HKY: SSK goalie, ALB forward steal the show in quarterfinal sweeps
SSK's Drever, ALB's Philp earn CW Player of the Week honours
CALGARY - Saskatchewan's Camryn Drever and Alberta's Noah Philp were named the Canada West Hockey Players of the Week by the conference Tuesday.
Drever put her team on her shoulders at the most important juncture of the season to date. The third-year goalkeeper shut out the conference's no. 1 ranked Mount Royal Cougars in the first game of their best-of-three semifinal series over the weekend.
The offensively talented Cougars pelted 32 shots at her, but she was stone cold, turning each one away. Her performance allowed her underdog Huskies to win the game with a single goal on 12 shots of their own.
Drever was again the busier goaltender Saturday in game two, facing 53 shots in an overtime thriller. The Edmonton, AB product rose to the occasion, allowing just a single goal in four frames. Her skill and grit on the defensive end gave her Huskies the chance to bury the Cougars, which they did with an overtime winner.
For seven periods of action in two days, Drever stole the show and frustrated the Cougars, a team that most expected to host the CW Finals.
At the end of it, she had a shutout, a 0.50 goals against average, a .988 save percentage, and most importantly, a ticket to the CW Women's Hockey Championship series.
That series is scheduled for this weekend at the University of British Columbia. The fifth-seeded Huskies will take on no. 2 UBC Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. The third game, if needed, will go at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Game log:
March 4: 1 shutout, 0.00 GAA, 1.000 SV% in 1-0 W vs MRU
March 5: 0.50 GAA, .981 SV% in 2-1 OTW vs MRU
Meanwhile, a second-year forward helped his Alberta Golden Bears make a statement in the CW Men's Hockey Semifinals. Noah Philp was all over the ice and all over the scoresheet in a convincing sweep of the Calgary Dinos.
In the team's first game, Philp contributed to four of the team's six goals. He assisted on Alberta's first score to draw even with the Dinos before adding two more helpers and a goal of his own. Early in the second period, Philp worked it past a defender with a shifty move before getting off a quick wrister that beat the Dinos' goaltender on his glove side.
Philp went back to work in game two, this time playing a key role on three of the team's six goals. He put up two goals and an assist Saturday for seven total points on the weekend. Those points were all pure profit, as the Canmore, AB product was never on the ice for a goal against his team.
With the sweep, Philp and the Golden Bears advance to the CW Men's Hockey Championship best-of-three series set for March 18-20, which they'll host at Clare Drake Arena. Puck drop for each game is set for 7 p.m.
Game log:
March 4: 1G, 3A, +3 in 6-2 W vs CGY
March 5: 2G, 1A, +1 in 6-1 W vs CGY