2014-15 Manitoba Bisons/CIS Thread

[Hollywood]

Preview: Jan 29-30: Bisons at MRU
_________________________________________________

FINAL WEEKEND SEES HERD TRAVEL WEST


MANITOBA BISONS (14-12-0, 19-14-0, OHT36 #15)
MOUNT ROYAL COUGARS (16-9-1, 21-9-1, OHT36 #8)

Thursday, January 29th, 7:00 MST/ 8:00 CST
Friday, January 30th, 7:00 MST/ 8:00 CST

Live Links:
:. [Live Stats Thursday] : [Live Stats Friday]
:. [Video: CanadaWest.tv]

Manitoba Links:
:. [U of M: Dickin Athlete of the Week]
:. [LS Stats] : [LS Schedule/Results]
:. [Twitter] : [Facebook]

Mount Royal Links:
:. [MRU Preview Story]
:. [LS Stats] : [LS Schedule/Results]
:. [Twitter] : [Facebook]

Other Links:
:. [CIS Site] : [Schedule/Results/Links] : [Standings]
:. [CW Site] : [Schedule/Results/Links]
:. [Every Link Re: CIS Hockey]
:. [CIS Top Ten] : [at CW]

Late uploads from The Manitoban:
:. [Saskatchewan Series] : [Lethbridge Series]
:. [From there and back again (about Shaq Merasty)]

Prior games:
:. Oct 17: MRU 4 Man 0: [Game Story] : [LS Summary] : [CW Story/Boxscore]
:. Oct 18: Man 1 MRU 0: [Game Story] : [LS Summary] : [CW Story/Boxscore]

The season ends early in the CW this year. And they made it end even one day earlier by moving all the games this weekend to Thursday-Friday. Every series will have both games televised.

This match-up produces the most physical games in the CIS. Both sides tend to recruit big, physical players and when they meet it produces lots of contact. The Bisons picked up some speed this year but the basic format remains the same.

The sides met at the Wayne Fleming Arena back in October and goals were tough to come by. The first game was scoreless until late in the 2nd when MRU took control. They went 2-for-10 on the powerplay, whilst the Bisons went 0-for-8. The rematch was scoreless for 54 minutes until Josh Elmes scored one of his two goals on the season.

When the teams last met, MRU was being led by goaltender Dalyn Flette. Cam Lanigan started game 2 since it was a matinée affair. The Bisons were riding Deven Dubyk. So one thing at which we must look is the goaltending. The Bisons elevated Byron Spriggs to split duty status and then started him both games last weekend against Sask.

When these teams last me they had 10 of the top 20 scorers in the league. They now have just 7, 3 from MRU (Cody Cartier, Tyler Fiddler, and Matthew Brown) and 4 from Manitoba (Jordan DePape, Aaron Lewadniuk, Taylor Dickin, and Shaq Merasty). Cartier sits 3rd and is just 3 points out of 1st.

And for the trivia buffs, some interesting facts:
• Manitoba is 8-2-0 in regular season games against MRU since they entered the CW in 2012-13.
• Manitoba beat MRU 2-1 in the quarter-finals last year.
• The teams have almost identical plus-minus ratings. Both are +9, MRU outscoring their opponents 78-69 and Manitoba outscoring their opponents 79-70.
• Manitoba is now 10-0-0 when leading after 2 periods.
• MRU could still get 2nd place if they get 3 more points than Calgary.
• MRU could still fall to 4th if UBC wins both games against Lethbridge and MRU loses both in regulation.
• Manitoba cannot move down from 5th, but could move up if they get one point more than UBC.

All-in-all, I expect to be seeing MRU play Saskatchewan and Manitoba play UBC in 3 weeks' time.

ELSEWHERE:

UBC THUNDERBIRDS (12-9-5, 15-10-5, OHT36 #13)
LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS (4-22-0, 6-26-0, OHT36 #31)

Links:
:. [Video: CanadaWest.tv]
:. [U of L Preview Story]
:. [UBC Preview Story]
:. [CIS hockey team shaving heads to support goalie]
:. [CIS goalie Dylan Tait facing cancer head on]

The eyes of the Bisons will be on this series. A win for Lethbridge would open the door for the Herd to leap-frog UBC and claim 4th place and home ice advantage in the quarter-final round. Otherwise, UBC could assure themselves of 4th place and host a playoff series for the first time since 1971.

Could the H0rny Ones do it?

Well, a couple of things work in their favour.

For one, on Friday they are having a head shave fundraiser to support goaltender Dylan Tait and athletic therapist and equipment manager Brennan Mahon (both diagnosed with testicular cancer this season). There should be some heavy duty karma on their side for that alone. (Check out the linked stories from SportsNet U for background on this.)

Second, they have been a tough team on home ice. And since this is the end of their season one would expect an all-out effort from a hard-working team.

But what about UBC?

In the past they had chances to beat out Calgary for 4th, only to blow it down the stretch. This year they have been steadily racking up the points. Their worst home stretch weekend was the one where they split with the Bisons. In their last 5 series they have 3 points against Calgary, 2 points against Manitoba, 4 points against MRU, then 3 points against each of Sask and Regina.

On the other hand, they have been fortunate beneficiaries of the "loser point" system and have excessive mileage on the goals for and against. Their 12 wins qualifies as "above .500" due to their 5 OTLs. Their GF-GA is also 72-71. Could the bad karma catch up to them?

Anyhow, I wish Dylan Tait well in his battle, which is by far the most important one.

ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS (22-3-1, 28-6-1, OHT36 #1)
SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES (10-14-2, 12-15-4, OHT36 #18)

Links:
:. [Video: CanadaWest.tv]
:. [U of S Preview Story (with video)] : [repost at CW]
:. [U of A Team Site]

Unfortunately, there will also be a cancer motif to Sask's season home finale. Banjo-Mutt Cody "Marty" Smuk is being joined in his battle by his friends and team-mates, and hopefully lots of Saskatoonites. Fill the barn for Marty!

The Evil Monkeys will be 1st, and Sask will be 6th. Hence this series will not affect the final placements at all. This is Sask's first losing season since

Video: http://youtu.be/VpRnRabq1oY

CALGARY DINOSAURS (18-8-0, 22-10-1, OHT36 #6)
REGINA COUGARS (8-16-2, 10-22-2, OHT36 #22)

Links:
:. [Video: CanadaWest.tv]
:. [Regina Preview Story]
:. [Calgary Preview Story]

There is a chance for Bedrock U to be bumped out of 2nd place, whilst Regina cannot escape 7th. MRU needs 3 more points than Calgary to catch them. Will Regina be motivated to give it 100%? I am not so sure. Had they beaten UBC last Saturday, I would have given them good odds in this series. As it stands I am guessing at best a split, and the Dinos will have earned their first round bye.

OUT EAST:

AUS

Wed Jan 28 St. Thomas 1 New Brunswick 6
Wed Jan 28 UPEI 2 Moncton 4

Fri Jan 30 Dalhousie at Moncton
Fri Jan 30 Acadia at New Brunswick
Fri Jan 30 St. Thomas at St. F-X
Fri Jan 30 UPEI at Saint Mary's

OUA

Sun Jan 25 Laurentian 4 Concordia 2
Tue Jan 27 Ryerson 2 Toronto 3
Tue Jan 27 UOIT 4 Queen's 6
Wed Jan 28 McGill 5 UQTR 2

Thu Jan 29 Windsor at Western Ontario
Thu Jan 29 Laurier at York

Fri Jan 30 Ryerson at Carleton
Fri Jan 30 Toronto at RMC
Fri Jan 30 Waterloo at Brock
Fri Jan 30 Guelph at Lakehead

[Hollywood]

Jan 29: Bisons Blow Opportunity

_________________________________________

 

MANITOBA BISONS 2

MOUNT ROYAL COUGARS 3

Links:

:. [CIS Thursday Round-Up]

:. [LeagueStat Summary]

:. [CIS Boxscore] : [CW Boxscore]

:. [MRU Game Story/Boxscore] : [repost at CW]

:. [repost at U of M] : [UM Boxscore]

The Bisons blew a golden opportunity to jump into 4th place. The teams were tied at 1-1 entering the 3rd period. Shaq Merasty scored his second goal of the night in the opening minute of the 3rd period. However, MRU rallied to score twice and then hang on for the win. Kyle Rous replaced Darren Bestland on the Bison defence (due to the latter's match penalty last Saturday) and otherwise the Bison line-up was unchanged.

Dalyn Flette got the win, and Byron Spriggs suffered the loss. Each team had 31 shots.

The Bisons remain one point behind UBC, and MRU is now assured of 3rd place, no higher and no lower.

We'll see if Friday's webcast on CanadaWest.tv comes in. This game did not, so I watched UBC v Lethbridge while checking this one for live stats updates.

OUT-OF-TOWN SCOREBOARD

UBC THUNDERBIRDS 3

LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 4

Links:

:. [LeagueStat Summary] : [CIS Boxscore] : [CW Boxscore]

:. [U of L Game Story/Boxscore] : [repost at CW]

:. [UBC Site (story not yet posted)]

One must give Lethbridge credit for this win. They did not mail it in. In fact, they started fast and at one time held a 3-0 lead. The game was 4-2 when UBC pulled their goaltender with about 2 minutes left. Lethbridge missed an open net, and UBC then scored to make the ending wild. UBC outshot Lethbridge 43-26, but gave up loads of great scoring chances amongst those 26 shots. Warren Shymko got the win and Mark Hewitt5 took the loss. Friday night's rematch should be worth a watch on CanadaWest.tv.

ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 2

SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 1

(in shootout)

Links:

:. [LeagueStat Summary] : [CIS Boxscore] : [CW Boxscore]

:. [Sask Game Story] : [repost at CW]

:. [Alberta Site (story not yet posted)]

The Monkeys already had 1st place assured, and the Mutts could not rise from 6th. So this was the least important game on the docket. Now lets hope the Rutherdump gets full to rim for Friday's rematch in honour of Cody Smuk and cancer research.

CALGARY DINOSAURS 2

REGINA COUGARS 1

Links:

:. [LeagueStat Summary] : [CIS Boxscore] : [CW Boxscore]

:. [Regina Game Story/Boxscore] : [repost at CW]

:. [Calgary Site (story not yet posted)]

This win assured Bedrock U of 2nd place. Regina was stuck in 7th heading into the game, so Friday's rematch should lack some sizzle. Kris Lazaruk got the win and Lucas Gore had the loss.

