The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back tonight with another guest who has made waves nationally, internationally, and certainly within his hometown of Ottawa. He was recently here in Winnipeg for a big event, and he'll be off to other places soon with the work that he does for TSN as one of their top sportscasters and program hosts! Before he does that, though, he'll talk to our hosts about his new book, some of the fun he had in writing it, his recent Winnipeg experience, and much more in a fun chat with one of this country's best media people tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!
You may have been expecting more sledge hockey talk tonight, but we had a few scheduling quirks happen, allowing us to pivot to the gentlemen to the left! Teebz and Jason are proud, honoured, privileged, humbled, and pleased to welcome TSN's James Duthie back to the show! James appeared back in 2015 when he was promoting The Guy On The Left, and we're having him back tonight to chat about his new book, Certified Beauties published by HarperCollins! James has collected a ton of great stories from hockey players about some of the more memorable things they've done while playing the game, and the result is an incredible book full of laughs, smiles, a few tears, and some wild moments. We'll talk to him about some of these stories, the characters who gave him stories, some of his non-hockey work, and we lob a few fun, softball questions his way for a laugh! It's a busy hour with James Duthie talking about his new book, Certified Beauties, tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT 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 UMFM website's streaming player works well 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. 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! And because both Teebz and Jason are on the butterfly app where things are less noisy, you can find Teebz here and Jason here on Bluesky!
Tonight, Teebz and Jason sit down with one of Canada's most decorated sportscasters in TSN's James Duthie to talk about his new book, Certified Beauties and discuss some of the stories he was told, some of the people he interviewed, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!
It's been said many times that goaltenders are a different bunch of people from the rest of the players that make up hockey teams. Usually, this is in reference to goalies being a little superstitious when to comes to their routines on gameday, but you have to have an appreciation for guys who are willing to stand in front of a piece of rubber moving at three-digit speeds. The man to the left isn't Bruce Wayne nor is he Batman, but he could be considered a superhero in some circles for the number of times he's helped his teams win. That man's name is Austyn Roudebush, and the 32 year-old netminder from Toledo, Ohio went ahead and set a new record in the SPHL that will certainly take another player a long time to break.
Roudebush wasn't drafted by an NHL team nor did he play high level junior hockey. His college experience was playing with Adrian College's club team in the ACHA where he went an unfathomable 57-3-4 in four years where he never had a GAA over 2.00 in any year. Roudebush dominated throughout his college career that included a 22-0-0 final year in 2017-18 where he posted a 0.91 GAA, eight shutouts, and a .955 save percentage. How Roudebush flew under everyone's radar with those kinds of numbers is still a mystery to me.
Despite the NHL not calling, Roudebush pushed forward with his career, signing with the Mentor Ice Breakers in the Federal Prospect Hockey League in 2019-20 where he went 11-11-2 in 27 games in his first professional season. The asterisk on those numbers is that Mentor went 15-30-3 that season, meaning that the other four goaltenders used by Mentor that season went a combined 4-19-1. It seem not so far-fetched to suggest that Roudebush might be some sort of superhero based on those numbers.
The catch is that Roudebush also played his first games in the SPHL that season with the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs where he went 5-2-2 with a 2.50 GAA and a .927 save percentage. It was clear that Roudebush could play at the SPHL level as he was solid in his first 13 games, but he bounced around 2020-21 with stops in Knoxville and Birmingham in the SPHL and Tusla in the ECHL. He went 13-4-0 with Knoxville with a 1.62 GAA and .943 save percentage which was a stark contrast from his 0-2-0 record in the Tulsa where he had an 8.12 GAA and a .690 save percentage. Tulsa wasn't a good fit for Roudebush.
2021-22 saw Roudebush return to Roanoke where he has spent the last five seasons. In that time, he's amassed an impressive record of 95-46-19, helped Roanoke win the SPHL championship in 2022-23 where he was named as the 2023 President's Cup Most Valuable Player, and posted three-straight seasons of 24 wins or more. Clearly, he found his groove in Roanoake where he has 100 career wins, but it was his 99th win in Roanoke that put him on a new level in the SPHL.
On Friday night, Roudebush stopped all 37 shots in Roanoke's 5-0 shutout win over Macon to earn his 112th career win in the SPHL, moving him past former SPHL netminder Peter Di Salvo who totaled his 111 wins with seven SPHL teams from 2013-22. That 112th win put Roudebush at the top of the list for wins by a goaltender in the SPHL, and he went ahead and added his 113th win on Sunday in a 3-2 win over Macon once more! How cool is that for Austyn Roudebush?
