[Hollywood2]

HERD TRAMPLES KITTENS


REGINA COUGARS 2
MANITOBA BISONS 6

Links:
|> [LS Summary] : [CW Schedule/Results/Links]
|> [Manitoba Site : Roster] : [Regina Site]
|> [LeagueStat Manitoba Line-up] : [LeagueStat Regina Line-up]

It is always nice to see the inside of a hockey rink for the first time in autumn, and Friday was the night for me. As is usual for the first exhibition game, things were a bit out of synch. The line-up card is not the same, but at least it had the names and numbers, with only a couple of changes necessary. The PA guy was off with the tunes, but no mess-ups with the clock like I have seen in past seasons. And the Molson Canadian was nicely chilled to perfection, with the price holding steady at $4.00.

In the game, the Bisons handled the Banjo-Cats fairly well. After Regina started with a 13-0 win over Briercrest I thought maybe they were better than last year. IMO they seem to be short of defencemen. Their forwards are not going to scare the defencemen on any of the Big Four in the conference, but they do have their moments. Based on tonight, I would say that they have a less than 50% chance of finishing in the top 6 needed for a playoff berth.

Here's how the teams lined up:

MANITOBA BISONS

Goal:
34 Deven Dubyk - 35 Jesse Deckert

Defence:
22 Darren Bestland - 2 Dane Crowley
6 Brock Sutherland - 20 Brandon Lockerby
4 Jeremy Schappert - 24 Travis Bobbee
10 Eric Mestery

Forwards:
23 Tyler Dittmer - 11 James Henry - 26 Blair Macaulay
16 Jesse Paradis – 25 Paul Ciarelli - 9 Matthew Lowry
29 Luke Cain - 12 Brett Chartier - 27 Tyler Feakes
18 Dylan Kelly - 15 Craig Scott - 14 Austin Lauder

Scratches:
F: 10 Brendan Rowinski - 14 Nathan Green - 19 Ian Duval - 21 Del Cowan
D: 3 Blair Osiowy - 5 Lee Christensen
G: 1 Joe Caligiuri

REGINA COUGARS

Goal:
1 Mitch Kilgore - 35 Lucas Gore

Defence:
13 Brock Appleyard - 7 Mark Schneider
5 Jordan Reeve - 6 Matt Sawa
8 James Friedel - 2 Brandyn Wasyliw

Forwards:
24 Ward Szucki - 21 Skylar Hladun - 14 Craig Cuthbert
12 Liam Brennan - 9 Tyler Penny - 17 Carter Selinger
29 Matt Strueby - ... ... - 22 Troy Hunter
11 Tanner Lange - 10 Tyler Henry - 19 Sanfred King
15 Tyler Murray - dressed but not noticed

Scratches:
F: 20 Ryan Sawka - 25 Shay Wirll
D: 4 John Sonntag - 18 Russ Neilson
G: 16 Brayden Nargan

The Bisons don't have any names on jerseys yet, and there were a couple of changes. #17 Lauder took Green's #14 and the numberless Mestery took Rowinski's #10. Mestery had the odd shift as a 7th defenceman and the combos were shuffled a bit. The forward lines stayed consistent.

For the Pussies, Strueby and Hunter were a combo up front with pretty much everybody else at various times. I never saw a #15.

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


NAIT OOKS 0
LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 3

Links:
|> [CW Mini-Summary] : [Lethbridge Site]

The H0rny Ones needed to rack up a win at long last. There is no game story as I post but the CW mini-summary is at least up. Lethbridge visits SAIT on Saturday.


SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 1
ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 2
(in shoot-out)

Links:
|> [LS Summary] : [Alberta Site]
|> [U of A Tournament Preview]

The Evil Monkeys and Banjo-Mutts had a real nail-biter in game 2 of The Brick Invitational. Saturday night's game between the Primates and Mount Royal will decide the tournament. The Mongrels will face the Bedrock Boys in an afternoon consolation game on neutral ice. That's 7-0 for the Monkeys in pre-season. Against CW teams they are 3-0 with all wins by one goal.


SIMON FRASER CLAN 3
UBC THUNDERBIRDS 4
(in overtime)

Links:
|> [LS Summary] : [UBC Site]

UBC seem to have outplayed their cross-town rival (shots were 40-20) but could not put them away. UBC had a 3-1 lead but a Clan goal with just over a minute to go in the 2nd, followed by another 14 seconds into the 3rd, tied the game. Then the Tweety-Birds could not score in a 3rd period where they outshot the Clan 12-4. SFU hosts the return match Saturday night.