OUT EAST

OUA

Windsor 1 Western Ontario 0

Laurier 5 York 3

NEXT UP

Fri Jan 30 Alberta at Saskatchewan - 7:00 CST CanadaWest.tv

Fri Jan 30 Calgary at Regina - 7:00 CST CanadaWest.tv

Fri Jan 30 Manitoba at Mount Royal - 7:00 MST CanadaWest.tv

Fri Jan 30 UBC at Lethbridge - 7:00 MST CanadaWest.tv

Fri Jan 30 Dalhousie at Moncton

Fri Jan 30 Acadia at New Brunswick

Fri Jan 30 St. Thomas at St. F-X

Fri Jan 30 UPEI at Saint Mary's

Fri Jan 30 Ryerson at Carleton

Fri Jan 30 Toronto at RMC

Fri Jan 30 Waterloo at Brock

Fri Jan 30 Guelph at Lakehead

[Hollywood]

Jan 30: Winning Not Enough for the Bisons

______________________________________________________

MANITOBA BISONS 4

MOUNT ROYAL COUGARS 3

Links:

:. [CIS Friday Round-Up]

:. [LeagueStat Summary]

:. [CIS Boxscore] : [CW Boxscore]

:. [MRU Farewell Story]

:. [MRU Game Story/Boxscore] : [repost at CW]

:. [repost at U of M] : [UM Boxscore] (links not yet posted)

The Bisons claimed a victory in the final game of the regular season, however it did not allow them to move up from 5th place in the standings. UBC's win gave them 31 points, one more than Manitoba. So when the CW teams return to the ice in 3 weeks the Herd will be off to the Wet Coast in the first series hosted in British California since 1971. More on that later.

The Bisons iced the same line-up as on Thursday, except that Deven Dubyk started in goal. And what he performance he gave, stopping 39 of 42 shots in MRU's best offensive sdhowing against the Bisons all season.

In the 1st period the Bisons staked themselves to a 2-0 lead on goals by Brett Dudar (his 7th) and Jesse Paradis (his 6th). After getting used to the big jump from Junior A to university, Dudar has 5 goals in his last 10 games. He has improved dramtically as the season has progressed. Earlier on he was often scratched.

MRU was not content to get run out of the rink on home ice. The 2nd period was all their's, outshooting the Bisons 18-8 and scoring twice. from Matthew Brown (13th) and Mackenzie Johnston (4th).

With the game on the line in the 3rd period, there was no scoring for over 16 minutes until Aaron Lewadniuk notched is 12th of the season. With time running out, Josh Elmes (his 3rd) scored an empty net shorthanded goal. MRU made the scoreline look a little better when Tanner Olsted scored for the 2nd time this season.

So, that's it for the regular season. The Bisons finish a very respectable 15-13-0. The 5th place finish means that the only way they could play at home in the playoffs would be if they and Saskatchewan meet in the final. Next up will be a trip to UBC for games on February 20th, 21st, and (if required) 22nd.

OUT-OF-TOWN SCOREBOARD

UBC THUNDERBIRDS 4

LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 0

Links:

:. [LeagueStat Summary]

:. [CIS Boxscore] : [CW Boxscore]

:. [U of L Game Story/Boxscore] : [repost at CW]

:. [UBC Fri Story/Boxscore] : [UBC Sat Story/Boxscore]

:. [Lethbridge Twitter]

UBC's bounce-back victory nullified the Bison victory. The result boosts the 'Birds to 13-10-5. Is that over .500 or under .500? After the game the H0rny Ones all had their heads shaved. Their Twitter feed has links to many photos. Here are a couple:

Brennan Mahon and Dylan Tait. Good luck, guys!

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b138/hollywoodin2001/CIS/CW/Lethbridge-shaved-150130-350px-cropped.jpg

Best team photo ever!

Lethbridge has to get loads of credit for a strong performance in this series. First, they achieved a split. And even though they lost this one, they battled UBC hard (only outshot 29-27) and it was a 2-0 game until it was quite late. Both sides switched goaltenders from Thursday night. Eric Williams got the shut-out and Damien Ketlo took the loss.

ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 4

SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 2

Links:

:. [LeagueStat Summary]

:. [CIS Boxscore] : [CW Boxscore]

:. [Sask Game Story] : [repost at CW]

:. [reposted at Alberta]

The highlight of this game is that the Mutts raised $3,250 for Marty's Men (the charity drive for Cody Smuk). That's great, considering half the fans rode their tractors to the game!

Neither team could move up or down in the standings in this series, so it did not draw much attention considering these teams met in last year's University Cup final. Luke Siemens got the win and Jordon Cooke took the loss, as both sides continued their season-long rotation pattern in goal. This game was actually a bit more one-sided that it sounds. The Evil Monkeys held a 4-0 lead before Sask's late rally made the scoreline look more respectable.

CALGARY DINOSAURS 2

REGINA COUGARS 1

(in overtime)

Links:

:. [LeagueStat Summary]

:. [CIS Boxscore] : [CW Boxscore]

:. [Regina Game Story/Boxscore] : [repost at CW]

:. [Thursday repost at U of C] : [Friday repost at U of C]

The Banjo-Cats put up yet another credible performance but still could not claim a win. One has to wonder if they could have picked up at least one win in this series had they the motivation of a playoff opportunity. Jacob DeSerres got he win, and Mitch Kilgore the loss.

FINAL STANDINGS

Team`````````` W`` L``OL``Pts

Alberta ``````24`` 3`` 1`` 48

Calgary ``````20`` 8`` 0`` 40

Mount Royal`` 17``10`` 1`` 35

UBC`````````` 13``10`` 5`` 31

Manitoba``````15``13`` 0`` 30

Saskatchewan``10``15`` 3`` 23

Regina```````` 8``17`` 3`` 19

Lethbridge```` 5``23`` 0```10

OUT EAST

AUS

Dalhousie 2 Moncton 4

Acadia 1 New Brunswick 2 (ot)

St. Thomas 0 St. F-X 4

UPEI 1 Saint Mary's 5

OUA

Ryerson 2 Carleton 5

Toronto 6 RMC 3

Waterloo 4 Brock 2

Guelph 2 Lakehead 8

NEXT UP

Sat Jan 31 Acadia at Moncton

Sat Jan 31 St. Thomas at Saint Mary's

Sat Jan 31 Dalhousie at New Brunswick

Sat Jan 31 UPEI at St. F-X

Sat Jan 31 Nipissing at UQTR

Sat Jan 31 Waterloo at Western Ontario

Sat Jan 31 UOIT at McGill

Sat Jan 31 Toronto at Carleton

Sat Jan 31 Ryerson at RMC

Sat Jan 31 York at Windsor

Sat Jan 31 Guelph at Lakehead

Sat Jan 31 Brock at Laurier

Sat Jan 31 Queen's at Laurentian

Sun Feb 01 UOIT at Concordia

Canada West Playoff Schedule

Fri Feb 20 Saskatchewan at Mount Royal

Fri Feb 20 Manitoba at UBC

Sat Feb 21 Saskatchewan at Mount Royal

Sat Feb 21 Manitoba at UBC

Sun Feb 22 Saskatchewan at Mount Royal (if necessary)

Sun Feb 22 Manitoba at UBC (if necessary)

Fri Feb 27 Higher Quarterfinal Winner at Calgary

Fri Feb 27 Lower Quarterfinal Winner at Alberta

Sat Feb 28 Higher Quarterfinal Winner at Calgary

Sat Feb 28 Lower Quarterfinal Winner at Alberta

Sun Mar 1 Higher Quarterfinal Winner at Calgary (if necessary)

Sun Mar 1 Lower Quarterfinal Winner at Alberta (if necessary)

Thu Mar 5 Semifinal Winners (at higher seed)

Fri Mar 6 Semifinal Winners (at higher seed)

Sat Mar 7 Semifinal Winners (at higher seed) (if necessary)

Thu Mar 12 TBD CIS Championship at Halifax (March 12-15)

Link:

:. [CW Playoff Schedule]

[Hollywood]

Time for Universiade
__________________________________



Although I am not a big fan of the timing of this tournament and the impact it has had on the CW regular season, it is nevertheless a great opportunity for the players selected. And it presents the CIS with a chance to showcase itself as well.

The event takes place in Granada, Spain. Yes, Spain. Winter sports are now taking place in the darndest places. Therefore this tournament gives the sport a chance to make an impression in what is most assuredly a "non-traditional market".

Canada will be on Pool B against Russia, Sweden, and Korea, which seems the toughest pool. 8 of the 11 teams advance to the quarter-final round. Here is their schedule:

Tue Feb 3: Canada v South Korea (10:00 CST)
Thu Feb 5: Canada v Sweden (10:00 CST)
Sat Feb 7: Canada v Russia (10:00 CST)
Wed Feb 11: Quarterfinals (time TBD)
Fri Feb 13: Semi-finals (time TBD)
Sat Feb 14: Bronze (5:00 CST)
Sat Feb 14: Final (9:00 CST)
(all times am)

The CIS has a Twitter account and have tweeted a picture of their Saturday practice. The team was set to travel Saturday night.


The Bisons are represented by forward Jordan DePape, defenceman Luke Paulsen, and coach Mike Sirant. The full roster and other stuff is at the links.

Links:
:. [CIS Universiade Page]
:. [Canada International Twitter]
:. [FISU Site] : [FISU Hockey] : [News]
:. [Granada 2015 Site]
:. [Tournament Men's Hockey Daily Schedules]
:. [IIHF Story] : [CIS announcement]
:. [CW Team Announcement]
:. [Wikipedia Page]

[Hollywood]

Feb 3: Canada Crushes Korea
___________________________________________


CANADA 11
SOUTH KOREA 1

Links:
:. [CIS Team Page]
:. [Canada International Twitter]
:. [FISU.net Daily Story]
:. [Granada 2015 Men's Hockey Daily Schedules]
:. [Game Summary]

A big win over South Korea may not be a cause for a parade. But you have to win games like this by as many goals as possible to be assured of advancing.

The game was 1-1 after the 1st period, even though the shots on goal were 25-4 in favour of Canada. So, not to worry. Eventually the shots turned into goals, 4 in the 2nd period and 6 more in the 3rd. Ryan Holfeld started in goal and replaced by Kris Lazaruk mid-way through the 2nd period.

The other scores were:
Kazakhstan 3 Japan 2
Russia 5 Sweden 1

Wednesday's schedule is:
Slovakia v Czech Republic
China v Spain

[Hollywood]

Feb 4: Day off for TC
_____________________________________



First, there are some new links and a photo from Tuesday's game.

Links:
:. [CIS Game Story]
:. [PDF Box Score]



Second, this was a light day with just two men's games and one women's game. Here are the scores:

Slovakia 3 Czech Republic 6
China 0 Spain 8

Women's:
Canada 7 Kazakhstan 1

Thursday's games:

Russia v South Korea
Canada v Sweden
United States v Japan

Women's:
United States v China
Japan v Spain

Apparently, the games are on-line:
http://www.fisu.tv/

And if that is not working, the Twitter has updates:
https://twitter.com/CDNUniversiade

[Hollywood]

Feb 5: Don Cherry Is Happy!

