Bob,I'm curious if Thurston tried to bring back Brian Woolger? He came to UNB and left after spending a week here. I talked to him and he was seemed very keen on playing. He also was well liked and fit in with the players here.
Is he playing at all?
I was able to listen to the first period on-line before attending my son's game. Too bad 101.5 can't be tuned on my portable radios. The Bisons took only 23 seconds to take the lead and then pounded on the 'Horns all night long. Kyle Howarth scored twice (his 6th and 7th) and Blair Macaulay once (his team leading 12th) whilst assisting on each other's goals, to give the Bisons a 3-0 lead. Their line with Greg Beller has paced the Bisons lately. Manitoba's scoring was wrapped up by Jered Walker (7th) and Del Cowan (1st). Steve Christie stopped 24 of 25 shots.
The Bisons end the night in a 3-way tie for 2nd place with Calgary and Sask, but with a game in hand on both. A win Saturday could allow the Bisons o even dream of a run for 1st.
The Dinos finally defeated their nemesis from the north in the Battle of Saudi Alberta. It was their first win in Edmontown since October 2006! The result would have actually disappointed everybody else, who would be just as happy to see Alberta chalk up wins if it keeps Calgary away from 2nd-3rd-4th. Alberta still holds a 6 point lead on the pack, but must be starting to feel some heat. After consecutive splits with UBC and Lethbridge, an element of doubt must be creeping into the Evil Monkeys this home stretch.
UBC fairly dominated the game (35-19 in shots) but still had to fight it out at the end. This shows that the pesky Banjocats are basically out of it but still have enough skills to make an opponent work for a victory. Still, a home series with Regina is now a golden opportunity for a 4 point weekend, which the other teams desperately require.
UPEI scored a key win over St FX. I was beginning to have some doubts about UPEI after their solid first half of the season. The other AUS were painfull by-the-book. UNB must relish their win over SMU.
In the OUA the East was predictable but the West produced surprises. Both the Urban Cowboys and Laurier tasted defeat.
The Canada West Women's Site has a full Friday night report. Here's the scores:
Manitoba 3 Lethbridge 1
Alberta 2 Calgary 1 (OT)
Regina 2 UBC 1
Bye: Sask.
NEXT UP:
Jan. 22 Lethbridge at Manitoba
Calgary at Alberta
Regina at UBC
Bye: Sask
Jan. 28-29 Manitoba at Regina
Sask. at Calgary
UBC at Lethbridge
Bye: Alberta
The NCAA team was Holy Cross, a mid-pack team in a weak NCAA conference. I see he had a poor showing at RPI before transferring. I will agree, if he keeps those numbers coming - he will have an impact.
How many years does he have left? I'm guessing he loses one for his pro year, but what about his time at RPI/Holy Cross? He did graduate from Holy Cross, and he is in GSchool at Man, but does he have a 2nd year?
Jordan has this year and next left on his eligibility. He played very well last night against the Pronghorns, his first home game since becoming eligible after Christmas. He is very smart, quick, sees the ice very well and is strong on his skates. He is quite rugged and solid for a smaller guy. He also seems to have some great chemistry with Riley Dudar and Nolan Waker - two fifth year forwards who are very smart and know how to play the CIS game. Now that Manitoba is essentially healthy and icing a full lineup for the first time this year (missing only top offensive threat Ian Duval) they could make a bit of a run this second half and put some pressure on Alberta. then again they could finish fifth. It will be a very interesting second half.
That the Bisons swept Lethbridge is not a shock. What is a shock us that the Bisons are now 4 points behind 1st place Alberta with 2 games in hand. And next weekend the Bisons play in Regina, whilst the Evil Monkeys have a bye week. The Bisons have 10 games left. Do the math. But first the Bisons have to ensure at least a playoff berth.
I was finally able to see the Bisons. The extreme cold was not about to deter me. While tonight's game was a decisive victory, the Herd did not humiliate Lethbridge as they did on Friday. The H0rny Ones took a penalty in the game's opening minute and Tyler Dittmer scored on the ensuing PP (his 6th) to give the Bisons the lead. But Winston Day Chief notched his 7th to tie it up when Lethbridge had their own PP. Kyle Howarth's 8th gave the Bisons the lead to stay. His 9th (in the 2nd period) gave the Herd an insurmountable lead.
The Bisons somehow managed to avoid cashing in on glorious chances in the 3rd period. Del Cowan, Mike Hellyer, and I believe it was Jeremy Schappert (my view of the jersey was obstructed) all missed a near-empty net shot. Also of note, Jered Walker was stopped on a penalty shot. All-in-all the Bisons pumped 40 shots at Lethbridge. The result could have been much worse for Lethbridge.
Defence:
Conway - Marshall
Davenport - Gilbert
Cooper - Letts
Forwards:
Gal - Hotson - Day Chief
Pucci-Daniele - Melancon - Feakes
Snopek - Moore - Courtney
Creighton - used on other lines
Matte - Jones - never seen on ice
The Evil Monkeys have gone from splits to sweeps. Well, at least one sweep. This has to be a glorious weekend for the Dinos. So many pundits have been looking ahead and saying that Calgary has to shoot for hanging on for 4th place and a playoff series at Alberta. But here they are, 4 points behind 1st with a game in hand.
Torrie Wheat's second period was all they needed. Dustin Butler stopped only 22 shots for the shut-out.
The Evil Monkeys still have a nice position in 1st place. But they have gone 2-3-1 since Christmas. Calgary is 4-1-0 in the same period.
The Tweety-Birds were about to be eaten by the mean old Puddy-Tats when an old lady slapped them with her umbrella. This is what makes people question UBC. On home ice against Regina and all they muster is 18 shots on goal and one measly goal before winning a shoot-out. They have been outscored 72-61 on the season yet there they are, tied with Sask for 4th place.
The big news in the AUS is that UPEI came back wit a strong weekend. They are now level with SMU in a tie for 2nd place behind UNB. Moncton stopped their downward spiral. They are within 4 points of Dal for the 6th and final playoff berth.
