2011-12 Manitoba Bisons/CIS Hockey Thread

November 19, 2011

BISONS GAIN A SPLIT


MANITOBA BISONS 4
UBC THUNDERBIRDS 2

|> [UBC Story*] : [U of M Story] : [CW Saturday Recap]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore*] : [CIS Saturday Round-up*] : [CW Standings]

The Bisons got the needed split with a convincing win. They had a 3-1 lead heading into the 3rd period, where they outshot the Tweety-Birds 17-7 and mounted a 4-1 lead. A goal with 30 seconds left embellished the scoreline for UBC.

Brenden Rowinski opened scoring for the Bisons with his 4th of the season. Then Blair Macaulay scored his 8th, 9th, and 10th. Jesse Deckert started in goal. This was the first time he has ever started both games in a weekend in his 5 years in the league.

The results set up a tight finish to the first semester. With two weeks left Alberta and Calgary now have 18 points, and Sask and Manitoba have 16. Due to games in hand, Calgary would fall from 2nd to 4th by winning percentage.

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 3
CALGARY DINOS 4
(in overtime)

|> [U of C Story] : [U of S Story*]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

Just when the Hillbillies seemed set to adopt the "Team to Beat" monicker they walk into Calgary and leave with one point for an OTL in two games. After a sputtering start, the two wins raise the Dinos to 9-5-0. And they have done so against a good team.

The Dinos will visit the Bisons next weekend. It appears that the top four will battle it out all season.


REGINA COUGARS 3
LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 2
(in overtime)

|> [U of L Story]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

I saw some of this one on CanadaWest.tv. Regina built a 2-0 lead but a quick shot of Viagra and the H0rny Ones came back to force OT. Though Regina won, the bonus point gave Lethbridge a 3-2 points edge on the weekend. Regina pulls a point ahead of Lethbridge in the race for 6th.

NEXT UP:

Nov. 25-26
Calgary at Manitoba : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Audio Saturday]
UBC at Saskatchewan : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]
Alberta at Regina : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]

OUT EAST:

Nov. 19
RMC 3 UQTR 8
Toronto 7 Concordia 3
UOIT 3 Guelph 2
Ryerson 3 Carleton 5
Dalhousie 3 StFX 5
St. Thomas 3 UPEI 6
Acadia 4 Saint Mary's 2
Nipissing 1 Ottawa 7
Queen's 0 McGill 6
Lakehead 4 Windsor 2
Western Ontario 4 Laurier 5

OUA LeagueStat Page - has all summaries
AUS schedule/results : AUS stats

* link may be updated as you read

November 25, 2011

BISONS PUT BOOTS TO @$$E$


CALGARY DINOS 1
MANITOBA BISONS 9

|> [U of M Story] : [CW Friday Recap]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore] : [CIS Friday Round-up*] : [CW Standings]
|> [CW Weekly Notes (pdf)] : [South Campus Sports] : [CIS Top Ten]

My son was under the weather so I had to miss this one. He should be good to go on Saturday night, and hopefully we will see the Bisons play at full throttle yet again.

The one thing to determine for sure is the score. The CIS is reporting it as 8-1 instead of 9-1, and record only one Bison goal in the 2nd period. I was following the live updates on LeagueStat and can verify that the 2nd period goals were credited at the time.

It appears that the crowded net in Calgary has not had the desired effect. Dustin Butler had been one of the best goaltenders in the CIS the last two years. But on Friday night he gave up 9 goals on 31 shots. Meanwhile, Jese Deckert seems to be the new #1 for the Bisons as he started yet again.

After sweeping the Banjo-Mutts last weekend one had to think that Calgary had rebounded from their sweep by the Bisons to open the season. Nevertheless a 2-1 win on Saturday would see the teams go level on the weekend.

Blair Macaulay had a hat-trick and Del Cowan a pair for the Bisons. Singles were tallied by Brandon Lockerby, Tyler Dittmer, Mike Hellyer, and Matt Lowry. Macaulay now has 13 goals in 13 games. (Unless that 2nd period goal disappears.)

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


UBC THUNDERBIRDS 2
SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 4

|> [U of S Preview] : [U of S Story]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

After last weekend the Banjo-Mutts entered the weekend feeling feeling pressure for a sweep. They are now half-way there. UBC is tough to sweep. However, it is a home series for Sask and their opponents often have a hard time adapting to the outhouses, horse-drawn buggies, and other rustic elements of life in hillbilly-land.

UBC did manage to outshoot their hoists 29-26 on the night, which is unusual. There were also only 5 minor penalties in the game.


ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 6
REGINA COUGARS 1

|> [U of R Preview] : [U of A Story]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

It is no surprise to see the Evil Monkeys beat Regina. However, Regina's MO thus far has been to be outshot on Friday but still scrounge a point or two somehow. It did not work tonight. However, The Banjo-Cats were not outshot as badly as normal (42-31). Maybe there is hope for them in the rematch.

NEXT UP:

Nov. 26
Calgary at Manitoba : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Audio Saturday]
UBC at Saskatchewan : [Live Stats Saturday]
Alberta at Regina : [Live Stats Saturday]

OUT EAST:

Nov. 24
Waterloo 3 UOIT 2

Nov. 25
Acadia 4 StFX 3 - OT
UNB 5 St. Thomas 3
Saint Mary's 4 Dalhousie 3 - OT
UQTR 5 RMC 2
Windsor 2 York 3
Guelph 6 Brock 0
UOIT 2 Western Ontario 5
Ottawa 5 Queen's 3
Laurier 0 Lakehead 6
Concordia 3 Ryerson 6
Carleton 3 Toronto 4 - OT

OUA LeagueStat Page - has all summaries
AUS schedule/results : AUS stats

* link may be updated as you read

November 26, 2011

BISONS BRING OUT THE BROOMS IN THE WEEKEND OF THE SWEEP


CALGARY DINOS 2
MANITOBA BISONS 4

|> [U of M Story] : [U of C Story] : [U of C Friday Story] : [CW Saturday Recap]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore] : [CIS Saturday Round-up*] : [CW Standings]

In a season where the top four seem to pulling away (again), it is rare to see a 4-0 whitewash in points in a series between two of the contenders. Yet that is what the Bisons have accomplished against Calgary for the second time this season.

However, the Bisons gained no ground because Sask edged out UBC and the Evil Monkeys scraped out four points in Regina's toughest performance of the season. More about those games later.

After suffering an embarrassing whipping on Friday night I fulled expected the Flintstones to be loaded for bear. They did come out strong in the first period. But I must say that I found them to be a petulant team of hackers and whackers. Instead of playing physical, they were much more inclined to take cheap shots after the whistle, hack the goalie, and basically use their stick as much as possible. The referees kind of let that stuff go which was a bit of a pain to watch.

One time they did give Chad Erb a penalty for pushing one hacker away from the goaltender whilst killing a penalty. The referee gave him another 2 minutes. It was at that time that Calgary scored their only two goals of the game, and a 2-0 lead.

The one call I did not like was a major and game misconduct against Chris Benias 15 minutes into the 2nd period. It was announced as a head-shot against Calgary's Teagan Zahn (a 6' 2" defenceman). Benias is listed as 5' 6", but that is generous. I doubt he could reach Zahn's head. Zahn was down like he was dead. But in the end never missed a shift.

In my view, teams that play "pussy hockey" never succeed in the end. Calgary has to take off the skirts and develop some toughness to maintain a "big four" in the west.

Anyhow, back to the game.

Down 2-0 in the 2nd period, the Bisons had their own PP and Jeremy Schappert scored when pinching in from the point to narrow the gap to 2-1. They outshot Calgary 14-6 in the period, and 25-15 on the night. So although trailing, it seemed that a comeback had a pretty good chance.

Brenden Rowinski scored early in the 3rd period to tie it up and the Bisons never looked back. Ian Duval set him up as a line change was in progress. Jered Walker gave the Bisons their first lead 11 minutes in, finishing a 3-way passing play by going top shelf. Ian Duval closed the scoring on a nice play by Mike Hellyer. He and Duval were alone in front of the net and Hellyer waited to the last possible second to freeze the goaltender then dish off to Duval, who had nothing but net in front of him.

Calgary is now the first team to finish their first half conference schedule. They are off to Thunder Bay next weekend to face the Lakehead Thunderwolves.

Here's how they lined up:

MANITOBA BISONS

Goal:
Deckert (Caligiuri)

Defence:
Schappert - Crowley
Erb - Rumsey
Mealy - Bobbee
(Mealy mostly played with others in what was largely a 5 man rotation)

Forwards:
Dittmer - Walker - Macaulay
Hellyer - Duval - Lowry
Rowinski - Benias - Cowan
Bestland - Lockerby - Flynn
(the 4th line was an all d-man line!)

Scratches:
Friesen (G) Schmidt (D) Lauder (F) Davis (F)

CALGARY DINOS

Goal:
DeSerres (Butler)

Defence:
Bartman - Frere
Zahn - Egener
Eisenkirch - Pritz

Forwards:
Ross - Moore - Grant
Hood - Robinson - Nixon
Wintoneak - Stefishen - Jorgensen
McNaught - sometimes on Robinson line
Gillen - listed as d-man but had a shift or two as forward
Rovatti - never saw him out there

Scratches:
Lazaruk (G) DeCock (F) Stojan (D)
Copp (F) Clement (F) Fiddler (F)

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


UBC THUNDERBIRDS 2
SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 4

|> [U of S Story - at UBC Site] : [UBC Friday Story]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

After losing to the Dinos last weekend, the Banjo-Mutts needed this sweep. UBC played them close, and even had a 30-27 lead in SOG. UBC seem entrenched in 5th place now. Sask is tied with Manitoba for 2nd, although both IMO are better than Alberta thus far. Sask has 2/3 of a win v Lethbridge and Manitoba had a win over Alberta reversed.


ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 4
REGINA COUGARS 3
(in overtime)

|> [U of R Story] : [U of R Friday Story] : [U of A Story]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

Regina is full value for having gotten a point against Alberta. This may have been their best weekend of the season. They were not grotesquely outshot (for a change). IMO Alberta is somewhat flattered by their record. They will be in Winnipeg to face the Herd next weekend.

NEXT UP:

Dec. 2-3
Alberta at Manitoba : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]
Regina at Saskatchewan : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Video both nights]
Lethbridge at UBC : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Audio both nights]
Calgary at Lakehead (non-conference) : [L.U. Site] : [Possible Video - SSN Canada]

OUT EAST:

Nov. 26
UPEI 5 Moncton 3
Concordia 11 RMC 4
Windsor 5 York 3
McGill 4 Nipissing 1
UQTR 10 Queen's
Guelph 1 Waterloo 3
Laurier 3 Lakehead 4 - OT
Ottawa 2 Toronto 1
Brock 0 Western Ontario 5

OUA LeagueStat Page - has all summaries
AUS schedule/results : AUS stats

* link may be updated as you read

WEEKEND PREVIEW



ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS (10-2-2, 5th in OHT34)
MANITOBA BISONS (9-3-2, 3rd in OHT34)

Friday, December 2nd, 7:00 p.m. CDT @ Max Bell Arena U of M
Saturday, December 3rd, 7:00 p.m. CDT @ Max Bell Arena U of M

LIVE LINKS: [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]
MANITOBA LINKS: [U of M Site] : [LS Roster] : [U of M Roster] : [LS Schedule/Results] : [LS Stats]
ALBERTA LINKS: [U of A Site] : [LS Roster] : [LS Schedule/Results] : [LS Stats]
OTHER LINKS: [CIS Site] : [CW Site] : [LS - Live Updates] : [CW Weekly Notes (pdf)]
OTHER STORIES: [CIS Top Ten - at Boxscore News] : [CISBlog: Top 10 Tracker - CW Weekly Round-Up]
WORLD JUNIOR STORIES: [Czechs bail on Monkeys]
PRIOR GAMES: [Bisons win 5-4] : [Bisons win 2-1 (reversed)]

This is a big series which actually starts the second half of the regular season schedule for both teams. These two and the Saskatchewanites are pulling away from the pack.