____________________________________________

CANADA 7

SWEDEN 0

Links:

:. [CIS Game Story] : [PDF Box Score]

:. [Canada International Twitter]

:. [FISU.net Daily Story]

:. [Granada 2015 Men's Hockey Daily Schedules]

:. [Game Summary]

The good Canadian boys showed the Swedes what hockey is all about. I doubt that the Swedes even once went into a corner. Jordan Hickmott scored twice and Ryan Holfeld recorded the shutout. Canada dominated the shots, 59-10. Canada is 2-0 and will advance with Russia from the pool. Sweden is 0-2 and must beat South Korea.

It was also a rough day for the Yanks. The other scores were:

Russia 13 South Korea 0

United States 2 Japan 3

Women's scores:

United States 1 China 2

Japan 11 Spain 0

Friday's schedule is:

Spain v Czech Republic

Slovakia v China

Women's:

Russia v Kazakhstan

[Hollywood]

Feb 6: Day Off for TC / Eastern Finish Line in Sight

__________________________________________________________________

Canada had a day off on Friday. The link for their schedule/results page has been changed, which explains why they did not update it following Thursday's win over Sweden. It is now:

http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/winter/2015/sports/hockey_m/schedule

Also, the IIHF site has a link to a tournament site. However the summaries they have are all PDFs:

http://www.iihf.com/competition/universiade-2015/men/

On Friday there were two men's games:

Spain 2 Czech Republic 5

Slovakia 13 China 1

Spanish goaltender Ander Alcaine stopped 66 of the 71 shots he faced to keep his game respectable.

Women's:

Russia 12 Kazakhstan 1

Saturday's games:

Sweden v South Korea

Canada v Russia - 10:00 am CST - [video]

Kazakhstan v United States

Women's:

United States v Japan

Spain v China

MEANWHILE ... OUT EAST

AUS

Wed Feb 04 Saint Mary's 7 Dalhousie 1

Wed Feb 04 Moncton 2 New Brunswick 3 (ot)

Fri Feb 06 Dalhousie 5 Acadia 2

Fri Feb 06 Moncton 5 St. Thomas 3

Fri Feb 06 St. F-X 3 Saint Mary's 4 (ot)

Fri Feb 06 New Brunswick 2 UPEI 4

OUA

Thu Feb 05 Queen's 5 RMC 1

Thu Feb 05 York 3 Ryerson 7

Thu Feb 05 Western Ontario 2 Guelph 5

Fri Feb 06 Carleton 8 Nipissing 3

Fri Feb 06 Laurier 0 Western Ontario 6

Fri Feb 06 Toronto 2 Brock 7

UP NEXT

AUS

Sat Feb 07 St. F-X at Acadia

Sat Feb 07 St. Thomas at UPEI

OUA

Sat Feb 07 Toronto at York

Sat Feb 07 RMC at McGill

Sat Feb 07 Brock at Windsor

Sat Feb 07 Waterloo at Guelph

Sat Feb 07 UQTR at Queen's

Sat Feb 07 Lakehead at Laurier

Sat Feb 07 Carleton at Laurentian

Sun Feb 08 UQTR at RMC

Sun Feb 08 Nipissing at Laurentian

STANDINGS

AUS````````````W`` L``OL``Pts``Games

UNB`````````` 22`` 4`` 2`` 46``-

Saint Mary's``20`` 7`` 1`` 41``-

Acadia````````19`` 5`` 3`` 41``SFX

St F-X````````17`` 8`` 2`` 36``@ Aca

UPEI``````````12``13`` 2`` 26``STU

Moncton`````` 11``14`` 3`` 25``-

Dalhousie``````7``20`` 1`` 15``-

St. Thomas```` 2``21`` 4````8``@ UPEI

CWUAA``````````W`` L``OL``Pts

Alberta ``````24`` 3`` 1`` 49

Calgary ``````20`` 8`` 0`` 40

Mount Royal`` 17``10`` 1`` 35

UBC`````````` 13``10`` 5`` 31

Manitoba``````15``13`` 0`` 30

Saskatchewan``10``15`` 3`` 23

Regina```````` 8``17`` 3`` 19

Lethbridge```` 5``23`` 0`` 10

OUA EAST`````` W`` L``OL``Pts

Carleton``````20`` 5`` 0`` 40``at Laur

McGill````````20`` 5`` 0`` 40``RMC

UQTR``````````18`` 4`` 2`` 38``at Que at RMC

Laurentian````12`` 9`` 3`` 27``Carl Nip

Queen's`````` 12``12`` 1`` 25``UQTR

Nipissing```` 12``12`` 1`` 25``at Laur

UOIT``````````10``15`` 1`` 21``-

Concordia``````8``17`` 1`` 17``-

RMC````````````0``21`` 3````3``at McG UQTR

OUA WEST`````` W`` L``OL``Pts

Windsor`````` 21`` 4`` 1`` 43``Brock

W. Ontario````19`` 7`` 1`` 39``-

Waterloo``````17`` 7`` 2`` 36``at Gue

Ryerson`````` 14``12`` 1`` 29``-

Toronto`````` 12``13`` 1`` 25``at York

Guelph````````10``13`` 3`` 23``Wat

Brock```````` 10``14`` 2`` 22``at Wind

Lakehead`````` 9``14`` 3`` 21``at Laur

Laurier`````` 10``14`` 1`` 21``Lake

York`````````` 9``15`` 2`` 20``Tor

[Hollywood]

Feb 7: Canada Defeats Russkies

_________________________________________________

CANADA 5

RUSSIA 3

Links:

:. [CIS Game Story] : [PDF Box Score]

:. [CP Story at SportsNet U]

:. [Canada International Twitter]

:. [FISU.net Daily Story]

:. [Granada 2015 Men's Hockey Daily Schedules]

:. [Game Summary]

Although there have been some one-sided games early in this tournament, Saturday was the day for close encounters of the hockey kind.

Canada fell behind against the Commies 0-2 after the 1st period but rallied for the win. Tyler Fiddler and Jesse Craige each had two-goal games and Kris Lazaruk got the win in goal. The CIS story is pretty good, so click the link!

Canada will play in the quarter-finals on Wednesday. Game time and opponent are TBD. I do know that they seed the teams from all 3 pools but how they account for one pool having just 3 teams remains a big unknown.

The other men's games were even more tightly contested, since they required shootouts:

Sweden 5 South Korea 4 (so)

Kazakhstan 2 United States 3 (so)

It is a bit of a surprise that the Koreans gave Sweden such a battle. Although both sides were easily handled by Canada and Russia, the Swedes were loads more competitive. The shots were 35-32 for Sweden. Korea briefly held the lead in the 3rd period. So in Pool B, Canada finishes 1st, Russia is 2nd, Sweden is 3rd, and South Korea is 4th.

Pool C has only 3 teams and each team has a 3-2 win and a 3-2 loss. However, in the 3-2-1 point system, Kazakhstan gets one point and the USA gets two. Therefore, Kazkhstan finishes 1st with 4 points, Japan sits 2nd with 3 points, and the Excited States are 3rd with 2 pounts.

Women's scores:

United States 1 Japan 4

Spain 0 China 12

Sunday's schedule is:

Czech Republic v China

Spain v Slovakia

Women's:

Canada v Russia

OUT EAST

AUS

Sat Feb 07 St. F-X 4 Acadia 5

Sat Feb 07 St. Thomas 3 UPEI 4

OUA

Sat Feb 07 Toronto 3 York 2

Sat Feb 07 RMC 1 McGill 5

Sat Feb 07 Brock 6 Windsor 9

Sat Feb 07 Waterloo 4 Guelph 5

Sat Feb 07 UQTR 3 Queen's 4 (so)

Sat Feb 07 Lakehead 3 Laurier 2

Sat Feb 07 Carleton 0 Laurentian 1 (so)

UP NEXT

OUA

Sun Feb 08 UQTR at RMC

Sun Feb 08 Nipissing at Laurentian

end of regular season

PLAYOFFS

CWUAA

Alberta - bye

Calgary - bye

Mount Royal v Saskatchewan

UBC v Manitoba

AUS

New Brunswick - bye

Acadia - bye

Saint Mary's v Moncton

St. F-X v UPEI

OUA WEST

Windsor v Brock

W. Ontario v Lakehead

Waterloo v Guelph

Ryerson v Toronto

OUA EAST

McGill v Concordia

rest tbd

[Hollywood]

Feb 8: Round-Robin Ends, Playoffs Coming

_________________________________________________________

Pool A was the only one with remaining games on Sunday and the scores were:

Spain 2 Slovakia 5

Czech Republic 9 China 0

And there was also a women's game:

Canada 1 Russia 3

Thus ends round-robin play in the tournament. The teams are now seeded into the playoffs. The top 5 are in the quarter-finals. But first, the bottom 6 play three games to eliminate 3 and send the 3 winners to the quarter-finals as well.

The 1st place teams were seeded 1-3, the 2nd place teams were seeded 4-6, the 3rd place teams were 7-9, and the 4th place teams 10-11. From there it was average points/game (to account for Pool C having one less team), then +/-. The resulted in these seedings:

1 Canada

2 Czech Republic

3 Kazakhstan

4 Russia

5 Slovakia

6 Japan

7 Spain

8 United States

9 Sweden

10 South Korea

11 China

The final round-robin standings and seedings are in a PDF here:

http://stats.iihf.com/WUNI/3/IHM400900_76A_15_0.pdf

The playoff draw is in a PDF here:

http://stats.iihf.com/WUNI/3/IHM400100_76B_1_0.pdf

On Wednesday Canada will play the winner of USA-Sweden. If they win they would face the winner of Russia-Slovakia on Friday in the semi-finals.

[Hollywood]

Feb 8: OUA and AUS finish regular seasons

________________________________________________________

The AUS wrapped up on Saturday and the OUA followed suit with two games on Sunday.