OUT EAST:

UQTR 3 UPEI 2 : [UPEI Mini-Report]]
Concordia 3 Western Ontario 4 : [UWO Game Story]
Waterloo 3 McGill 6 : [McGill Mini-Report]
Windsor 4 Laurier 1 : [Laurier Schedule/Results]
Guelph 2 Brock 5 : [LS Summary]
Ottawa 4 Lakehead 3 : [LU Game Story]
Ryerson 2 Nipissing 3 : [Bay Today Game Story] : [Nugget.ca Game Story]

UP NEXT:

Sept 22
Regina at Manitoba : 2:30 at Max Bell : [Live Updates]
Saskatchewan v Calgary (Brick Invitational at Edmonton)
Mount Royal at Alberta (Brick Invitational at Edmonton)
Lethbridge at SAIT
UBC at Simon Fraser
UQTR at UPEI
McGill at Western Ontario (East-West Invitational)
Waterloo v Concordia (East-West Invitational)
Windsor at UOIT
Ottawa at Lakehead
RMC at York
Laurier v Guelph (at Brantford)
Carleton at Acadia (Don Wells Tournament)
Saint Mary's at St. Francis-Xavier (Don Wells Tournament)

Sept 23
Don Wells Tournament 3rd place game
Don Wells Tournament 1st place game
UQTR at New Brunswick

[Hollywood2]

September 22, 2012

SECOND VERSE SAME AS THE FIRST


REGINA COUGARS 2
MANITOBA BISONS 6

Links:
|> [LS Summary] : [CW Schedule/Results/Links]
|> [Manitoba Site : Roster] : [Regina Site]

I am not a big fan of matinee hockey, especially when it creates a conflict with a football game, but in the end this trip to the Max Bell was worth it. Not that this produced some classic hockey, but it was a nice opportunity to see what the new recruits look like.

Before I get too far into this, here's how the teams lined up:

MANITOBA BISONS

Goal:
1 Joe Caligiuri (35 Jesse Deckert)

Defence:
22 Darren Bestland - 2 Dane Crowley
5 Lee Christensen - 4 Jeremy Schappert
10 Eric Mestery - 3 Blair Osiowy

Forwards:
23 Tyler Dittmer - 19 Ian Duval - 26 Blair Macaulay
16 Jesse Paradis – 25 Paul Ciarelli - 9 Matthew Lowry
12 Brett Chartier - 11 James Henry - 27 Tyler Feakes
18 Dylan Kelly - 15 Craig Scott - 14 Austin Lauder

Scratches:
F: 10 Brendan Rowinski - 14 Nathan Green - 21 Del Cowan - 29 Luke Cain
D: 6 Brock Sutherland - 20 Brandon Lockerby - 24 Travis Bobbee
G: 34 Deven Dubyk

REGINA COUGARS

Goal:
35 Lucas Gore - 30 Andrew Hayes

Defence:
13 Brock Appleyard - 7 Mark Schneider
5 Jordan Reeve - 6 Matt Sawa
8 James Friedel - 2 Brandyn Wasyliw
2nd and 3rd period: 14 Craig Cuthbert

Forwards:
14 Craig Cuthbert (1st period) - 10 Tyler Henry - 22 Troy Hunter
9 Tyler Penny (replaced Cuthbert 2nd and 3rd period)
24 Ward Szucki - 20 Ryan Sawka - 11 Tanner Lange
16 Brayden Nargan - 15 Tyler Murray - 19 Sanfred King
12 Liam Brennan - 21 Skylar Hladun - 17 Carter Selinger

Scratches:
F: 25 Shay Wirll - 29 Matt Strueby
D: 4 John Sonntag - 18 Russ Neilson
G: 1 Mitch Kilgore

In the Bison goal, Caligiuri went the distance, after Dubyk and Deckert split Friday's game. This would indicate that Caligiuri has retained his starting position.

On defence, Sutherland, Lockerby and Bobbee were scratches after having played on Friday (when 7 d-men were dressed). Christensen and Osiowy were scratched on Friday, but dressed on Saturday. Mestery rarely played on Friday but saw a regular shift, and then some, on Saturday.

Now, it is hard to gauge the quality of the newcomers in games where they weren't under much pressure. But IMO the Bisons are blessed with 9 guys in camp who can play D in this league. The Mestery-Osiowy combination played very well on Saturday. I would love to see another 40 lbs. on Mestery. He seems to have a lot of upward potential.

I also have to note the play of Bestland. Due to last year's glut of defencemen, he had to play up front all year and did well as a 4th liner, generally on a line of converted blueliners. But when paired with Crowley on Saturday he was impressive. He had the best hit of the night, broke up several rushes, and made strong clearing passes all game.

Up front, the only change from Friday to Saturday was that Duval was in and Cain was out. Duval resumed his role on the 1st line, and Henry took Cain's spot on the 3rd line.

IMO, Duval improved the 1st line. They usually made the Kittens look like they were on catnip. However, they also made a bone-head play which resulted in Regina's first goal.

The 2nd line is a dangerous unit. They scored 3 goals on Friday night and it seemed to me that they had less ice-time Saturday. Their only goal was Ciarelli's, and that was in the midst of a line change.

The 3rd line was much more dangerous with Henry centering the unit on Saturday. Chartier notched two goals. He is a small player with loads of puck-handling talent. IMO, this is the type of player in short supply in the CW. Usually the Junior "A" grads have to earn their stripes. I hope he gets some good ice time to see what he can do on a semi-regular basis (at least) once the season begins. Feakes and/or Cain can help on this line by adding size.