The last series they had was in Saudi Alberta. I was able to see the games on CanadaWest.tv. The Bisons took the opener despite being assessed 75 minutes in penalties to 8 for Alberta. Then things got crazy on Saturday. The game went into overtime and Alberta scored with too many monkeys on the ice. The linesman never blew the play down but told the ref. So the goal was waived off and Alberta got a penalty. Manitoba scored and won. But the decision was reversed. Rather than apply the "get the call right" principle, it was thought better to allow too many monkeys to get away with one.

Alberta has been able to blitz the bottom three in the CW so far, going 8-0-0. However, against the top four they are only 1-2-3 (2-2-2 after the reversal). Conversely, Manitoba is 6-1-1 against the top four (5-1-2 after the reversal) and 4-2-0 against the minnows.

This series will be the last games for the Bisons until the new year. The team will disband for exams and then a Christmas break. Meanwhile, Alberta will play Denmark's world junior team in two games. They were also to face the Czechs, but due to scheduling problems that game has been cancelled as per the above link.

ELSEWHERE:


REGINA COUGARS (4-7-3, 23rd in OHT34)
SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES (9-2-2, 2nd in OHT34)

|> [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]
|> [U of S Preview - at Boxscore News - at CW] : [Whiffen Gone]

The news from Regina is that goaltender A.J. Whiffen left school. This has forced them to recruit another goaltender for the second half. For this weekend they will have either a senior leaguer of a junior "B" goaltender serving as a backup.

Regina has been severely outplayed all year, yet have managed to scrounge points on most weekends. They did manage to do reasonably well against Alberta last weekend, so maybe they have some life. The contenders would be happy if Sask comes with something less than 4 points.


LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS (3-8-2, 25th in OHT34)
UBC THUNDERBIRDS (5-7-2, 12th in OHT34)

|> [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Audio both nights]
|> [U of L Preview] : [UBC Preview]
|> [CW: Horns/Dinos v Team Canada - at CIS - at U of C - at U of L]

There was some big off-ice news for Lethbridge and Calgary. They will combine to face Team Canada's world junior team. They beat TC a few years back. Here is the lineup for the Dinohorns:

FORWARDS
Winston Day Chief, Standoff, Alta. (Univ. of Lethbridge)
Tyler Fiddler, Calgary, Alta., Calgary Hitmen (Univ. of Calgary)
Taylor Gal, Lethbridge, Alta., Medicine Hat Tigers (Univ. of Lethbridge)
Dylan Hood, Osoyoos, B.C., Moose Jaw Warriors (Univ. of Calgary)
Nick Hotson, Winnipeg, Man., Lethbridge Hurricanes (Univ. of Lethbridge)
Dan Iwanski, Calgary, Alta., Everett Silvertips (Univ. of Lethbridge)
Reid Jorgensen, Vancouver, B.C., Kamloops Blazers (Univ. of Calgary)
Dustin Moore, Red Deer, Alta., Red Deer Rebels (Univ. of Lethbridge)
Teegan Moore, Thompson, Man., Brandon Wheat Kings (Univ. of Calgary)
Brock Nixon, Russell, Man., Calgary Hitmen (Univ. of Calgary)
Taylor Stefishen, North Vancouver, B.C., Prince George Cougars (Univ. of Calgary)
Walker Wintoneak, Thunder Bay, Ont., Saskatoon Blades (Univ. of Calgary)

DEFENCEMEN
Brett Bartman, Medicine Hat, Alta., Spokane Chiefs (Univ. of Calgary)
Luke Egener, Calgary, Alta., Red Deer Rebels (Univ. of Calgary)
Brent Henke, Edmonton, Alta., Edmonton Oil Kings (Univ. of Lethbridge)
DJ McDougall, Fort MacLeod, Alta. (Univ. of Lethbridge)
Cory Pritz, Red Deer, Alta. (Univ. of Calgary)
Teigan Zahn, Bethune, Sask., Saskatoon Blades (Univ. of Calgary)


CALGARY DINOS (9-7-0, 10th in OHT34)
LAKEHEAD THUNDERWOLVES (OUA: 13-3-0, 13th in OHT34)

|> [Lakehead Preview] : [LU Signs Thomas Frazee]

Calgary is using the bye week to head east and play a former GPAC team. Calgary has nestled into 4th place. Their pre-season ranking as a contender, both in the CW and the CIS as a whole, now seems a little off.

Lakehead has what appears to be a good record. However, even by OUA standards they have had a soft schedule. Their only wins over decent teams have been against Ottawa and Windsor (ranked 17th and 26th in the OHT34). They are 3-1 against #30 Laurier, and 2-0 against each of #29 York, #33 UOIT, and #31 Guelph. So these games with Calgary are a rare opportunity to play a team in the top half of the CIS. I would like to see Lakehead return to be a contender. Their program seemed to be set back by hosting the nationals. Instead of being a boost, they started a decline which has continued.

The Bisons used to go out to T-Bay between Christmas and New Year's for a tournament, which then became a two game series. This year Lakehead will be hosting Carleton.



|> [CIS Blog: Weekly Update] : [Dalhousie losing arena]

December 2, 2011

THE HERD IS NOT MONKEYING AROUND

 
ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 2
MANITOBA BISONS 3

|> [U of M Story] : [U of A Story] : [CW Friday Recap]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore] : [CIS Friday Round-up*] : [CW Standings]

The Bisons notched a key win over the Evil Monkeys. The win, combined with the Banjo-Mutts' win, leaves the three sides tied atop the CW standings. If not for Saudi Alberta being granted special permission to score with too many mone=keys on the ice, Manitoba would be 1st, Sask 2nd, and Alberta 3rd. The game can be seen in the "on demand" section at CanadaWest.tv. The recording starts about 10-15 minutes early so you hear sound-checks and see a team practicing.

The Bisons started slow and in fact looked somewhat "off". They were down 1-0 on a goal by Jets' prospect Levko Koper. The Bisons got it together as the period progressed. A point shot from Jeremy Schappert was deflected by Brenden Rowinski (6 goals in 10 games) to level the scores. Another point shot from Travis Mealy on the PP with 4 seconds left made it 2-1 for the Bisons.

The Bisons carried the play early in the 2nd period and Blair Macaulay scored (his 13th) from the point two minutes in and victory seemed just around the corner. Especially when a monkey was assessed two minutes for an evil deed and the Bisons went on a PP and just missed on several good chances. A golden opportunity for a 4-1 lead went amiss. Instead, Alberta rallied and in the end left the period) in which shots were 18-17 for Manitoba) down only one goal.

Things were back to normal in the 3rd. Alberta was held to 8 shots and there were no goals, and generally few good chances.

While I plan on attending Saturday's rematch live and in person, for those planning on watching the Jets on HNIC, you can also follow the Herd on CanadaWest.tv.

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


REGINA COUGARS 2
SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 10

|> [U of S Story] : [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

What a blow-out. Maybe the Premier of Saskatchewan should create some interest in the rematch by declaring an "Outhouse Bowl" where the winner gets a fresh sliver-free outhouse in the middle of their campus. Yee=haw! That would generate interest. I wonder if Regina can win 2-1 for a split? That would be ironic. They have managed to scrounge such points this year. The Saturday night rematch is also scheduled for CanadaWest.tv.


LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 2
UBC THUNDERBIRDS 5

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

The H0rny Ones need a shot of viagra if they want to be a factor in this year's race. UBC are all cozy in 5th place now and seem destined to meet Calgary in a quarter-final series. This one was tied 1-1 after two periods. Then UBC pumped in four goals in a 3rd period where they dominated 21-7 on the shot clock. There was supposed to be a live audio link but it was not on Friday night.


CALGARY DINOS 2
LAKEHEAD THUNDERWOLVES 4

|> [LU Story] : [LU Story and Summary]

The Thunder-Mutts picked up a tidy win over the Flintsones. Once considered a contender, Calgary now seems to have hit the skids. They went with Jacob DeSerres in goal. One would think they would want all 3 goaltenders to get some work on the weekend. Although it is not uncommon for some players with exams at this time of year to stay home.

NEXT UP:

Dec. 3
Alberta at Manitoba : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Video]
Regina at Saskatchewan : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Video]
Lethbridge at UBC : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Audio?]
Calgary at Lakehead (non-conference) : [L.U. Site] : [Possible Video - SSN Canada]

OUT EAST:

Nov. 30
StFX 5 Saint Mary's 6
UOIT 3 Brock 5

Dec. 1
Ryerson 1 York 7
Waterloo 3 Western Ontario 4 - 2OT
Guelph 7 Laurier 0

Dec. 2
RMC 2 McGill 3
St. Thomas 2 UNB 3 - OT
Saint Mary's 4 Acadia 2
Moncton 4 UPEI 2
Concordia 7 Carleton 2
UQTR 3 Nipissing 4 - SO
Toronto 3 UOIT 2
Guelph 4 Western Ontario 6

OUA LeagueStat Page - has all summaries
AUS schedule/results : AUS stats

* link may be updated as you readm

December 3, 2011

MONKEYS SALVAGE SPLIT HEADING INTO CHRISTMAS BREAK


ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 4
MANITOBA BISONS 3

|> [U of M Story] : [U of A Story] : [CW Saturday Recap]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore] : [CIS Saturday Round-up*] : [CW Standings]

This was a golden opportunity for the Bisons to sweep yet another Alberta team. They are now 9-1 (or 8-1-1 after appeals) against the Province of Saudi Alberta.

The Evil Monkeys scored twice on d'oh! goals that snuck past Jesse Deckert and twice on questionable 5-on-3 PP's.

Scoring started 7 seconds into the game when Johnny Lazo dribbled one towards the net. Deckert took a nonchalant stab, missed, and it was 1-0. Play was more or less even for the rest of the period until Dane Crowley was penalized for hooking whilst killing a penalty (he actually lifted the stick of a Monkey), and Colin Joe made it 2-0. The Bisons picked up the pace once they killed their penalties and the pressure created their own PP. Jeremy Schappert then scored yet another goal from the point, and the Bisons trailed 2-1 after one.

The 2nd period got off to a rough start. With the Bisons killing a penalty, Chad Erb pushed over a Monkey who was hacking the goalie after the whistle. The last two weekends the officials have shown great tolerance for those who hack goaltenders after the whistle, and Levko Koper cashed in to make it 3-1 Monkeys.