What's even more impressive is that Roudebush is also second in games played with 200 SPHL contests under his belt, and he ranks second in career shutouts with 15 including the one he recorded over Macon in his record-breaking game. Austyn Roudebush is making a name for himself in a league to which a lot of people never pay attention, and I'm happy to see him get his name in the record book because Austyn Roudebush has had an outstanding hockey career!
He's still adding accolades and achievements, but consider this résumé: three ACHA All-Conference selections, three All-American nominations, ACHA National Player of the Year in 2018, 2018 ACHA National Champion, 2023 President's Cup champion, 2023 President's Cup Most Valuable Player, and now he added winngest goaltender in SPHL history with many years of hockey still to play in his career.
If you don't know his name by name, Austyn Roudebush's name should now be more familiar to you after he broke the SPHL record for careers win by a goaltender. Before he's done, I would expect more records to be beside his name in the SPHL record book, and he might even earn himself a statue one day outside of the Berglund Center in Roanoke, Virginia when his career finally comes to an end.
Before that retiremnet talk happens, though, Austyn Roudebush still has lots of pucks to stop for the Rail Yard Dawgs in Roanoke!
It's hard to believe that this guy played in the 2024 NHL All-Star Game, but it seems like Alexandar Georgiev's time in the NHL is done after his struggles in recent seasons. While there's always a chance that he could return, the Buffalo Sabres and Georgiev agreed to terminate his contract, allowing him to become a free agent. In doing so, Georgiev is heading home as he's signed a two-year deal with Spartak Moscow as he looks to re-establish his game that once made him a potential starter in the NHL. One has to hope that this move to Russia will help because he certainly wasn't having a good time moving between three teams in the last calendar year.
The 29 year-old netminder joins a Spartak Moscow team that's in the middle of the Western Conference standings despite beating Ak Bars Kazan 1-0 today. Artyom Zagidulin grabbed the shutout by stopping 31 saves, and it looks like he'll have some serious competition for the crease with Georgiev finding his way onto the roster. After coaching changes that saw Alexei Kovalev and Igor Kravchuk leave and Oleg Kvasha promoted from the junior ranks as the Spartak Moscovites are looking to catch Dynamo Moscow who have a five-point advantage.
It's not like Spartak has been getting stellar goaltending all season long. Zagidulin has played in 21 games, going 6-9-0 with a 3.40 GAA and an .891 save percentage. Comparatively, Georgiev posted an 0-2-0 record with the AHL's Rochester Americans while sporting a 3.57 GAA and an .896 save percentage, so it's not like Spartak signed Dominik Hasek to a deal. In theory, this seems like Spartak simply looking for a better goaltending situation by default by signing a guy who has, in the past, shown to be capable of providing that.
Of course, the big question will be whether or not Georgiev can find the magic that made him an NHL All-Star in 2024 or even how he played during the 2022-23 season when he was 40-16-6 with a 2.51 GAA and a .919 save percentage with Colorado - easily the best numbers of his career. He's only a few seasons away from that year, so it's not like age has caught up to him that quickly. Is it a work ethic situation? Is it complacency? One may never know unless Georgiev can improve his numbers and make his way back to North America.
As it stands, Spartak Moscow sits in sixth-place in the KHL's Western Conference, just one point up on eighth-place SKA St. Petersburg and four points up on ninth-place CSKA Moscow. They need a big push to help them climb back into the top-four teams in the conference as they look to catch both Dinamo Minsk and Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. Getting some solid goaltending could be the catalyst for that push, and there's hope that Alexandar Georgiev can be that goalie.
Adding a former Vezina Trophy candidate is always a good way to bolster one's team, but Spartak Moscow's signing of Alexandar Georgiev may end up being a wash if their goaltending doesn't improve with him between the pipes. If they want to make a deep run towards the Gagarin Cup, they're going to need a better Georgiev than the one that showed up for the Rochester Americans this season.
Former NHL goalies landing in the KHL usually only happens with those born in Russia, but we've seen a handful of Canadian and American goalies who have opted to jump to the KHL rather than playing in the AHL. After being acquired by the Winnipeg Jets from the Florida Panthers last season, Chris Driedger spent most of his time with the Manitoba Moose after spending most of the previous two seasons with Coachella Valley and Charlotte. Rather than possibly being signed to another two-way deal, Driedger signed with Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL this summer, possibly looking to get his NHL career back on track.