The 4th line was unchanged in the two games, and produced one goal in each game. Kelly scored Friday, and Lauder on Saturday. This whole line is Junior "A" grads. They could stand to be a bit more physical. They gave as good as they got. But with two veterans and two university transfers not dressed, my guess is that this unit will form a taxi squad of capable replacement players.

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 5
SAIT TROJANS 3

Links:
|> [SAIT Mini-Summary] : [Lethbridge Site]

The H0rny Ones notched a much-needed sweep to boost their confidence, and they got it. Here's all the information I have on the game:

Details

U of L -- Chase Schaber, Brent Henke, Daniel Iwanski, Mark Hall, David McMullin. SAIT -- Jonathan Young, Landon Kadatz, Brent Struble.

Goal -- SAIT: Mike Tadjdeh (33-28); U of L: Damien Ketlo (31-28).

SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 2
CALGARY DINOS 4

Links:
|> [U of C Schedule/Results]
|> [U of C Game Story v Mount Royal]

This turned out to be the consolation game in The Brick Invitational, played on neutral ice in Edmontown. As I post I do not have any source of information which gives more than the score.


MOUNT ROYAL COUGARS 4
ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 5
(in overtime)

Links:
|> [LS Summary] : [Alberta Site]
|> [U of A Game Story - Friday]

You might want to check the U of A site for a tournament wrap-up story. None has been uploaded as I post. The Evil Monkeys have won their own tournament. Oddly, this gives them 4 straight one-goal wins against CW teams in the pre-season. Are they using up their good fortune in pre-season games in advance of their season debut against the Bisons next Friday and Saturday? Let's hope so!

Her Majesty's Kittens held a 3-2 lead after the 1st period. However, thereafter the Monkeys dominated the stats. They outshot their new provincial rivals by 35-9 over the final two periods but all they could do was force overtime.

The result gives Alberta 4 points and Mount Royal 3 points in the tournament standings. Calgary had 2 and Saskatchewan 1 to finish the field.


UBC THUNDERBIRDS 8
SIMON FRASER CLAN 0

Links:
|> [SFU Site]
|> [UBC Game Story - Friday]

There is no source for game stats as I post, but I did listen to much of this on-line through the SFU Site link. After SFU was able to hang in game one despite being outshot, once they got behind by a couple it seemed to be a case where the floodgates opened. Frankly, UBC should be able to crush SFU by this type of margin. You can check the links for any new game stories which are bound to be uploaded.

OUT EAST:

Saint Mary’s 2 St. Francis Xavier 1 : [Game Summary]
Carleton 6 Acadia 5 (ot) : [Game Summary]
UQTR 4 UPEI 1 : [UPEI Mini-Summary]
Concordia 5 Waterloo 6 : [Waterloo Schedule/Results]
McGill 6 Western Ontario 2 : [LS Summary] : [UWO Game Story]
Guelph vs Wilfrid Laurier - no results available
Royal Military College 1 York 5 : [York Twitter]
Windsor 6 UOIT 1 : [Windsor Twitter]
Ottawa 2 Lakehead 6 : [LU Game Story]

UP NEXT:

Sept. 23
x St. Francis-Xavier at Acadia
x Carleton v Saint Mary's
x UQTR at New Brunswick

Sept. 27
x Moncton at St. Francis Xavier
x Wilfrid Laurier at Windsor
Calgary at Lethbridge

Sept. 28
x Queen’s at Acadia
x UQTR vs Saint Mary’s
x St. Francis Xavier vs UPEI
x New Brunswick at McGill
x York Invitational Tournament
Semi-Final #1: Ryerson at York
Semi-Final #2: UOIT vs Toronto
x Brock at Lakehead
UBC at Regina
Manitoba at Alberta
Lethbridge at Calgary
Saskatchewan at Mount Royal

[Hollywood2]

No matter how late one tries to stay awake on Saturday, there is always some information which just does not come available until Sunday morning.

First, a score from out east:
Guelph 5 Laurier 1 : [Laurier Schedule/Results]

Second, we have two game stories:

UBC has a full report on their 8-0 romp over SFU.

Alberta has two links with the same story and summary.