There was not much action in the 3rd period. But midway through Darren Bestland cashed in to narrow the gap to 3-2. The Bison 4th line deserved a goal. The three d-men were doing some good work all weekend. It must be said that they were inn the midst of a line change when the goal was scored. The Bison attempts to tie the game were thwarted and the comeback was effectively laid to rest when James Dobrowolski chipped a one-handed swipe over Deckert's shoulder for the second d'oh! goal of the night. Ian Duval did score on a nice 3-way passing play to make the last 2 minutes interesting.

BTW, the Monkeys tried to deny their monkeyness by wearing the dark green sweaters with "Alberta" written diagonally across, instead of the usual Monkey face logo. They also had odd white-and-yellow socks that made them look like an east-European team of some sort. Maybe they should have зло мавп on those sweaters!

Here's how they lined up:

MANITOBA BISONS

Goal:
Deckert (Caligiuri)

Defence:
Schappert - Crowley
Mealy - Rumsey
Erb - Bobbee

Forwards:
Dittmer - Walker - Macaulay
Hellyer - Duval - Lowry
Rowinski - Benias - Cowan
Bestland - Lockerby - Flynn

ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS

Goal:
Mucha (Cyr)

Defence:
Joe - Craige
Lindemulder - Barteaux
Rowley - Carr

Forwards:
Reddick - Lazo - Gardner
Nichol - Nielsen - Szaszkiewicz
Rodgers - Dobrowolski - Toomey
Hickmott - Dailey - Koper

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


REGINA COUGARS 0
SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 6

|> [U of S Story] : [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

When I saw the score I thought it made sense. Regina appears to have hit the skids. But, lo-and-behold, Regina actually outshot somebody! Newcomer Troy Moltz went the distance in the Regina goal. The Bisons will be hoping that Regina does not find their form over the holidays. The Herd will visit them January 6th and 7th in their next action.


LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 3
UBC THUNDERBIRDS 7

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

Like on Friday, this was a tight game (4-3 for UBC) after two periods before UBC put the boots to the H0rny Ones in the 3rd period. The weekend results seem to indicate that UBC will be facing Calgary in the 4 v 5 quarter-final and Lethbridge will fight it out with Regina to see who will be cannon fodder for the 3rd place team in the other quarter-final.


CALGARY DINOS 4
LAKEHEAD THUNDERWOLVES 5
(in overtime)

|> [LU Story] : [LU Story and Summary]

Calgary appears to have let one slip away. Kris Lazaruk started in goal but gave up 4 goals on 15 shots, Jacob DeSerres finished and gave up one goal on 8 shots. So Dustin Butler had the weekend off. Not sure if he was even available. One would think that an all-Canadian goaltender would get a shot if he was available. Meanwhile, Calgary amassed 40 shots of their own.

While Calgary has the talent on paper, there is no doubt that they have failed to gel as a team. After a so-so start, it appeared that they had turned the corner when they swept Sask. That, however, appears to be the aberration on their form chart. It looks like Calgary will be #4 and will face UBC in the quarter-finals.

Lakehead must be feeling good. Although they have steamrolled through the OUA West, they have had such a soft schedule that they are tough to rank. They could use a revived GPAC so they could face good teams all year long.

NEXT UP:

Dec. 13 Team Canada at Calgary/Lethbridge
Dec. 15 Team Denmark at Alberta
Dec. 16 Team Denmark at Alberta
Jan. 2 Alberta vs Calgary
Jan. 2 Lethbridge at SAIT
Jan. 3 Alberta vs Lethbridge
Jan. 3 Calgary at SAIT

OUT EAST:

Dec. 3
UQTR 3 Carleton 2 - OT
Concordia 3 Ottawa 5
York 4 Laurier 1
Ryerson 5 UOIT 4 - OT
Windsor 2 Waterloo 4

OUA LeagueStat Page - has all summaries
AUS schedule/results : AUS stats

* link may be updated as you read

I gotta make it out to some of this hockey again this year. Very entertaining and they have good cheap food there.

CW NEWS, NOTES, AND WORLD JUNIOR EXHIBITION GAMES


TEAM CANADA JUNIORS 7
CIS DINOHORNS 4

|> [U of C Story - at U of L at CW]
|> [Hockey News Tournament Page]

On December 13th the Team Canada WJHC team faced the Dinohorns in their final selection game. The win broke a two game losing streak for TC against CW opposition. They lost to the Husky-Cougars and a previous edition of the Dinohorns before the last two WJHC events held in western Canada. Also, TC split a pair of games against the Manitoba Bisons the year the tournament was held in North Dakota. I saw some of the game on FastHockey, which was fairly decent I must say. Though I don't know why they dub these teams "CIS All-Stars". Team Canada's PK was victimized and none of the goalies looked too sharp. Both sides used two different goalies from the TC camp.



TEAM DENMARK JUNIORS 0
ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 5

|> [U of A Story] : [CIS Story] : [Edmonton Sun Story]
|> [LS Summary]

TEAM DENMARK JUNIORS 3
ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 8

|> [U of A Story] : [Edmonton Sun Story]
|> [LS Summary]

The Evil Monkeys did a nice job on the Danes in the games played December 15th and 16th. The Danes are new to the WJHC and hope to stay around for next year's tournament. This is written about in Evan Daum's story at Canada.com and the Vancouver Province. They have steadily improved at senior level. On February 12, 1949 they were beaten 47-0 by Canada in what remains a record whitewash. As recently as 1994 they were beaten at junior level by 22-0 against Slovakia.

Manitoba Bison head coach Mike Sirant took a leave of absence to help them out. I would like to see them send a team over to play the Bisons.

The Danes had a pre-season tour of the QMJHL where they exceeded expectations. Their results were:

August 28th: Blainville-Bobriand Armada 5 Denmark 4
August 30th: Shawinigan Cataract 5 Denmark 4
September 1st: Rimouski Oceanic 3 Denmark 1
September 2nd: Acadie-Bathurst Titan 8 Denmark 6

Sure, that's 0-4. But not too long ago a 2nd tier national junior team would have lost badly to Junior "A" teams. Check the QMJHL standings. Those teams rank 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in their respective divisions as I post.

STORIES FROM AROUND THE CIS



The CIS Blog has its final CW weekly round-up as does South Campus Sports. The stories share my view that one has to rank Sask-Man-Alta-Cal in that order so far.



Chris Benias was Bison sports male athlete of the week for the week ended December 4th. Benias has been a 4th liner and often a healthy scratch in previous seasons. Now with the team being heavy on D and short up front, he has been centering one of the top 3 lines and getting a lot of ice time.

Blair MacAulay was also named the WHL grad of the month for November-December. Since most CW players are WHL grads, this is an impressive award. He may be the best pure sniper in the CIS.

Incidentally, both Benias and MacAulay are both MJHL grads, also.



The Mount Royal Cougars are slated to join the CW next season. They are finishing up their last season in the ACAC in style, with a 13-1-2 record so far. The ACAC is odd this year in that there is a huge gap in the standings between 4th and 5th. Mount Royal is first at 28 points and are followed by SAIT, NAIT, and Augustana who all have 25. Then there is a 15 point gap between those teams and Portage.



The CIS site has a first half recap of the OUA with a team-by-team report. The big story IMO is that the OUA East has dominated the OUA West in their interlocking schedule.



The CIS Blog also has their final AUS weekly update story. There is also a story that Dalhousie has fired their coach, Pete Belliveau. Or is he going to be more of a GM/recruiter? Stay tuned for that one. They have stunk, so maybe devoting time to finding players for next year may be a good idea.



The final top 10 is discussed at Boxscore News. The Official Hollywood Top 34 is of course much more authoritative!

This is how they have it:

1. UNB (11-2-1) / 166 pts (14) / (1)
2. McGill (13-1-2) / 147 (3) / (2)
3. Western Ontario (13-1-2) / 122 / (4)
4. Saskatchewan (11-2-2) / 107 / (6)
5. Alberta (11-3-2) / 106 / (3)
6. Moncton (10-4-0) / 81 / (5)
7. Lakehead (13-3-0) / 73 / (
8. Saint Mary’s (10-5-1) / 41 / (NR)
9. Manitoba (10-4-2) / 38 / (9)
10. UQTR (13-5-1) / 21 / (10)

WEEKEND PREVIEW



MANITOBA BISONS (10-4-2, 3rd in OHT34)
REGINA COUGARS (4-10-2, 22nd in OHT34)

Friday, January 6th, 7:00 p.m. CST @ Regina
Saturday, January 7th, 7:00 p.m. CST @ Regina

LIVE LINKS: [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]
MANITOBA LINKS: [U of M Site] : [LS Roster] : [U of M Roster] : [LS Schedule/Results] : [LS Stats]
REGINA LINKS: [U of R Site] : [LS Roster] : [LS Schedule/Results] : [LS Stats]
OTHER LINKS: [CIS Site] : [CW Site] : [LS - Live Updates] : [CW Weekly Notes #11 (pdf)]
OTHER STORIES: [Cougars saddened by loss of Tyson Sievert] : [Cheveldayoff to speak at fundraiser]
LEAGUE NEWS: [22 WHL Grads Academic All-Canadians - at CIS]
PRIOR GAMES: [Cougars win 6-1] : [Bisons win 5-1]

Finally, the Herd will hit the ice. The bad news is they will have to travel to Banjoland to face the Hillbillies, feline version. Neither side had any games throughout the break. So I suspect that the first game at least will be a little awkward.

The Bisons need a sweep. There are only 7 weeks left in the regular season, and each team has one bye week. So any points lost to Regina, even on the road, could cost them home ice advantage in a playoff series.

The Banjo-Cats have had a simple and not very successful formula: Get outshot by a wide margin and hope that Lucas Gore stops an obscene number of pucks and that the rest of the team cashes in on the PP.

SAIT CHALLENGE CUP:



January 2, 2012

Alberta Golden Bears 2
Calgary Dinosaurs 3

Lethbridge Pronghorns 4
SAIT Trojans 4

January 3, 2012

Alberta Golden Bears 4
Lethbridge Pronghorns 1

Calgary Dinosaurs 5
SAIT Trojans 3

|> [Day 1 Report] : [Day 2 Report] : [ACAC Site]

SAIT hosted a 4 team tournament earlier this week. Calgary took the title. Is this a sign of things to come? SAIT is in a tight race to catch up to Mount Royal in the ACAC. The blew a 4-1 lead in their game with Lethbridge. So a nice comeback for the H0rny Ones, but still no wins.

ELSEWHERE:


SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES (11-2-2, 1st in OHT34)
LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS (3-10-2, 27th in OHT34)

|> [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Video both nights]
|> [U of L Preview]

There will actually be three games decided in this series. On Friday at 6:40 MST the teams will play the 3rd period of the game suspended due to a leaking Zamboni back in October. Sask leads that game 3-0. The Banjo-Mutts are in a situation similar to the Bisons in that they will be under pressure to get all 6 points. Meanwhile, Lethbridge will be striving to catch Regina for the 6th and final playoff spot. IMO Lethbridge looked better than Regina.


ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS (11-3-2, 5th in OHT34)
CALGARY DINOS (9-7-0, 12th in OHT34)

|> [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Video Saturday]
|> [U of C Preview - at CW] : [U of A Preview] : [Monkeys sign Ferguson]

This series is a home-and-home. Calgary could fall out of contention for a top 2 position this weekend. They beat the Evil Monkeys twice already in their earlier series, and again in the SAIT tournament. Calgary has an impressive team on paper. If they can get it together on the ice then Alberta is in trouble. It struck me that an over-abundance of new players was proving to be a problem. In goal, they used Butler against Alberta and then had Lazaruk and DeSerres split the Lethbridge game.


UBC THUNDERBIRDS (7-7-2, 14th in OHT34)
SIMON FRASER CLAN (9-0-3, 1st in BCIHL)

|> [SFU Hockey Site] : [SFU Live Audio] : [UBC Site]

Since UBC have a bye week they are using it to play Simon Fraser's BCIHL team. It will be interesting to see how SFU stands up since they are running away with the BCIHL so far.

January 6, 2012

BISONS WIN ONE IN BANJOVILLE


MANITOBA BISONS 3
REGINA COUGARS 2

|> [U of R Story] : [U of M Story] : [CW Friday Recap]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore] : [CIS Friday Round-up*] : [CW Standings]

This game followed the Cougars' script. They were severely outshot but hung in there. The Bisons took a 2-0 lead in the 1st period, with goals from Mike Hellyer and Jered Walker. Brett Leffler had an interesting stretch. He took a penalty and Walker scored on the PP. He then came out and took another penalty 10 seconds after the goal.

The 2nd period was one the Cougars dream of. They were outshot 16-3, bit scored the only goal (by Leffler, no less). So after two periods the shots were 24-7 but the score was 2-1.

The 3rd period saw Blair Macaulay score his 14th of the season in the opening minute. Then nothing much happened until the Banjo-Cats notched one with 30 seconds left to improve the look of the scoreboard.

Joe Caligiuri went the distance in the Bison goal and Lucas Gore did what he could in the Hillbilly net. The Bisons used the same line-up as for the pre-Christmas games, with 3 defencemen on their 4th line. Hey, it's working.

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 4
LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 3
(in overtime)
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 5
LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 2
|> [U of L Story] : [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

The teams first concluded the previously suspended game. The Banjo-Mutts led that one 3-0 after two periods. When the teams came out to play the 3rd period Friday night, the H0rny Ones took a dose of Viagra, Cialis, and probably several dozen oysters. Within 6 minutes, Lethbridge had tied the game on a natural hat-trick by Dustin Moore. They outshot Sask 15-4. But neither team could score in the final 14 minutes. So it was on to OT where the Mangy Ones scored.

In the full game it was all Sask. The final shots were 46-23 and Lethbridge was never really in it. So despite an heroic comeback to start the evening, in the end Sask left with all four points available to them. But I am sure Lethbridge will find the one point useful as they pursue Regina.


ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 3
CALGARY DINOS 2

|> [U of C Story] : [U of A Story]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

The Evil Monkeys won the away leg of the home-and-home series. The Dinos took a 2-1 lead in the 2nd period with a pair of PP markers. The combination of results boosts the top three even further ahead of the rest of the pack.


SIMON FRASER CLAN 3
UBC THUNDERBIRDS 1

|> [UBC Site*] : [SFU Site*] : [SFU Live Video]

I saw a lot of this on the internet. UBC really dominated SFU in the 2nd and 3rd periods. However, they only scored once in 43 shots. At least that was the total late in the game on the shot clock. The stats are not on League Stat and have not been uploaded at either team site as I post.

NEXT UP:

Jan. 7
Manitoba at Regina : [Live Stats Saturday]
Saskatchewan at Lethbridge : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Video]
Calgary at Alberta : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Video]
UBC at Simon Fraser : [Live Video]

OUT EAST:

Jan. 3
RMC 1     Queen's 3

Jan. 4
Ottawa 3 Carleton 2

Jan. 5
York 6 Guelph 2

Jan. 6
StFX 2 UNB 5
Moncton 2 Acadia 5
St. Thomas 0 Dalhousie 1
Saint Mary's 3 UPEI 5
Ryerson 2 RMC 3 OT
Queen's 5 Nipissing 1
Ottawa 1 McGill 3
Carleton 5 UQTR 7
UOIT 2 Brock 6
Laurier 4 Western Ontario 7
Guelph Windsor - to be played Saturday at 2:00 EST
Waterloo 1 Lakehead 5

OUA LeagueStat Page - has all summaries
AUS schedule/results : AUS stats

* link may be updated as you read

January 7, 2012

BISONS SWEEP, TWO POINTS OUT OF FIRST


MANITOBA BISONS 4
REGINA COUGARS 1

|> [U of R Story] : [U of M Story] : [CW Saturday Recap]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore] : [CIS Saturday Round-up*] : [CW Standings]

The Bisons needed a sweep and they got it. The Bisons outshot the Banjo-Cats 47-18, including an incredible 21-2 in the 2nd period during which they amassed a 3-0 lead. It is impossible for 21-2 to be a misleading stat. Ian Duval scored his 6th and 7th goals of the season, Blair Macaulay notched his 15th, and d-man Travis Mealy will rejoice with his 2nd. (BTW, there are two other CIS players with 15 goals and two more with 14 so far.)

Also, each team switched goaltenders from Friday night. Jesse Deckert was in goal for Manitoba and newcomer Andrew Hayes made his debut for Regina, and was the 3rd star.

In reviewing the line-ups from both nights, I note that Tyler Schmidt in fact drew into the Bison lineup on defence, in place of Chad Erb. They are still using the 4th line of defencemen, as noted in Friday's recap. Former Bison Terrance Delaronde was scratched from the Cougar lineup.

The weekend results have left the Cougars a point behind Lethbridge in the race for 6th. The Bisons remain 3rd, but are now just 2 points behind Sask and Alberta. Next week the Bisons will have their final bye week of the regular season, while Regina will head out to British California.

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 2
LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 3

|> [U of L Story] : [U of S Story] : [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

The H0rny Ones did everybody a favour (except Regina) by taking two points from the Banjo-Mutts. That makes for a 3 point weekend, and at least temporary hold of 6th place. I guess they deserved some points after that 3 goal rally in the conclusion of the suspended game on Friday night. Sask held the lead until 12 minutes into the 3rd period, but Lethbridge was not to be denied.

Sask is now tied with the Evil Monkeys, just 2 points ahead of the Bisons. Sask and Alberta will play next weekend, and the Bisons' only wish will be that there be no 3 point games.


ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 4
CALGARY DINOS 2

|> [U of C Site*] : [U of A Story]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

The home-and-home series ended with a sweep for the Evil Monkeys. The year of disappointment continues for Calgary, who are now at 9-9-0. The surprise hear was that Alberta really controlled Calgary. The shots were 38-19 and from the brief amount I saw at CanadaWest.tv that really did reflect the play. Nevertheless, Dustin Butler held Calgary in there so that Taylor Stefishen was able o give them a 2-1 lead 3 minutes into the 3rd. However, Greg Gardner and Levko Koper put the Monkeys back into the lead before an empty-netter sealed the deal.

It now seems unlikely that Calgary can avoid the quarter-final with a 2nd place finish. They are 10 points out with 10 games left.


UBC THUNDERBIRDS 3
SIMON FRASER CLAN 1
(SFU won shoot-out 2-1 to win series)
|> [UBC Site*] : [SFU Site*] : [SFU Friday Story]

I saw some of this one on-line in a Simon Fraser broadcast. I would say that UBC controlled more play than SFU, however SFU looked to be a decent side. The BCIHL is evidently coming along, and SFU would look to be comparable to teams like SAIT, NAIT, and MRU. It would also appear that they were a lot more serious about this "tournament". Their announcers were treating it like the Stanley Cup and there was even a trophy. Since UBC's win evened the "tournament", overtime and a shoot-out decided the matter. The announcers talked about expanding the tournament next year, which would make sense. A two team tournament?

Meanwhile, there was no mention of this on the UBC site. Saturday morning, I did see highlights of Friday's game on Sportsnet. Maybe the CW should send them HQ highlights for other games, starting with Alberta v Sask next weekend, and continuing with Sask v Manitoba the one after that.

NEXT UP:

Jan. 13-14
Regina at UBC : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Audio Friday - CITR]
Alberta at Saskatchewan : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Video both nights]
Calgary at Lethbridge : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Video Friday]
Lethbridge at Calgary : [Live Stats Saturday]

OUT EAST:

Jan. 7
Guelph 3 Windsor 8
St. Thomas 2 Acadia 3
Moncton 5 Dalhousie 1
StFX 1 UPEI 2
Saint Mary's 2 UNB 3
Ryerson 2 McGill 5
Western Ontario 4 York 2
Toronto 3 RMC 1
Queen's 3 Nipissing 7
Brock 1 Laurier 6
Waterloo 2 Lakehead 3 - OT

OUA LeagueStat Page - has all summaries
AUS schedule/results : AUS stats

* link may be updated as you read

NEWS AND PREVIEWS

The Bisons have a bye week, their last of the year. So I bring you the news and previews from the CW and across the CIS.


|> [CIS Standings] : [CIS Schedule/Results/Links]
|> [Top 10 - at CIS - at Boxscore News]
|> [OHT34] : [CUP: Would we miss hockey fights?]
|> [AUS Weekly Update]
|> [OUA and Bulldogs - Outdoor Classic] : [Brock beat Urban Cowboys]


|> [CW Weekly Notes #12 (pdf)] : [League Stat Schedule]
|> [CIS Blog - Weekly Roundup] : [South Campus Sports Weekend Preview]



ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS (13*-3-2, 5th in OHT34)
SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES (13-3-2, 2nd in OHT34)

|> [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Video both nights]
|> [U of S Preview - Boxscore News] : [CW Preview]

This is a big series since the two teams are tied for first and are two points ahead of the Bisons. The Bisons' primary goal would be that only 4 points be awarded to these two over the weekend. Second, since the Bisons don't play the Evil Monkeys again, they would likely prefer either a split or a Sask sweep.

Sask had a better-than-expected first half. The scoring attack which had been touted for two years has paid off finally. They have the top three scorers and 4 of the top 9 (Hulak, Bortis, Ross, and Bailey). They lead the conference with 72 goals (the Bisons are second with 61). They are also third best in goals against (behind Alberta and Manitoba).

Of note, the series is being played at the CUC in Saskatown. Since the building is one of 5 in Saskatown with indoor plumbing (what progress!) the teams should enjoy the luxury. Also, Saturday's game will be at 2:00 p.m.


CALGARY DINOS (9-9-0, 13th in OHT34)
LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS (4-13-3, 22nd in OHT34)

|> [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Video Friday]
|> [U of L Preview] : [U of C Preview] : [CW Preview]

The H0rny Ones managed to scoop 3 points last weekend and vaulted past the Banjo-Cats into the 6th and final playoff spot. Will this be another year where they close strong? They are far enough back that they are likely just interested in securing a playoff berth. The Flintstones look like they will not be bursting into the top three. They will want to stay ahead of UBC in order to play the quarter-final round at home. It would be quite a disaster if they were to drop to 5th this year.


REGINA COUGARS (4-12-2, 25th in OHT34)
UBC THUNDERBIRDS (7-7-2, 16th in OHT34)

|> [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Audio Friday]
|> [UBC Preview] : [Vancouver Province SFU Preview] : [The Record SFU Preview]

Regina stinks. If the Banjo-Cats want to catch the Tweety-Birds they will need to not only avoid the little old lady with an umbrella, they will need to surrender fewer than 40 shots and find some goal scoring. They are last in offence and defence.