It was a bit of a struggle last season for Driedger. He played just 20 games in Charlotte where he posted a 10-6-4 record with a 2.96 GAA and an .878 save percentage before being acquired by Winnipeg where his time with the Moose saw him go 1-3-0 in five games with a 3.30 GAA and an .872 save percentage. Those aren't exactly glowing numbers for any goalie to have, but, in his defence, Driedger has played better in the past. The only problem is that he didn't show that side of his game after posting an 8-9-2 record in the KHL where he had a bloated 3.05 GAA and a pedestrian .897 save percentage.
Announced earlier today, those numbers saw Traktor Chelyabinsk and Chris Driedger agree to end his contract with the club, making him a free agent once again. Are there any teams that need a goalie?
It seems there is, and it might be a team with whom Driedger is already familiar. With Connor Hellebuyck on the shelf for the next 4-6 weeks thanks to arthroscopic surgery on his knee, the Jets were forced to recall Thomas Milic who was having a solid season with the Manitoba Moose. In his absence, Domenic DiVincentiis will likely handle the load of the starts with Norfolk's Isaac Poulter slotting into the backup role after being recalled from the ECHL's Admirals.
The catch in this, though, is that the Moose have won six-straight games, so they're not exactly needing goaltending help at this point. The case can be made that they should have a more veteran presence on their roster to help DiVincentiis, but we'll have to see what the Jets are planning when it comes to their young netminders in Milic and DiVincentiis. After all, once Hellebuyck gets back on the ice, Driedger's contract may cause a logjam in the crease.
Frankly, Driedger's numbers over the last two seasons likely won't have him landing on an NHL roster, and there aren't many AHL teams hunting for goalies at this point in the season. Outside of possibly Utica or Springfield, there simply aren't a lot of roster spots where Driedger can land. With his numbers where they were in the KHL, the Jets could sign him and assign him to the ECHL's Norfolk Admirals who could desperately use an upgrade in between the pipes as Alex Worthington and Logan Stein are struggling to stop pucks.
Would the Jets want to do that, though? It seems unlikely.
There's no doubt that Chris Driedger is a good guy and teammate, but that's not the question here. It would be how he fits into the Jets' plans and where he ultimately would play when it comes to their depth chart. It's assumed he would likely join the Moose, but that would only cause further problems when Hellebuyck returns. I doubt he accepts an offer from the Jets if they want to send him to the Admirals, so I cannot see Chris Driedger landing back in Winnipeg.
The caveat on that last statement is that I never saw the Jets signing the likes of Jonathan Toews, Tanner Pearson, and Gustav Nyqvist either, so don't lean on this blog for insightful Winnipeg Jets news. Adding more struggling talent to the roster just seems like a waste of a roster spot where someone from the Moose could be promoted and playing, so my hope is that the Jets stay the course with Eric Comrie and Thomas Milic as their goaltenders while Hellebuyck is recovering.
The Jets seem to like their homegrown reclamation projects as we've seen with Jonathan Toews, but they'd be best to allow Chris Driedger to look elsewhere for employment. He simply doesn't fit into the depth chart, proving that it's true that you can never go home again.
Eight teams were back in action across western Canada this weekend as the Canada West women's hockey schedule saw games played in three of the four provinces. Two teams came in desperately needing points, three teams were trying to accumulate more points to secure playoff spots, two teams were battling for first-place, and one team was all about winning and setting records. If we're following trends from the first half of the season, there are seven teams vying for six playoff spots at this point, so one has to wonder who in the East Division misses out because the other five sports are nearly secure. Let's see who had a weekend on this week's edition of The Rundown!
FRIDAY: Calgary was up 2-0 in the season series against the Bisons after sweeping the Bisons in Calgary on October 17 and 18. No one is saying the Bisons had to win for tie-breaker purposes because simply winning any sort of game in regulation time would be cause for celebration. The Dinos, flying high after a pair of wins of the Spartans, were looking for more wins and points this weekend as they looked to remain at the top of the East Division!
SATURDAY: In three games against the Dinos, the Bisons had been outscored 10-2. If we add in the two games they played against the Mount Royal Cougars in Calgary, the Bisons were outscored by Calgary-based teams 17-4 in five games this season. Clearly, something has to change if the Bisons want to come with points. The Dinos were looking to sweep the four games in Calgary over the Bisons with another win in a push to secure a playoff spot!