Since the pre-season has now wrapped up in the CW, here is a compilation of the results:

`````````````` v CW````v other``total
Alberta````````4-0-0`` 4-0-0````8-0-0
Manitoba`````` 3-1-0`` 0-0-0````3-1-0
Saskatchewan`` 2-1-1`` 0-0-0````2-1-1
Mount Royal````2-1-1`` 0-0-0````2-1-1
Calgary````````3-3-0`` 0-0-0````3-3-0
UBC````````````0-0-0`` 2-0-0````2-0-0
Lethbridge```` 0-2-0`` 2-0-0````2-2-0
Regina```````` 0-4-0`` 1-0-0````1-4-0

[Hollywood2]

First, the Bisons announced their captains. Dane Crowley gets the "C", whilst an "A" will be worn by Tyler Dittmer, Blair Macaulay, and Matthew Lowry.

Second, the Bisons have a Season Preview Story. The story says the team has 27 players, and that 12 are newcomers. However, the Roster Page has by my count 14 returnees and 14 newcomers. Maybe they don't count last season's redshirt as a newcomer, and maybe somebody was cut.



There was also a pre-season coaches poll, announced at both the CIS and CW sites. Here's the result:

1. Saskatchewan (4) 64
2. Manitoba```` (3) 54
3. Alberta``````(1) 50
4. Calgary``````````38
5. UBC``````````````27
6. Lethbridge`````` 17
7. Mount Royal``````13
8. Regina````````````8

The 1st place votes are in brackets. Scoring was based on a 10-8-6-4-3-2-1 system. So not only did 3 teams get 1st place votes, four were picked to win, place, or show. And, Regina was a unanimous last, even from their own coach!



The CIS site has a story on UNB facing the Russians. The Russkies will be all-stars from the MHL, their top junior league. The games will be on December 30th and 31st. The Comrades' tour will start with games against the Providence College Friars and RPI Red Hawks, both from the NCAA.

[Hollywood2]

It seems that the teams across the CW got back to updating websites. Here's what I found:


The Regina Cougars uploaded a recap of their home games from Sept. 14-16 and a recap of their Bison series on Sept. 21-22.


The Mount Royal Cougars uploaded a recap of their loss to the Evil Monkeys.


Meanwhile, in the Town of Bedrock, they have proclaimed Sports Day in Canada. This is the itinerary:

SPORTS DAY IN CANADA
Friday, Sept. 28
National Jersey Day – Show your support for sport by wearing your favourite jersey!
7 p.m. Men's Hockey: Dinos vs. Lethbridge, Father David Bauer Arena
7:45 p.m. (approx.): Calgary Flames defenceman Jay Bouwmeester signing autographs in the 1st intermission

Saturday, Sept. 29
2 p.m. Busses leave from UofC residence / Dining Centre
2:30 p.m. Yoga on the field at McMahon Stadium
3:15 p.m. Tailgate BBQ on the concourse – the first 300 yoga participants receive a FREE burger and beverage!
5 p.m. Football: Dinos vs. Saskatchewan, McMahon Stadium

Yoga? Before football? Who thought of that one? Betty and Wilma? Mr. Slate?


The H0rny Ones' Preview is up. They have this to say:

Set to battle for the starting role this season is freshman Damien Ketlo, the Lethbridge Hurricanes 2011-12 MVP and Dylan Tait, also a former Hurricane. Tait made 7 appearances last season, mostly in relief appearances but put up solid numbers with a 2.89 goals-against-average and .920 save percentage.

In addition to the loss of Bowles, the ‘Horns are without their top three scorers from last season. Captain and leading scorer Dustin Moore and Winston Day Chief have graduated, while Taylor Gal decided to not to return for his third season. Up front, Dan Iwanski and Clayton Cumiskey will be tabbed to lead the way offensively but head coach Greg Gatto also expects big things from a trio of newcomers.

Former Kamloops Blazers captain Chase Schaber gives the ‘Horns a bona-fide number one centre and leadership, and former Western leaguers Cody Chikie and Killian Hutt have shown the ability to contribute offensively.

On the blue-line, coach Gatto has completely revamped the core which will be very young this year. DJ McDougall, Tyler Hlookoff and Mason Conway all return but the addition of former Victoria Royals captain Hayden Rintoul, local product Cason Machacek and former OHLer’s Tim Campbell and David McMullen are set to bolster the back end.

IMO, although Bowles gave them great goaltending for many years I felt he was not the goalie of old last year and Tait ought to have played more. This is a better-than-usual recruiting class for them, but they lost their core scorers up front. I await the posting of their roster at LeagueStat.


The U of A has a Evil Monkeys v Bisons Preview, although it appears to be a rough draft as I post.


The Banjo-Mutts have a cut-and-paste of the CW coaches' poll story. The U of S site has not posted much so far this year, so at least that is something. The story is also reposted at The Boxscore News, where they also reposted the UNB announcement.


The ACAC main page has a change to the SAIT Trojans Eye Opener Tournament. It was set up as an ACAC v BCIHL event. But the MacEwan Griffins are out and the AAA Senior Innisfail Eagles are in.


And here are the late scores from out east:

Sunday, September 23
UQTR 2 New Brunswick 3 : [UNB Game Story]
St. Francis Xavier 3 Acadia 2 : [Tournament wrap-up on both games]
Saint Mary’s 3 Carleton 1 : [Tournament Final]

[Hollywood2]

There are even more reports from around the league this afternoon, so here we go.