Meanwhile, UBC had an inglorious split against SFU. So they should have learned not to take anybody lightly.

BANJO-MUTTS TAKE OUT EVIL MONKEYS

With the Bisons having their final bye week of the season, the rest of the CW soldiers on. Here is what happened.

|> [CW Friday Recap] : [CW Standings]
|> [CIS Friday Round-up] : [CIS Standings]

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 2
SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 5

|> [U of S Story] : [U of A Story]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

This was actually a good result for the Bisons. Sask kept on taking two goal leads and then salted it away with an empty-netter. The game never got particularly close to OT, so only two points were awarded. The Hillbillies racked up their 5 goals on only 23 shots. So not a stellar night for Real Cyr in the Monkey goal. David Reekie was hot for the Inbreds, stopping 35 of 37 shots. The rematch is Saturday at 2:00 CST and is available on canadawest.tv.


CALGARY DINOS 2
LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 3
(in overtime)
|> [U of C Story] : [U of L Story]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

The Flintstones blew a 2-0 lead and are now sub-.500.Perhaps 4th place is becoming a lofty ambition. And could this be yet another second half rally for the H0rny Ones? They looked exceptionally weak in the 1st half. But 3 points in 2 1/3 games last weekend, plus this win, have vaulted them into a playoff spot.

Calgary took a 2-0 lead into the 1st intermission after having outshot Lethbridge 15-4. But then Lethbridge outshot them 31-17 over the last two periods. Very much a tale of two games. The overtime goal was scored by Tyler Hlookoff, his first of the season. Saturday's rematch will be in Calgary.


REGINA COUGARS 2
UBC THUNDERBIRDS 4

|> [UBC Story] : [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

I tried getting the audio at the CITR link, but there was nothing there. This has happened before. So what's up with UBC's links? The scoreline was affected by a last minute PP/EN goal by Regina, scored after they were down 4-1.Regina is now 3 points out of 6th and UBC is 1 point out of 4th. Will the Puddy-Tat catch that bloody Tweety-Bird? The rematch goes Saturday night. Regina needs wins badly or else they will fade quickly. If UBC can lose to SFU, they can lose to anybody.

NEXT UP:

Jan. 14
Regina at UBC : [Live Stats]
Alberta at Saskatchewan : 2:00 CST [Live Stats] : [Live Video] : [Live Audio]
Lethbridge at Calgary : [Live Stats]

OUT EAST:

Jan. 8
Toronto 1 Ottawa 2

Jan. 11
Western 1 Brock 2

Jan. 12
Laurier 0 York 1

Jan. 13
Acadia 3 Moncton 6
UNB 1 Saint Mary's 2
UPEI 7 StFX 3
Dalhousie 7 St. Thomas 4
Carleton 5 Nipissing 4
McGill 5 RMC 0
Ottawa 1 UQTR 5
York 3 Waterloo 2
Lakehead 8 UOIT 5
Concordia 2 Queen's 9
Windsor 1 Guelph 6
Ryerson 6 Toronto 3

OUA LeagueStat Page - has all summaries
AUS schedule/results : AUS stats

* link may be updated as you read

EVIL MONKEYS SWEPT, BANJO-MUTTS AND BISONS NOW ON COLLISION COURSE

The bye weeks has wrapped up and the Bisons are now in a position to finish first without any help from others. Here is how Saturday's games went.

|> [CW Saturday Recap] : [CW Standings]
|> [CIS Saturday Round-up*] : [CIS Standings]

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 4
SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 5
|> [U of S Story - at Boxscore News] : [U of A Story]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

The Matinee in Bumpkinville was a game of rather extreme ups and downs. Kyle Ross scored his first of three in the night (he now has 14 on the season) to give Sask a 1-0 lead. However, a 3-goal outburst by the Evil Monkeys had them nursing a 3-1 lead by the 1st intermission.

The 2nd period was perhaps the pivotal point in Sask's season. They scored 4 goals on 12 shots to take a commanding 5-3 lead.

But, as the rollercoaster continued going up and down, things changed dramatically once again in the 3rd period. It was all one-way traffic as the Monkeys outshot the Mutts 17-3. But all they could score was one goal, and that with only 1:38 left. At the end of the game the head Organ-Grinder got a double 10 minute misconduct, likely upset about not being able to use more players than his opponent. Rumour has it he looked like his cousin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW6szR8II5g


LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 1
CALGARY DINOS 4
(in overtime)
|> [U of C Story] : [U of L Story]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

The Flintstones returned to Bedrock and got the two points they needed as they cling to 4th place. I would guess that the H0rny Ones will be satisfied with their two point weekend.


REGINA COUGARS 0
UBC THUNDERBIRDS 4
|> [UBC Story] : [U of R Friday Story]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

The Banjo-Cats are redefining the term "surrender meekly". Down 2-0 entering the third period, all they could do was amass 3 shots on the Tweety-Birds i the 3rd period. Ugh. Granted, it remained only 2-0 until UBC padded their lead with 2 goals in the last 2 minutes. UBC is now one point out of 4th and Regina is 3 points out of 6th.

NEXT UP:

Jan. 20-21
Saskatchewan at Manitoba : [Live Stats Friday : Saturday] : [Live Audio Friday]
UBC at Calgary : [Live Stats Friday : Saturday]
Lethbridge at Alberta : [Live Stats Friday : Saturday] : [Live Video both nights]

OUT EAST:

Jan. 14
RMC 1 Concordia 6
Dalhousie 5 Moncton 1
Acadia 3 St. Thomas 1
UPEI 3 Saint Mary's 5
UNB 4 StFX 5 - OT
Laurier 2 Waterloo 1 - OT
Carleton 2 Ryerson 3
McGill 3 Toronto 4
Lakehead 5 UOIT 8
Brock 5 Guelph 2
Western Ontario 5 Windsor 2

OUA LeagueStat Page - has all summaries
AUS schedule/results : AUS stats

* link may be updated as you read

WEEKEND PREVIEW

The Bisons have a must-win series at home with Sask. The two teams are involved with the Evil Monkeys in a 3-way battle for first. Also, UBC and Calgary face each other in their battle for fourth. Lethbridge is at Alberta, trying to hold off idle Regina in their battle for 6th.  Here is your series-by-series look at everything.



SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES (15-3-2, 1st in OHT34)
MANITOBA BISONS (12-4-2*, 3rd in OHT34)

Friday, January 20th, 7:00 p.m. CST @ Max Bell Arena - U of M
Saturday, January 21st, 7:00 p.m. CST @ Max Bell Arena - U of M

LIVE LINKS: [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Audio Friday - UMFM 101.5]
MANITOBA LINKS: [U of M Site] : [LS Roster] : [U of M Roster] : [LS Schedule/Results] : [LS Stats]
SASK LINKS: [U of S Site] : [LS Roster] : [LS Schedule/Results] : [LS Stats]
OTHER LINKS: [CIS Site] : [CW Site] : [LS - Live Updates] : [CW Weekly Notes #13 (pdf)]
OTHER STORIES: [Winnipeg Sun Preview (with audio)] : [Star-Phoenix Preview]
MORE STORIES: : [Ridley Awards Press Release - ChrisD video] : [CW Weekly Round-Up]
PRIOR GAMES: [Huskies win 5-4 (ot)] : [Huskies win 2-1]

This is one big series. Sask leads Manitoba by 6 points, but the Herd has two games in hand, to be made up next weekend. In between, the Evil Monkeys trail the Banjo-Mutts by 4 points. The Mutts will no doubt enjoy having indoor plumbing on this cold January weekend. Hopefully, they will get too comfortable and not be able to deal with the Bison onslaught.

The Bisons and Sask can both finish first in the CW without any help. It is now late enough in the season that we could talk about a team running the table. After this weekend the Bisons have only 8 games left, and none against either Sask or Alberta.

One thing we must consider is the head-to-head records, in the event of a tie at the end of the year. The Mutts lead 4-1 on points after last weekend. After last week's sweep of the Monkeys they took that series 7-3 on points. Manitoba beat the Monkeys 5-4 on points.

The Mutts rely on their top 4 scorers, who are all in the conference's top 10. In fact, the top three scorers in the CW (Derek Hulak, Kyle Bortis, and Kyle Ross) are all Mangy Critters. However, Bison Blair Macaulay leads the conference in goals with 15, one ahead of Bortis and Ross.

Both sides have also utilized two goaltenders. Bisons Jesse Deckert and Joe Caligiuri are ranked 2nd and 4th in goaltending stats, whilst Banjoboys Ryan Holfield and David Reekie rank 3rd and 7th.

After not getting much in the name of big recruits this off-season, Sask was ranked 4th in the pre-season coaches' poll. However those under-performing recruits from prior years have come on this year. Look for two hotly contested games. Friday's game is on UMFM 101.5 if your car won't start.

ELSEWHERE:


UBC THUNDERBIRDS (9-7-2, 15th in OHT34)
CALGARY DINOS (10-9-1, 13th in OHT34)

|> [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]
|> [UBC Site]

According to the pre-season coaches' poll and most pundits, there was supposed to be a "Big Four" in the CW, which included Calgary. Instead, the Dinos have struggled. They appeared to get it together when they swept Sask in November. But then it was back to mediocrity.

On the other hand, UBC was supposed to be fighting it out with Regina for 6th, or maybe Lethbridge for 5th. Instead, they go into this weekend only one point behind Calgary, and with two games in hand. This really does shock me.

Although these teams seem destined to meet in the quarter-finals, this weekend should decide who will host that series.


LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS (5-12-3, 22nd in OHT34)
ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS (13-5-2*, 5th in OHT34)

|> [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Video both nights]
|> [U of A Preview] : [U of L Preview]

One would imagine that the Monkeys will be seeking a rebound after last week's sweep in Saskatown. On paper, this should be a relatively easy home ice sweep over the H0rny Ones. Lethbridge is #6 in offence and defence, ahead of only Regina in both categories.

However, in the last couple of years Lethbridge has come up with a better than expected second half and could be doing the same this year. It really doesn't make any sense. But maybe it is a side-effect of all that Viagra.

LINKS AND STORIES:
|> [CIS Standings] : [CIS Schedule/Results/Links]
|> [Top 10 - at CIS - at Boxscore News]
|> [OHT34] : [Wiebe goes from Ice Caps to UNB]
|> [AUS Weekly Update]

* Alberta's OTL to Manitoba was converted to a W

HERD TRAMPLES THE MONGRELS


SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 2
MANITOBA BISONS 4

|> [U of M Story - at U of S] : [CW Friday Recap]
|> [LS Summary] : [CW Standings]
|> [CIS Boxscore] : [CIS Friday Round-up*] : [CIS Standings]

The Bisons racked up a solid victory Friday night. So now they are four points behind the Banjo-Mutts, with two games in hand.

The Bisons were decisively the stronger team in the opening period. They outshot the Mutts 15-8 and led 2-0 on goals from Jared Walker (his 6th) and Matthew Lowry (his 4th). Each side had two minor penalties. Sask seldom had two shots in a row on the Bison goal. It was one shot then out.