Sun Feb 08 UQTR 5 RMC 2

Sun Feb 08 Nipissing 2 Laurentian 3 (ot)

STANDINGS

AUS````````````W`` L``OL``Pts

UNB`````````` 22`` 4`` 2`` 46

Acadia````````20`` 5`` 3`` 43

Saint Mary's``20`` 7`` 1`` 41

St F-X````````17`` 9`` 2`` 36

UPEI``````````13``13`` 2`` 28

Moncton`````` 11``14`` 3`` 25

Dalhousie``````7``20`` 1`` 15

St. Thomas```` 2``23`` 4````8

CWUAA``````````W`` L``OL``Pts

Alberta ``````24`` 3`` 1`` 49

Calgary ``````20`` 8`` 0`` 40

Mount Royal`` 17``10`` 1`` 35

UBC`````````` 13``10`` 5`` 31

Manitoba``````15``13`` 0`` 30

Saskatchewan``10``15`` 3`` 23

Regina```````` 8``17`` 3`` 19

Lethbridge```` 5``23`` 0`` 10

OUA EAST`````` W`` L``OL``Pts

McGill````````21`` 5`` 0`` 42

Carleton``````20`` 5`` 1`` 41

UQTR``````````19`` 4`` 3`` 41

Laurentian````14`` 9`` 3`` 31

Queen's`````` 13``12`` 1`` 27

Nipissing```` 12``12`` 2`` 26

UOIT``````````10``15`` 1`` 21

Concordia``````8``17`` 1`` 17

RMC````````````0``23`` 3````3

OUA WEST`````` W`` L``OL``Pts

Windsor`````` 22`` 4`` 1`` 45

W. Ontario````19`` 7`` 1`` 39

Waterloo``````17`` 8`` 2`` 36

Ryerson`````` 14``12`` 1`` 29

Toronto`````` 13``13`` 1`` 27

Guelph````````11``13`` 3`` 25

Lakehead``````10``14`` 3`` 23

Brock```````` 10``15`` 2`` 22

Laurier`````` 10``15`` 1`` 21

York`````````` 9``15`` 3`` 21

PLAYOFFS

CWUAA

Alberta - bye

Calgary - bye

Mount Royal v Saskatchewan

UBC v Manitoba

AUS

New Brunswick - bye

Acadia - bye

Saint Mary's v Moncton

St. F-X v UPEI

OUA - WEST

Windsor v Brock

Western Ontario v Lakehead

Waterloo v Guelph

Ryerson v Toronto

OUA - EAST

McGill v Concordia

Carleton v UOIT

UQTR v Nipissing

Laurentian v Queen's

CIS standings:

http://english.cis-sic.ca/sports/mice/2014-15/standings-conf

CIS playoffs:

http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice/2015/schedule

[Hollywood]

Feb 10: Eastern Playoffs Begin Tonight

___________________________________________________

Both the AUS and OUA have released their playoff schedules. Action begins tonight with the Moncton Eggs facing the SMUskies. Here is the full schedule:

Tue Feb 10 Moncton at Saint Mary's 7:00 PM AST

Wed Feb 11 UPEI at StFX 7:00 PM AST

Wed Feb 11 Concordia at McGill 7:00 PM EST

Wed Feb 11 UQTR at Nipissing 7:00 PM EST

Wed Feb 11 Windsor at Brock 7:15 PM EST

Wed Feb 11 Carleton at UOIT 7:30 PM EST

Wed Feb 11 Guelph at Waterloo 7:30 PM EST

Wed Feb 11 Toronto at Ryerson 7:30 PM EST

Wed Feb 11 W. Ontario at Lakehead 7:30 PM EST

Wed Feb 11 Laurentian at Queen's 7:30 PM EST

Thu Feb 12 Saint Mary's at Moncton 7:00 PM AST

Thu Feb 12 Waterloo at Guelph 7:30 PM EST

Fri Feb 13 StFX at UPEI 7:00 PM AST

Fri Feb 13 UOIT at Carleton 7:00 PM EST

Fri Feb 13 McGill at Concordia 7:30 PM EST

Sat Feb 14 Nipissing at UQTR 4:00 PM EST

Sat Feb 14 Brock at Windsor 4:00 PM EST

Sat Feb 14 Lakehead at W. Ontario 4:00 PM EST

Sat Feb 14 Moncton at Saint Mary's 7:00 PM AST

Sat Feb 14 UOIT at Carleton 7:00 PM EST

Sat Feb 14 Ryerson at Toronto 7:30 PM EST

Sat Feb 14 Queen's at Laurentian 8:30 PM EST

Sun Feb 15 Queen's at Laurentian TBA

Sun Feb 15 Nipissing at UQTR 4:00 PM EST

Sun Feb 15 UPEI at StFX 7:00 PM AST

Sun Feb 15 Guelph at Waterloo 6:30 PM EST

Sun Feb 15 Lakehead at W. Ontario 7:00 PM EST

Sun Feb 15 Concordia at McGill 7:00 PM EST

Sun Feb 15 Brock at Windsor 7:30 PM EST

Sun Feb 15 Toronto at Ryerson 7:30 PM EST

The CWUAA playoffs begin on Friday, Feb 20 due to the Universiade taking place right now. New Brunswick and Acadia have the weekend off due to having earned first round byes.

This could be one of those years when a shock team wins the OUA. They have had 5 teams either in or flirting with Top Ten rankings all year, but those teams are all huge question marks. They are all very vulnerable to an early exit.

Links:

:. [CIS Men's Hockey Home Page]

:. [CIS Playoff Schedule/Results/Links]

:. [OUA Men's Hockey Home Page]

:. [OUA Playoff Schedule/Results/Links]

:. [AUS Men's Hockey Home Page]

:. [AUS Playoff Schedule]

[Hollywood]

 

Feb 10: Canada to Face USA

____________________________________________

 

 

 

The play-in round was held on Tuesday, and here's what happened:

Japan 12 China 3

United States 4 Sweden 1

Spain 3 South Korea 4

 

The women's tournament has a consolation game:

Kazakhstan 2 United States 3

 

The quarter-finals will be played on Wednesday and are now set:

4:30 am CST Russia v Slovakia

8:00 am CST Czech Republic v South Korea

1:30 pm CST Canada v United States

1:30 CST pm Kazakhstan v Japan

 

The women's semi-finals also go on Wednesday:

4:30 am CST Japan v Canada

8:00 am CST Russia v China

 

There is also a link to the brackets:

http://wuni15.sportresult.com/HIDE/en/-60/Comp/Info/IH/Bracket/IHM400000

 

And of course there is also one for the broads:

http://wuni15.sportresult.com/HIDE/en/-60/Comp/Info/IH/Bracket/IHW400000

 

Today's results really solidify how bad the Chinese men's program has become. Apparently, they drew their players from some of their better teams. Yet they got hammered every game. 

 

The Swedish team was weak, however they must be happy with the scoreline. They have a league for teams from engineering schools from which their team was selected. So even though the Excited States had to rely on the ACHA, they had way more players available. 

 

The big disappointment was that hosts Spain could not defeat South Korea. The game stats reflect a tight game. However, sometimes a developing nation NEEDS a win. The losers from today pack their bags and go home. The winners get two, and possibly three, medal or consolation games. Those could have gone a long way to promoting hockey in Spain.

 

[Hollywood]

Feb 11: Canada Shuts Out Yanks

_______________________________________________

CANADA 4

UNITED STATES 0

Links:

:. [CIS Game Story]

:. [Canada International Twitter]

:. [FISU.net Daily Story]

:. [Granada 2015 Men's Hockey Daily Schedules]

:. [Game Summary]

:. [Men's Brackets]

The Good Guys picked up a nice tidy win over a respectable, but decidedly underdog, opponent. Team USA was stocked with ACHA players, as they usually are for this tournament. As such, they are usually an outsider for a medal. With a better draw in this tournament, they might well have made the semi-finals. They are still clearly better than the Koreans, Spanish, etc. Canada outshot the USA 42-20. Ryan Holfeld picked up the shut-out in goal. Jordan DePape had two assists.

The other quarter-finals produced no upsets:

Russia 7 Slovakia 0 - [summary]

Czech Republic 12 South Korea 0 - [summary]

Kazakhstan 4 Japan 1 - [summary]

Canada gets a day off on Thursday and will play in Friday's semi-final round. The schedule is:

Thursday

8:00 am CST Slovakia v United States

11:30 am CST Japan v South Korea

Friday

8:00 am CST Canada v Russia

11:30 am CST Czech Republic v Kazakhstan

The quarter-final round was not fertile ground for an upset. Based on the round-riobin, one had to think that Japan had a chance against Kazakhstan. That was a fairly tight game (shots 28-23), as expected. The rest were pretty much mismatches to one degree or another. The Canada-Russia game should be a good one. I am not sure whether it will be available on-line or not.

The Canadian women also won, and will also play Russia next. Today was the women's semi-finals:

Japan 2 Canada 5 - [summary]

Russia 10 China 0 - [summary]

The final games go on Thursday:

8:00 am Japan v China (bronze game)

11:30 am Canada v Russia (gold game)

Women's brackets:

http://wuni15.sportresult.com/HIDE/en/-60/Comp/Info/IH/Bracket/IHW400000

OUT EAST

MONCTON AIGLES BLEUS 0

SAINT MARY'S HUSKIES 2

(SMU leads best-of-three series 1-0)

Links:

Boxscores: [CIS]

Stories: [SMU] : [AUS]

The Eggs were not an easy opponent in this one. They trailed heading into the 3rd and attempted a rally with an onslaught of shots, to no avail. The SMUskies are a legit contender and it would be a big surprise if they were to lose this series.

NEXT UP

Wed Feb 11 UPEI at StFX 7:00 PM AST

Wed Feb 11 Concordia at McGill 7:00 PM EST

Wed Feb 11 UQTR at Nipissing 7:00 PM EST

Wed Feb 11 Windsor at Brock 7:15 PM EST

Wed Feb 11 Carleton at UOIT 7:30 PM EST

Wed Feb 11 Guelph at Waterloo 7:30 PM EST

Wed Feb 11 Toronto at Ryerson 7:30 PM EST

Wed Feb 11 W. Ontario at Lakehead 7:30 PM EST

Wed Feb 11 Laurentian at Queen's 7:30 PM EST

Thu Feb 12 Saint Mary's at Moncton 7:00 PM AST

Thu Feb 12 Waterloo at Guelph 7:30 PM EST

CIS playoff schedule/results/links page:

http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice/2015/schedule

[Hollywood]

Feb 11: Night of Upsets in OUA
____________________________________________________

OUT EAST

AUS

The AUS is using the one-game-per-day scheduling formula. Each quarter-final has now started.


UPEI PANTHERS 2
ST. F-X X-MEN 4
(SFX leads best-of-three series 1-0)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]
Stories: [SFX] : [AUS]

The Jeremies are the hosts for the University Cup and so their berth is assured. Still, a loss now would make for an awfully long wait. The Spuds put up a good fight. The shots were awfully low (24-22 for UPEI) which indicates this was probably playoff-style hockey. Which makes sense! The last goal was an empty-netter.

OUA

Wednesday was the busiest night of the OUA playoffs with all eight series in action. After this the programme will be shuffled nightly.

CONCORDIA STINGERS 6
MCGILL REDMEN 4
(Concordia leads best-of-three series 1-0)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

Well, isn't this nice! The first place team loses to a cross-town rival. This is one of two derbies on tap in this opening round of playoffs, this one in Montreal and the other is in Toronto. Anybody remember when Concordia and its pre-amalgamation schools (SGWU and Loyola) were Quebec's dominant teams?

Oddly, the only favoured OUA East team to play at home lost. The other higher seeds opened away due to travel, and will then play games 2 and 3 at home.

CARLETON RAVENS 5
UOIT RIDGEBACKS 2
(Carleton leads best-of-three series 1-0)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

So far I haven't heard from anybody who thinks UOIT will win this series. This was their home game, so the odds of a comeback seem quite remote.