The Bison Roster Page now lists 27 names. The former #3 Blair Osiowy has been released and the new #3 is Eric Mestery, who played in Brendan Rowinski's #10 jersey last weekend. They have 3 goaltenders, 8 defencemen, and 16 forwards. With 3 forwards injured they could not realistically cut anybody else. IMO, Osiowy looked pretty good and would have been one of Regina's better defencemen. They have also reposted the CW's coaches' poll story.


The Mount Royal Cougars Preview is now up. This blurb tells what it's like to move up from last year:

Head coach Jean Laforest went on a recruiting rampage during the summer and added 10 new student-athletes for the Cougars’ inaugural season in the Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) league.

Graduating one member off last year’s squad, that means some members of the team that had a 22-2-1 regular season record in the final year in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference lost their spots.

“Moving to a higher level, you can’t stand pat,” said Laforest.

“It’s not always a pleasant situation because some players have been here for one or two years and are being displaced. But that’s the reality of sport at an upper level.You give everyone the opportunity to make the hockey club, but the reality is not everyone will make the transition.”

The UBC Preview is also up.

“Our goal from day one of training camp is to win a CIS Championship,” said Dragicevic who won a national title with Acadia in 1993. “Last year it was simply to make the playoffs, but this year we believe we have the right mix to be legitimate contenders. It's a long journey, but we have players here who have won championships and national titles before and we will be relying on them to show our other guys what it takes to be a champion.”

The Thunderbirds are coming off a season in which they finished 12-12-4 during the regular season and lost in three games to Calgary in the opening round of the playoffs. 21 players from that team are back and will be joined by an impressive group of recruits.

They include, defencemen Neil Manning (Nanaimo, BC), Kevin Smith (North Vancouver, BC), and Linden Saip (White Rock, BC) and forwards Brad Hoban (Victoria, BC), Joe Antilla (Madiera Park, BC, Dillon Wagner (Keephills, AB), Scott Macdonald (Surrey, BC), and Jessi Hilton (Sherwood Park, BC).

“We really identified our needs this offseason by bringing in puck moving 'd', more depth up front, and bigger guys along the walls,” said Dragicevic, who was named the Canada West Coach of the Year in 2011-12. “It's been our best recruiting class that we have had ever had and we expect all these guys to be impact players. With these additions, we feel we have improved our team the most of anybody in the Canada West. Now it's a case of starting the process off right and showing our guys the importance of creating a culture of winning from the very first day. ”

I don't disagree with the argument that UBC did the most ON PAPER to improve their team from a year ago. However, UBC was more than the sum of their parts last year. This was in stark contrast to their club tradition of being much less than the sum of their parts. IMO, UBC should be part of a "big 5" in the CW, rather than being in a constant battle with Regina and Lethbridge at the bottom. While I have them pegged at #5, I will need to see performance before I am convinced they have achieved a change of status as a program.


The CW conference-wide preview is also up now. There is a blurb on each team with records, arrivals, and departures duly noted.

[Hollywood2]

WEEKEND PREVIEW


MANITOBA BISONS (0-0-0, 3-1-0)
ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS (0-0-0, 8-0-0)

Friday, September 28th, 8:00 p.m. CDT @ U of A
Saturday, September 29th, 7:00 p.m. CDT @ U of A

Live Links:
|> [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]
|> [Live Video – Both Nights – CanadaWest.tv]

Manitoba Links:
|> [Team Site] : [Roster] : [Schedule/Results]
|> [LS Roster] : [LS Stats] : [LS Schedule/Results]
|> [Twitter] : [Facebook]

Alberta Links:
|> [Team Site] : [Roster] : [Schedule/Results]
|> [LS Roster] : [LS Stats] : [LS Schedule/Results]
|> [Twitter] : [Facebook]

Other Links:
|> [CIS Site] : [CIS Schedule/Results/Links]
|> [CW Site] : [CW Schedule/Results/Links]
|> [LeagueStat Daily]
|> [Every Link Re: CIS Hockey]

Last year the Bisons had four one-goal games with the Evil Monkeys. They won 3, bit one was reversed. The Monkeys scored with too many Monkeys on the ice in OT, after which the goal was waived off and a penalty assessed. The bad karma ultimately pushed them down the standings and out of first place for the first time in eons. In fact, their ill-gotten extra point against the Bisons is all that enabled them to finish second, just ahead of Sask.

FWIW, the CW coaches poll has a tight 3-way race for first this year with Manitoba at #2 and Saudi Alberta at #3.

Three monkeys have escaped the zoo: forwards Jean-Pierre Szaszkiewicz and Lindsay Nielsen, and defenceman Ian Barteaux. A very low turnover for a university hockey team. The replacements are forwards Burke Gallimore, Rhett Rachinski, and Torrie Dyck, and defenceman Brennan Yadlowski. Gallimore and Rachinski are both WHL grads with over 30 goals last year. Dyck is an Augustana transfer.

My overall impression is that both teams should have similar records to what they had last year. Every point will be vital.

ELSEWHERE:


CALGARY DINOS (0-0-0, 3-3-0)
LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS (0-0-0, 2-2-0)

Links:
|> [Live Stats Thursday] : [Live Stats Friday]
|> [Live Video - Thursday]
|> [Calgary Captains Named] : [Calgary Preview Story] : [Calgary Twitter]
|> [Lethbridge Site] : [Lethbridge Twitter]

This series is a home and home and, unlike the others, starts Thursday (in Lethbridge) and finishes Friday (in Calgary).

Brock Nixon will be the Captain of the Dinos this year. Both sides split their pre-season games, but the H0rny Ones' only wins were over ACAC teams. Calgary was a disappointment last year. Only a late spurt allowed them to stem a strong challenge from UBC and hang on to 4th place. They rallied in the playoffs to edge the Bisons and then lose game 3 in OT to Sask in the final. IMO, the Dinos look to be a strong 4th place team again. Their recruits seem to be a notch below their departures.

The H0rny Ones were desperately short of Viagra last year. Only Regina's ineptitude and a return to the 6-team playoff format allowed them to make the playoffs. IMO, they have a decent crop of recruits, but those only replace the quality departees.


SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES (0-0-0, 2-1-1)
MOUNT ROYAL COUGARS (0-0-0, 2-1-1)

Links:
|> [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]
|> [Live Video – Both Nights]
|> [Sask Site] : [Sask Twitter]
|> [Mount Royal Site] : [Mount Royal Twitter]

This series will be of interest because it represents Mount Royal's conference debut. They jump into the deep end by facing the defending champions. I am interested in seeing just how Sask will look with some turnover at the upper end of the depth chart. Gone are forwards Kyle Ross, Shaun Vey, Travis Brisebois, and Brenden Dowd, and defencemen Dylan Hole, Curtis Kulchar, and Jesse Zetariuk. The replacements are forwards Jesse Ross, Kenton Dulle, Jordan Peddle, Brandon Herrod, and Marc-Andre Carre, and defencemen James Bubnick and Andrew Blanke. They also now have a third goaltender, Blake Voth.


UBC THUNDERBIRDS (0-0-0, 2-0-0)
REGINA COUGARS (0-0-0, 1-4-0)

Links:
|> [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]
|> [no on-line audio or video]
|> [UBC Site] : [UBC Twitter]
|> [Regina Preview Story] : [Regina Twitter]

It is the opening weekend, yet IMO this is a crucial series for the Banjo-Cats. If they get swept at home in this series it could be a long, cold winter in Regina.

My only question: Has UBC prepared adequately? All they have played is two exhibitions against SFU from the BCIHL.

OUT EAST

Sept 27
Moncton at St. Francis Xavier
Laurier at Windsor

Sept 28
Brock at Lakehead
Ryerson at York (York Tournament)
UOIT v Toronto (York Tournament)
Queen's at Acadia
New Brunswick at McGill
UQTR at Saint Mary's (at Truro, NS)
St. Francis Xavier vs UPEI (at North Sydney, NS)

Sept 29
Brock at Lakehead
Western Ontario at Nipissing
York Tournament 3rd place game
York Tournament 1st place game
Queen's at Saint Mary's
UQTR at Acadia
New Brunswick at Concordia
UPEI at Dalhousie (at Liverpool, NS)

Sept 30
Ottawa at RMC

* all are non-conference games

[Hollywood2]

September 27, 2012

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


CALGARY DINOS 4
LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 3
(in overtime)

Links:
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]
|> [U of L Game Story] : [Reposted at U of C : at CIS : at CW]

The H0rny Ones and their inter-provincial rivals from Bedrock got a jump on the rest of the CW by starting their regular season on Thursday night. I did not see the whole game, but did see the end of the third period and the overtime.

Lethbridge took a page from their old playbook. They were massively outshot, but kept the game close and squeezed out a point in overtime. The `Horns had a 3-2 lead after two periods. The Dinos outshot them 15-5 in the 3rd as they pushed hard to equalize, and then to try to win. At the end of the 3rd it was the Dinos applying all the pressure.

But overtime was different. The teams traded rushes, and Dino goaltender Dustin Butler made the save of the night on a breakaway. Each team had 3 shots in the 4 minutes of OT.

OUT EAST:

Moncton 3 St. Francis Xavier 5 : [Game Story]
Laurier 4 Windsor 5 (ot) : [WLU Schedule/Results]

NEWS:


A Weekend Preview is up. They also have a Thursday Round-up, which has just the one game. I hope they consistently post this, especially after the busy Friday and Saturday night schedules all season long.


The CW has a pdf format Weekly Update #1. This one is worth printing because it includes the final stats from 2011-12 for each team, so it is worth saving. They put out one of these each week last year, hopefully it continues.

Also, Evan Daum has a two part team-by-team preview at The Edmonton Journal, now that South Campus Sports seems dormant. Part 1 covers the Big Four, and Part 2 covers the bottom four.


The debut of the Her Majesty's Kittens has the papers in Bedrock talking. There are stories at both The Calgary Sun and The Calgary Herald. From The Calgary Sun:

The 12-time ACAC champion Mount Royal Cougars men’s hockey program has been preparing to make the transition from the college level to the CIS for a couple years now, but despite all the preparation, nothing compares to the real thing.

...