The Bisons really took control of the game in the first half of the 2nd period. The play was very one-sided and it was only some strong goaltending by David Reekie that kept the score close. But with no goals being allowed, Sask still had a chance to steal a point or two with a break. The Bisons outshot Sask 21-11 in the period.

The 3rd period was a back and forth affair. Sask usually got one chance on their rushes before the Bisons would get the puck out, and at the other end the Bisons were happy to get the puck deep, maybe get one shot on goal, and then have at least three men back to prevent any fast breakouts.

Sask did get a break mid-period on a chintzy tripping call to Del Cowan. On such calls, it always seems the fortunate side scores, and that happened here. But within a minute of Shaun Vey celebrating his goal, Brenden Rowinski scored (7th goal in 14 games) to restore the two goal margin.

Sask did manage to close the gap with their goaltender pulled, when Derek Hulak scored on a deflection moments after a missed tripping call behind the Bison goal. But an empty-netter shortly after by Blair Macaulay (16th) closed the scoring at 4-2.

Here's how they lined up:

Manitoba

Goal:
Caligiuri (Friesen)

Defence:
Schappert - Crowley
Schmidt - Rumsey
Mealy - Lockerby - Bobbee

Forwards:
Dittmer - Walker - Macaulay
Hellyer - Duval - Lowry
Cowan - Benias - Rowinski
Bestland - Flynn

Saskatchewan

Goal:
Reekie (Holfield)

Defence:
Delahey - Hobbs
Thiessen - Zetariuk
Ward - Funk

Forwards:
Bortis - Ross - Hulak
McCallum - Bosch - Bailey
Smuk - Brisbois - Vey
Neigum - Durand - Kaye

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 0
ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 5

|> [U of A Story - at U of L]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore*]

After suffering a sweep last weekend one had to assume that the evil Monkeys would rebound against the H0rny Ones, and that is just what they did. Most people feel safe calling the UBC-Calgary series a quarter-final preview. Could we do the same with this series? The Monkeys put this away with a 4 goal 2nd period.


UBC THUNDERBIRDS 2
CALGARY DINOS 1

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

With all their firepower the Dinos chose to play a defensive game against UBC and, in the end, it cost them. It was 2-1 for UBC after two periods, and Calgary only had 5 shots on goal in each of the first two periods. They then threw what they could at the Tweety-Birds in the 3rd, but could not score. This gives UBC at least temporary hold of 4th place. Now there's a shocker.

NEXT UP:

Jan. 21
Saskatchewan at Manitoba : [Live Stats]
UBC at Calgary : [Live Stats]
Lethbridge at Alberta : [Live Stats] : [Live Video]

OUT EAST:

Jan. 18
UNB 5 St. Thomas 1
Moncton 4 UPEI 2
Acadia 3 Dalhousie 2 - OT
Queen's 4 RMC 1
UQTR 6 Concordia 4

Jan. 19
Guelph 3 UOIT 1
Toronto 0 Ryerson 3

Jan. 20
Saint Mary's 3 Dalhousie 4 - OT
UNB 1 Moncton 5
UPEI 4 St. Thomas 3 - SO
StFX 3 Acadia 4
Ryerson 4 RMC 0
Carleton 0 McGill 1 - SO
York 4 Brock 5 - OT
Nipissing 4 Queen's 3 - SO
Windsor 2 Waterloo 3 - SO
Laurier 3 Guelph 5
Ottawa 4 Concordia 8
Western Ontario 1 Lakehead 0

OUA LeagueStat Page - has all summaries
AUS schedule/results : AUS stats

* link may be updated as you read

BISONS SWEEP BUMPKINS


SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 1
MANITOBA BISONS 3

|> [U of M Story - at U of S] : [CW Saturday Recap]
|> [LS Summary] : [CW Standings]
|> [CIS Boxscore] : [CIS Saturday Round-up*] : [CIS Standings]

After a weekend in civilization, the Banjo-Mutts had to hop in the bus and return to Bumpkinville without any points. They'll have to be satisfied chewing on some rawhide, and maybe having a refreshing drink from a toilet.

My son had a game so I missed the first two periods. We arrived in the second intermission, grabbed a burger, and readied ourselves for the third period of a game the Bisons led 2-0. I had looked up the Live Stats and knew that the Bisons had Ian Duval (his 8th) and Chris Benias (his 3rd) and had outshot Sask 29-23.

The third period was fairly uneventful. It was a period perfectly designed to hold a two goal lead. Each team only had one power play and there were very few good scoring chances. The Bisons outshot Sask 8-6 and the best scoring chances were a pair of goalposts hit by Travis Mealy and Austin Lauder, seeing his first action since October 21st. Then Jered Walker put the game away mid-way through. He came down the right wing and picked the lower left hand corner with a hard shot. Chris Durand Durand was hungry like a mutt, and spoiled Joe Caligiuri's shut-out bid with just over a minute left.

So the Herd is now 2 points behind Sask and Alberta, but with two games in hand over each actually have the best winning percentage in the CW.

Here's how the teams lined up:

Manitoba

Goal:
Caligiuri (Friesen)

Defence:
Schappert - Crowley
Schmidt - Rumsey
Mealy - Bobbee

Forwards:
Dittmer - Walker - Macaulay
Lowry - Duval - Rowinski
Cowan - Benias - Lockerby
Bestland - Lauder - Flynn

Saskatchewan

Goal:
Holfield (Reekie)

Defence:
Funk - Hobbs
Delahey - Seur
Thiessen - Ward

Forwards:
Bortis - Ross - Hulak
McCallum - Bosch - Bailey
Neigum - Durand - Brisebois
Spafford - Stebner - Vey

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 1
ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 6

|> [U of A Story - at U of L]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore*]

The H0rny Ones mounted no serious challenge to the Evil Monkeys over the weekend. In the first period of this game, the Monkeys outshot the Horns 20-4 and grabbed a 3-0 lead. The rest of the game was academic. The win moves Alberta back into a tie with Sask, to whom they lost twice last weekend. Lethbridge remains 3 points ahead of idle Regina in the race for 6th.


UBC THUNDERBIRDS 3
CALGARY DINOS 2

|> [U of C Story - at UBC]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

The anticipation that the Dinos would be part of the CW Big Four this is a page right out of his-to-ry. Not only did they slip behind the Big Three, but now the Tweety-Birds have flown right past them as well. UBC has a 3 point lead in the race for 4th, with two games in hand.

The last time UBC hosted a playoff series Liberals thought a policy of official bilingualism would ensure that Quebec separatism would never gain traction, that short-term deficit spending would stimulate the economy so much that the ensuing debt would be paid from the profits, and that invoking The War Measures Act in peace time made sense. Let's just hope there are no riots out in British California!

This game seems to have been another defensive battle. The Dinos gave their supposed 3rd goaltender Kris Lazaruk the start. Not that he is a bad goaltender, but it is impossible for a CIS team to get enough playing time for three goaltenders. Taylor Stefishen, another of the Calgary late recruits, notched his 11th goal in 19 games.

NEXT UP:

Jan. 27-28

Manitoba at Lethbridge : [Live Stats - Friday - Saturday] : [Live Video Both Nights]
Alberta at UBC : [Live Stats - Friday - Saturday] : [Live Audio Saturday]
Regina at Calgary : [Live Stats - Friday - Saturday]

OUT EAST:

Jan. 21
Carleton 5 Concordia 4
Windsor 2 Laurier 4
St. Thomas 2 Moncton 7
Dalhousie 4 Saint Mary's 6
UPEI 8 UNB 7
UOIT 3 York 5
RMC 2 Nipissing 3
Toronto 3 Queen's 0
Western Ontario 1 Lakehead 0

OUA LeagueStat Page - has all summaries
AUS schedule/results : AUS stats

* link may be updated as you read

WEEKEND PREVIEW

The home stretch starts this weekend. There are three races: Manitoba, Sask and Alberta are fighting for first; UBC and Calgary are fighting for fourth; and Lethbridge and Regina are fighting for 6th.

Unfortunately, there are no games remaining between Manitoba, Sask and Alberta. So their battle will be one of avoiding losses to the bottom four. Sask and Alberta each have 32 points, but have only 6 games left. Manitoba has 30 points and has 8 games left. So, the Bisons have the edge. Here's how the various series shape up.



MANITOBA BISONS (14-4-2*, 1st in OHT34)
LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS (5-14-3, 27th in OHT34)

Friday, January 27th, 8:00 p.m. CST @ Lethbridge
Saturday, January 28th, 8:00 p.m. CST @ Lethbridge

LIVE LINKS: [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Video both nights]
MANITOBA LINKS: [U of M Site] : [LS Roster] : [U of M Roster] : [LS Schedule/Results] : [LS Stats]
LETH. LINKS: [U of L Preview] : [LS Roster] : [LS Schedule/Results] : [LS Stats]
OTHER LINKS: [CIS Site] : [CW Site] : [LS - Live Updates] : [CW Weekly Notes #14 (pdf)]
OTHER STORIES: [Chevy at Bison Fundraiser] : [Rumsey Athlete of the Week]
PRIOR GAMES: [Nov 11 Bisons win 5-2] : [Nov 12 Bisons win 5-2]

The Bisons are off to Lethbridge needing a sweep, which is never easy on the road. The H0rny Ones may not have a great home record, but 4 of their 5 wins have been at home. They also have had 2 wins over Sask.

The H0rny Ones have been a disappointment this year. They sputtered in the pre-season and it continued into the regular season. But they are clinging to a 3 point lead over the Banjo-Cats in the race for the 6th and final playoff spot.

In past years Lethbridge has bounced back from a slow start to close strong and make a playoff run. They started the new year with 3 points against Sask (including the suspended game) and 2 points against Calgary. But last weekend the Evil Monkeys thrashed them.

Last weekend Bison goaltender (and former Pronghorn) Jesse Deckert did not dress for either game. Joe Caligiuri played well in both games. Also, captain Mike Hellyer did not dress on Saturday. Jordan Davis, who had only dressed for 8 games, is no longer listed on the roster.

ELSEWHERE:


ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS (15-5-2*, 6th in OHT34)
UBC THUNDERBIRDS (11-7-2, 13th in OHT34)

|> [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Audio Saturday]
|> [UBC Site] : [U of A Site]

The Evil Monkeys should have a tougher task than the Bisons when they head out to British California to face the Tweety-Birds. No preview story has been posted yet, so maybe check the UBC site link as you read to see if it is now up. The Birds are coming off a big sweep of Calgary in the race for 4th. So now that they are heading home, they need to perform if they want to host a quarter-final.

Just as this is usually where UBC falters, this is usually where the Monkeys bury a lesser opponent. This series should tell us a lot about whether UBC is ready to make a jump. The audio link to CITR has not worked lately. So attempt it at your peril.


REGINA COUGARS (4-14-2, 29th in OHT34)
CALGARY DINOS (10-11-1, 14th in OHT34)

|> [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]
|> [U of C Preview]

Th lowly Banjo-Cats are off to Calgary in the battle of the sinking ships. Regina has somehow managed to squeeze out a few points this season. This despite being badly outplayed all the time. If Calgary cannot sweep this series they will likely be resigned to 5th place.