UQTR PATRIOTES 6
NIPISSING LAKERS 3
(UQTR leads best-of-three series 1-0)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

As with UOIT, this was also Nipissing's home game of the series. Even though UQTR stumbled home, one has to think they will handle the Nippers. The OUA East is traditionally "top heavy". Still, if McGill could lose ...

LAURENTIAN VOYAGEURS 2
QUEEN'S GOLDEN GAELS 1
(Laurentian leads best-of-three series 1-0)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

The #4 v #5 matchup is, by definition, always the hardest to call. In this case, Queen's was closing strong. But Laurentian had a very solid year from start to end. As with the prior two series, this was Queen's only home game of the series, giving Laurentian a major advantage.

WINDSOR LANCERS 1
BROCK BADGERS 2
(Brock leads best-of-three series 1-0)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

In the OUA West there are very few match-ups where travel allows the lower side to host game one, and Windsor is one. Windsor outshot Brock 15-4 in the first and 17-7 in the second, yet only led 1-0. This allowed the underdog to win the game by winning one period, which they did. Brock outshot Windsor 12-9 and outscored them 2-0 to steal one.

WESTERN ONTARIO MUSTANGS 3
LAKEHEAD THUNDERWOLVES 4
(Lakehead leads best-of-three series 1-0)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

This was the other OUA West series where the higher seed opened away, and they also lost. So, OUA West favourites playing away went 0-2 and OUA East favourites playing away went 3-0. The Urban Cowboys have been one of the OUA's best teams all year, and Lakehead scrambled just to make the playoffs. Lakehead had a 4-1 lead and then had to hang on for dear life in the 3rd period. The teams were on the offensive in this one. Shots were 42-36 for UWO.

GUELPH GRYPHONS 0
WATERLOO WARRIORS 5
(Waterloo leads best-of-three series 1-0)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

Guelph put on a late-season push to make the playoffs and were considered by many to be a potential darkhorse in the OUA. Waterloo squelched that thought, at least for one night, with a convincing victory.

TORONTO VARSITY BLUES 2
RYERSON RAMS 1
(Toronto leads best-of-three series 1-0)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

In both derbies the underdog won! This was not such a big surprise, since this is the #4 v #5 series. This was another series where the OUA teams are playing without regard to defence. The shots were 50-34 in favour of the Rams. In only two of eight games did both teams get less than 30 shots.

NEXT UP

Thu Feb 12 Saint Mary's at Moncton 7:00 PM AST
Thu Feb 12 Waterloo at Guelph 7:30 PM EST

Fri Feb 13 St. F-X at UPEI 7:00 PM AST
Fri Feb 13 UOIT at Carleton 7:00 PM EST
Fri Feb 13 McGill at Concordia 7:30 PM EST

CIS playoff schedule/results/links page:
http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice/2015/schedule

[Hollywood]

Feb 12: Universiade and Eastern Updates
_________________________________________________________



The link for the Canada-USA game story has been changed and is included below. The game time for Friday's semi-final against Russia is now said to be 10:00 am CST.

Links:
:. [CIS Canada-USA Game Story]
:. [Canada International Twitter]
:. [CIS Team Site]
:. [Granada 2015 Men's Hockey Daily Schedules]
:. [Live Video]
:. [Men's Brackets]

Meanwhile, there were various classification games on Thursday:
Sweden 5 Spain 1 (9-11)
Slovakia 5 United States 4 (so) (5-8)
Japan 4 South Korea 1 (5-8)

And the women's competition almost wrapped up:
Spain 0 Kazakhstan 10 (5-7)
Japan 3 China 1 (bronze game)
Russia 3 Canada 0 (gold game) - [summary]

The women's standings are now final but for the 6th place game between USA and Spain:
1 Russia
2 Canada
3 Japan
4 China
5 Kazakhstan
6/7 United States/Spain

Friday's schedule:
6:30 am Spain v China
6:30 am United States v Spain (women's)
10:00 am United States v South Korea
10:00 am Canada v Russia
1:30 pm Slovakia v Japan
1:30 pm Czech Republic v Kazakhstan

Saturday's schedule:
4:00 am China v Sweden
5:00 am bronze game
9:00 am gold game

OUT EAST

There was a light schedule out east after Wednesday's big night. And still no teams have been eliminated.

AUS


SAINT MARY'S HUSKIES 1
MONCTON AIGLES BLEUS 5
(best-of-three series tied 1-1)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]
Stories: [AUS]

The Eggs notched a convincing comeback win to force a 3rd and deciding game. The SMUskies do host the nationals next year in their shared bid with St. F-X so they need this series. The shots were actually 35-34 in favour of SMU.

OUA


WATERLOO WARRIORS 2
GUELPH GRYPHONS 3
(best-of-three series tied 1-1)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

Goof had a strong ending to the season so it makes sense that they would bounce back on home ice. Now will the Warriors meet their Waterloo?

NEXT UP

Fri Feb 13 St. F-X at UPEI 7:00 PM AST
Fri Feb 13 UOIT at Carleton 7:00 PM EST
Fri Feb 13 McGill at Concordia 7:30 PM EST

Sat Feb 14 Moncton at Saint Mary's 7:00 PM AST
Sat Feb 14 Nipissing at UQTR 4:00 PM EST
Sat Feb 14 Brock at Windsor 4:00 PM EST
Sat Feb 14 Lakehead at W. Ontario 4:00 PM EST
Sat Feb 14 UOIT at Carleton 7:00 PM EST
Sat Feb 14 Ryerson at Toronto 7:30 PM EST
Sat Feb 14 Queen's at Laurentian 8:30 PM EST

CIS playoff schedule/results/links page:
http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice/2015/schedule

[Hollywood]

Feb 13: Canada Loses Shootout
______________________________________________


CANADA 2
RUSSIA 3
(in shoot-out)

Links:
:. [CIS Game Story]
:. [Canada International Twitter]
:. [FISU.net Daily Story]
:. [Granada 2015 Men's Hockey Daily Schedules]
:. [Game Summary]
:. [Men's Brackets]

I saw the ending of the game on fisu.tv. Canada had the only scoring chances in overtime but produced no goals. In the shootout neither Canadian shooter (Chris Collins and T.J. Foster) came close to scoring and goaltender Kris Lazaruk never came close to making a save on the two shots he faced. So, Russia will go for gold and Canada will go for bronze.

Other games:
Spain 8 China 2 (10 place)
United States 8 South Korea 3 (7th place)
Slovakia 8 Japan 3 (5th place)
Czech Republic 1 Kazakhstan 2 (semi-final)

The Czechs outshot Team Borat 41-13 but could not score. It took them over 51 minutes at a time when they were down 2-0 to finally get on the board. The classification results are now final for 5th to 8th:
5 Slovakia
6 Japan
7 United States
8 South Korea

Saturday's games are:
Sweden v China (9-11)
Canada v Czech Republic (bronze)
Kazakhstan v Russia (gold)

In women's play, the final classification game was played:
United States 9 Spain 0

This gave the USA 5th, Kazakhstan 6th, and Spain 7th in a 7 team tournament.

OUT EAST

AUS

ST. F-X X-MEN 3
UPEI PANTHERS 1
(SFX wins best-of-three series 2-0)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]
Stories: [SFX]

The Spuds outshot the Jeremies 41-24 but could not win their home game, thus making the first team to be bounced from the playoffs. SFX will face UNB if SMU wins their series, but would face Acadia if Moncton wins.

OUA

MCGILL REDMEN 5
CONCORDIA STINGERS 0
(best-of-three series tied 1-1)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

The McGilligutties avoided the embarassment of being swept by the lowest-ranked team in the CIS playoffs. They did it in fine fashion, as well. The decider will go Sunday night.

UOIT RIDGEBACKS 1
CARLETON RAVENS 6
(Carleton wins best-of-three series 2-0)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

Nobody gave UOIT a chance to win this series and they were quite correct. Cartoon U would face Concordia if the beat McGill. Otherwise they could play the winner of either other OUAE series.

NEXT UP

Sat Feb 14 Moncton at Saint Mary's 7:00 PM AST
Sat Feb 14 Nipissing at UQTR 4:00 PM EST
Sat Feb 14 Brock at Windsor 4:00 PM EST
Sat Feb 14 Lakehead at W. Ontario 4:00 PM EST
Sat Feb 14 Ryerson at Toronto 7:30 PM EST
Sat Feb 14 Queen's at Laurentian 8:30 PM EST

Sun Feb 15 Queen's at Laurentian TBA
Sun Feb 15 Nipissing at UQTR 4:00 PM EST
Sun Feb 15 Guelph at Waterloo 6:30 PM EST
Sun Feb 15 Lakehead at W. Ontario 7:00 PM EST
Sun Feb 15 Concordia at McGill 7:00 PM EST
Sun Feb 15 Brock at Windsor 7:30 PM EST
Sun Feb 15 Toronto at Ryerson 7:30 PM EST

CIS playoff schedule/results/links page:
http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice/2015/schedule

[Hollywood]

Feb 14: Bronze Medals in Spain, Teams Eliminated Out East
_________________________________________________________________


CANADA 6
CZECH REPUBLIC 2

Links:
:. [CIS Game Story]
:. [PDF Boxscore]
:. [Canada International Twitter]
:. [Game Summary]
:. [Men's Brackets]

After a disappointing shootout loss in the semi-finals, Team Canada bounced back to beat the crap out of those wild and crazy Czechian guys for the bronze. The Czechs scored early in the 3rd to tie the game before 4 unanswered Canadian goals put the game away.

In other games:
China 0 Sweden 4 (9-1 classifications)
Kazakhstan 1 Russia 3 (gold game)

Kazakhstan sends strong teams to this event each time. They won silver two years ago as well. Still, the Canada-Russia game was probably the de facto final. The final ranking for the event is:
1 Russia
2 Kazakhstan
3 Canada
4 Czech Republic
5 Slovakia
6 Japan
7 United States
8 South Korea
9 Sweden
10 Spain
11 China

Although this event certainly has its place and is worthy of some degree of interest, I am glad we can now return to the CWUAA playoffs. The Team Canada players will have to transition quickly back into team mode. No doubt they will have some intense practices this week ahead of Friday's games.

OUT EAST

AUS

MONCTON AIGLES BLEUS 2
SAINT MARY'S HUSKIES 3
(SMU wins best-of-three series 2-1)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

I saw some of this on-line, although my feed was mostly a series of still pictures. The Eggs were right in this deciding game and could well have won. There was some level of controversy in the handshake line, at least from a Moncton assistant coach. The SMUskies will now face Acadia whilst UNB and SFX will meet in the other AUS semi-final.

OUA

NIPISSING LAKERS 3
UQTR PATRIOTES 10
(UQTR wins best-of-three series 2-0)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

I had UQTR as heavy favourites in this series. But how can any team give up 10 goals in a playoff game? The Nippers had a respectable season and one would have expected a stringer performance in the series.

