Kydd’s breakout season fuels Dinos playoff push

Feature article by Brian Swane, special to CW

Feb. 21, 2026 – In his third year of Canada West hockey, Calgary Dinos captain Adam Kydd is playing at a level higher than he ever has before.

The 2025-26 Canada West regular season just concluded, with the Western Hockey League (WHL) grad finishing first in the conference in assists (33) and second in points (41). Kydd’s 33 assists are the most by a Calgary student-athlete since Canada West adapted its current 28-game schedule format in 2007-08 and he’s the first Dinos player in two decades with a 40-point campaign.

Before this season, the 23-year-old had never produced at an average of one point per game or better, not even during his four-season WHL career.

“Since I came to the University of Calgary, it's given me a lot of time to develop and work on my game,” Kydd says. “Obviously, it's a much different schedule than the WHL, fewer games, a lot more practices, shorter season. I think I've definitely developed my game a lot since junior hockey.”

While Kydd is in his third year of studies at the Haskayne School of Business, this is essentially his second full season of Canada West hockey. Just three games into the 2024-25 season, Kydd suffered a broken collarbone and was sidelined for three and a half months. After returning to action, he totalled only four points over Calgary’s final eight regular season games and went pointless in three postseason contests.

“I definitely just didn't have the confidence and the feel and the touch out there,” Kydd says. “I was obviously working hard at rehab and getting back to the physical level to play, but I just didn't really feel like myself. I needed a full offseason where I started to gain back that confidence and that feel on the ice, and I came into camp this year feeling like my game was where I wanted it to be at, and I got some confidence early and it picked up from there.”

Kydd shot out of the gate this season, recording at least one point in each of Calgary’s first 11 games. After racking up an incredible 19 points over nine games in the month of October, he was named the Canada West WHL Grad of the Month for October.

That was a tremendous honour for Kydd, who feels he can serve as a role model for WHL players that make the jump to Canada West. The Regina product spent the first two and a half seasons of his WHL career with the Calgary Hitmen, then played the last season and a half with the Kelowna Rockets after being traded in January 2022. All told, he suited up for 193 WHL regular season games, amassing 134 points from 53 goals and 81 assists.

Kydd is utilizing his WHL Scholarship to attend the University of Calgary. For each season played in the WHL, a player is awarded with a one-year post-secondary scholarship, which includes tuition, compulsory fees, and required textbooks.

An Academic All-Canadian as a first-year student-athlete in 2023-24, Kydd aspires to play professional hockey after concluding his U SPORTS career, following in the footsteps of many accomplished Canada West student-athletes before him.

“What I've been able to do here, and what lots of others have been able to do, is really take advantage of the education of a Canadian university, and with the connections that you make, with the knowledge that you learn, and networks that you grow, it sets you up for your professional career, while still playing a high level of hockey,” says the WHL alumnus.

“With the way that the league is set up, it gives you a chance to take a few years and really work on your physical training, (get) lots of ice time, lots of time for practicing, and it's a mature league, so I think it really gets you ready for pro after a few years here. It teaches you to play a heavier, more mature game, and I think that translates into a lot of professional leagues,” Kydd continues.

“It feels like it's still a great option for guys after junior that want to keep playing a high level of hockey and also want to set themselves up with a good quality degree that's going to help them immensely once hockey’s done.”

Right now, Kydd’s focus is on the upcoming Canada West men’s hockey postseason, with Calgary taking on the MacEwan Griffins in the best-of-three quarter-final round. The Dinos took an early series lead after a 6-4 win last night, with Kydd collecting two points.

MacEwan and Calgary will play Game 2 on Saturday at 7 p.m. MT at the Downtown Community Arena in Edmonton. Fans can stream the game live on Canada West TV - Powered by BioSteel.