LINKS AND STORIES:
|> [CIS Standings] : [CIS Schedule/Results/Links]
|> [Top 10 - at CIS - at Boxscore News]
|> [OHT34] : [AUS Weekly Update]

* Alberta's OTL to Manitoba was converted to a W

BISONS SCORE DECISIVE WIN


MANITOBA BISONS 7
LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 4

|> [U of M Story and Stats] : [U of L Story] : [CW Friday Recap]
|> [LS Summary] : [CW Standings] : [All Links]
|> [CIS Boxscore] : [CIS Friday Round-up*] : [CIS Standings]

The Bisons walked into Lethbridge and picked up a decisive win. The Bisons built a 6-2 lead mid-way through the 3rd period. But a pair of late goals by the H0rny Ones made the scoreline less embarrassing. This was a fairly dominant performance on the road for the Herd.

Blair Macaulay scored his 17th and 18th goals of the season, and his linemates (Tyler Dittmer and Jered Walker) also had goals of their own. Additionally, Dane Crowley scored his 3rd (shorthanded), Brenden Rowinski had his 8th, and Ian Duval his 9th.

Scratched from the Bison line-up were Chad Erb, Mike Hellyer, Tyler Schmidt, and Jesse Deckert. Jordan Davis was back on the roster and played for the first time since November 12th, when he also faced Lethbridge.

Saturday's rematch can also be seen on-line at canadawest.tv. I saw the end of Friday's game. I wish the Bisons had white numbers on their road jersey. The Bisons and Sask should both work on that for next year.



OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


REGINA COUGARS 1
CALGARY DINOS 2

|> [U of C Story]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

The Dinos were obviously tense about this one. They were desperate and the lowly Kittens had to be a free square on the bingo card. The Dinos played very defensively (shots were 33-12). What can you say about a Regina team that mounts only three shots in a 3rd period when they enter down 2-1?


ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 3
UBC THUNDERBIRDS 1

|> [UBC Story - at U of A] : [UBC Preview]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

This was a tight one throughout. UBC is a typical middle-of-the-road team in a season where the others have all disappointed. The shots were 29-25 for the Evil Monkeys. UBC must be thought of to have some chance at salvaging a split on Saturday night. The win gives the Monkeys first place, by two points over the Bisons and Mutts. However, the Bisons have two games in hand, and the Mutts now have one.

NEXT UP:

Jan. 27
Manitoba at Lethbridge : [Live Stats] : [Live Video]
Alberta at UBC : [Live Stats] : [Live Audio]
Regina at Calgary : [Live Stats]

OUT EAST:

Jan. 24
Queen's 3 Carleton 2

Jan. 25
Concordia 4 UQTR 3 - OT
Waterloo 2 Brock 4

Jan. 26
Guelph 1 York 2 - OT
Western Ontario 1 Windsor 2 0 SO
Nipissing 7 Ryerson 0

Jan. 27
Moncton 2 StFX 1
Dalhousie 2 UPEI 4
Acadia 1 UNB 7
St. Thomas 2 Saint Mary's 3 - OT
Ottawa 2 McGill 7
Lakehead 2 Brock 3
Laurier 2 UOIT 4
Queen's 2 Ryerson 1
RMC 3 Toronto 4

OUA LeagueStat Page - has all summaries
AUS schedule/results : AUS stats

Note: The schedule for the nationals has been set. [Press Release]

* link may be updated as you read

BISONS BLOW ONE


MANITOBA BISONS 4
LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 5

|> [U of L Story] : [U of M Story and Stats*] : [CW Saturday Recap]
|> [LS Summary] : [CW Standings] : [All Links]
|> [CIS Boxscore] : [CIS Saturday Round-up*] : [CIS Standings]

I was able to follow this one on canadawest.tv. It looked like the Bisons were on their way to a sweep which would have given them sole control of first place. Instead, they blew a 4-2 lead by surrendering three unanswered third period goals, including two goals 26 seconds apart in the final two minutes. The Bisons had won each of their first three games against the H0rny Ones by three goals every time.

While it was not a stellar performance from Joe Caligiuri in the Bison goal, a collapse like this cannot be pinned on one player. It seemed that in the 3rd period the Bisons took things for granted.

The events of the weekend also spell out a fundamental truth in the CW: It is never easy to sweep a series on the road.

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


REGINA COUGARS 0
CALGARY DINOS 2

|> [U of C Story]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

Pity the Banjo-Cats. They were not exactly striking fear into their conference foes before Christmas, now they have surrendered. Don't let the scoreline fool you. They only had 10 shots on goal the entire game. (Calgary had 38 shots on poor old Lucas Gore.) Yet it was 0-0 after two periods. The Dinos needed the sweep in order to keep their hopes alive to catch UBC for 4th place.


ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 0
UBC THUNDERBIRDS 1

|> [UBC Story - at U of A]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

I was able to listen to this one after the Bison game ended. Both games in this series were very close, so a split was in order. The loss for the Evil Monkeys keeps them 2 points ahead of the Bisons. But the Bisons have 2 games in hand over them, and hold the tie-breaker, meaning that they remain in the driver's seat in the race for first.

The Monkeys have their final bye week next weekend, whilst UBC will be in Manitoba.

NEXT UP:

Feb. 3-4
UBC at Manitoba : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Audio UMFM 101.5]
Calgary at Saskatchewan : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]
Lethbridge at Regina : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]

Alberta sits 2 points ahead of both Manitoba and Saskatchewan, but have played 24 games to the 22 played by Manitoba and Sask. Therefore, Alberta could fall to third while watching the out-of-town scoreboard. It is ironic that both Manitoba and Sask will be hosting the two teams fighting it out for 4th.

OUT EAST:

Jan. 28
Windsor 3 Laurier 1
Acadia 3 UPEI 4 - OT
Moncton 0 Saint Mary's 5
St. Thomas 2 StFX 1 - OT
Dalhousie 2 UNB 3 - OT
RMC 1 Nipissing 2 = OT
McGill 2 Carleton 4
York 2 Guelph 3
Western Ontario 4 Lakehead 0
UOIT 2 Waterloo 5
Queen's 0 Toronto 1

OUA LeagueStat Page - has all summaries
AUS schedule/results : AUS stats

* link may be updated as you read

WEEKEND PREVIEW

There are but three weekends left in the season. And right now the Monkeys are in first place with 34 points and 4 games left. The Bisons and Mutts each have 32 points and 6 games remaining. With no games left against one another, every game they play is a must-win situation.



UBC THUNDERBIRDS (12-8-2, 12th in OHT34)
MANITOBA BISONS (15-5-2*, 2nd in OHT34)

Friday, February 3rd, 7:00 p.m. CST @ Max Bell Arena
Saturday, February 4th, 7:00 p.m. CST @ Max Bell Arena

LIVE LINKS: [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Friday Audio 101.5 UMFM]
MANITOBA LINKS: [U of M Preview] : [LS Roster] : [U of M Roster] : [LS Schedule/Results] : [LS Stats]
UBC LINKS: [UBC Site] : [LS Roster] : [LS Schedule/Results] : [LS Stats]
OTHER LINKS: [CIS Site] : [CW Site] : [LS - Live Updates] : [CW Weekly Notes #15 (pdf)]
PRIOR GAMES: [Nov 18 UBC wins 2-1] : [Nov 19 Bisons win 4-2]

The Bisons have four home games remaining, and (oddly) all are against the Tweety-Birds. Can they win all four? That may be asking a bit much. UBC has surprised the rest of the CW by going above .500 and vaulting themselves over Calgary and into 4th place. Yet a sweep may be necessary if the Bisons want first place.

UBC has two scorers in the Top 20: Max Grassi (7-16) and Scott Wasden (8-9). Incidentally, the Bisons have five: Blair Macaulay (18-, Jeremy Schappert (4-17), Ian Duval (9-10), Matt Lowry (4-14), and Tyler Dittmer (5-12).

In goal, Jordan White has started 19 of 24 games for UBC, and has provided solid goaltending for them. Jesse Deckert had been the top Bison goaltender before the break, albeit in a role where he divided playing time with Joe Caligiuri. However, he has not dressed thus far in the new year. Also, captain Mike Hellyer was scratched for the Bisons' last three games.

ELSEWHERE:


CALGARY DINOS (12-11-1, 14th in OHT34)
SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES (15-5-2, 4th in OHT34)

|> [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]
|> [U of S Preview - at Boxscore News] : [U of C Story]

The Dinos have been a disappointment. However, back in November they finally seemed to have found their form when they swept the Mutts in a series in Calgary. They warmed up on the Banjo-Cats last weekend. But the Banjo-Mutts are a big step up. My guess is that they are capable of a win in this series.


LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS (6-15-3, 27th in OHT34)
REGINA COUGARS (4-16-2, 29th in OHT34)

|> [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]
|> [U of R Preview] : [U of L Preview]

Regina's record stinks, yet it flatters them. They have been badly outshot and outplayed. Yet they have managed to scrounge four wins and two OTLs. Yet with a win in this series they could make a play for 6th place and a playoff spot. The H0rny Ones have tantalized followers with hints that they will live up to their pre-season hype. However, they always seem to slip back. I would not be surprised to see a split, which would not be good for Regina.

LINKS AND STORIES:
|> [CIS Standings] : [CIS Schedule/Results/Links]
|> [Top 10 - at CIS]
|> [OHT34] : [AUS Weekly Update]
|> [SAIT: Is a blended system possible for Canadian university sports?]

* Alberta's OTL to Manitoba was converted to a W

BISON COMEBACK LANDS FIRST PLACE


MANITOBA BISONS 3
UBC THUNDERBIRDS 2
(in shoot-out)
|> [U of M Story and Stats] : [UBC Story] : [CW Friday Recap]
|> [LS Summary] : [CW Standings] : [All Links]
|> [CIS Boxscore] : [CIS Friday Round-up*] : [CIS Standings]

This was a very tough victory for the Bisons. After falling behind 2-0 it took a concerted effort to force OT before winning in a shoot-out.

The UBC style is to chip the puck out of their end, dump it in, hope for a break on the forecheck, or at least force a faceoff in the opponent's end. They did not, as a rule, hem the Bisons in their own end. It was more of a hit-and-run style of play.

The technique itself did not actually produce any goals. The first was a sloppy turnover by the Bison D at their blueline, which gave Tweety-Bird Jordan Inglis a breakaway. And he buried it.

The second was in the first two minutes of the 2nd period. An innocent play suddenly generated a scoring chance when the Bisons were caught backing into their goaltender, causing a screen.

Once they were behind 2-0, the Bisons started to play with some urgency. UBC goaltender Jordan White made several outstanding saves throughout the game. There were two of highlight-reel-calibre, one in the 2nd and one in the 3rd. There were also a couple of times where Bisons inexplicably missed open nets.

But with scoring chances, eventually there will come goals. And that happened when Blair Macaulay notched his 19th into an empty net following a prolonged scramble in the UBC end.

The 3rd period wsa one where UBC generated few quality shots. It was more of the dump-and-chase and hope-for-a-break style of play. The Bisons tied it up after 7 minutes when Del Cowan was untouched in front of the UBC net and did a toe drag forehand-backhand-forehand move to deke around White.