QUEEN'S GOLDEN GAELS 3
LAURENTIAN VOYAGEURS 1
(best-of-three series tied 1-1)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

This game was scoreless through two. Laurentian took the lead but could not hold it. The final goal was an empty-netter. This one figured to go the distance, as a 4-5 series.

BROCK BADGERS 2
WINDSOR LANCERS 4
(best-of-three series tied 1-1)

Links:
Boxscores: [LeagueStat]

Windsor opened with a road loss so coming home for a weekend double-header is just what they needed. Game 1 went their way in fairly decisive fashion. They outshot the Badgers 51-27.

LAKEHEAD THUNDERWOLVES 4
WESTERN ONTARIO MUSTANGS 1
(Lakehead wins best-of-three series 2-0)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

The Thundermutts are more known for playoff disappointments than upsets, but they have come through with a sweep of the Urban Cowboys. Lakehead was a borderline playoff team and a program seemingly in decline. This series victory should give them a boost.

RYERSON RAMS 4
TORONTO VARSITY BLUES 6
(Toronto wins best-of-three series 2-0)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

Ry High looked to be a program on the ascent last year and for the first half of this year. However, they have stumbled a bit and this early exit confirms the trend. That said, any 4-5 series has to be considered a close call. So, good for the Blahs.

NEXT UP

Sun Feb 15 Guelph at Waterloo 6:30 PM EST
Sun Feb 15 Concordia at McGill 7:00 PM EST
Sun Feb 15 Brock at Windsor 7:30 PM EST
Sun Feb 15 Queen's at Laurentian 7:45 PM EST

Two of the four series in each OUA division will go the distance and the 2nd round match-ups are hard to call at this point. Here are the scenarios:

OUA West:
- If Windsor wins then they play Lakehead and Toronto would face the Guelph-Waterloo winner.
- If Brock and Waterloo win then they would play, and Toronto would face Lakehead.
- If Brock and Guelph win then Toronto becomes the top seed and would face Brock, while Guelph and Lakehead would square off.

OUA East:
- If McGill wins then they play the Laurentian-Queen's winner in one series whilst Carleton and UOIT meet in the other.
- If Concordia wins (WTF!) they would meet Carleton and UOIT would meet the Laurentian-Queen's winner.

CIS playoff schedule/results/links page:
http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice/2015/schedule

[Hollywood]

Playoff Schedule Changes

___________________________________________

 

Although no announcement was made, the schedule links all have the Bisons and Birds playing Thursday to Saturday instead of Friday to Sunday as originally scheduled. With guys just getting back from Spain, a short week becomes even shorter. However, I bet teams have been working hard without their all-star selections.

Thursday, February 19th, 7:00 PST/ 9:00 CST
Friday, February 20th, 7:00 PST/ 9:00 CST
Saturday, February 21st, 7:00 PST/ 9:00 CST

Links:
:. [CIS Playoff Schedule/Results/Links]
:. [CW Playoff Schedule/Results/Links]
:. [U of M Schedule/Results/Links]
:. [UBC Schedule/Results/Links]
:. [U of M Story on Medalists]

It will soon be time for me to get the quarter-final previews up and going.

[Hollywood]

Feb 15: OUA Quarter-Finals Finish
______________________________________________
 
OUA

Sunday was Game 3 night in the OUA. There were two games in each division, and here's what happened:


CONCORDIA STINGERS 3
MCGILL REDMEN 6
(McGill wins best-of-three series 2-1)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

After losing game 1, the McGilligutties had their backs to the proverbial wall. A loss to the weakest team in the CIS playoffs would have been a severe embarassment. At least they bounced back in style. Neither game 2 nor game 3 were particularly close.


QUEEN'S GOLDEN GAELS 2
LAURENTIAN VOYAGEURS 1
(in overtime)
(Queen's wins best-of-three series 2-1)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

Every game in the series was a close-fought, low-scoring game. So it makes sense that the game went into overtime. It was still a good season for Laurentian, and Queen's had a good second half.

BROCK BADGERS 3
WINDSOR LANCERS 4
(in overtime)
(Windsor wins best-of-three series 2-1)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

It was a bit of a surprise that the 1st place Lancers would have so much trouble against a team that barely made the playoffs. Windsor needed a goal with just over 3 minutes left to avoid the loss.

GUELPH GRYPHONS 4
WATERLOO WARRIORS 1
(Guelph wins best-of-three series 2-1)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

Goof got off to a rough start before salvaging their season with a strong second half. They complete the turn-about with this series win over the not-quite-having-a-great-year team from Waterloo. A good playoff run would have bolstered the image of Waterloo's program. However, they will go into next year as just another OUAW kind of team.

The OUA divisional semi-final match-ups are now finalized, though the schedule has yet to be announced:
McGill v Queen's
Carleton v UQTR
Windsor v Lakehead
Toronto v Guelph

IMO, Carleton and UQTR are the only teams to have both a good regular season and a good first round in the OUA.

CIS playoff schedule/results/links page:
http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice/2015/schedule

OUA LeagueStat for Feb 15th:
http://www.leaguestat.com/oua/MEN/en/stats/schedule.php?date=2015-02-15&season_id=71

AUS

The AUS has also announced their semi-final schedules. They will play a best-of-five, based on the theory that schooling is over-rated and four games over five or six days is therefore completely fine.

Wed Feb 18 Saint Mary's at Acadia 7:00 PM AST
Thu Feb 19 Saint Mary's at Acadia 7:00 PM AST
Sun Feb 22 Acadia at Saint Mary's 7:00 PM AST
Tue Feb 24 Acadia at Saint Mary's 7:00 PM AST
Thu Feb 26 Saint Mary’s at Acadia 7:00 PM AST

Thu Feb 19 StFX at UNB 7:00 PM AST
Fri Feb 20 StFX at UNB 7:00 PM AST
Sun Feb 22 UNB at StFX 7:00 PM AST
Mon Feb 23 UNB at StFX 7:00 PM AST
Thu Feb 26 StFX at UNB 7:00 PM AST

[Hollywood]

Before the quarter-finals start, and before I do series previews, I thought it might be interesting to post some background information on each team. I previously did so about the Manitoba Bisons. Now, for a story on each other quarter-finalist.

MOUNT ROYAL COUGARS

Mount Royal University has been known by several different names and have played in several different leagues. It was formerly known as "Mount Royal Junior College" (MRJC) then "Mount Royal College" (MRC) until becoming a university in 2009. MRU have played in University, College, Junior A, and Junior B leagues. They were in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) from 1964-65 through 2011-12 before moving up to the CWUAA in the 2012-13 season.

The MRJC Cougars first played in the Calgary Junior B Hockey League (CJBHL), for which there are not many records available. We do know that they won the 1953-54 Alberta Junior B Playoffs, 3 games to 1 over the Drumheller Miners in the final. They then lost the 1954 Alberta-British Columbia Junior B Championship 2 games to 0 to the Trail Smoke Eaters.

It would appear that the Cougars' final season in Junior B was 1956-57. They won the league playoffs, however the first place team went on to the provincials that year. After being in the college ranks for a few years, they returned to junior to play in the Junior A level Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) for two seasons in 1970-71 and 1971-72. They finished first in 1972 but were ineligible for the playoffs.

In between the stints in junior, the Western Inter-College Conference (WICC) was formed in 1964-65, and changed its name to the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) in 1969. While in the ACAC the Cougars won two championships as "Mount Royal Junior College", nine as "Mount Royal College", and one as "Mount Royal University". They also claimed four national titles in the CCAA in those years.

In 2012-13 the Cougars moved up to play in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CWUAA), in the CIS. They made their playoff debut in 2013-14, finishing 5th and losing to the 4th place Manitoba Bisons 2 games to 1.

The last 10 years:
Year Competition`````` GP`` W`` L T/OT``F`` A Pts``Placing
2006 ACAC``````````````24``13`` 9`` 2``91``94``28``2nd of 7
2006 Playoffs``````````10`` 6`` 2`` 2``40``32``14``won final
2007 ACAC``````````````24``17`` 6`` 1 142``81``35``2nd of 7
2007 Playoffs`````````` 4`` 1`` 3`` 0`` 8``14`` 2``lost semi-final
2008 ACAC``````````````24``13`` 8`` 3 102``78``29``4th of 7
2008 Playoffs`````````` 5`` 2`` 3`` 0``10``13`` 4``lost semi-final
2009 ACAC``````````````28``20`` 8`` 0``85``40``40``3rd of 8
2009 Playoffs``````````12`` 7`` 4`` 1``47``37``15``lost final
2010 ACAC``````````````28``21`` 6`` 2 137``71``44``2nd of 8
2010 Playoffs`````````` 3`` 0`` 3`` 0`` 5``10`` 0``lost semi-final
2011 ACAC``````````````28``19`` 6`` 3 101``53``41``2nd of 8
2011 Playoffs`````````` 4`` 1`` 2`` 1``15``12`` 3``lost semi-final
2012 ACAC``````````````28``22`` 2`` 4 126``64``48``1st of 8
2012 Playoffs`````````` 4`` 1`` 3`` 0``13``14`` 2``lost semi-final
2013 CWUAA```````````` 28`` 7``19`` 2``72 114``16``7th of 8
2014 CWUAA```````````` 28``11``14`` 3``80 111``25``5th of 8
2014 Playoffs`````````` 3`` 1`` 2`` 0`` 5`` 8`` 2``lost qter-final
2015 CWUAA```````````` 28``17``10`` 1``84``75``35``3rd of 8

To read more:
http://icehockey.wikia.com/wiki/Mount_Royal_Cougars
 

[Hollywood]

UBC THUNDERBIRDS

UBC started play in the senior and intermediate levels of the British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association. Results from BC hockey in the early days are sketchy. I could only find two results from the 1920s, form 1921 and 1922.

1921 was a unique year for university hockey. That season, UBC played in the Vancouver City Senior League (VCSL). After finishing in 3rd place in the 4 team league, they caught fire in the playoffs, winning sudden-death quarter-final and semi-final games before defeating the renowned Vancouver Towers 6-5 on aggregate to take the title. In the British Columbia Senior Playoffs they lost the opener to the Victoria Senators 3-2, then won game 2 by a 5-3 score. This gave UBC the series 7-6 on aggregate and the Savage Cup (provincial title).

Unfortunately for UBC, they won the BC title too late to challenge for the Allan Cup. Alberta had the same problem. The University of Alberta won the Edmonton league and played Calgary Alberta Pacific in the 1921 Alberta Senior Playoffs. After some controversy and a replay, Calgary won the title too late to enter the Westerns. Saskatchewan's senior league was under suspension. That left the Intercollegiate winner (who for 3 seasons in the early 20s was granted a berth amongst provincial champions), the University of Saskatchewan, and the Manitoba and Thunder Bay champions (Brandon and Port Arthur) to compete for the 1921 Western Canada Allan Cup Playoffs. So had UBC competed they likely would have faced the University of Saskatchewan in a playoff series, well before they ever played in the same conference. Also in 1921, the University of Toronto defeated McGill University in the eastern Allan Cup final. Thus 1921 was the closest we ever came to an all-university match-up in a western or national Allan Cup series.

