The Rundown - Quarterfinals

Four teams took to the ice this weekend as we looked to narrow the field from six to four teams who are in pursuit of a Canada West banner and a berth to the U SPORTS National Championship in Elmira, Ontario. UBC and Mount Royal earned the byes this week by finishing atop their respective divisions while Saskatchewan, Regina, and MacEwan are already making plans for next season. That left Alberta, Calgary, Manitoba, and Trinity Western to sort out who would be moving on to the Canada West semifinal series and who would join the three teams in getting ready for next season. Let's find out which two teams are moving on in this week's edition of The Rundown!

FRIDAY: The opening game between the Spartans and Dinos took place at Father David Bauer Arena where Trinity Western came in looking to put forth a good effort after missing out on hosting a playoff game. Calgary was looking to find its winning ways again after stumbling into the playoffs on a three-game losing streak. Both teams knew that winning meant everything in these games so a good start in Game One would be crucial!



Spartans goals: Ella Boon (1), Kyra Anderson (1), Keelyn Pisani (1), Kailey Ledoux (1), Ella Boon (2)
Spartans assists: Sadie Isfeld (1), Brook Dorash (1), Kara Yackel (1), Sadie Isfeld (2), Michela Naccarato (1), Emily Karpan (1), Chayce Kullman (1), Kyra Anderson (1), Olivia Leier (1)
Spartans netminder: Kate Fawcett (26/27)

Dinos goals: Jess Martens (1)
Dinos assists: none
Dinos netminders: Amelia Awad (5/8) in 12:10; Maisie Cope (22/24) in 47:50

Result: 5-1 victory for Trinity Western over Calgary.

SATURDAY: The Dinos came into Game Two in do-or-die mode as they needed to rattle off two-straight wins to keep their season alive. The Spartans, having won Game One, were looking to close out the Dinos and head home with the sweep in order to get ready for the semifinal series. Would we see a Game Three played in this quarterfinal on Sunday?



Spartans goals: Chloe Reid (1), Chloe Reid (2), Kyra Anderson (2), Olivia Leier (1)
Spartans assists: Kailey Ledoux (1), Kyra Anderson (2)
Spartans netminder: Kate Fawcett (15/17)

Dinos goals: Josie McLeod (1), Bree Kennedy (1)
Dinos assists: Kyla Mitenko (1), Brooklyn Anderson (1), Solana Cooper (1), Alex Spence (1)
Dinos netminder: Maisie Cope (27/30)

Result: 5-1 victory for Trinity Western over Calgary. Trinity Western wins the series 2-0 over Calgary and will move on to the semifinal.

FRIDAY: The opening game between the Bisons and Pandas took place at Clare Drake Arena where, historically, no team not named the Pandas wanted to play. Manitoba, however, had just come off a series against Alberta where they had taken three of four possible points, so it seems that the Bisons might be carrying some momentum into the quarterfinal having won five-straight games that started with the win in Edmonton. Alberta had swept MacEwan one week earlier, so something had to give as these two teams met with a berth in the semifinal on the line!



Bisons goals: Brenna Nicol (1), Julia Bird (1), Louise Fergusson (1), Alyssa Rasmuson (3), Emily Shippam (1), Sadie Keller (1)
Bisons assists: Claire Moorman (1), Glory Plett (1), Hanna Bailey (1), Brenna Nicol (1)
Bisons netminder: Emily Shippam (18/20)

Pandas goals: Ryann Perrett (1), Hayleigh Craig (1)
Pandas assists: Annie King (1), Riley Smith (1), Jadynn Morden (1)
Pandas netminders: Mackenzie Dojahn (22/25)

Result: 5-2 victory for Manitoba over Alberta.

SATURDAY: The Pandas came into Game Two with their backs against the wall, and that always seems to make them more dangerous because they've been in this situation before. The Bisons come into Game Two playing their best hockey of the season with six-straight wins to their name, and they were looking to make it seven wins and a sweep over the Pandas to wrap up the series. Would this series need a third game on Sunday?

Bisons goals: Sophia Heidinger (1), Kelsey Huibers (1)
Bisons assists: Sara Harbus (1), Louise Fergusson (1), Louise Fergusson (2)
Bisons netminder: Emily Shippam (18/21)

Pandas goals: Abbey Bourdeaud'hui (1), Ryann Perrett (2), Hailey Carothers (1), Natalie Kieser (1)
Pandas assists: Raegan Yewdall (1), Kelly Stanford (1), Annie King (2)
Pandas netminders: Mackenzie Dojahn (34/36)

Result: 4-2 victory for Alberta over Manitoba.

