Canada West RELEASE 20050623
RELEASE #2005-06-23 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2006
MANITOBA AND CALGARY CLINCH HOST OPENING ROUND OF PLAYOFFS
SASKATCHEWAN’S DEAN BEUKER CLAIMS THIRD SCORING TITLE
The final weekend of Canada West Hockey’s 70th season saw both the University of Calgary Dinos and the University of Manitoba Bisons secure second place in their respective divisions and earn the right to host the first round of the conference playoffs which open on Friday, February 24th.
All three series played during the final week of the conference schedule ended in splits as Calgary split its home-and-home series with the University of Alberta Golden Bears, winning 4-2 on home ice on Thursday, February 16th before Alberta rebounded with a 5-2 win before a crowd of 2,118 at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton on Saturday, February 18th. The University of Saskatchewan Huskies and University of Regina Cougars also split their home-and-home series as both teams earned road wins against their provincial rivals. Saskatchewan took the front end of the series with a 4-2 win at Regina on Thursday and the Cougars earned their 10th conference win of the season with a 5-4 victory at Rutherford Arena in Saskatoon on Saturday.
In Vancouver, the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds spilt their series with the visiting University of Lethbridge Pronghorns, losing 2-1 in the series opener on Friday, February 17th before concluding the conference schedule with a 3-2 win on Saturday.
With its 4-2 win over Alberta on Thursday, Calgary clinched second place in the Mountain Division and will now host the best-of-three division semi-final series against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. Manitoba, which had the bye this week, secured second place in the Great Plains Division when Regina dropped the opening game of its series versus Saskatchewan on Thursday, and will host the Cougars in the first round of the post-season.
Alberta and Saskatchewan finished first in the Mountain and Great Plains Divisions, respectively, and have earned a bye in the opening round of the playoffs. Alberta’s 21-5-2 record gives the Golden Bears first place in the combined standings and home ice advantage throughout the post-season. The 21 wins ties Alberta with the University of Western Ontario Mustangs for the most conference wins this season. Western Ontario finished in first place in the Far West Division of Ontario University Athletics (OUA) with a 21-2-1 record.
CANADA WEST HOCKEY’S SECOND SEASON BEGINS THIS WEEK
The Canada West Hockey Playoffs begin this weekend with the division semi-finals on Friday-Sunday, February 24th-26th. The best-of-three series will see the Manitoba Bisons host the Regina Cougars in the Great Plains Division semi-final and the Mountain Division semi-final will see the Calgary Dinos host the UBC Thunderbirds. It marks the third consecutive season that the opening round of the playoffs will feature these match-ups.
Manitoba won the season series against Regina 4-1-1 and outscored the Cougars 17-14. The Bisons won both games of the series played at the Max Bell Arena in Winnipeg, winning 3-2 and 7-4 on February 10th-11th. On the road, Manitoba was 2-1-1 in four games played at Regina. Four of the six meetings on the season were decided by two-or-less goals, including a 1-1 OT tie at Regina on October 14th and two 3-2 wins by the Bisons.
This will be the fifth consecutive season that the Bisons and Cougars have met in the first round of the playoffs and it is the ninth time that the two teams have faced-off against each other in the post-season. Manitoba leads the all-time playoff series, winning five of the eight meetings, including four of the last five. The Bisons swept the 2005 division semi-final series against Regina 2-0, outscoring the Cougars 14-7, with 5-1 and 9-6 victories.
The Calgary – UBC match-up in the Mountain Division semi-final marks the third consecutive season that the Dinos and Thunderbirds have met in the opening round of the post-season. Calgary has won the last two series against UBC, defeating the Thunderbirds in three games in 2003-04 and sweeping the series in two games last season with 6-0 and 3-2 wins.
Calgary leads the all-time playoff series against UBC, winning five of the six series played between the two teams. The Dinos have won the last four series dating back to the 1986-87 season. UBC’s only playoff series victory against Calgary came in 1970-71 when the Thunderbirds took the best-of-three series 2-1. That series marks the last time that UBC has hosted a playoff series.
The winners of the two semi-final series advance to the division finals on Friday-Sunday, March 3rd-5th, with the Saskatchewan Huskies hosting the Great Plains final and the Alberta Golden Bears the Mountain Division final.