In 1922 UBC played in the Vancouver Intermediate League. They placed second and lost the semi-final to the Vancouver Nationals.

After that, I could find no records until 1945-46 when UBC played in and won the New Westminster Industrial League. Then, in the provincial playoffs, UBC lost a semi-final series to New Westminster 2 games to 1.

From 1950 to 1968, the Alberta Golden Bears and UBC Thunderbirds played an annual series for the Hamber Trophy. The two teams were in the same conference for five of those seasons, in which case regular season games were counted. Alberta won the trophy 17 times, UBC won it twice.

UBC did not play top tier university hockey until they joined the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WCIAU) in 1961-62. In 1962-63 the conference was re-named the Western Intercollegiate Athletic Association (WIAA). 1963 was the first season where the CIAU (forerunner of the CIS) held a national hockey championship. The `Birds went 8-1-1 in the regular season to win the WIAA title. At the U-Cup they beat Sherbrooke 6-2 in the semi-finals before losing the final to McMaster 3-2.

UBC departed the WIAA after the 1963-64 season, citing travel costs. The squad returned in 1966-67 and have played top tier university hockey ever since.

In 1971 the `Birds placed second to Manitoba in the regular season. However, they defeated Calgary in the semi-finals and Manitoba in the final to return to the U-Cup. In a five-team tournament, they lost 3-2 to Toronto, beat Loyola 6-4, then lost the third place game 7-4 to Laurentian.

When the WIAA split in two following the 1971-72 season, the University of British Columbia became a founding member of the CWUAA, along with the University of Saskatchewan, University of Victoria, University of Calgary, and University of Alberta.

In 1973 UBC became the first Canadian team to visit China, where they beat their national team 5-0 and 7-0. The tour continued through China and Japan, and UBC went 9-1 overall.

In 1977 UBC placed second in the CWUAA and then lost to Alberta in the final. Since Alberta was the U-Cup host, UBC got themselves a berth as runner-up. In the U-Cup they lost a 2-game semi-final series to Toronto 11-10 on aggregate. That was UBC's last trip to a U-Cup.

As the 70s became the 80s the Thunderbirds never had a return to glory. They lost the 1978 final to Alberta and then finished either 3rd or 4th in the 4-team era of the CWUAA. Once the CWUAA merged with the GPAC, UBC never saw the playoffs until the field was expanded to 6 teams, except for 1990.

Before the 2010 Olympics, UBC got to play Team Norway, and lost 4-1. Their new home arena was the site of several women's games in that tournament.

In 2013-14 the program was put in doubt by UBC administration. However, efforts of the Vancouver Canucks and WHL owners appear to have saved the program, for the immediate future at least.

UBC's 4th place finish in 2014-15 is an excellent result for them. The last time UBC finished in the top four seeds was in 1989-90, when they placed 3rd (16-11-1). Also in that period, they have won three playoff series, all in the quarter-final (or division semi-final) round. In 2007 and 2009 they beat Lethbridge, and in 2014 they beat Saskatchewan. In all three series they were the lower seed. The 2014 win over Saskatchewan was their first series win over a "Big Four" team since they beat Manitoba in the 1971 WIAA final. Since 1978, 1990 is their only winning record. Even in 2014-15, at 13-10-5 they still won fewer than half their games. They did win exactly half their games in 1985 (12-12-0), 2007 (14-13-1), and 2013 (14-11-3).

The last 10 years:
Year Competition`````` GP`` W`` L T/OT``F`` A Pts``Placing
2006 CWUAA```````````` 28``12``15`` 1``79 100``25``3rd of 4 div
2006 Playoffs`````````` 3`` 1`` 2`` 0`` 9``12`` 2``lost qter-final
2007 CWUAA```````````` 28``14``13`` 1``76``88``29``3rd of 4 div
2007 Playoffs`````````` 5`` 2`` 3`` 0``17``20`` 4``lost semi-final
2008 CWUAA```````````` 28``12``16`` 0``86``92``24``6th of 7
2008 Playoffs`````````` 2`` 0`` 2`` 0`` 2``10`` 0``lost qter-final
2009 CWUAA```````````` 28``11``14`` 3``59``85``25``6th of 7
2009 Playoffs`````````` 5`` 2`` 3`` 0``16``20`` 4``lost semi-final
2010 CWUAA```````````` 28`` 8``19`` 1``67 117``17``7th of 7
2010 Playoffs`````````` 2`` 0`` 2`` 0`` 2``10`` 0``lost qter-final
2011 CWUAA```````````` 28``11``12`` 5``76 101``27``6th of 7
2012 CWUAA```````````` 28``12``12`` 4``77``88``28``5th of 7
2013 CWUAA```````````` 28``14``11`` 3``84``84``31``5th of 7
2013 Playoffs`````````` 3`` 1`` 2`` 0`` 6`` 9`` 2``lost qter-final
2014 CWUAA```````````` 28``11``15`` 2``89 101``24``6th of 8
2014 Playoffs`````````` 5`` 2`` 3`` 0``17``20`` 4``lost semi-final
2015 CWUAA```````````` 28``13``10`` 5``79``75``31``4th of 8

To read more:
http://icehockey.wikia.com/wiki/UBC_Thunderbirds

[Hollywood]

SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES

The U of S started play not just as a collegiate team, but as a senior or intermediate team as well. In 1918-19 the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Alberta started play in the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WCIAU). The inaugural 1918-19 WCIAU Season was a two-game series, won by Saskatchewan 7-3 on aggregate, thus becoming the first conference champions. They also won the Saskatoon Intermediate title the same season. There was no senior competition in Saskatchewan that season. They lost the provincial final 8-0 to the Regina Victorias.

In the early years teams competed simultaneously in collegiate and junior or senior leagues. In fact, for a few years the western collegiate winner would get a berth in the western Allan Cup playoffs alongside the various provincial champions. This served Saskatchewan well in 1921 and 1923. In 1921 they lost the Western Allan Cup semi-final 17-6 to Port Arthur. In 1923 they went on an incredible run. They beat Weyburn (Saskatchewan Champions) 5-4 on aggregate, the Vancouver Young Liberals (BC Champions) 8-5 on aggregate, and Souris (Manitoba intermediate champions who knocked off the senior champion Winnipeg Falcons) 7-6 on aggregate. The Toronto Granites defeated them 11-2 on aggregate to win the Cup and the right to be Canada's rep at the 1924 Olympics.

The U of S has iced a hockey team in every western university hockey season from the beginning. That includes the WCIAU until 1962-63 and the re-named Western Intercollegiate Athletic Association (WIAA) until 1971-72.

When the WIAA split in two following the 1971-72 season, the University of Saskatchewan became a founding member of the CWUAA, along with the University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, University of Calgary, and University of Alberta.

In university competition the Huskies have won 18 conference titles (WCIAU in 1919, 1921, 1923, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1952, 1953, and 1959, and CWUAA in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2007, and 2012). They have competed in the University Cup 16 times, and have won it once, in 1983.

In 2009 the Huskies played in two significant International exhibitions. They combined with the Regina Cougars to defeat the Team Canada Juniors 4-2 and then defeated Team Slovakia Juniors 6-2.

The stand-out statistic for the Huskies is their tendency to lose finals to Alberta. Since 2000 Alberta have beaten them in the CWUAA final on 9 occasions (2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2013) and in the University Cup final on 2 more (2005 and 2014). It should be noted that the Huskies beat the Monkeys in the 2007 finals and the 2012 semi-finals.

The last 10 years:
Year Competition`````` GP`` W`` L T/OT``F`` A Pts``Placing
2006 CWUAA```````````` 28``17`` 7`` 4 105``68``38``1st of 3 div
2006 Playoffs`````````` 4`` 2`` 2`` 0``12``17`` 4``lost final
2006 University Cup```` 2`` 1`` 1`` 0`` 7`` 5`` 2``2nd in pool
2007 CWUAA```````````` 28``16`` 9`` 3 104``80``35``1st of 3
2007 Playoffs`````````` 4`` 4`` 0`` 0``12`` 7`` 8``won final
2007 University Cup```` 2`` 0`` 2`` 0`` 3`` 5`` 0``3rd in pool
2008 CWUAA```````````` 28``17`` 5`` 6``88``74``40``2nd of 7
2008 Playoffs`````````` 4`` 2`` 2`` 0``13``18`` 4``lost final
2008 University Cup```` 2`` 1`` 1`` 0`` 4`` 5`` 2``2nd in pool
2009 CWUAA```````````` 28``17`` 9`` 2 104``86``36``2nd of 7
2009 Playoffs`````````` 4`` 2`` 2`` 0``12``17`` 4``lost final
2010 CWUAA```````````` 28``16`` 8`` 4 104``73``36``2nd of 7
2010 Playoffs`````````` 3`` 1`` 2`` 0`` 8``11`` 2``lost semi-final
2011 CWUAA```````````` 28``17``11`` 0``96``71``34``3rd of 7
2011 Playoffs`````````` 3`` 1`` 2`` 0`` 6``10`` 2``lost semi-final
2012 CWUAA```````````` 28``19`` 6`` 3 109``70``41``3rd of 7
2012 Playoffs`````````` 6`` 3`` 3`` 0``19``18`` 6``won final
2012 University Cup```` 2`` 1`` 1`` 0`` 5`` 8`` 2``3rd in pool
2013 CWUAA```````````` 28``19`` 8`` 1 100``82``39``2nd of 7
2013 Playoffs`````````` 6`` 3`` 3`` 0``17``20`` 6``lost final
2013 University Cup```` 2`` 0`` 2`` 0`` 2`` 6`` 0``3rd in pool
2014 CWUAA```````````` 28``17``10`` 1 105``69``35``3rd of 7
2014 Playoffs`````````` 3`` 1`` 2`` 0`` 9``14`` 2``lost qter-final
2014 University Cup```` 3`` 2`` 1`` 0``13`` 5`` 4``lost final
2015 CWUAA```````````` 28``10``15`` 3``64``86``23``6th of 8

To read more:
http://icehockey.wikia.com/wiki/Saskatchewan_Huskies

[Hollywood]

Feb 19-21: Bisons at Birds: quarter-final Preview

___________________________________________________________

CANADA WEST RETURNS! - WITH QUARTER-FINAL ACTION

MANITOBA BISONS (15-13-0, 20-15-0, OHT36 #15)

UBC THUNDERBIRDS (13-10-5, 16-11-5, OHT36 #14)

Thursday, February 19th, 7:00 PST/ 9:00 CST

Friday, February 20th, 7:00 PST/ 9:00 CST

Saturday, February 21st, 7:00 PST/ 9:00 CST (if necessary)

Live Links:

:. [Live Stats Thursday] : [Live Stats Friday]

:. [Live Stats Saturday] (if necessary)

:. [Video: CanadaWest.tv]

Manitoba Links:

:. [U of M Team Site]

:. [LS Stats] : [LS Schedule/Results]

:. [Twitter] : [Facebook]

UBC Links:

:. [UBC Preview Story]

:. [LS Stats] : [LS Schedule/Results]

:. [Twitter] : [Facebook]

Other Links:

:. [CIS Site] : [Playoff Schedule/Results/Links]

:. [CW Site] : [Playoff Schedule/Results/Links]

:. [Every Link Re: CIS Hockey]

:. [CIS Top Ten] : [at CW]

Prior games:

Nov 21: Man 2 UBC 1:

:. [Game Story] : [LS Summary] : [CW Story/Boxscore]

Nov 22: Man 3 UBC 1:

:. [Game Story] : [LS Summary] : [CW Story/Boxscore]

Jan 3: Man 3 UBC 1:

:. [Game Story] : [LS Summary] : [CW Story/Boxscore]

Jan 4: UBC 8 Man 6:

:. [Game Story] : [LS Summary] : [CW Story/Boxscore]

The 4-5 playoff series is usually considered to be a toss-up, and this series likely fits the mould. The Bisons have a slight edge in overall numbers, but it is close.

