entertaining games when they met.
The first period was pretty evenly-played between the two teams with no penalties and no goals scored. Why? Both Emma Wedgewood in the York crease and Chantelle Sandquist in the Nipissing net were going save-for-save in their respective nets. Both netminders made key saves through opening 20 minutes, and this game would remain a 0-0 draw with Nipissing up 8-7 in shots.
The second period was more of the same as Wedgewood and Sandquist were putting on a show. A couple of shortened power-plays late in the frame did nothing to help the scores, but both netminders made key saves to prevent power-play goals. Maggie McKee was generating chances for herself and her linemates for the Lakers that Wedgewood turned aside regularly while Alexa Giantsopoulos, Sydney Paulson, and Jillian Milligan were stopped by Sandquist at various moments in the frame. After 40 minutes, it was a 0-0 stalemate with Nipissing holding an 18-15 edge in shots. Despite the score, though, the goaltending was fantastic through the first two periods.
Nipissing turned on the pressure in the third period as you'd expect from a 20-win team, but that only seemed to encourage Wedgewood in the York net. A power-play five minutes into the frame for the Lakers was the break they were seeking, but credit Wedgewood for making a couple of big saves deny the Lakers the goal they sought. While Sandquist saw less action in her end of the ice, she was called upon a couple of times to stand tall to keep this game even at goose eggs. That's how the third period would end as we'd head to overtime tied 0-0 and with Nipissing holding a 29-19 margin in shots.
Before we get to overtime, the last time there was a goalless game heading into free hockey in the OUA playoffs was on February 22, 2023 - one year minus a day from this night! In that game, the Windsor Lancers and Guelph Gryphons battled into double-overtime in their goalless draw before Emily Eikelboom scored the game's only goal when she beat Martina Fedel at the 7:19 mark of the fifth period. Windsor netminder Kristen Swiatoschik stopped 38 shots for the five-period shutout, so we were well on our way to seeing if either goalie could equal Swiatoschik's save total.
Neither team really held back in this overtime period as we know that any shot on net has the chance to go in. Nipissing had a couple of opportunities to bury the puck early, but Wedgewood was seeing everything clearly. The Lions got a few shots on Sandquist that she handled easily, and it felt like we may be watching this game for a while longer. However, with 14:12 gone in the overtime period, Nicole York's shot towards the net saw Sydney Paulson get a stick on it, and her deflection found room past Sandquist for the game-winning goal as York took Game One by that 1-0 score!
While some may say this is an upset in the opening game of the best-of-three series, I think we established at the top of this article that York was well-equipped for this series against Nipissing. What teams can never game-plan for is a goalie who decides to go en fuego, and we saw Emma Wedgewood do that here tonight as she stopped 44 shots for her first playoff win and shutout in the OUA! For the record, Chantelle Sandquist stopped 25 shots on this night, so it's not like she had a bad night in the crease either.
Having watched enough best-of-three series in my life, a hot goalie can change a series dramatically. If Wedgewood is catching fire right now, Friday's game is going to be a huge test for the Lakers on the road. We saw Gabriella Durante catch fire in the series against the Saskatchewan Huskies as she pitched two-straight shutouts in Games Two and Three in Canada West, and it seems like Emma Wedgewood might be combustable based on her play tonight.
The OUA also saw another surprise tonight as the Queen's Golden Gaels downed the Toronto Varsity Blues by a 3-1 score in their Game One contest. That's the top-two teams in the OUA East Division suffering opening-game losses in their series as both Nipissing and Toronto are now in must-win mode for Game Two. Could two of the top-ten teams in the nation take quarterfinal losses in the OUA?
We'll find out Friday. Keep an eye on the OUA scores, and we'll see if Emma Wedgewood can continue her incredible play in York's crease as the Lions look to eliminate one of the favorites from the OUA!
The Toronto Maple Leafs made their way down to the NHL offices where they were meeting with Gary Bettman today in the hopes of reducing the suspension handed to Morgan Rielly for his crosscheck to Ridly Greig's head. Frankly, had Kevin James been with them to argue for Rielly's suspension to be shortened, I wouldn't have been surprised. I do struggle with the idea that Rielly feels that he should get a shorter term for taking a deliberate shot at a guy's head, but it came down to what Gary Bettman would decide based on evidence and testimony provided by Rielly and the team of suits with him.
At the end of the meeting, Gary Bettman did the right thing in upholding the original five-game suspension, and Morgan Rielly will sit for one more game after failing to sway Bettman's feelings on the matter. According to reports, the NHLPA argued that Rielly's intent was to make contact with Greig's body, not his head, and that Rielly's clean record should result in the shortening of the suspension. Like I argued twelve days ago, Bettman felt that "Rielly had sufficient time to engage Greig differently, noting that he could have sent a message "with a push or a shove or even by dropping his gloves to fight."
"Had he done so, there likely would have been no need for supplemental discipline," Bettman added. Score a point for Bettman.
I found it strange that Bettman said much of the testimony offered by Rielly, General Manager Brad Treliving and President Brendan Shanahan revolved around Greig's slapshot, concluding that any discussion about the slapshot was "utterly irrelevant." For a group of people trying to convince the Commissioner that Rielly needed less time off, talking about the meaningless empty-net goal like Greig had committed some sort of crime makes no sense.
The crux of the decision to uphold the suspension came down to one simple fact: that kind of violence will not be tolerated by the NHL.
"Mr. Rielly's actions were not taken in self-defence. They were not accidental and they were not reflexive. They were not simply careless or merely reckless," Bettman wrote in his decision. "With plenty of time to think about what he was going to do next, Mr. Rielly approached Mr. Greig from the side, then used his stick as a weapon to deliver the kind of blow to the head that the league has repeatedly made clear will not be tolerated."
The cautionary lesson was delivered when Bettman wrote, "Mr. Rielly's suspension almost certainly would have been considerably longer if he did not have a clean record or if there had been an injury," noting that the Department of Player Safety recognized Rielly's lack of causing trouble as a reason for not assessing a longer suspension in the first place.
With this appeal now dead, the standard of five games for any act similar to Rielly's can be applied going forward. As I wrote one week ago, it's now up to the NHL to enforce the five-game suspension for any further shenanigans like we saw between Rielly and Greig. Any deviation from this will further erode any faith in the Department of Player Safety, and I fully expect that standard to remain in place for the playoffs. Clear headshots need to end.
For once, I applaud Gary Bettman's efforts. Don't expect it to last.
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