PLAYOFF PREVIEW
MANITOBA BISONS versus REGINA COUGARS (Manitoba leads 5-3)
SEASON VENUE SERIES RESULT SERIES RECORD
1991-92 Regina CSF Regina defeated Manitoba 2-0, outscoring Bisons 13-7. 1-0
1994-95 Regina CSF Manitoba defeated Regina 2-0, outscoring Cougars 9-5. 1-1
1995-96 Manitoba DF Regina defeated Manitoba 2-1, with both teams scoring 12 goals. 1-2
1996-97 Manitoba DSF Manitoba defeated Regina 2-0, outscoring Cougars 10-3. 2-2
2001-02 Manitoba CQF Manitoba defeated Regina 2-0, outscoring Cougars 9-3. 3-2
2002-03 Manitoba DSF Manitoba defeated Regina 2-0, outscoring Cougars 10-2. 4-2
2003-04 Regina DSF Regina defeated Manitoba 2-0, outscoring Bisons 8-5. 4-3
2004-05 Manitoba DSF Manitoba defeated Regina 2-0, outscoring Cougars 14-7. 5-3
CALGARY versus BRITISH COLUMBIA (Calgary leads 5-1)
SEASON VENUE SERIES RESULT SERIES RECORD
1969-70 Calgary CSF Calgary defeated UBC 2-0, outscoring Thunderbirds 15-7. 1-0
1970-71 Vancouver CSF UBC defeated Calgary 2-1, outscoring Dinosaurs 19-9. 1-1
1986-87 Calgary CSF Calgary defeated UBC 2-0, outscoring Thunderbirds 9-3. 2-1
1997-98 Calgary DSF Calgary defeated UBC 2-1, outscoring Thunderbirds 13-9. 3-1
2003-04 Calgary DSF Calgary defeated UBC 2-1, outscoring Thunderbirds 12-7. 4-1
2004-05 Calgary DSF Calgary defeated UBC 2-0, outscoring Thunderbirds 9-2. 5-1
2005-06 HEAD-TO-HEAD
MANITOBA vs REGINA CALGARY vs BRITISH COLUMBIA
(Manitoba won series 4-1-1) (Series tied 2-2-0)
Oct. 14 Manitoba 1 at Regina 1 (OT) Dec. 2 Calgary 5 at UBC 4
Oct. 15 Manitoba 1 at Regina 5 Dec. 3 Calgary 2 at UBC 4
Dec. 2 Manitoba 2 at Regina 0 Feb. 10 UBC 3 at Calgary 4 (OT)
Dec. 3 Manitoba 3 at Regina 2 Feb. 11 UBC 5 at Calgary 4 (OT)
Feb. 10 Regina 2 at Manitoba 3
Feb. 11 Regina 4 at Manitoba 7
BEUKER CLAIMS SCORING TITLE
Despite being held scoreless in the final week of conference play, Dean Beuker of the Saskatchewan Huskies claimed his third Canada West Hockey scoring title.
The fourth-year right winger topped the conference with a career-high 47 points, scoring 22 goals and 25 assists in 27 games. Beuker becomes only the fourth player in Canada West Hockey history and the first Saskatchewan Huskie, to win three scoring titles. He joins Alberta’s Vern Pachal and Russ Hewson and Jarret Zukiwsky of Lethbridge as three-time winners of the Dave “Sweeney” Schringer Trophy. Beuker won the conference scoring title for the first time during his freshman season with 16-30-46 in 2002-03 and then claimed his second title last season with 15-31-46.
Beuker finished 11 points in front of runner-up Kevin Saurette of the University of Manitoba Bisons who finished the season with 10-26-36. Warren McCutcheon of Manitoba and Saskatchewan’s Brent Twordik ended the campaign tied for third place in scoring with 35 points. McCutcheon tallied 13-22-35, while Twordik scored 11-24-35.
A trio of Alberta Golden Bears finished with 33 points to tie for fifth place in the scoring race. Ben Thomson scored 17-16-33 to finish third in conference goal scoring, while Dylan Stanley led all freshmen in scoring with 14-19-33 and Brad Tutschek finished his fifth and final season of eligibility with 11-22-33. Tutschek, who finished tied for second in the 2003-05 Canada West Hockey scoring race, tied for fourth in the conference with his 22 assists.