In the OUA, nothing was too shocking. Lakehead and Waterloo are showing their vulnerability to the so-so teams which prevents them from getting a rankings boost. This was a nice weekend for Windsor, though, with 2 upset wins.
The Canada West Women's Site has a full Saturday night report. Here's the scores:
Manitoba 2 Lethbridge 0
Alberta 1 Calgary 0
UBC 3 Regina 1
Bye: Sask.
NEXT UP:
Jan. 28-29 Manitoba at Regina
Sask. at Calgary
UBC at Lethbridge
Bye: Alberta
My oh my. The Canada West conference is truly up for grabs. Finally there is some real parity, not the pretend kind we've seen in past years. While Alberta takes a nose-dive, Calgary and Saskatchewan are both on an up-trend and Manitoba is holding its own. Hey, look out, UBC is trying to up-size and join the league's upper echelon. The Birds work real hard and are within striking distance of that fourth and final playoff berth. Their goaltending remains suspect, however, and they're not real deep in the scoring and skill department. It's scary to think that maybe one or two of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan could not advance to the CIS national championship in Fed Rock, NB.
Not overly surprised at Alberta. Their drop in play is finally reflecting the drop in talent at the forward position. They no longer have the scoring depth (the big edge that used to be the envy of all ) up front and it doesn't look good for next season with their projected losses there. Don't know how they managed to win as many games as they did up front but Klassen, Ryan and Hunter really carried this team for as long as they could.
Still think Calgary and Saskatchewan could be the scariest to play in postseason, yet they could end up meeting one another, which would probably be what Alberta and Manitoba can hope for.
This is the Huskies opportunity to bear down and take advantage of Alberta's recent poor play. With their deep recruiting crop from last year and the addition of Hulak, they could be as good as the Bears. They need to be consistant and go on a streak. For Dave Adolph, anything but a trip to the Nationals in Freddy will be a failure! The CanadaWest is starting to look like the AUS in regards to the parity, especially between 1-6.
This is the Huskies opportunity to bear down and take advantage of Alberta's recent poor play. With their deep recruiting crop from last year and the addition of Hulak, they could be as good as the Bears. They need to be consistant and go on a streak. For Dave Adolph, anything but a trip to the Nationals in Freddy will be a failure! The CanadaWest is starting to look like the AUS in regards to the parity, especially between 1-6.
its tightening up boys! start motivating the troops!!
The U of M announced that Kyle Howarth was named Smitty's male athlete of the week for his 4 goals last weekend against Lethbridge. His line with Greg Beller and Blair Macaulay certainly dominated play.
There is a preview at the U of R Site. These two teams have played four times already, all in Winnipeg. Regina took the first game 5-2 in the Bison home opener before the Bisons took the Saturday rematch 7-0. Regina had been off to a good start and, with any breaks, could have been level with UBC. However, as time went by they began to fade. The Bisons dominated the second series in November, winning 4-1 and 6-1.
The Cougars are led by Dillon Johnstone (5-6-11) and former Bison Terrance Delaronde (4-6-10). Delaronde was off to a hot start but has evidently cooled it. Conversely, the Bisons have 8 players equal to or greater than those players. Blair Macaulay leads the Bisons and is 3rd in the league (12-16-28 ).
The Banjo-cats seem done-for now. Nevertheless, they are not so over-matched that one would expect them to lose all their games. Especially at home. The Bisons could sure use 4 points this weekend but they will have to play well to get it. They will likely have one comfortable win and one nail-biter. Note that last Saturday the Cougars were really unlucky to lose the game in a shoot-out.
ELSEWHERE:
All eyes will be on this series. A sweep by Sask could leave them in a solid position to fight for first. However, if they are swept then they could be lucky to even make the playoffs. There is no webcast, which is a disappointment. The series is previewed at the Star-Phoenix, U of C Site, and at the U of S Site. We have seen Calgary come up with a big sweep of Alberta, after a split with UBC, whilst Sask. split with Manitoba then had a bye. Much has been made of both sides' Christmas acquisitions. IMO, Sask already had the scorers so adding more doesn't do much. So far, Derek Hulak has 1 goal and 2 assists in 4 games and Matthew Delahey has one goal and no assists in 4 games. Calgary's newcomers have done better. Walker Wintoneak has 4 goals and 5 assists in 5 games. Returning Aaron Richards has 3 goals and 2 assists in 5 games. But we should not overlook those who have been around all year. Calgary goaltender Dustin Butler was awarded CIS Athlete of the Week. His goaltending has been a key for Calgary this year. Anyhow, the rest of the league will be wanting to make sure there are no 3 point games here.
The series is previewed at the U of L Site. The H0rny Ones trail UBC by 4 points but have a game in hand. Lethbridge could really use a sweep of this series. UBC is tough to figure this year. My guess is we'll see a split.
OTHER STORIES:
The official top 10 is at the CIS site and at the CIS Blog. McGill and Western Ontario at #2 and #3? How many old ladies did they push down the stairs this week? And Lakehead at #10? Hmmmmm.
The week started early out east, and the Schedule and Results and Standings are updated, with links. Here are the scores:
Jan. 26
Saint Mary's 1 StFX 3
Concordia 4 McGill 5
Waterloo 3 Brock 4 OT
Last edited by Hollywood3: 01-29-2011 at 07:42 PM.
This was a golden opportunity for the Bisons to solidify a hold on 2nd place and to come within 2 points of the idle Evil Monkeys. Instead, they seem to have dominated play by out-shooting the Banjo-Cats 34-17, only to be held scoreless.
Oddly, the 3 home teams this weekend all started the weekend as underdogs (at least on paper) yet emerged victorious on Friday night. The effect is to seriously tighten the standings. The Bisons, Calgary, and Sask are all tied and lead UBC by 2 points and Lethbridge by 4.
My weekend forecast was that one game would be tight and the other a decisive Bison victory. Looking at the shots total, I figure this may prove accurate.