SUNDAY: Do or die. Win or go home. All the marbles. For two teams separated by a single point in the standings and having split four games this season, it seems almost appropriate to have a fifth game to determine the winner. With the rubber match set to go Sunday night, which of these teams will earn the right to play in the Canada West semifinal next weekend?

Bisons goals: Brenna Nicol (2), Norah Collins (1), Brenna Nicol (3), Sadie Keller (2), Hanna Bailey (1), Julia Bird (2)
Bisons assists: Aimee Patrick (1), Louise Fergusson (3), Brenna Nicol (2), Sadie Keller (1), Julia Bilous (1), Jessie Haner (1), Brenna Nicol (3)
Bisons netminder: Emily Shippam (20/22)

Pandas goals: Abby Soyko (1), Natalie Kieser (2)
Pandas assists: Riley Smith (2), Abby Soyko (1)
Pandas netminders: Mackenzie Dojahn (15/19) in 29:33; Grace Glover (4/4) in 29:15

Result: 6-2 victory for Manitoba over Alberta.

There are no standings to worry about per se, but the playoff picture needs to be updated. Frankly, I don't get how Trinity Western crosses back into the Western Division when they had crossed into the East Division as the third-place team, but that's what Canada West has in its setup this season. I think it's dumb as it seems that the second-place teams were the ones doing the crossing. Make it make sense.

It should be noted that the TWU-UBC series has times posted in PST while the Manitoba-Mount Royal series has times posted in MST.

West Preview

No one should be surprised that UBC was 6-0 against Trinity Western this season, outscoring them 20-7 in those games. On UBC ice, the Thunderbirds outscored the Spartans 10-4, so one might think this series favours the Thunderbirds in every way. It won't be as lopsided as one may believe, but I suspect that the very well-rested T-Birds will let Grace Elliott, Annalise Wong, Jaylyn Morris, and Elise Hugens do what they do best to get them back to the Canada West Final.

Trinity Western will push back with the likes of Kyra Anderson, Ella Boon, and Chloe Reid who had great series against the Dinos, but they're going to need Kate Fawcett to steal them a game at the very least if the Spartans hope to dethrone the Thunderbirds in the Battle of British Columbia. Trinity Western was good against Calgary, but they'll need to be better against UBC if they want a banner.

East Preview

The Mount Royal Cougars will welcome the Manitoba Bisons to Calgary next weekend. The Cougars were 3-1-0 against the Bisons this season including one overtime victory, and were 2-0 at home back in October against the Bisons. Clearly, things have changed for the Bisons as the calendar flipped, so this should be a good test for the Cougars if they want to play for a banner. They'll be led by Allee Gerrard, Sydney Benko, Kiana McNinch, and Julia Duke up front while Summer Fomradas and Isa McPhee push the offence from the blue line. Scout Anderson will likely see the bulk of the goaltending work.

The Bisons come into Calgary having eliminated last season's Canada West champions, having won seven of their last eight games, and having won five of their last six road games. Led by Brenna Nicol, Sadie Keller, and Louise Fergusson through the Alberta series, they'll try to kick-start the big guns as Dana Goertzen, Aimee Patrick, Norah Collins, and Sara Harbus had just one goal and one assist combined. Emily Shippam will need to come up big once again next weekend, but that secondary scoring has to please Jordan Colliton.

It will also mark the first playoff series between student and master as Colliton was Mount Royal's assistant coach under Scott Rivett last season. Will the familiarity she has with the Mount Royal lineup help the Bisons in their quest for a banner? We'll find out next week!

Honour Roll

Each week on The Rundown, I highlight the best performances from the weekend's games. It won't always be the top scorer or the best goalie, but I'll have a reason for who gets picked each week. Making history is always a good reason to be named to The Honour Roll, but Emily Shippam is not the player named this week. Instead, it's a player who racked up six points in territory where visitors haven't had much success in helping her team win twice on the road as Manitoba Bisons forward Brenna Nicol made The Honour Roll this week!

In seven previous playoff games, Nicol had recorded two goals and an assist. She doubled that output in three games this season, scoring the opening goal and adding the primary assist on the game-winner in Manitoba's 5-2 win on Friday. She was kept off the scoresheet on Saturday, but she roared back in the elimination game on Sunday by scoring twice - opening the scoring and scoring the game-winner - and adding two more helpers in pushing the Bisons to a 4-1 lead through 29:33 of play as the Bisons took control of the game.