Bisons goals: Hanna Bailey (2)
Bisons assists: Sophia Anderson (1)
Bisons netminder: Emily Shippam (20/23)
Dinos goals: Sydney Mercier (9), Brette Kerley (1), Sydney Mercier (10), Sydney Mercier (11)
Dinos assists: Brooklyn Anderson (3), Kyla Mitenko (2), Jess Martens (4), Brooklyn Anderson (4)
Dinos netminder: Amelia Awad (37/38)
Result: 4-1 victory for Calgary over Manitoba.
FRIDAY: The MacEwan Griffins loaded up the bus and headed east to Saskatoon where the Saskatchewan Huskies were waiting after a bye week. After having key players injured early in the season, the Huskies had shown they're gearing up to be a threat in Canada West once more. The Griffins, meanwhile, came to Saskatoon with bumps and bruises all over the place as they dressed just nine forwards for Friday's game! Would that come back to haunt them?
Huskies goals: Jessica Anderson (1), Kahlen Wisener (2)
Huskies assists: McKenna Bolger (4), Peppi Virtanen (2)
Huskies netminders: Colby Wilson (10/10)
Result: 2-0 victory for Saskatchewan over MacEwan.
SATURDAY: MacEwan has now been shutout seven times this season in 15 games and 19 times over their last 43 games. I'll speak more about this below, but it seems like the Griffins are simply allergic to scoring. They'll need to find a way to break through the Huskies' defence if they want to salvage points. Saskatchewan was looking to wrap up a sweep with another solid effort in the second game!
Griffins goals: Allee Isley (1), Sydney Jack (2), Sasha Malenfant (2)
Griffins assists: Sydney Jack (3), Robyn Short (3), Kali MacDonald (1), Robyn Short (4), Kori Paterson (1), Allee Isley (1)
Griffins netminder: Mikayla Christmann (23/25)
Result: 3-2 victory for MacEwan over Saskatchewan.
FRIDAY: The Mount Royal Cougars hopped the mountains and headed south of Vancouver to Langley where they met the Trinity Western Spartans. The Spartans dropped a pair of games to the Dinos, so they were looking to bounce back on home ice with a pair of wins. The Cougars came into Langley with a nine-game winning streak which they wanted to push into double-digits while staying atop the East Division!
Cougars goals: Kiana McNinch (2)
Cougars assists: Keyana Bert (3), Sydney Benko (6)
Cougars shootout scorers: none
Cougars netminder: Scout Anderson (18/19) in 65:00 plus 2/3 in the shootout
Spartans goals: Kyra McDonald (6)
Spartans assists: Presleigh Giesbrecht (7), Kasey Ditner (5)
Spartans shootout scorers: Ella Boon
Spartans netminders: Olivia Davidson (21/22) in 65:00 plus 3/3 in the shootout
Result: 2-1 shootout victory for Trinity Western over Mount Royal.
SATURDAY: The win streak came to an end, but the Cougars still grabbed a point in the shootout loss for their efforts. They were looking to go home with three of four points with a win on Saturday, but the Spartans were aiming for a weekend sweep on home ice as they looked to more space between themselves and Alberta in the standings.
Result: 2-1 victory for Mount Royal over Trinity Western.
FRIDAY: A rematch of Canada West's finalists from one year ago might have had the wind taken out of its sails with UBC's start to the season combined with Alberta struggling out of the gates, but these two teams always have each other circled on the calendar. Of course, all eyes were on the UBC crease where a new Canada West record could be set with a win, but the Alberta Pandas weren't interested in having that happen on their ice. Would we see history made?
Pandas goals: Raegan Yewdall (1)
Pandas assists: none
Pandas netminders: Misty Rey (15/19) in 35:19; Mackenzie Dojahn (9/10) in 24:41 in relief
Result: 5-1 victory for UBC over Alberta.
SATURDAY: With history made by Elise Hugens (more on that below), the Thunderbirds were aiming for a 14th win on Saturday. Alberta, who scored with 30 seconds left to snap the UBC shutout, weren't happy with their performance one night earlier, so I expected them to be more grizzly than panda. Could the Pandas even slow the Thunderbirds down?
