MHKY: Quarter-final Preview

Article by Brian Swane, special to CW

Feb. 15, 2024 - Winds of change have swept through Canada West men’s hockey, leaving a playoff bracket in 2024 that’s not quite like anything seen before.

The best-of-three quarter-final round is like a foreign landscape, where the Mount Royal Cougars are hosting the MacEwan Griffins while the Alberta Golden Bears visit the Saskatchewan Huskies.

Two of the newest programs in Canada West men’s hockey, MacEwan and Mount Royal, are both coming off their respective all-time best regular seasons, setting the stage for the first playoff meeting of the Griffins and Cougars.

In just its third year of Canada West men’s hockey, MacEwan is making its playoff debut after setting a program record with 20 points this season. The Cougars won 20 games, the most by a Mount Royal men’s hockey team since joining the conference in 2012.

The two winningest programs in Canada West men’s hockey, Alberta and Saskatchewan, are playing each other in a postseason series for an incredible 27^th time, but this is the first instance of the Golden Bears and Huskies crossing paths before the semifinals.

Alberta is going into the postseason without an opening week bye for the first time since 1997 and playing in just its third quarter-final series ever. Saskatchewan is playing in the quarter-final round for a third consecutive year, its longest stretch without a bye to the semi-finals since 1994 to 1996.

The winner of each series advances to play either the defending champion Calgary Dinos or the top seeded UBC Thunderbirds in Canada West semifinal series set for Feb. 23-25.

Catch all the playoff action live or on demand at Canada West TV. 

 

 

No. 3 Mount Royal Cougars (21-6-1, 43 points) vs. No. 6 MacEwan Griffins (9-17-2, 20 points) at Flames Community Arena in Calgary

• Series schedule:
  • Game 1 – Friday, February 16 – 7 p.m. MST
  • Game 2 – Saturday, February 17 – 7 p.m. MST
  • Game 3 (if necessary) – Sunday, February 18 – 7 p.m. MST
• Regular season head-to-head:
  • Nov. 17: Mount Royal 2 at MacEwan 3
  • Nov. 18: MacEwan 1 at Mount Royal 5
• Who to watch:
  • Connor Bouchard (Mount Royal, second year, forward) led Canada West with 23 goals and 34 assists, totalling 19 more points than anyone else in the conference.
  • Kole Gable (MacEwan, fourth year, forward) was named Canada West Player of the Week after the Griffins captain had a hat trick against the Manitoba Bisons on Feb. 2. 

No. 4 Saskatchewan Huskies (20-6-2, 42 points) vs. No. 5 Alberta Golden Bears (18-18-2, 38 points) at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon

• Series schedule:
  • Game 1 – Friday, February 16 – 7 p.m. CST
  • Game 2 – Saturday, February 17 – 7 p.m. CST
  • Game 3 (if necessary) – Sunday, February 18 – 6 p.m. CST
• Regular Season head-to-head:
  • Nov. 3: Saskatchewan 3 at Alberta 1
  • Nov. 4: Saskatchewan 3 at Alberta 4
  • Jan. 26: Alberta 2 at Saskatchewan 4
  • Jan. 27: Alberta 2 at Saskatchewan 1 (OT)
• Who to watch:
  • Roddy Ross (Saskatchewan, third year, goaltender) posted a .922 save percentage and 1.96 goals against average, to rank first and second, respectively, in Canada West.
  • Jakin Smallwood (Alberta, second year, forward) recorded eight goals and a team-best 20 assists as a follow-up to his Canada West Rookie of the Year campaign last season.