After stoning the Bisons in the game, White seemed at the mercy of the shooters in the shootout. Blair Macaulay could have scored twice on the first shot as White was victimized by stick-handling. Jeremy Schappert did a swoop-around for a second goal. And Brendan Rowinski went to the top shelf but rang it off the crossbar. At the other end, Joe Caligiuri himself was drawn out of the goal by Marc Juneau, who then cut to the net and scored. But two saves later and the Bisons had their win.

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


CALGARY DINOS 3
SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 2
(in overtime)
|> [U of S Story - at U of C]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

Calgary is definitely Sask's nemesis this year. Friday was their third straight win. Like UBC, Calgary built a 2-0 lead before Sask, like Manitoba, tied it up and forced OT. This one was a bit different in that Calgary was well ahead on the shot clock in amassing their lead, and then Sask dominated while in comeback mode. In the 3rd period the shots were 15-4 for the Banjo-Mutts. But once the game went into OT, Calgary rallied and took just over a minute to gain victory through a goal by Cory Pritz. It was Butler v Reekie in the goaltending battle.

The results leave Calgary and UBC tied, with UBC having two games in hand, in the race for 4th. Sask falls to 3rd, one point behind Alberta and Manitoba.


LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 3
REGINA COUGARS 4

|> [U of R Story - at U of L]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]
|> [U of L - Dustin Moore WHL Grad of the Month]

Those confounding Banjo-Cats do it again. They manage to claw away a point or two just when it seems they can be stuffed in a sack and fed to the pigs. Friday they held down the H0rny Ones to 21 shots and this gave them a chance to win. Regina had a 2-0 lead, fell behind 3-2, then rallied for the 4-3 win. In the race for 6th, Regina trails by 3 points with two games in hand.

NEXT UP:

Feb. 4
UBC at Manitoba : [Live Stats]
Calgary at Saskatchewan : [Live Stats]
Lethbridge at Regina : [Live Stats]

OUT EAST:

Jan. 31
McGill 7 UQTR 3

Feb. 2
York 1 Laurier 3
RMC 1 Queen's 4

Feb. 3
Nipissing 9 Ryerson 3
StFX 4 Moncton 3 - OT
UNB 3 Acadia 2
UPEI 5 Dalhousie 2
Saint Mary's 8 St. Thomas 2
Concordia 4 McGill 2
Queen's 0 UQTR 3
Lakehead 4 Brock 2
UOIT 4 Windsor 7
Waterloo 1 Western Ontario 5
Lethbridge 3 Regina 4
UBC 2 Manitoba 3 - SO
Calgary 3 Saskatchewan 2 - OT

OUA LeagueStat Page - has all summaries
AUS schedule/results : AUS stats

* link may be updated as you read

I did not include the "how they lined up" segment in my Friday night recap, so here it is:

Manitoba

Goal:
1 Caligiuri (34 Friesen)

Defence:
4 Schappert - 5 Crowley
15 Mealy - 24 Bobbee
27 Schmidt - 20 Lockerby

Forwards:
23 Dittmer - 16 Walker - 26 Macaulay
11 Hellyer - 19 Duval - 9 Lowry
10 Rowinski - 17/18 Benias - 21 Cowan
22 Bestland - 14 Lauder - 6 Flynn

Scratches:
35 Deckert - 2 Erb - 3 Rumsey - 29 Davis

British California

Goal:
30 White (35 Barnstable)

Defence:
5 Pepe - 18 Kakoske
4 McGurk - 15 Yee
7 Wall - 8 Cumberbirch
6 Brkich (never saw him out there)

Forwards:
19 Wesden - 13 Schmidt - 10 Grassi
20 Hamilton - 11 Fleming - 17 Inglis
26 Desloges - 14 Kimber - 23 Pruden
22 Toye - 24 Juneau (mixed and matched with others)

BISON RALLY TO WIN WITH STYLE


MANITOBA BISONS 5
UBC THUNDERBIRDS 3

|> [U of M Story and Stats] : [UBC Story] : [CW Saturday Recap]
|> [LS Summary] : [CW Standings] : [All Links]
|> [CIS Boxscore] : [CIS Saturday Round-up*] : [CIS Standings]

For the second night in a row the Tweety-Birds could not hold a 2-0 lead. I missed the first period because my son had a practice. So when we arrived, with a healthy appetite for cheeseburgers, we saw that UBC scored twice on six shots en route to a 2-0 lead. Tsk, tsk, I thought. The on-line summary disclosed that Max Grassi had both goals and that Jordan White made 12 saves in the UBC goal.

The Bisons were somewhat unfortunate when it came to penalty calls in the 2nd period. After one such penalty, Tyler Schmidt came out of the box and finished off a passing play between Tyler Dittmer and Ian Duval. I thought each of them could have shot, but instead passed, and in the end Schmidt had the whole net yawning at him as he recorded his first goal as a Bison. But another UBC PP resulted in a goal by Jordan Inglis (his 9th). So it was 3-1 for UBC after two.

There was a bit of a turning point in the 2nd period. The 4th line saw Darren Bestland make three big hits and Pat Flynn two more on a single shift.

There was a surprise goaltending change to start the 3rd period with Mark Friesen making his regular season debut in the Bison goal. He ended up stopping the 7 shots he faced. The impressive thing was that the Bisons generated good scoring chances on every shift. For the first 10 minutes they seemed to misfire all the time. Then, within a minute of each other, Brendan Rowinski scored from an extreme angle (his 10th) and Blair Macaulay sniped one from the right wing side (his 20th) by lifting the puck almost straight up. Suddenly it was 3-3 but by body language the Bisons had 'em reeling.

Eventually UBC took a penalty (on a chintzy call which equalized another chintzy call on Travis Mealy) and Macaulay notched one, this time from the left wing side on a picture perfect pass. Less than a minute after that one, Chris Benias scored his 5th of the year (a career high!) on a nice set-up by Del Cowan.

UBC seemed really worn out in the end. They don't utilize their whole bench very much and their top lines a d-pairs were out of gas in the end. They will be back in town on the 17th and 18th, and perhaps even again in the playoffs.

Here's how they lined up:

Manitoba

Goal:
1 Caligiuri - 34 Friesen

Defence:
4 Schappert - 20 Lockerby
27 Schmidt - 5 Crowley
15 Mealy - 24 Bobbee

Forwards:
23 Dittmer - 16 Walker - 26 Macaulay
11 Hellyer - 19 Duval - 9 Lowry
10 Rowinski - 17 Benias - 21 Cowan
22 Bestland - 14 Lauder - 6 Flynn

Scratches:
35 Deckert - 2 Erb - 3 Rumsey - 29 Davis

British California

Goal:
30 White (35 Barnstable)

Defence:
5 Pepe - 18 Kakoske
7 Wall - 15 Yee
4 McGurk (mixed with others)
8 Cumberbirch (never saw him out there)

Forwards:
26 Desloges - 13 Schmidt - 10 Grassi
20 Hamilton - 11 Fleming - 17 Inglis
24 Juneau - 23 Pruden - 14 Kimber
22 Toye - 19 Wesden - 9 Wilgosh

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:


CALGARY DINOS 3
SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 0

|> [U of S Story - at U of C]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

The Dinos were facing adversity and came through. After their losses to UBC it looked like they would sink like a stone. But here they are, with a second sweep of the Banjo-Mutts. The result vaults Calgary two points ahead of UBC. However, UBC has two games in hand. Next weekend Calgary hosts Manitoba and UBC hosts Sask. UBC holds the tie-breaker over Calgary. I see that Dustin Butler was in goal for bioth games this weekend, with Lazaruk and DeSerres taking turns as backup. Sask continued their rotation, with Ryan Holfield getting the start in this one.


LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS 5
REGINA COUGARS 2

|> [U of R Story - at U of L]
|> [LS Summary] : [CIS Boxscore]

The Banjo-Cats needed a sweep. But they haven't had two strong games in a weekend all year so that was unlikely. The H0rny Ones outshot them 40-22 and walked away with a fairly decisive victory. Regina now trails the Horns by 5 points, and have only 4 games to catch them. Regina will be in Alberta next weekend and then have a home-and-home with Sask. If Regina can win in Alberta that would be a miracle eclipsed only by the Virgin Mary giving birth to you-know-who.

NEXT UP:

Feb. 10-11
Alberta at Regina : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]
Manitoba at Calgary : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]
Saskatchewan at UBC : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday]

Feb. 17-18
UBC at Manitoba : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [UMFM 101.5 Saturday]
Regina at Saskatchewan : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Video Friday]
Saskatchewan at Regina : [Live Stats Saturday]
Lethbridge at Alberta : [Live Stats Friday] : [Live Stats Saturday] : [Live Video both nights]

OUT EAST:

Feb. 4
Ottawa 5 Concordia 3
UPEI 6 Acadia 1
StFX 3 St. Thomas 6
UNB 2 Dalhousie 3
Saint Mary's 3 Moncton 2
Carleton 3 McGill 4
Lakehead 4 Western Ontario 7
Brock 2 Windsor 5
Toronto 2 Nipissing 1
Laurier 2 Guelph 3 - OT
Lethbridge 5 Regina 2
Calgary 3 Saskatchewan 3
UBC 3 Manitoba 5

OUA LeagueStat Page - has all summaries
AUS schedule/results : AUS stats

* link may be updated as you read

There has been a fair bit of mid-week news around the CIS. So here is a round-up of the stories.


The Winnipeg Free Press ran a story by Ashley Prest about the Bisons' run to first place. Blair Macaulay is quoted in the article. And he is U of M Male Athlete of the week, as announced at GoBisons.ca.


Could the Laurentian Voyageurs be making a comeback? Their university president and AD both say so, as quoted in NorthernLife.ca. It seems we can expect them sometime between 2013 and 2017. The story says Trent is the only other OUA school without a team. However, McMaster is also without one.


The Regina Leader-Post had stories on the Banjo-Cats' win and on their loss against the H0rny Ones last weekend. I doubt these Cats have any of their nine lives left. They face the Evil Monkeys this coming weekend. Ya, they could win. And an Evil Monkey might fly out of their butts!


The CIS announced (also at Boxscore News) that Gardiner MacDougall (UNB) will serve as Team Canada's head coach at the 26th Winter World University Games. Assistants will be Brad Peddle (St. FX) and Forbes MacPherson (UPEI).


The weekly Top 10 was announced, and is also at Boxscore News. Here is what they have:
1. Western Ontario (21-2-3)
2. UNB (17-5-3)
3. McGill (20-4-2)
4. Manitoba (17-5-2)
5. Alberta (16-6-2)
6. Saint Mary’s (17-7-2)
7. Moncton (16-8-1)
8. UPEI (17-8-0)
9. Saskatchewan (15-6-3)
10. UQTR (18-6-2)

The OHT34 has largely the same teams (only add Acadia and drop UQTR to #11). However, The McGilligutties and Urban Cowboys are hard to rank due to their weak schedules.


The CISBlog.ca has a Top 10 Tracker. Also, they have their RPI ranking system. It produces odd results in that it considers all conferences to be equal. Does anybody believe that UBC should ranked ahead of UNB?


The Bedrock Boys are pumped up after sweeping the Banjo-Mutts last weekend. They announced that goaltender Dustin Butler is the CW Player of the Week.


The CIS Blog also has their AUS Weekly Update posted.

hmm..I gotta make it out to a bisons game again, no time like when the team is chasing first I guess