Don't even ask about divisions. I'm not interested in that setup. It's one conference, nine teams, and we'll see who is best in the west.
CANADA WEST WOMEN'S HOCKEY
School
Record
Points
GF
GA
Streak
Next
UBC
12-1-1-0
26
44
12
L1
vs SAS
Calgary
10-3-1-2
24
36
21
W4
vs MRU
Mount Royal
7-2-4-1
23
33
18
W1
@ CAL
Trinity Western
3-5-5-1
17
32
26
L1
@ ALB
Saskatchewan
3-4-3-2
14
20
26
L1
@ UBC
Regina
3-5-2-2
12
17
23
L2
@ MAN
Alberta
4-6-0-4
12
26
36
W1
vs TWU
MacEwan
2-11-1-2
8
14
40
W1
BYE
Manitoba
0-7-1-4
6
14
34
L11
vs REG
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. There were some big performances this weekend - hat tricks, history, and firsts - but this week's player is someone who got her first start in her hometown and won her third game in her career in just her fifth start! That may not sound like something I should highlight, but we're going add MacEwan Grffins goaltender Mikayla Christmann to the list!
Let's be honest: the Griffins haven't had a lot to celebrate over the last couple of seasons, but Mikayla Christmann is showing that she can be called upon to backstop the Griffins to victory in limited duty! She won her first career game last season as she stopped all 31 shots in a 2-0 shutout of the Manitoba Bisons on January 25! After dropping games against Saskatchewan and Calgary, she evened her record with a 50-save performance in a 4-1 win over the Regina Cougars!
Fast forward to Saturday where she was in the crease for her second-career game in Saskatoon, and the Warman native stopped 23 shots in a 3-2 victory to push her career record to 3-2-0 and her 2025-26 record to 1-0-0! She got goal support in the form of three goals in 1:55 in the third period by her teammates, but Christmann held the fort for MacEwan's second regulation win this season! For a team that needs something to build on, a big win by a goalie who has now won three of five career games she's played in is how MacEwan Griffins goaltender Mikayla Christmann makes the Honour Roll this week!
History Made
On Friday night, Elise Hugens became the first woman in Canada West history to earn her 65th win, moving her one ahead of former Bisons netminder Stacey Corfield who had set the record back in 2010. In her 80th career game, Hugens stopped 15 of 16 shots to record the victory, establishing a new Canada West record to which she will only add more wins before this season ends. 65 is a big number when one considers all the goalies who have played at this level, so a huge congratulations goes out to Elise!
Just as an aside, UBC, there was no need to insert the image of a goat in the picture. I understand the reference, but give Elise the
respect she deserves for setting the new mark by only putting her on the graphic. This is a big moment, so be professional about it.
How She Got There
Elise's first win came back on October 16, 2021 when she backstopped the Thunderbirds to an 8-0 win over the Trinity Western Spartans in a game where she made all 13 saves. She would go 11-4-0 that season in what would be the season where she had the most losses, and that should tell you how good she's been since that rookie campaign. As it stands, she sits with a 65-7-6 record in her career!
It wasn't all sunshine and lollipops, though. Her first loss was a 4-2 decision in Saskatchewan against the Huskies on November 26, 2021, and the first time she was pulled in a game was on January 29, 2022 in Calgary after surrendering three goals in 28:18 of time. The weird part? Hugens would return for the start of the third period in what would be an eventual 5-0 loss to the Dinos of which three goals were scored on Hugens. More often than not, though, she was a winner!
Against each team, she's been solid. She has the most wins against both Alberta and Trinity Western as she's won ten times against each of them, she has five shutouts against each of Mount Royal and Trinity Western, and is undefeated in any way against both MacEwan and Manitoba. The only team she has yet to record a shutout against is the Calgary Dinos against whom she holds an 8-2-1 record. Mount Royal has given her the most trouble as she has a 9-3-1 record, but Saskatchewan is also in the mix as Hugens is 5-1-2 in her career against the Huskies. Her record against each team is shown below:
vs Alberta: 10-0-1 with two shutouts
vs Calgary: 8-2-1 with zero shutouts
vs MacEwan: 9-0-0 with three shutouts
vs Manitoba: 7-0-0 with two shutouts
vs Mount Royal: 9-3-1 with five shutouts
vs Regina: 8-1-0 with four shutouts
vs Saskatchewan: 5-1-2 with three shutouts
vs Trinity Western: 10-0-1 with five shutouts
If you're reading those stats and doing the math, you may have noticed something. Keep reading to the next section because we may need to review everything before we start rewriting record books.