The Banjo-Dogs would have been feeling the heat and responded with a decisive victory. Now it is the Dinos asking questions since they were so decisively beaten. It also appears that Dustin Butler had his problems in goal, surrendering 6 goals on 27 shots. Of course, it is always hard to gauge a weekend series until after game 2. The way the standings look, the winner of game 2 will be looking at a 1st place possibility and the loser will be fearful of missing the playoffs.
After being swept by the Bisons the Horny Ones were feeling the heat themselves. And, like Regina and Sask, they responded with a victory. They were paced by Andrew Courtney, who scored a hat-trick in the 3rd period. I will go out on a limb here: If UBC loses Saturday's rematch they will be toast.
Jan. 28
Dalhousie 2 Acadia 4
UPEI 2 Moncton 4
StFX 2 Saint Mary's 0
UNB 7 St. Thomas 1
Concordia 5 Ottawa 6 OT
Queen's 2 Nipissing 5
UQTR 3 Carleton 5
York 4 Brock 5 OT
Ryerson 3 Toronto 2
Lakehead 1 Guelph 2
W. Ontario 7 UOIT 3
In the AUS, the news has to be that UPEI and SMU have hit the skids. Could Moncton catch Dal? Are Acadia and StFX now UNB's chief rivals?
In the OUA, Windsor's ascent to the upper echelons has stalled. I was kind of hoping to see a new team bolt to the top. Lakehead's and UQTR's seasons continue to disappoint. And the Nippers continue to rack up wins over the weaklings of the OUA East.
The Canada West Women's Site has a full Friday night report. Here's the scores:
UBC 4 Lethbridge 1
Sask. 4 Calgary 3 (OT)
Manitoba Regina - play Saturday and Sunday afternoons
Bye: Alberta
OTHER NEWS:
The debate about the relative merits of the CW and AUS were discussed at South Campus Sports. IMO, UNB is a cut above and STU is a cut below. Dal, Moncton, and Regina are just below average. Then the rest can all be viewed as varying degrees of national contenders.
The 2011 Universiade is taking place in Turkey. The CIS sent a national women's team and the OUA sent a men's team. (The conferences take turns sending a men's team to this tournament.) The CIS Universiade Site has links to all sports. The Canadian men's team opened with a 9-0 win over Slovenia. They play Belarus Saturday and Korea Monday before the quarter-finals begin on Thursday. The women's team beat Finland 2-1 (in a shoot-out) and followed with a 3-0 win over Slovakia. They play a 6-team round-robin and will also face Britain, USA, and Turkey. This event is a big deal in Turkey. You might want to check out the story and pictures of the opening ceremony at Today's Zaman. The Hurriyet Daily News has stories on Turkey's losses and Istanbul's new arena. The Official Site is hard to navigate but does have summaries, line-ups, etc.
NEXT UP:
Jan. 29 Manitoba at Regina
Calgary at Saskatchewan
UBC at Lethbridge
Bye: Alberta
Feb. 4-5
Saskatchewan at UBC Manitoba at Calgary
Regina at Alberta
Bye: Lethbridge
The Bisons left Regina with a great sense of relief on Saturday. Not that leaving Regina is ever anything short of a relief, but this time there was an added element. In a game which was apparently a replay of Friday night's 1-0 loss, the Bisons were down 1-0 on a Dillon Johnstone goal when, with 36 seconds left, Dane Crowley scored their first goal of the weekend. After a scoreless OT session, Tyler Dittmer scored in the shootout whilst Steve Christie made three stops and there you go, 2 points. The Herd outshot them 34-22 on the night. A.J. Whiffen was in net for Regina.
This dramatic turn of events has the Bisons and Sask tied for 2nd place only 2 points behind the Evil Monkeys.
The Puddy-Tats are likely going to pick up a few points here and there, and more than likely in their home games. Next weekend they visit Alberta. Can they help the Evil Monkeys stay in their slump? I think the rest of the CW would be thrilled if Regina could hold them to anything less than 4 points.
The Dinos hopes of a charge to 1st place went extinct on Saturday night. Sask have racked up a pair of decisive wins. This was maybe not the kind of game one would have expected. Calgary outshot Sask 26-24. Dustin Butler's stats in the Calgary goal will take a hit this week.
The Banjo-Mutts are now tied with Manitoba at 26 points, only 2 points out of first. Calgary is alone in 4th with 24 points, only 2 ahead of Lethbridge and UBC.
This weekend has to be hard for UBC to swallow. They were beaten soundly, twice, in a series against a beatable opponent. They outshot the Horny Ones 34-26. Maybe it was the goaltending? Hard to tell from what's on-line. The two sides are now deadlocked, with Lethbridge holding a game in hand.
UBC is at home against Sask next weekend and Lethbridge has a bye. UBC will need a better performance to pull out a split. I believe they are capable of it. But if they want to make up ground they need sweeps, not splits, after going 0-for this weekend.
Jan. 29
UNB 3 UPEI 1
Dalhousie 2 Saint Mary's 8
Acadia 2 StFX 5
Moncton 3 St. Thomas 2 OT
Queen's 2 Nipissing 3 OT
McGill 0 Carleton 4
UQTR 4 Ottawa 1
Ryerson 2 RMC 3 OT
Laurier 4 York 2
Lakehead 2 Guelph 3 OT
Waterloo 3 UOIT 4
W. Ontario 3 Windsor 1
In the AUS, it was noteworthy that SMU broke their slump by a massive margin over Dal-lousy. There is suddenly a race for the 6th and final playoff berth. Moncton edged the Pids to pull into a tie. SMU and St FX are now 2 points up on UPEI and Acadia. Much like the CW, the conference could change dramatically each week.
In the OUA, it is always big news when the RMC wins a game, so good for them. McGill is missing some players for the Universiade, but still we must acknowledge Carleton's win and 3rd straight win over teams in the top half of the division. And Lakehead at least got a point in their trip to Guelph. It seemed they had it together when they won 9 straight before playing the Bisons.