“From a talent perspective, we’re not a top program,” Laforest admitted. “In order to overcome that, it’s work ethic, commitment, motivation and making sure we compete for 60 minutes. That’s the big message for us this year. It has to be full out 60 minutes. It can’t be 20 or 40.”

Knopp is fine with a little bit of pressure and a 2-2 pre-season record helped build a bit of confidence heading into the opener.

“I know a lot of people will be looking at the scores to see how we hold up in the league,” the 6-foot-1, 198-lb., third-year winger said. “I think we made a pretty good impact during exhibition games, which gives up a little more respect around the league.”

The Calgary Herald added:

The Cougars enter into this new fellowship with a reputation for excellence. They’ve won the ACAC title twice in the past seven seasons and last year (22-1-3) finished their residence with a bronze medal. But taking in the entire picture — on-ice as well as off — this is a brand new kettle of fish for MRU.

“We fly to Winnipeg, we fly to Vancouver . . . even the logistics of a road trip is totally different,” agreed Laforest. “The amount of organization that goes into it . . . drastically different. The venues we play in are larger than the ones we traditionally played in. The cities, they’re all major centres in western Canada. It’s a whole different environment from where we were.

...

The Cougars couldn’t have asked for a greater challenge. Canada West houses some of the best programs in the country, including perennially top-10 ranked Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the defending conference champ and season-opening opponent Friday and Saturday at Flames Community Arenas (7 p.m. both nights). Add to the mix a tough Calgary squad and you have a recipe for great fun every weekend.

But Laforest insists it isn’t about this year, or even next year. It’s about the process of becoming like those other institutions; a school where players will want to come.

UP NEXT:

Sept. 28
x Queen’s at Acadia
x UQTR vs Saint Mary’s
x St. Francis Xavier vs UPEI
x New Brunswick at McGill
x York Invitational Tournament
Semi-Final #1: Ryerson at York
Semi-Final #2: UOIT vs Toronto
x Brock at Lakehead
UBC at Regina
Manitoba at Alberta
Lethbridge at Calgary
Saskatchewan at Mount Royal

x exhibition game

[Hollywood2]

September 28, 2012

HERD OPENS WITH A LOSS


MANITOBA BISONS 2
ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 4

Links:
|> [CIS Friday Round-Up] : [CW Friday Stories]
|> [CIS Schedule/Results/Links] : [CW Schedule/Results/Links]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]
|> [U of A Story] : [reposted at U of M]

The Monkeys started hot and carried play throughout the first period. The shots on goal were 19-5 in favour of the Primates. James Dobrowolski scored early and the Jordan Hickmott scored mid-period on a PP. However, once Manitoba began to carry the play a bit one Ape took a penalty and the Bisons cashed in quickly. Captain Dane Crowley scored to make it 2-1. But Hickmott replied and it was 3-1 after one period.

The second period was pretty even, and there were no goals. Blair Macaulay then scored short-handed to set up a tense finish. The stats say that the Monkeys had 17 shots in the third, but that seems exaggerated. The Bisons were pushing for the equalizer with a minute left when they failed to control a face-off and Johnny Lazo pounced on a loose puck and scored an empty-netter.

The rematch goes Saturday at 7:00 CDT and can be seen on-line at canadawest.tv.



OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 5
MOUNT ROYAL COUGARS 4

Links:
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]
|> [MRU Story] : [reposted at U of S]

This battle of Cats v Dogs went to the Dogs, specifically the Banjo-Mutts, on a goal at 19:59 of the third period. Tough luck for the Cougars, being just one second away from at least getting a point. Especially since Lethbridge had a point against Calgary on Thursday. The 9 goals were scored on a total of 50 shots. Saturday's rematch will be on canadawest.tv.


LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 0
CALGARY DINOS 3

Links:
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]
|> [MRU Story] : [reposted at U of L]

In the Town of Bedrock they are celebrating a sweep of a home-and-home series. There wasn't enough Viagra to get even one goal for the H0rny Ones in this game. The shots were 37-19 for the Dinos. If those were an indication of the play then the Dinos were full value for their 4 point weekend. Of note, the Dinos dressed just 19 players on Thursday but had the full compliment of 20 on Friday.


UBC THUNDERBIRDS 4
REGINA COUGARS 3

Links:
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]
|> [U of R Story] : [UBC Story]

The Puddy-Tats had the Tweety-Birds reaklly scared int he first period when they took a 2-0 lead less than 6 minutes into the game. Then an old lady with an umbrella smacked each one of them over the head the scared them off. Then a bulldog dressed like a referee gave the Puddy-Tats a bunch of penalties. UBC scored one PP goal in the first, and another just 40 seconds into the second and it was 2-2. An even strength goal 4 minutes later made it 3-2 heading into the third frame. The feline referee came to the aid of Regina and gave them a PP chance, which they cashed just 14 seconds into the third. However, the tied score lasted barely a minute before UBC took a lead they were able to hold.