UBC finished a point ahead of Manitoba, however had two fewer wins. UBC collected 5 “loser points” for overtime losses. Oddly, they were 0-5 in overtime while the Bisons won their only overtime game of the season. Using the 3-2-1 point system used by the IIHF and the CWUAA women's league, the Bisons would have been 4th, and UBC 5th, by virtue of having won the head-to-head series 3-1.

This season the Bisons were able to shut down UBC effectively for three straight wins, giving up only one goal per game. Then everything ran amok in the fourth game, won 8-6 by UBC. I would tend to think that game 4 was an aberration and unlikely to be repeated. The Bisons were also 3-1 against UBC last season as well.

Both teams have done well in the new year. The Bisons are 7-3-0, UBC is 6-2-2. The Bisons are coming off a split with Mount Royal, and UBC is coming off a split with Lethbridge.

Overall, Manitoba has outscored their opponents 85-76, and UBC is 79-75. IMO Manitoba has more offensive threats with two solid scoring lines, compared to one for UBC. Manitoba has four top-20 scorers (Depape, Lewadniuk, Dickin, and Merasty) and UBC has two (Bardaro and Wilson).

I give the Bisons an edge in goal. UBC ended up using their goaltenders almost evenly. However at the end of the season they were leaning more on Mark Hewitt (GAA 2.95, SV% .894) over Eric Williams (GAA 2.27, SV% .922). I thought Hewitt looked weak. The Bisons relied on Deven Dubyk (GAA 2.52, SV% .919) all season (he started 17 of the first 19 games). However Byron Spriggs (GAA 2.51, SV% .915) got the most starts at the end. Spriggs' stats were plagued by his first two starts. But his last 5 starts have rnaged from good to excellent, thus rounding out to above average numbers overall. Dubyk started the last game, a 4-3 win over MRU where he stopped 39 of 42 shots. I don't know how Coach Sirant will handle the goaltenders, but both have good numbers.

This year the CWUAA has the same quarter-finalists as a year ago. However, the winners from last year (UBC and Manitoba) are paired in one series whilst the losers (MRU and Sask) meet in the other. Therefore, one of last year's semi-finalists will not make it back.

The games are on CanadWest.tv and would make a good nightcap for fans watching other leagues/games earlier in the evening.

ELSEWHERE:

SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES (10-15-3, 12-16-5, OHT36 #18)

MOUNT ROYAL COUGARS (17-10-1, 22-10-1, OHT36 #10)

Links:

:. [Video: CanadaWest.tv]

:. [MRU Preview Story] : [[url=http://www.canadawest.org/sports/mice/2014-15/releases/20150218MRUSaskPrevrepost at CW]

:. [Sask Preview Story]

:. [MRU Ticket Offer]

A Calgary brewery is offering a nice option for ticket-buyers. For $25 you get a ticket to each game plus a $10 gift card to WildRose Brewery. Pretty good deal if you are the type who likes breweries.

These teams both lost in the quarter-finals last year. It has also been a long time since Sask was this lowly in the rankings. On the other hand, they did get all the way to the University Cup final a year ago, and MRU have only played (and lost) one CIS level playoff series, ever.

Therefore, there is a side of me that says Sask has a bona fide chance for what would be an upset (on paper). I saw Sask live in the Bisons' last homestand. In one game they looked like a solid, hard-ghitting hockey team, just like MRU. In the second game they did not belong on the same ice as the Bisons. So which version of Sask will MRU see?

This series goes the traditional Friday-Saturday-Sunday route, with all games on CanadaWest.tv.

OUT EAST:

The eastern conferences started their second round of playoffs on Wednesday night. Here's the results, schedule, and links.

AUS

SAINT MARY'S HUSKIES 3

ACADIA AXEMEN 2

(in double overtime)

(SMU leads best-of-five series 1-0)

Links:

Boxscores: [CIS]

Stories: [Acadia] : [SMU] : [AUS]

This should be the best series in the CIS so far. Both teams have a great pedigree and have had top-5 seasons. Neither would be out of place at the nationals.

OUA

QUEEN'S GOLDEN GAELS 1

MCGILL REDMEN 2

(McGill leads best-of-three series 1-0)

Links:

Boxscores: [CIS]

Queen's closed strong and so they could not be counted out. McGill wobbled their way past Concordia, so there was the prospect of an upset here.

WINDSOR LANCERS 4

LAKEHEAD THUNDERWOLVES 3

(Windsor leads best-of-three series 1-0)

Links:

Boxscores: [CIS]

This game was at Lakehead and games 2 and 3 will be at Windsor. Lakehead needed the home win. They scored with 31 seconds left to make the socre look close. There were lots of shots for a playoff game (37-34 for Windsor).

GUELPH GRYPHONS 3

TORONTO VARSITY BLUES 8

(Toronto leads best-of-three series 1-0)

Links:

Boxscores: [CIS]

Not many were calling for this socreline. Goof closed well after starting out like garbage. Have they turned into pumpkins? Or is Toronto turnig into a City of Winners in hockey?

NEXT UP

Thu Feb 19 St. F-X at New Brunswick 7:00 PM AST

Thu Feb 19 Saint Mary's at Acadia 7:00 PM AST

Thu Feb 19 UQTR at Carleton 7:00 PM EST

Thu Feb 19 Manitoba at UBC 7:00 PST

Fri Feb 20 St. F-X at New Brunswick 7:00 PM AST

Fri Feb 20 McGill at Queen's 7:30 PM EST

Fri Feb 20 Saskatchewan at Mount Royal 7:00 MST

Fri Feb 20 Manitoba at UBC 7:00 PST

Sat Feb 21 Toronto at Guelph 2:00 PM EST

Sat Feb 21 Carleton at UQTR 7:00 PM EST

Sat Feb 21 Lakehead at Windsor 7:30 PM EST

Sat Feb 21 Saskatchewan at Mount Royal 7:00 MST

Sat Feb 21 Manitoba at UBC 7:00 PST (if necessary)

Sun Feb 22 Acadia at Saint Mary's 7:00 PM AST

Sun Feb 22 New Brunswick at St. F-X 7:00 PM AST

Sun Feb 22 UQTR at Carleton 7:00 PM EST (if necessary)

Sun Feb 22 Queen's at McGill 7:00 PM EST (if necessary)

Sun Feb 22 Lakehead at Windsor 7:30 PM EST (if necessary)

Sun Feb 22 Guelph at Toronto 7:30 PM EST (if necessary)

Sun Feb 22 Saskatchewan at Mount Royal 7:00 MST (if necessary)

[Hollywood]

Feb 19: Bisons On the Brink

___________________________________

 

MANITOBA BISONS 1
UBC THUNDERBIRDS 5

Links:
Boxscores: [LeagueStat] : [CIS] : [CW] : [UBC]
Game stories: [UBC] : [repost at CW]
Other: [U of M Preview]

The U of M and CIS links are not up yet.

This was certainly not the start the Bisons wanted. Deven Dubyk git the start in goal and gave up 5 goals on 19 shots. The Bisons had 34 shots themselves, which is a fairly wide margin in play.

Kyle Rous, in for Darren Bestland, scored the only goal for the Herd.

Game 2 goes Friday at 7:00 PST/9:00 CST and is available on-line at CanadaWest.tv.



OUT-OF-TOWN SCOREBOARD

AUS

ST. F-X X-MEN 2
NEW BRUNSWICK VARSITY REDS 5
(UNB leads best-of-five series 1-0)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]
Stories: [UNB] : [SFX]

The Squirrels put their foot down on the Jeremies in this one. Of course, with a host berth tucked away SFX is not going to be as desperate for a victory in this one. SMU and Acadia will be cheering loudly for SFX.

SAINT MARY'S HUSKIES 3
ACADIA AXEMEN 4
(best-of-five series tied 1-1)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]
Stories: [Acadia] : [SMU]

It figured that this series would end up tied. I expect each game to be decided by one goal and to go 5 games.

UQTR PATRIOTES 2
CARLETON RAVENS 1
(in overtime)
(UQTR leads best-of-three series 1-0)

Links:
Boxscores: [CIS]

This series also figures to be a tight battle. UQTR led the division most of the way befire tailing off. Both sides cruised past the first round.

NEXT UP

Fri Feb 20 St. F-X at New Brunswick 7:00 PM AST
Fri Feb 20 McGill at Queen's 7:30 PM EST
Fri Feb 20 Saskatchewan at Mount Royal 7:00 MST
Fri Feb 20 Manitoba at UBC 7:00 PST

Sat Feb 21 Toronto at Guelph 2:00 PM EST
Sat Feb 21 Carleton at UQTR 7:00 PM EST
Sat Feb 21 Lakehead at Windsor 7:30 PM EST
Sat Feb 21 Saskatchewan at Mount Royal 7:00 MST
Sat Feb 21 Manitoba at UBC  7:00 PST (if necessary)

Sun Feb 22 Acadia at Saint Mary's 7:00 PM AST
Sun Feb 22 New Brunswick at St. F-X 7:00 PM AST
Sun Feb 22 UQTR at Carleton 7:00 PM EST (if necessary)
Sun Feb 22 Queen's at McGill 7:00 PM EST (if necessary)
Sun Feb 22 Lakehead at Windsor 7:30 PM EST (if necessary)
Sun Feb 22 Guelph at Toronto 7:30 PM EST (if necessary)
Sun Feb 22 Saskatchewan at Mount Royal 7:00 MST (if necessary)