Stats Class 101
In digging through Elise's stats on the Canada West Hockeytech site, these are the stats on what I was basing her historic run toward the record. All the numbers are laid out pretty clearly there, right?
I want you to look at the 2023-24 statistics because, in my non-professional stats guy role, I added up 15+1+1+2 and found out it doesn't equal 20. In saying that, Hugens would either have started and been pulled without being the goalie of record or came into a game in relief without being the goalie of record for her to play one more game. She played, but didn't factor into the outcome.
The problem is that her game log for the 2023-24 season does not reflect this as she recorded 16 wins! She did enter a game in relief against the Mount Royal Cougars on February 10, 2024 at the start of the second period with the Thunderbirds trailing 2-0, and she would remain in the game through to its conclusion in overtime where the Thunderbirds pulled out a 4-3 victory on an Annalise Wong goal!
By rule, if a goalie comes into a game in relief where her team is losing and her team ties the game at any point, she now becomes the goalie of record for that game. In knowing that, Hugens would officially be the goalie of record in this game, and it seems the win was assigned to her on the official gamesheet, but not in the stats!
For two seasons as Hugens has been chasing history, she was actually one game closer to breaking Stacey Corfield's record. If you don't believe me, you can check for yourself on Hugens' Canada West page. I actually feel really bad for Hugens because she set the record last weekend at home against MacEwan if the stats are correct. I'm not saying she wouldn't have started and won against Alberta this weekend, but she's officially at 66 wins now, not 65, for her career.
Someone at Canada West needs to get this sorted out quickly. This is a massive error on their side, and Hugens deserves an apology if it's proved that she was missing one win from her totals.
More Stats Class Issues
Last weekend, we saw Grace Elliott break the UBC program record against the MacEwan Griffins on a goal that was initially waved off, but awarded to her after some discussion among the officials. The clip I had posted showed that Annalise Wong made the pass to Elliott in the slot from where she scored, but scoresheet last week awarded the lone assist to Presley Zinger. I even noted that in the summary.
If you noticed, Annalise Wong didn't record an assist on Friday, leaving her with ten assists and sitting one back of Tatiana Rafter for second all-time in UBC Thunderbirds history. She'd get one on Saturday, but that left her tied with Rafter. Or it had left her tied until someone went back and updated the scoring play with the proper assists on the goal from last weekend during the week.
I'm not faulting the Thunderbirds for correcting this because Wong and Morris legitimately did earn assists on Elliott's historic goal, but that assist did matter to Wong's career totals because she officially moved into second-place all-time for the UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday when she recorded her 12th assist of the season, moving her one ahead of Rafter. There was no mention nor fanfare for Wong's achievement mostly because no one knew it had happened based on the stats listed for her, so this also needs to be corrected.
Allow me to do that now with a belated congratulations to Annalise Wong for becoming the second best setup person in UBC Thunderbirds women's hockey history! With her 13th assist this weekend, she now has 57 in her career and is tied with former Dinos forward Stephanie Ramsey while sitting three back of former Cougars forward Tatum Amy and four back of former Huskies forward Kaitlin Willoughby!
Unwanted History
The Manitoba Bisons seem to be heading towards a record that no one wants because I haven't seen a team so unable to dent twine for some time. I went back and pulled some numbers from 2014-15 through to today that shows the worst team shooting percentage in Canada West play for each season. Here is that list:
2014-15: Lethbridge Pronghorns - 4.6%
2015-16: Mount Royal Cougars - 7.1%
2016-17: Lethbridge Pronghorns - 6.1%
2017-18: no records shown
2018-19: Lethbridge Pronghorns - 5.1%
2019-20: Manitoba Bisons - 6.0%
2020-21: no season played
2021-22: MacEwan Griffins - 5.6%
2022-23: Regina Cougars - 5.3%
2023-24: Regina Cougars - 6.0%
2024-25: Saskatchewan Huskies - 5.4%
2025-26: Manitoba Bisons - 4.0%
Only once in the last ten seasons has a team finished below 5.0% shooting (1 goal for every 20 shots taken), and the Pronghorns still managed to win six games and score 32 goals. Lethbridge finished that season with 701 shots, and Manitoba has already taken 349 shots through 12 games. If they're scoring one goal for every 25 shots taken, winning games is going to be a nearly impossible task unless they average 50+ shots per game and play shutout hockey. As shown, that has not happened yet nor does it appear to be in the cards.