OUT EAST:

Exhibition Games
Queen’s 2 Acadia 5 : [Acadia Game Story]
UQTR 4 Saint Mary’s 3 [SMU Schedule/Results]
St. Francis Xavier 3 UPEI 2 : [UPEI Schedule/Results]
New Brunswick 7 McGill 2 : [LS Summary]
Brock 2 Lakehead 3 (ot) : [LU Game Story]

York Invitational Tournament
Ryerson 1 York 7 : [York Site (click results)]
UOIT 0 Toronto 7 : [U of T Schedule/Results]

UP NEXT:

Sept. 29
Manitoba at Alberta
Saskatchewan at Mount Royal
UBC at Regina
x Brock at Lakehead
x Western Ontario at Nipissing
x York Tournament Ryerson v UOIT
x York Tournament Toronto at York
x Queen's at Saint Mary's
x UQTR at Acadia
x New Brunswick at Concordia
x UPEI at Dalhousie (at Liverpool, NS)

Sept 30
x Ottawa at RMC

[Hollywood2]

September 29, 2012

BISONS FALL APART IN SECOND PERIOD


MANITOBA BISONS 2
ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 7

Links:
|> [CIS Saturday Round-Up] : [CW Saturday Stories]
|> [CIS Schedule/Results/Links] : [CW Schedule/Results/Links]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]
|> [U of A Story] : [reposted with LeagueStats at U of M]

I saw what I could of this one on canadawest.tv, but that was drifting in and out. Kind of like the Bisons. The season opening is funny in that the CW played regular season games this weekend (unlike the other conferences) and then go back to non-conference play next weekend. Oddly, the whole CW also has a conference by on November 2nd-3rd. Logically, this weekend's games should have been played November 2nd and 3rd.

The Bisons just did not look ready to play a full game all weekend. Each period was remarkably different. The Bisons started weakly on Friday but had it pulled together, and even started to dominate the Evil Monkeys on Saturday. After one period the Bisons led 2-1 and outshot Alberta 16-11. But a couple of PP goals early in the 2nd period changed the game around and from then on the Bisons just stopped playing. Jesse Deckert allowed a couple of soft ones, but still faced 48 shots. Travis Bobbee and Luke Cain had their first goals of the season.

The Bisons have a trip to the Excited States next weekend, whilst the Monkeys will swing about and throw feces in their cages while enjoying a care-free weekend off.

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 5
MOUNT ROYAL COUGARS 3

Links:
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]
|> [MRU Story] : [reposted at U of S]

After getting a major scare on Friday, and falling behind 1-0 innthe 1st, the Banjo-Mutts took control with 5 straight goals to put Saturday's game away. The game was even in the 1st and 3rd periods. But the Mutts had control in the 2nd period when they outscored MRU 2-0 and outshot them 11-3. While the Royal Kittens will be doing nothing more than stuffing their faces with pumpkin pie next weekend, the Mutts will no doubt be drinking from toilets as both sides have the weekend off.


UBC THUNDERBIRDS 4
REGINA COUGARS 5
(in a shoot-out)

Links:
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]
|> [U of R Story] : [UBC Story]

The Banjo-Kittens needed this win. UBC can be happy that they notched 3 points on the weekend. This one was close throughout. Each side held the lead on two occasions, and never by more than one goal. The game was 3-3 entering the 3rd period and Regina scored after only 16 seconds, only to have UBC tie the game at 1:11. Next weekend the Kittens are going north to Alaska and UBC are off to Colorado.

OUT EAST:

Exhibition Games
Brock 7 Lakehead 4 : [Brock Game Story]
Western Ontario 3 Nipissing 2 : [NU Schedule/Results]
Queen's 5 Saint Mary's 4 : [SMU Schedule/Results]
UQTR 0 Acadia 5 : [Acadia Game Story]
New Brunswick 4 Concordia 2 : [CU Schedule/Results]
UPEI 4 Dalhousie 3 : [UPEI Schedule/Results]

York Invitational Tournament
Ryerson v UOIT : no score reported
Toronto 4 York 6 : [York Site (click results)]

UP NEXT:

Sept 30
Ottawa at RMC

Oct 2
Toronto at York

Oct 3
Dalhousie at Saint Mary’s
Acadia v Moncton (at Cocagne, NB)

Oct 4
St. Francis Xavier at St. Thomas
New Brunswick at Portland Pirates (AHL)

Oct 5
* Nipissing at UQTR
* McGill at Concordia
* Lakehead at Guelph
Regina at Alaska Fairbanks

Oct 6
* UQTR at McGill
* Nipissing at RMC
* Lakehead at Guelph
UPEI v Moncton (at Grand-Sault, NB)
Manitoba at North Dakota
Lethbridge at Minnesota
UBC at Denver
Regina at Alaska Anchorage
Western Ontario at Western Michigan
Brock at Michigan Tech
Laurier at Mercyhurst
Ottawa at RIT
Carleton at St. Lawrence
Ryerson at Lake Superior
Toronto at Massachusetts-Lowell
Concordia at Vermont
York at Connecticut
Acadia at RPI
New Brunswick at Boston College
St. Francis Xavier at New Hampshire
St. Thomas at Holy Cross

Oct 7
Manitoba at Bemidji State
Lethbridge at Minnesota State
UBC at Colorado College
Western Ontario at Miami of Ohio
Brock at Northern Michigan
Laurier at Robert Morris
UOIT at Bowling Green
Carleton at Clarkson
Ryerson at Ferris State
Toronto at Boston University
Ottawa at Canisius
Waterloo at Ohio State
Acadia at Quinipiac
New Brunswick at Maine
St. Francis Xavier at Northeastern
St. Thomas at Sacred Heart

Oct 8
Lethbridge at Nebraska-Omaha
UBC at Air Force
Windsor at Michigan State

Oct 9
Windsor at Michigan

* conference game - all others are non-conference games