The Canada West Women's Site has a Saturday night report in progress as I post. Here's the scores:
Regina 2 Manitoba 1
UBC 5 Lethbridge 0
Calgary 2 Sask. 1
Bye: Alberta
Manitoba and Regina finish their series Sunday at 2:00 pm at Max Bell Arena.
UNIVERSIADE:
Team Canada lost to Belarus 3-2 in a shootout. This is one of those stolen-by-the-goalie games for Belarus. Canada plays Korea to finish their pool and should then advance to the quarter-finals.
NEXT UP:
Feb. 4-5
Saskatchewan at UBC Manitoba at Calgary
Regina at Alberta
Bye: Lethbridge
TALK ABOUT SHORTHANDED!!!
Hey, those Herd have to be relieved. Check out the Leaguestat summary. Not only did they score the tying goal with 36 seconds remaining, they did so against a skeleton Regina team which featured only 14 skaters!! What's up with that??!? The Cougars were missing most of their coolest cats.
The Cougars played short in their series with the Bisons last weekend. The Regina Leader-Post had two links and had this to say:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leader-Post
Due to discipline issues and a couple of injuries, Sautner dressed only 14 skaters (instead of the 18 permitted) and two g o a l - tenders for his squad's Canada West men's hockey game against the Manitoba Bisons at the Co-operators Centre.
...
Sautner declined to discuss his reasons for sitting out six players -"We handled it within the team," was all he would say -but he noted that none of them will play in tonight's rematch.
"They'll keep practising and try to get back in the lineup next weekend," Sautner added.
Hmmmm. Let's see if the Cougars get along well enough to challenge the Evil Monkeys.
There was a story on Saturday's Sask win over Calgary in the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. The story has a number of quotes. The U of C Site also posted the Sask game story.
The UBC Site posted the Lethbridge game story. They also have a Preview Story which is also at the C.W. Site of their upcoming series against Sask. The 'Birds have hit an injury bug:
Quote:
Originally Posted by UBC
The UBC Thunderbirds had the opportunity to take a leap up the incredibly tight Canada West standings last weekend, beginning their series against Lethbridge two points out of second place. But a host of injuries caught up to the ‘Birds in Lethbridge and the Pronghorns swept UBC - marking the first time all season that the T-Birds have gone without a single point in a series.
UBC came into the game with four defencemen but early into Friday’s game, they were down to three when Matt Pepe went down with an injury. Forwards Ben Schmidt and Scott Wasden manned the blueline for the duration of the weekend.
The ‘Birds also lost forward Wyatt Hamilton in Lethbridge. Hamilton could be out for the season, which puts considerable strain on an already ailing team. Hamilton is one of the most physical Thunderbirds and will be missed.
Surely, there is UBC student with even some junior "B" experience who could fill in. Otherwise, it could be a tough weekend against Sask.
The CIS Site has released their Official Top Ten and it is discussed at the CIS Blog. In a bizarre vote, the lowly Nipissing Lakers were given 10th place. They'd be lucky to finish top 7 in either the CW or the AUS.
The Winnipeg Sun reports that Bison Broad Addie Miles had 4 assists on Canada's 9-0 win over the USA. In men'splay, Canada had a 3-2 win over South Korea. Yikes! That was close. But the shots were 61-16 for Canada. Russia beat Turkey 26-0!!! The best place for standings etc. is Wikipedia. Quarter-finals go Thursday:
Canada v United States
Slovakia v Kazakhstan
Russia v Czech Republic
Belarus v Japan
To set this one up, the Bisons are tied with Sask for 2nd with 26 points through 20 games. Calgary sits in 4th place with 24 points in 21 points. The Evil Monkeys lead the lot with 28 points, and UBC and Lethbridge trail with 22 points. So a 4-point swing could radically change fortunes for any team.
There is no on-line audio or video so all that is available is Leaguestat Live Updates. There is a preview at the U of C Site. The C.W. Site has a preview which covers all three series.
These teams played their first series in Winnipeg, and both games went to shoot-outs. Calgary won the first game 2-1 and the Bisons won on Saturday by the same 2-1 score. The teams have played lots of tight games in recent years and I would not be surprised to see them share 5 or 6 points this weekend. Last year Calgary won 2-1 and 6-1 whilst Manitoba won a pair of 3-2 games.
The teams boast the top two goaltenders in the CW. Dustin Butler of Calgary had taken the #1 spot until a rough last weekend. Steve Christie is showing once again why he was voted the #1 goaltender in all of Canada last year. He leads in GAA (1.91 to 2.23) and in save percentage (92.6 to 92.3).
Calgary is top-heavy with blue-chip goal-scorers. Their top 5 are solid: Reid Jorgenson (14-9-23), Torrie Wheat (6-10-16), Brock Nixon (5-10-15), Cory Pritz (3-10-13), and Jerrid Sauer (5-7-12). Oddly, at #6 is Christmas addition Walker Wintoneak (4-5-9 in only 7 games) and shortly behind him is the returning Aaron Richards (3-2-5 in 6 games). The big drop-off after their top 2 lines makes them the lowest scoring team in the conference outside Regina.
The Bisons had their own scoring difficulties in Regina last weekend. They severely outshot the Hillbillies but were stoned by hot goaltenders, registering only 1 goal in 125 minutes. The Macaulay-Beller-Howarth line had been hot. The Dittmer-Walker-Hellyer line is always a threat, though their numbers could be better. I'd like to see if maybe they'll try to get more mileage from a third line centered by Jordan Cyr. We'll see.
3.8 Tie Breaking Procedures:
Final league standings, at the conclusion of league play, shall be based on each teams points
as per 3.7. If two or more teams are tied in points then the tie breaking criteria are in the
following prioritized order:
1. Head-to-head competition record.
2. Number of wins.
3. Goals for/Goals against differential.
So Manitoba has the edge over Sask (5-4) and Lethbridge (6-2), trail UBC (4-2), and are even with Alberta (2-2) and Calgary (3-3).
