Puck set to drop on CW Men's Hockey Playoffs
Catch all the action on CWTV presented by Co-op
Brian Swane, special to CW
CALGARY - It’s playoff time on the prairies, as the Canada West men’s hockey postseason begins this weekend with a pair of best-of-three quarter-final match-ups featuring rivals from the neighbouring provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The Regina Cougars head to Calgary to take on the Mount Royal Cougars, while the Saskatchewan Huskies welcome the Calgary Dinos in Saskatoon. The winners will advance to meet the top-seeded Alberta Golden Bears and second-place UBC Thunderbirds, who have a bye through this round and will host best-of-three semifinal series March 4-6.
No. 6 Regina Cougars (10-9-1, 21 points) vs. No. 3 Mount Royal Cougars (13-6-1, 27 points) at Flames Community Arena in Calgary
- Game 1 – Friday, 7 p.m. MST
- Game 2 – Saturday, 7 p.m. MST
- Game 3 - Sunday, 7 p.m. MST (if necessary)
There seemingly is room for only one pack of Cougars at this time of year: Not only is this the first men’s hockey postseason clash between Canada West’s two schools nicknamed for cats, it’s also the first playoffs to include both Mount Royal and Regina since the former joined the conference in 2012-13. Regina’s last postseason appearance came in 2013, which is the only time that MRU has missed the Canada West playoffs.
Mount Royal is led by the conference’s most prolific forward line, featuring Nolan Yaremko (19 goals, 20 assists), Riley Sawchuk (15 goals, 23 assists), and Brad Kennedy (9 goals, 13 assists). Goaltender Riley Morris has provided a stable presence between the pipes for MRU, posting an 11-3-1 record with a 3.03 goals-against average and .893 save percentage.
Regina’s top offensive producers during the regular season, with 19 and 18 points, respectively, were Turner Ripplinger, who paced the U of R with 8 goals, and and defenceman Brennan Riddle, the team leader with 12 assists. Netminder Brandon Holtby made for 14 starts for Regina, going 7-6-1 with a 2.75 goals-against average and .913 save percentage.
These teams met just five weeks ago at Flames Community Arena, where Mount Royal posted back-to-back wins, making a last-minute comeback to defeat the U of R 4-3 on Jan. 21, before skating past Regina 5-1 the following night.
No. 5 Calgary Dinos (12-7-1, 25 points) vs. No. 4 Saskatchewan Huskies (13-7-0, 26 points) at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon
- Game 1 – Friday, 7 p.m. CST
- Game 2 – Saturday, 7 p.m. CST
- Game 3 - Sunday, 7 p.m. CST (if necessary)
Saskatchewan begins its championship defence in this rematch from last postseason in which the Huskies swept the Dinos in a 2020 best-of-three semifinal series, winning Game 2 in double-overtime at Merlis Belsher Place. The Huskies would then go on to beat UBC to capture the seventh Canada West title in the legendary tenure of head coach Dave Adolph.
Now under the stewardship of Adolph’s successor, Stanley Cup and Olympic champion Mike Babcock, the Huskies are the highest-scoring team in action this weekend, averaging 4.5 goals per game. Saskatchewan forward Zane Franklin finished third in the conference with 26 points (6 goals, 20 assists), while Huskies blueliner Connor Hobbs recorded Canada West’s third-highest points average, with 1.38 per game.
Calgary is yet to lose consecutive games this season, and long-serving coach Mark Howell’s team has thrived in hostile territory, with a 6-4 road record in 2021-22. First-year forward Riley Stotts had the fifth highest points per game average (1.14) among Canada West rookies, totalling 16 points in 14 games, while his teammate Kaden Elder ranked second in the conference with seven power-play goals.
The Dinos and Huskies split a pair of games in the regular season, each winning by a 2-1 score when they faced off at Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary last November.
You can catch all the action on CWTV presented by Co-op. For complete updates and results, visit the playoff page.