WHKY: T-Birds, Pandas ready for CW Final rematch
Best-of-three series starts Thursday night in Vancouver
Article by Brian Swane, special to CW
March 6, 2025 - It was a series so good, it deserved a sequel. Luckily for hockey fans, the combatants have seen fit to run it back.
In a rematch of last year’s unforgettable battle for the Catherwood Cup, the 2025 Canada West women’s hockey championship final will see the UBC Thunderbirds host the Alberta Pandas at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Game tickets are available for purchase online and the action will be streamed on Canada West TV - Powered by BioSteel. Friday's Game 2 will also be featured as the Canada West CBC Game of the Week, streaming free on CBC Gem, CBC YouTube and CBCSports.ca.
The best-of-three series gets underway with Games 1 and 2 on Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. PST. Game 3 will be played at 5 p.m. PST on Saturday if necessary.
And if history is any indication, it will be necessary.
Just over 12 months ago, UBC captured its third straight conference championship after rallying from a third period deficit to defeat Alberta 4-2 in Game 3 of the Canada West Final. The first two games of that series were each decided by one goal, with Game 1 needing triple overtime before the Thunderbirds prevailed on their home ice.
The vast majority of players who were on last year’s championship series rosters are back for another go-round, including a whopping nine 2024-25 Canada West All-Star selections: goaltender Grace Glover (First Team), blueliners Taylor Anker (Second Team) and Brooklyn Tews (Second Team), along with forwards Madison Willan (Second Team) and Abby Soyko (Second Team) from the Pandas; and UBC forwards Chanreet Bassi (First Team), Grace Elliott (First Team), and MacKenzie Kordic (Second Team) as well as Thunderbirds’ defender Jaylyn Morris (First Team).
One could say that these teams match strengths, but the thing is, neither side has any real weakness. In Canada West during the regular season, Alberta ranked first in save percentage (.943) and second in shots on goal (29.7 per game), while UBC ranked second in save percentage (.939) and first in shots on goal (31.9 per game). UBC had the league’s best power-play percentage (24.3) and second-best penalty kill percentage (91.9%), while Alberta had the most power-play opportunities (4.45 per game) and was short-handed the fewest times (3.29 per game). Naturally, both paced their division in most goals scored and fewest goals allowed.
This will be the fourth series in the last five Canada West women’s hockey postseasons pitting Alberta against the Thunderbirds. UBC has won the last two meetings. The Pandas are the last team to beat UBC in a playoff round, doing so in the 2020 semifinals en route to their most recent conference title.
For most of the 2024-25 season, Alberta and UBC seemed destined to meet for all the marbles once again. Each ran away with its respective division, with the Thunderbirds finishing first in the West, 10 points ahead of the runner-up Mount Royal Cougars, and the Pandas placing atop the East, 17 points clear of the second-place Manitoba Bisons.
In the best-of-three semifinal round, UBC swept past the Bisons, winning by scores of 4-0 and 4-1 as the 'Birds ran their streak to eight consecutive games of not allowing more than one goal. Thunderbirds netminder Elise Hugens stopped 37 of 38 shots over the two games.
Alberta lost Game 1 of its semifinal against the Mount Royal Cougars 3-2 in double overtime before rebounding to win Game 2 by a score of 1-0 with Pandas forward Natalie Kieser scoring the lone goal. For a few moments late in Game 3, it looked like there would be no championship rematch as Mount Royal had the Pandas on the ropes, leading 2-1 with less than five minutes remaining. But Soyko scored late to force overtime, and Kieser scored the winning goal just 2:23 into sudden death.
UBC and Alberta met twice during the regular season, way back in October, with the Thunderbirds winning twice. Since then, Alberta has lost just twice, including the postseason, with neither coming in regulation. That should make the Pandas the hottest team in the land, except that UBC has won 16 straight contests including the playoffs.
The Pandas and Thunderbirds are the most successful programs in Canada West women’s hockey history, with 20 championships between them. UBC is trying to capture a fourth consecutive title. Only one other program has won more than three in a row: Alberta, which reeled off seven in a row from 2002 to 2008.