WHKY: Quest for the Cup starts Friday
Your complete 2023 Women's Hockey quarterfinal preview
By Brian Swane, special to CW
All roads to the Canada West women’s hockey semifinal round lead through Calgary, where the 2023 playoffs open with a pair of best-of-three quarter-final series, with games scheduled for Friday through Sunday.
At Flames Community Arena, the Mount Royal Cougars host the Trinity Western Spartans, while not far away the Calgary Dinos tangle with the Saskatchewan Huskies inside Father David Bauer Arena.
The winner of each series advances to play either the second-ranked Alberta Pandas or the defending champion (and top-seeded) British Columbia Thunderbirds in Canada West semifinal series set for Feb. 24-26.
WATCH
Catch all the action live on Canada West TV.
MATCH-UPS
No. 6 Trinity Western University Spartans (11-13-4, 26 points) @ No. 3 Mount Royal University Cougars (19-6-3, 41 points)
Flames Community Arena – Calgary, AB
Watch Broadcasts | Get Tickets
- Game 1 – Friday, February 17 – 7 p.m. MST
- Game 2 – Saturday, February 18 – 7 p.m. MST
- Game 3 (if necessary) – Sunday, February 19 – 7 p.m. MST
The Cougars have been waiting nearly 12 months for this moment, when they can write their story of redemption.
In 2021-22, MRU finished atop the Canada West regular season standings for the first time in program history, only to be swept aside 2-0 by the Saskatchewan Huskies in a best-of-three semifinal series. That crushing defeat has fueled MRU throughout its 2022-23 schedule, helping the Cougars win a team record 19 games.
Cougars captain Tatum Amy led Canada West this season with 31 points (seven goals, 24 assists), and was one of four MRU players to rank among the Top 15 in points, including forward Courtney Kollman, who scored a team-best 12 goals. Goaltender Kaitlyn Ross posted a 14-7 record for the Cougars, while registering a 1.44 goals-against average and save percentage of .931.
Much like MRU looks to rebound from one year ago, the Spartans must reverse fortune from this season, which has seen TWU drop all four of its match-ups with the Cougars, by a cumulative score of 15-8. TWU failed to score more than three times in a game this season against the Cougars, who notched at least three goals in all four of their meetings with the Spartans.
The Spartans will look to forwards Amy Potomak (12 goals, 12 assists) and Brooklyn Anderson (10 goals, seven assists) for offence, while hoping netminder Kate Fawcett, who had a 1.85 goals against average and .935 save percentage in 19 regular season appearances, can steal them a game.
Regardless the outcome at Flames Community Arena, this has been a tremendously successful year for the Spartans, who only made their Canada West debut last season and are now in the playoffs for the first time.
No. 5 University of Saskatchewan Huskies (14-11-3, 31 points) @ No. 4 University of Calgary Dinos (15-9-4, 34 points)
Father David Bauer Arena – Calgary, AB
Watch Broadcasts | Get Tickets
- Game 1 – Friday, February 17 – 7 p.m. MST
- Game 2 – Saturday, February 18 – 6 p.m. MST
- Game 3 (if necessary) – Sunday, February 19 – 6 p.m. MST
The red hot Dinos enter the playoffs on a four-game winning streak and have won nine of the last 11 overall after starting the season with only six wins in their first 17 contests.
Not only is Calgary in the playoffs for just the second time in six seasons, but the Dinos’ second-half surge has given them home advantage in a postseason series for the first time since 2015.
Saskatchewan, on the other hand, is used to playing at this time of year, making a 15th consecutive playoff appearance, including capturing the Catherwood Cup in 2014. But also unlike Calgary, the Huskies enter the quarter-final round in a bit of a slump, with just two wins in their last eight outings.
If the regular season is any indication, this will be a narrowly contested match-up where one play could decide the entire series. The Dinos and Huskies were 2-2 head-to-head in 2022-23, with each winning once in the other’s rink, and all four games were decided by one goal.
Calgary is led by senior forward Alli Borrow, who tallied a Canada West-best 15 times to account for nearly one-quarter of her team’s goals in 2022-23.
While they are the lowest scoring of all teams that qualified for the playoffs, with only 49 goals in 28 regular season games, the Huskies boast a stout defence backstopped by Camryn Drever, who ranked third among Canada West netminders with a stellar .938 save percentage.
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
For all the latest on the CW 2023 Women's Hockey Playoffs, visit Championship Central.