Six points on a weekend is always big, but to be involved in so many key goals that helped the Bisons advance is where Brenna Nicol elevated her play. The Bisons will need another big weekend out of her next week, but her efforts on key plays this weekend did not go unnoticed as Manitoba Bisons forward Brenna Nicol made the list!

Stay Out Of The Box

Manitoba entered the series with Alberta with the third-best penalty-killing efficiency in Canada West, having surrendered just ten power-play goals on 85 shorthanded opportunities (88.2%). One has to wonder if the team simply abandoned all sense of how to kill penalties on their late-season surge because the Pandas were quick to inflict damage at an alarming rate with the extra player.

Alberta scored five times on 12 power-play opportunities, pushing the Bisons' penalty-killing efficiency to 58.3% - easily the worst of the four semifinalists. That being said, it also goes to show how important both sides of the special teams coin are as Alberta scored five of its eight total goals with the player advantage while Manitoba survived their series with Alberta in spite of the woeful PK numbers.

How, you ask? By going 6-of-9 on their own power-play opportunities.

If Manitoba cleans up their PK effort over this next week, the Cougars may have their hands full in their semifinal series next weekend.

Olympic Success!

The image to the right is the medal ceremony at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, and #53 who is receiving her bronze medal is none other than UBC Thunderbirds forward Vanessa Schaefer! Schaefer played in all seven games for Switzerland, but was held pointless in the tournament. She finished with a -4 rating in 64:12 of ice time, averaging 9:10 of ice time per game. However, she and her teammates would capture the bronze medal after a 2-1 overtime win over Sweden as the defence-first Swiss come home with hardware!

Schaefer returns home to prepare for the series against Trinity Western where she'll play a more prominent role for the Thunderbirds. Can she add a Canada West championship and a U SPORTS National Championship to her Olympic bronze medal?

Total Members: Two

I wrote a couple of articles this weekend about Manitoba Bisons netminder Emily Shippam being credited with a goal on Friday night, and Saturday's article was a plea for better record keeping in women's hockey by all parties, especially by those whose entire purpose is to manage the game. I had also asked that if anyone knew of any other goalies who had scored in U SPORTS, and I got a whopping zero responses to that request which was expected.

Where I didn't expect silence was from both Canada West and U SPORTS who had a chance to really promote Shippam's goal as a "look over here" moment. Neither even attempted to post any history of goalie goals by women who scored which is all sorts of disappointing considering that U SPORTS and/or the OUA should have footage of the Nicole Kesteris goal somewhere. Instead, it was radio silence again.

If anyone can tell me what responsibilities U SPORTS and the four conferences have in keeping and updating women's hockey records, I'd be grateful. HBIC has more U SPORTS women's hockey history on it than the sites for those five "entities" do, and that's shameful.

Closed On Weekends

If it wasn't for the Calgary Dinos being true to their YouTube effort, there likely wouldn't have been highlights for Game Two of their series against Trinity Western. As you likely saw with Manitoba and Alberta, there were only Game One highlights because the Pandas don't make the effort and Canada West, who posted the Game One highlights, didn't bother to post anything for Game Two.

It's hard to be supportive of anything Canada West does at this point. They seem to be more in the camp of "don't" than "do", and I honestly wonder what their purpose is other than saying "we exist". Once again, I'll bring in Bob and Bob from Office Space to ask the obvious question because it seems like Canada West's offices are closed on weekends when most of their member schools are competing.

The Last Word

One team from British Columbia will head to the U SPORTS National Championship. That's guaranteed with the Trinity Western-UBC semifinal series as these two teams meet in the playoffs for the first time. Can the Spartans upset the Thunderbirds for their first appearance in the Canada West final or will we see the Thunderbirds play for another tapestry for their arena en route to Elmira, Ontario?

The other semifinal features the two most recent National Champions from Canada West as Manitoba won in 2018 while Mount Royal captured the championship in 2023. There has obviously been turnover on the Bisons' side, but the efforts we've seen from Manitoba since the calendar flipped to 2026 cannot be ignored. The Cougars, though, have been in this situation before and they'll be ready to roll on Friday when the series opens. Is this the year the Cougars earn a banner or will the Bisons get a shot at adding another to their arena?

We'll know those answers by next Sunday. Four teams are left standing. Only two will advance. Who will those two teams be?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!