ELSEWHERE:
This could be UBC's last stand. They are very much in the race but they seem to have a severe injury bug. No doubt there would be several smiles on other teams if they can somehow manage to hold Sask to 2 points. I cited the UBC Preview, where they lament their injury situation, in my mid-week update. It is quite a season where the #6 team (UBC) is only 6 points out of 1st place this late in the year. Keep in mind that there will be internet audio available at CITR.ca. Sask has split 7 out of 10 series so far this year. There have been doubts and optimism about that team so far this year. If they are going to fulfill their promise they need to take advantage of the wounded 'Birds. Otherwise, it will be a long tractor ride home over the mountains.
The series is previewed at the U of A Site. Webcasts are also available on Friday and Saturday on SSN. The Evil Monkeys are beside themselves with angst over a 3-game losing streak. They are also worried having 2 teams within 2 points this late in the season. Last weekend they had a week off when they needed it and now they have the Cougars on a weekend prowl. Last weekend Regina chose to play short rather than play guys who had "issues". While they did get 3 points they also had to ride their goaltenders after being outshot. It remains to be seen whether they can duplicate this plan on the road in Saudi Alberta. I think everybody else would send them champagne if they could hold Alberta below 4 points.
UNIVERSIADE UPDATE:
Canada beat Slovakia 9-1 in today's quarter-finals. Wiki leaked the wrong schedule! The Slovaks, Yanks, and Kazakhstan were all tied in their pool and Wiki must have applied the wrong tie-breaker. Can't blame them. The Universiade Site is hard to navigate. In other games, Russia beat the Czech Republic 6-1, Kazakhstan beat Japan 5-1, and Belarus beat the USA 6-3. In Saturday's semi-finals, it is Canada v. Russia and Belarus v. Kazakhstan. They have pdf-style pages for the Playoffs and one for the Round-robin if you want more detail. On the women's side the semis go on Friday and it will be Canada v. USA and Finland v. Slovakia.
Last edited by Hollywood3: 02-03-2011 at 09:30 PM.
The Bisons could have watched the Dinosaurs go extinct with a Friday night win. But as I was following along with live updates while watching and listening to other games on-line, it was a night of suffering. Calgary broke the ice with an early and a lat goal in the 1st period. Although the Bisons mounted a bit of a 2nd period comeback, each time they scored the Dinos notched one of their own shortly thereafter. The Bisons did hold a 21-19 lead in shots heading into the 3rd. But it appears that the 3rd was a snore-fest as the Bisons only rallied with 4 shots against 6 for Calgary. This would be an off night for Christie, giving up 5 goals on 20 shots. Jesse Deckert got some mop-up work, and stopped 4 of 5 shots.
Of note, Ian Duval was back in the Bison line-up. He only played the first four games before being hurt. However, Myles Rumsey was out for the 3rd straight game. Mike Hellyer and Blair Macaulay scored for the Herd.
From what I saw of this one, Alberta is vulnerable. Although Regina was down 4-1, they came back and Alberta only sealed it with an empty-netter. Regina pounded goalie Mucha (or Mu-u-ucha in Evil Monkey) with 20 3rd period shots, which is about all they could muster in 3 periods against the Bisons.
The Tweety-birds gave it all they had, but tonight they frankly had little to give. The game was pretty even but Sask tallied one goal per period en route to a solid road win. The UBC announcers lamented UBC's playoff predicament as a result of this loss. They dressed a full roster of 20, but only 4 were proper defencemen.
Here's how the CW home stretch looks:
Code:
Feb 4-5 Feb 11-12 Feb 16 Feb 18-19 Feb 25-26
Alberta 28 Regina 2 @ Sask Manitoba @ UBC 30
Sask. 26 @ UBC 2 Alberta @ Leth. @ Manitoba 28
Manitoba 26 @ Calgary 0 UBC @ Alberta Sask. 26
Calgary 24 Manitoba 2 bye @ Leth. Regina Lethbridge 26
Lethbridge 22 bye - @ Regina Calgary Sask. @ Calgary 22
UBC 22 Sask. 0 @ Manitoba bye Alberta 22
The CIS schedule and the CIS standings are all updated. The CIS Friday Recap is not up as I post but may be as you read. Here's what happened out east, including the early start games from Thursday:
Feb. 3
Waterloo 3 Guelph 5
Toronto 5 Ryerson 2
Feb. 4
Dalhousie 3 Moncton 4
UNB 2 StFX 1
UPEI 3 Saint Mary's 6
Acadia 4 St. Thomas 2
Carleton 6 Ottawa 2
Ryerson 1 Queen's 3
UOIT 3 Brock 1
Windsor 3 W. Ontario 4
York 4 Lakehead 2
This is weird. No overtime games in any conference. I saw a bit of UNB v StFX on-line. Could StFX do it to UNB again in the playoffs? One has to wonder. SMU broke out with a win over UPEI, who now rate as the coldest contender from the AUS. Moncton has really rallied and Dal-lousy is now out of the playoffs.
Of, poor Lakehead. Losing at home to York. They must be happy that everybody with a pulse makes the OUA playoffs. Carleton seems to be making a bit of a rally. That's not only 4 straight wins, but 4 straight by 5, 3, 4, and 4 goal differences.
The Canada West Women's Site has a full Friday night report. Here's the scores:
Manitoba 2 Calgary 3 (SO, completion of appealed game)
Calgary 2 Manitoba 1 (SO)
UBC 2 Sask. 3
Alberta 3 Regina 1
Bye: Lethbridge
The Bison ****** and Wilmas finished the shoot-out from the earlier protested game, then played their regular game which also ended in a shoot-out. So 4 points to Calgary and 2 to Manitoba on the night. Odd!
UNIVERSIADE NEWS:
The men had the day off. In women's play, Canada beat the USA 8-1 and Finland beat Slovakia 5-1. So it will be Canada v Finland for gold. In Saturday's men's semi-finals it will be Russia v Canada and Belarus v. Kazakhstan.