At this point, the problem has to be the system they're playing. It's clear that they're putting pucks on net, but either they aren't from high-danger scoring areas, there isn't enough traffic, or both. You can make the case that they may have run into a hot goalie in a game or two, but they are winless in 11-straight games, have only won in a shootout, and haven't scored more than two goals in any of those 11 games while being shutout in four of them. That's brutal.
There's a significant problem in Winnipeg, and it looks like it might be on the whiteboard because this Bisons team has enough scoring talent to be dangerous, but they simply cannot find the back of the net no matter how many times they try. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results....
More Salt In The Wound
Just for the record, here are the records and final spot in the standings that each of those teams with the worst shooting percentage achieved in the seasons identified above:
2014-15: Lethbridge Pronghorns - 6-21-1 for 19 points (8th)
2015-16: Mount Royal Cougars - 11-14-3 for 33 points (8th)
2016-17: Lethbridge Pronghorns - 4-21-3 for 14 points (8th)
2017-18: no records shown
2018-19: Lethbridge Pronghorns - 7-17-4 for 24 points (7th)
2019-20: Manitoba Bisons - 10-17-1 for 29 points (7th)
2020-21: no season played
2021-22: MacEwan Griffins - 6-14-0 for 12 points (8th)
2022-23: Regina Cougars - 4-22-2 for 10 points (9th)
2023-24: Regina Cougars - 7-19-2 for 16 points (8th)
2024-25: Saskatchewan Huskies - 5-17-6 for 16 points (8th)
2025-26: Manitoba Bisons - 1-7-4 for 6 points (9th)
At this point, every single statistical analysis says the Bisons are already eliminated from the playoffs. Mathematically, there's still a shot, but things need to change in a hurry if the Herd wants a shot at playing in the postseason. Right now, all signs point to no chance.
Same Old Song And Dance
At what point do the MacEwan Griffins change their fortunes by looking at a different system? Since 2022-23 when Chris Leeming was appointed as the interim head coach before being made the permanent coach one season later, the Griffins have recorded shooting percentages of 6.3%, 7.7%, 5.9%, and currently sit at 4.6%. In those 3+ seasons, they have accumulated the lowest total shots for any Canada West team, and they are headed for a fourth-straight year of being the lowest at the end of this season.
Complicating matters is the fact that Leeming coached his 100th Canada West game this weekend in the win against Saskatchewan, and the Griffins are now 20-71-9 under his guidance, have scored just 122 goals in that span, and have surrendered 314 against for a difference of -192. With the changing of the roster, this is no longer about scoring talent. It's clearly a system that hemorrhages goals while barely generating high-quality scoring chances.
Here's the catch: MacEwan is four points back of the Pandas, and they play Alberta in a home-and-home next weekend. For all the offensive and defensive challenges that MacEwan faces, how big would it be for their season if the Griffins won both against Alberta and were tied for a playoff spot at the December break? Feel free to discuss!
Speaking Of Playoffs...
Even with their loss to the Pandas on Saturday, the UBC Thunderbirds now sit just six points away from clinching a playoff spot thanks to them winning the season series over the MacEwan Griffins. With MacEwan only having 12 games left on their schedule, the maximum points total they can achieve is 32 points... and UBC already has 26 points this season. I'm not saying the Saskatchewan Huskies are going to be lambs to a slaughtering, but the Thunderbirds could wrap up a playoff spot next Saturday if they sweep the Huskies at home and get help from the Pandas. When's the last time UBC cheered for Alberta?
The Last Word
As we approach the December break, there are some players who have emerged as obvious choices for the annual HBIC Canada West All-Star Teams. I'll be picking six forwards, four defenders, and two goalies from each division to make up these all-star squads, and both squads will feature at least one player per team in their respective divisions and one rookie from each division who has stood out in the first half. I'll also look at the other conferences in terms of who is doing well across the country, so expect all of that in December.
Every team will have officially played half of their season after Saturday's games next weekend, so we should have a good idea who might find their way to Kitchener for Nationals this season from this side of the country. As we saw last season, the playoffs can be a different beast, but the teams we expected to see in the semifinals were all playing in those games. Will this season be the same?
Half the season is nearly in the books. How's your team doing?
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