Alberta’s Perry Johnson and Gavin McLeod ended the season tied for the scoring lead among conference defencemen with 21 points. Johnson, a second team conference all-star a season ago, scored 3-8-21, while McLeod, the Godlen Bears’ team captain capped his collegiate career with a career-high 21 points on two goals and 19 assists. The Alberta duo were two of four Golden Bears blueliners to finish the season among the conference’s top ten scoring defencemen. They were joined by Chris Ovington, who finished fourth with 6-12-18,and Harlan Anderson, who tallied 3-11-14 to conclude the season tied for eighth place.
HUSKIES EARN KRYCZKA TROPHY WITH LOWEST GOALS-AGAINST AVERAGE
The Saskatchewan Huskies goaltending tandem of freshman Jeff Harvey and fourth-year senior Thomas Vicars combined to post the lowest goals-against average in the conference. The duo allowed only 65 goals against during the 28 game conference schedule to post a 2.32 goals-against average. Saskatchewan allowed two fewer goals against than the Alberta Golden Bears, who finished the season with 67 goals against and a 2.39 GAA.
For posting the conference’s lowest goals-against average, Harvey, who led all goaltender’s with a 2.03 GAA and a .926 save percentage, and Vicars win the Adam Kryczka Memorial Trophy. It is the first time since the 1998-99 season that Saskatchewan has claimed the award and it ends a string of six consecutive seasons that the Alberta Golden Bears had won the trophy. Since the award was inaugurated in 1978-79, Saskatchewan has claimed the Kryczka Trophy seven times.
CANADA WEST HOCKEY MULTIPLE SCORING CHAMPIONS
1919-20 to 2005-06
NO PLAYER TEAM SEASON GP G A PTS
3 Vern Pachal Alberta 1956-57 10 23 35 58
1957-58 12 20 15 35
1959-60 7 12 10 22
3 Jarret Zukiwsky Lethbridge 1993-94 28 32 31 63
1994-95 27 31 24 55
1995-96 25 37 27 64
3 Russ Hewson Alberta 1998-99 26 24 23 47
1999-00 28 22 32 54
2000-01 28 21 35 56
3 Dean Beuker Saskatchewan 2002-03 28 16 30 46
2004-05 28 15 31 46
2005-06 27 22 25 47
2 Bud Chesney Alberta 1937-38 4 5 3 8
1939-40 8 7 13 20
2 Bill Dockery Alberta 1947-48 4 4 3 7
1949-50+ 7 8 1 9
2 Bob McAneeley British Columbia 1970-71 18 30 22 52
1971-72 20 29 22 51
2 Jim Ofrim Alberta 1975-76 24 18 26 44
1976-77 24 12 30 42
2 Jim McLaughlin British Columbia 1979-80+ 29 19 29 48
1980-81 24 19 21 40
2 Adam Morrison Alberta 1989-90 28 25 32 57
1991-92 28 31 30 61
+ - Denotes tie for scoring championship.
CANADA WEST HOCKEY PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Fifth-year senior forward CHAD ANDERSON of the University of Regina Cougars has been named the Canada West Hockey Player of the Week for the week ending February 19, 2006. The 5’11", 195-pound Business Administration student from Fosston, Saskatchewan scored three goals in a series split against the third ranked University of Saskatchewan Huskies on Thursday and Saturday, February 16th and 18th. ANDERSON accounted for three of the Cougars’ seven goals in the series against their provincial rivals. The fifth-year center began the home-and-home series by scoring once in Regina’s 4-2 home ice loss versus Saskatchewan on Thursday and then registered his third multiple-goal game of the season with two goals on Saturday as the Cougars earned the series split with a 5-4 win at Saskatoon. ANDERSON netted his first goal of the game with 36 seconds remaining in the opening period to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead and then tallied the game-winning goal in the third period. With the three goal series, ANDERSON rounded out the Canada West Hockey conference schedule with a four-game goal-scoring streak, scoring six goals from February 10th to 18th. He finished the season in sixth place on the Regina scoring list and tied for the team lead in goals with 11-4-15 in 26 games. Overall, ANDERSON has scored 12-7-19 in 32 games.