NEXT UP:
Feb. 5
Saskatchewan at UBC Manitoba at Calgary
Regina at Alberta
Bye: Lethbridge
Feb. 11-12
UBC at Manitoba
Alberta at Sask.
Lethbridge at Regina
Bye: Calgary
This was a big loss for the Herd. They came out dead, being outshot 17-7 in the 1st period. However, Steve Christie held them in and it was only 1-0 for Calgary, and that was a short-handed goal by Torrie Wheat. There were also loads of penalties called in the 1st period. The game settled in, with few PPs being awarded, and Calgary notched the only goal in the 2nd period, from Teagan Moore. This makes the Dinos the only team in organized male hockey to register goals from players named Torrie and Teagan.
All seemed lost for the Bisons, being outshot 29-16 on the road through two periods. However, they did mount a tremendous rally. Tylet Dittmer scored his 7th and d-man Travis Mealy scored his 3rd and the game was tied 2-2. But Colton Grant salvaged things for the Dinos in a period where they only recorded 5 shots on goal.
Calgary now leads the Bisons by 2 points, but the Bisons have a game in hand. Calgary is entering a bye-week and the Bisons return home to play UBC.
This one was available for on-line viewing and it was not pretty. The Evil Monkeys looked vulnerable on Friday night, not so on Saturday. The Puddy-Tats were flattered by the score and were outshot 51-13. With them being out of the race I would expect them to have poor performances in their away Saturday games. I still do expect them to pick up another win. It is kind of like Bumpkin Roulette for the rest of the CW. The Regina Carillon also had a profile on Matt Strueby and his adjustment to CIS hockey.
I haven't been UBC's biggest fan this year but they deserve some credit for going down fighting against Sask. I was listening on-line as well. They had devastating losses on their blue-line and only had 4 d-men in uniform, with 14 forwards. You would think that with so many forwards they could have scored more than one goal in two games. They did rack up 42 shots on goal (compared to 29 for Sask) and so they were doing something right. This result puts Sask 4 points ahead of Manitoba.
Here's how the CW home stretch looks:
Code:
pts Feb 11-12 Feb 16 Feb 18-19 Feb 25-26
Alberta 32 @ Sask Manitoba @ UBC
Sask. 30 Alberta @ Leth. @ Manitoba
Calgary 28 bye @ Leth. Regina Lethbridge
Manitoba 26 UBC @ Alberta Sask.
Lethbridge 22 @ Regina Calgary Sask. @ Calgary
UBC 22 @ Manitoba bye Alberta
The CIS schedule is updated but for boxscores from Nipissing and Lakehead, which are available at the OUA Leaguestat Daily . The CIS standings are updated for all games. The CIS Saturday Recap is up and loaded with stories and some links to video highlights. Here's what happened out east:
Feb. 5
UNB 1 Saint Mary's 3
Acadia 3 Moncton 2
Dalhousie 6 St. Thomas 4
UPEI 1 StFX 4
McGill 0 Carleton 3
Queen's 5 RMC 2
Toronto 3 Nipissing 0
Laurier 2 Guelph 4
Brock 2 Windsor 1 OT
UOIT 3 W. Ontario 0
York 6 Lakehead 7 OT
The CIS Blog has a year-to-date review of the OUA East. They also have a story on McGill's loss to Carleton, which took away their "we-never-lost-in-regulation" label. Now they have a second loss to Carleton. Granted, they are missing more players for the Universiade.
Heads also have to be shaking about simultaneous losses for the Squirrels and Urban Cowboys. UNB was due for a loss against the tough competition in the AUS. And, like the McGilligutties, UWO has lots of guys away at the Universiade.
The Canada West Women's Site has a full Saturiday night report. Here's the scores:
Calgary 0 Manitoba 2
UBC 3 Sask. 4
Alberta 6 Regina 2
Bye: Lethbridge
The Winnipeg Sun reports some heat between the Bison and Dino coaches after the replayed shoot-out debacle. They also previewed the series. It was kind of bush but, hey, it was ordered. The Winnipeg Free Press also picked up on the Pawluk brother-sister combo at the U of M, as previously linked by me in this thread to The Interlake Spectator.
UNIVERSIADE NEWS:
In the women's final, Canada beat Finland 4-1 to win the gold medal. In the men's semi-finals, Canada lost to Russia 4-2 and Belarus beat Kazakhstan 3-1. The event wrapped up early Sunday just before I started posting and I see that Canada beat Kazakhstan for bronze, 3-1. Russia defeated Belarus 1-0 for the gold. You can check the Games Hockey Page for further links.
NEXT UP:
Feb. 11-12 UBC at Manitoba
Alberta at Sask.
Lethbridge at Regina
Bye: Calgary
i was anticipating a mid week up date prior to UBC coming to town! I find it somewhat comforting to note that the TBirds are below average on the road. Not nearly as bad as the Horns from LA. Wow I had no idea? They seem to just mail it on the road. So it will be interesting to see if either team can muster a road show this weekend!? Also will be interesting to see if the cougars continue to play for pride of mail it even though they are home? I also am alittle concerned with the increase in PIMS by the Herd? Any concerns from u?? Good thing UBC's PP is like oh for 2011!! It is going to be crazy again this weekend, teams can move up and down 1 thru 6. CAN'T say that for the AUS no matter how wee red army boys spin it! The V reds appear to be resting guys now. The Yankees do that in baseball some years as well!?
The Saturday game is on radio at 101.5 and UMFM.com and there is always the Leaguestat Live Updates. There is a preview at GoBisons.ca. I'll be at Mike Keane Night on Saturday, so a radio that could pick up 101.5 at a Moose game would sure be nice.
There is no UBC update as I post so I am not certain as to their injury situation. They were in desperate shape last weekend when they hosted the Banjo-Mutts. Although they were swept, they flooded the Sask net with shots which implies that they had the potential to pull an upset. The question now is their frame of mind. They are virtually eliminated from playoff contention, and a loss on Friday would put a nail in their coffin, to be hammered in by a fat lady getting ready to sing an opera. Manitoba sits 4th with 26 points and UBC is 6th with 22, and only have 4 games remaining.
These two locked horns in British California back in November, and UBC swept the series with both games decided in extra time. The first game was 3-2 in a SO and the second was 4-3 in OT. Until last week's sweep at the hands of Calgary, that was Manitoba's only sweep against. And, you will note, it was one where they nevertheless acquired 2 points.
So this series will be a chance for the Bisons to show what they are made of. Their only other home series this semester was against Lethbridge, and they swept that one convincingly. Will they be down after their first 0 point weekend of the year?
The Bisons saw the return of forward Ian Duval last weekend. From the summaries and recaps, I could not tell how he was used. I will be looking for that on Friday night. Also, d-man Myles Rumsey was MIA last weekend. I'll be checking to see if he's back, also.
Evan Daum previews this series, and the Lethbridge-Regina one, at South Campus Sports.
ELSEWHERE:
There are previews at U of S Site and the C.W. Site. There is a video webcast being provided by the U of S, and they usually do a pretty good job. Sask has pulled within 2 points of the Evil Monkeys. The Banjo-Cats went to Saudi Alberta last weekend and were swept. They pushed the Primates on Friday but on Saturday were squashed. Sask has been on a hot-streak, but I have some questions about their performance against UBC. They caught UBC at a low point and yet lost every stat except the one on the scoreboard. They have won 8 of their last 9, and 5 straight since they lost to the Bisons. Since the CW has operated on the theory that what goes up, must come down I have a hunch that the Evil Monkeys may just sweep the series. The series is also the subject of commentary by Evan Daum at South Campus Sports. He's impressed with Sask's 14 goals against since Christmas. I look at giving up 42 shots in a game to UBC and scratch my head. The Star-Phoenix story should be read if you like reading coaches' quotes.
The series is previewed at the U of L Site and at the U of R Site. The series will close out the Cougars' home schedule so they will likely have some incentive to close out on a positive note. That's not what the Horny Ones want to hear. They are sitting 5th with 22 points and need to rack up some points. They close with 3 games against Calgary and two against Sask. So they have a chance to make up some ground all by themselves.
OTHER NEWS:
There were a whole lotta mid-week games out east this week. Here are the scores:
Feb. 8
Moncton 4 UPEI 5 OT
Acadia 4 Dalhousie 5
Feb. 9
St. Thomas 1 UNB 3
Concordia 2 UQTR 3
Feb. 10
Ryerson 2 RMC 6
UOIT 2 Laurier 3
This weekend will mark the end of regular season play in both conferences. 6 of the 8 teams in the AUS will qualify for playoffs. The quarter-finals and semi-finals are best-of-3 and the final is best-of-five, so they need four weekends. In the OUA, 16 of 19 teams qualify (ugh!) so they have four rounds of playoffs. So their first two weeks of playoffs will correspond with the last 2 weeks of the CW regular season.
Just one little correction Holly. While the AUS quarter-finals are best-of-3, and UNB and someone else gets a first round bye, the semis and finals are best-of-5 series.
The quarters will start on Wednesday and finish on Sunday, with everything else TBA.
Suddenly without the generosity of the OT/Loss Manitoba is 1 game below 500 in Conference Play, Luckily for them Lethbridge didnt capitalize againts Vagi....I mean Regina
This was a tough loss but don't let the scoreline deceive you. The shots were even and the Bisons, in general, carried the play. However, their recent goal-scoring drought stems from an inability in cash in on the chances they have been generating. This game could have been over early wityh the chances the Bisons generated. UBC was satisfied to pounce on turnovers and counter-attack, and wait for a PP. It worked. Two goals came when Bison d-men made a play to keep the puck in the UBC zone while the forwards were in deep and UBC was scrambling under pressure. However, UBC was able to knock the puck out and break out quickly.
Also, UBC was at full health with 6 d-men dressed and 4 full lines.
The Horny Ones thought they had this one when they broke a 3-3 tie with a last-minute goal. But they took a penalty and the Banjo-Cats tied it with 10 seconds left, then won the shoot-out.
The CIS schedule and the CIS standings are all updated. The CIS Friday Recap is not up as I post but may be as you read. Here's what happened out east, including the early start games from Thursday:
Feb. 10
Ryerson 2 RMC 6
UOIT 2 Laurier 3
Feb. 11
UNB 4 Acadia 0
StFX 5 Moncton 1
Saint Mary's 4 St. Thomas 1
UPEI 2 Dalhousie 5
UQTR 4 Carleton 1
Ottawa 0 McGill 7
Guelph 7 York 8 2OT
W. Ontario 4 Brock 6
Nipissing 4 Toronto 3 OT
Lakehead 3 Waterloo 4 OT
Ryerson 2 Queen's 3 2OT
Way to go RMC!!! That's win #5. Lakehead continues a gruesome season, Nipissing eaks out another win over a lesser-light, and Carleton came back to Earth. With Universiade players back, McGill was blazing but the Urban Cowboys were not. And just when Guelph started getting some national attention, look where they go.
Dal's win and Moncton's loss eliminates the French Eagles and allows Dal to back into the playoffs over a below-strength UPEI side.
The Canada West Women's Site has a full Friday night report. Here's the scores:
Manitoba 4 UBC 2
Alberta 3 Sask 2
Regina 5 Lethbridge 4
Bye: Calgary
The Bison ****** are now one point behind the Wilmas with a game in hand in the fight for 2nd. They look headed for a first round match-up.
NEXT UP:
Feb. 11-12
UBC at Manitoba
Alberta at Sask.
Lethbridge at Regina
Bye: Calgary
Feb 16
Calgary at Lethbridge (make-up of postponed game)
Feb 18-19
Manitoba at Alberta
Sask at Lethbridge
Regina at Calgary
Bye: UBC
What has happened to the Bison's? Below 500 and finding themselves just 2 points up on the lowly Tweety Birds! Forget the rankings, can they get it together and make the playoffs?
Saskatchewan seems to be gaining confidence, I think it was only a matter of time with their talent. I will be very surprised if they don't make it out of the West this year. A win tonight would put them in first place.
Is there any video or audio feed of the Alberta/Sask game #2?
The Bisons must have been feeling the heat in this game and responded with a clutch overtime victory. The Bisons seem to be doing things right, but for some reason cannot score on their chances. I see that they outshot UBC 45-29. Although the teams traded goals in each period, there was a real ebb and flow on the shot clock. Manitoba held the edge in the 1st, UBC in the 2nd, and then Manitoba bombarded UBC by a margin of 23-10 in the 3rd period and 5-0 in 2:27 of OT.
I was at the Moose game (Mike Keane Night) on Saturday, but the Friday line-ups looked like this:
On Saturday it appears that the Bisons subbed in Pawluk for Crowley up front and shuffled the defence pairings so that Crowley and Mealy were together and Schappert and Erb were together.
The Bisons' scoring problems are clearly not due to a lack of chances. I suppose one could say that concerns only arise when scoring chances are not being generated. But here's the numbers following their sweep of Lethbridge:
Jan 28th: 0 goals on 34 shots
Jan 29th: 1 goal on 33 shots (other than shoot-out)
Feb 4th: 2 goals on 25 shots
Feb 5th: 2 goals on 28 shots
Feb 11th: 2 goals on 32 shots
Feb 12th: 4 goals on 45 shots
I guess Saturday night can be seen as a bit of a breakthrough. In the 5 prior games they had 7 goals on 152 shots, or a .954 save percentage for opposing goaltenders.
We'll have to see if the Bisons can cash their chances in their upcoming games against the Evil Monkeys and Banjo-Mutts. One thing you can say for the Bisons is that they have been a consistent team this year. Their sweep in Calgary last weekend was their only whitewash weekend of the year. They have two 4-point weekends, two 3-point weekends, and seven 2-point weekends. Every point will be of great value.
I opined in my weekend preview that the Evil Monkeys might just sweep the series, which was counter to most opinions. I based it on the "what-goes-up-must-come-down theory" in the CW this year. It appears to have happened. I also see that Sask switched goaltenders. It looks like Ryan Holfeld let in 3 of 14 shots before being yanked. He was in large measure responsible for Sask's hot streak, where they won games in which they were outshot. Alberta is not the offesnive juggernaut of years past. The Bisons visit them next weekend.
Just as the Evil Monkeys reversed their fortunes in Banjoland, so too did the Horny Ones. I expected the Puddy-Tats to come up with another home win, and they got it Friday night. The rest of the conference can be grateful for that small mercy. So Lethbridge, outscored 82-94 on the season, remains very much alive in the playoff race with no fewer than 3 head-to-head games against Calgary.
The CIS schedule and the CIS standings are surprisingly NOT updated as I post. Hopefully, they will be when you read. So I went to the AUS and OUA schedule/results pages for scores. The CIS Saturday Recap is also not up as I post, but neither is the CIS Friday Recap. I wish they would post their recaps on a dependable basis. Here's what happened out east:
Feb. 12
Saint Mary's 4 Moncton 1
StFX 6 St. Thomas 3
UPEI 5 Acadia 1
UNB 5 Dalhousie 2
Carleton 5 Concordia 2
Ottawa 2 UQTR 3
Toronto 2 Queen's 4
Guelph 3 W. Ontario 2 SO
Lakehead 4 Waterloo 2
Windsor 4 Laurier 3 OT
The AUS regular season is now complete, and Sunday's Concordia-McGill match-up will conclude the OUA's regular season. The AUS standings are now official and the OUA standings are almost there. Here are the matchups:
AUS quarter-finals:
St. Francis-Xavier v Dalhousie
Acadia v UPEI
byes: New Brunswick and Saint Mary's
OUA East quarter-finals:
McGill v Ottawa
UQTR v Concordia or Toronto*
Carleton v Toronto or Concordia*
Nipissing v Queen's * Concordia is one point behind Toronto pending their game v McGill
OUA West quarter-finals:
Western Ontario v Windsor
Laurier v UOIT
Lakehead v Waterloo
Guelph v Brock
The Canada West Women's Site has a full Saturday night report. Here's the scores:
Manitoba 4 UBC 2
Sask 1 Alberta 0
Regina 3 Lethbridge 2
Bye: Calgary
The Bison ****** now jump into 2nd place and are within 2 points of the Fat Pandas. The top 4 pulled away from the pack, but the playoff match-ups are far from settled. With each side having 4 games left, Alberta has 37 points, Manitoba 35, Calgary 34, and Sask 31. It is unlikely that Sask could take 1st or Alberta 4th, but otherwise the teams could finish in any order.
NEXT UP:
Feb 16
Calgary at Lethbridge (make-up of postponed game)
Feb 18-19 Manitoba at Alberta
Sask at Lethbridge
Regina at Calgary
Bye: UBC
Feb 25-26 Sask at Manitoba
Alberta at UBC
Lethbridge at Calgary
Bye: Regina
(end of regular season)
Code:
Current standings:
Alberta 35
Sask. 32
Calgary 28
Manitoba 28
Lethbridge 25
UBC 25
Regina 18
All eyes will be on this series. A sweep by Sask could leave them in a solid position to fight for first. However, if they are swept then they could be lucky to even make the playoffs. There is no webcast, which is a disappointment. The series is previewed at the 
The series is previewed at the 
The official top 10 is at the 
The 2011 Universiade is taking place in Turkey. The CIS sent a national women's team and the OUA sent a men's team. (The conferences take turns sending a men's team to this tournament.) The 
This could be UBC's last stand. They are very much in the race but they seem to have a severe injury bug. No doubt there would be several smiles on other teams if they can somehow manage to hold Sask to 2 points. I cited the 
The series is previewed at the 
In the women's final, Canada beat Finland 
