Canada West Hockey RELEASE #2005-06-20

PLAYOFF PICTURE BECOME CLEARER AS CALGARY ELIMINATES LETHBRIDGE

The Canada West Hockey playoff picture has become clearer following play on the weekend of Friday-Saturday, February 3rd and 4th. A little fine-tuning over the final two week’s of conference play will bring the picture into focus before the start of the conference playoffs on the weekend of February 24th-26th.

The University of Calgary Dinos eliminated the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns from the post-season with two road wins, defeating the Pronghorns 2-1 (OT) and 1-0. With the two losses, the Pronghorns have been eliminated from playoff contention for the third consecutive season. Lethbridge last played in the post-season during the 2002-03 season.

In the other two series played on the weekend, the number one ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears extended their winning streak to five games with 8-1 and 4-1 wins over the UBC Thunderbirds at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton, while the University of Saskatchewan Huskies took three of four points from the University of Manitoba Bisons with a 4-4 OT tie and 4-1 win at Winnipeg.

Alberta and Saskatchewan have clinched first place in the Mountain and Great Plains Divisions, respectively, but the race for second place in each division remains hotly contested.

In the Great Plains Division, Manitoba holds a three point lead over the University of Regina Cougars, who return to action this week following a bye last week. In the Mountain Division, Calgary holds a similar three point lead over third place UBC.

The final division standings could be determined this week as two crucial series are on tap for Friday-Saturday, February 10th-11th as Manitoba hosts Regina and UBC visits Calgary. With both Manitoba and Calgary holding three-point leads in their respective division, the Bisons and Dinos need only three points to secure second place. Two wins, or a win and a tie, for Manitoba and Calgary will secure home ice advantage for the two teams in the opening round of the playoffs.

TALBOT BACKSTOPS CALGARY TO SWEEP
Sophomore goaltender Scott Talbot allowed only a single goal in Calgary’s sweep of Lethbridge. The second-year netminder allowed only Shaun Norrie’s second period goal in Friday’s 2-1 overtime victory as the Dinos eliminated the Pronghorns from the playoffs. Talbot made 30 saves in the series opening win and then made 16 more saves to register his second shutout of the season in Saturday’s 1-0 victory. With the two wins, Talbot improved his conference record to 10-9-1.

Ryan Annesley and Travis Friedley scored powerplay goals for the Dinos in Friday’s victory. Annesley opened the scoring 4:55 into the second period in the series opener before Norrie tied it for Lethbridge at 9:40. The teams skated through a scoreless final 30 minutes of regulation before Friedley netted the game winner 2:05 into overtime.

Annesley scored his second goal of the series and the only goal of the game on Saturday as he scored Calgary’s third powerplay goal of the weekend with 20.2 seconds remaining in the second period. The Dinos were 3-14 with the man advantage against Lethbridge, while the Pronghorns were scoreless in 12 man advantages.

As good as Talbot was in goal for Calgary, Lethbridge’s Brendon Highton might have been better. The Pronghorns netminder allowed only three goals in suffering the two losses and made a total of 66 saves. All three of the goals he allowed came on the powerplay. In Friday’s 2-1 overtime loss, Highton turned aside 29 of 31 shots and he stopped 37 of 38 shots in Saturday’s 1-0 loss.

ALBERTA SWEEPS UBC
The Golden Bears extended their winning streak to five games with a sweep of the visiting UBC Thunderbirds, winning 8-1 and 4-1. It marked the third and fourth consecutive games that the Alberta defence had limited opponents to only a single goal and the Golden Bears have not surrendered more than two goals in any game during their current winning streak.

Tim Krymusa led the way for the Golden Bears in the series opener as he scored a career-high four goals to lead Alberta to the 8-1 victory. Krymusa combined with linemates Ben Kilgour and Brad Tutschek to score a total of 10 points as both Kilgour and Tutschek had three assists.

After freshman Dylan Stanley opened the scoring with a first period powerplay goal, Krymusa scored three straight goals to give the Golden Bears a 4-0 lead two minutes into the third period. Peter Hay would score UBC’s only goal of the game 29 seconds after Krymusa’s third goal and the Golden Bears would go on to score four more times as Tyler Metcalfe, Krymusa, with his fourth, Richard Hamula and Scott Henkelman rounded out the scoring for Alberta.

Aaron Sorochan made 24 saves in registering the win for Alberta, which outshot UBC 32-25.


In the series finale, the Golden Bears once again opened the scoring on a powerplay goal by Dylan Stanley. Stanley’s second goal of the series gave Alberta a 1-0 lead at 17:13 of the second period, but UBC rallied quickly to tie the score on Brad Zanon’s goa at 17:32. Henkelman restored Alberta’s lead with his second goal of the weekend at 19:20. Justin Wallin and Stanley, with an empty net powerplay goal, scored in the third period for the Golden Bears. Krymusa had one assist and Kilgour added two helpers to finish the series with five points. Kyrmusa led all scorers with 4-1-5 and Kilgour had 0-5-5.

UBC netminder Gerry Festa was outstanding in goal for the Thunderbirds on Saturday, making 44 saves. Festa, who allowed five goals before being relieved by Peter Mandoli six minutes into the third period on Friday, rebounded in the series finale. He stopped all 14 Alberta shots in the opening period of play and made 21 more saves in the second as the Golden Bears oushot UBC 23-8. In the third period he made nine more saves as Alberta finished the game with a 48-21 margin in shots on goal.

SASKATCHEWAN EARNS THREE OF FOUR POINTS AT MANITOBA
A week after dropping two games at Alberta, the Saskatchewan Huskies rallied to earn three of four points on the road from the Manitoba Bisons.

In the series opening 4-4 overtime tie, the Huskies surrendered an early goal to Manitoba’s Kevin Saurette at 3:35, before scoring four consecutive goals to take a 4-1 lead. Stephen Mann and Mason Wallin gave Saskatchewan a 2-1 lead before the first period ended and Trent Adamus and Dean Beuker extended the lead to 4-1 in the second period. Matt Girling had three assists for the Huskies and Alekcei McAvoy had two helpers, while both Mann and Wallin also earned assists for two point games.

Down 4-1 only five minutes into the second period, the homestanding Bisons rallied to draw within a goal after 40 minutes of play as Warren McCutcheon and Chris Falloon scored goals at 8:48 and 12:50. Richard Wood would net the game tying goal at 7:02 of the third period. McCutcheon and Falloon each had two point games for the Bisons, with Falloon earning his helper on Wood’s tying goal.

In goal, Thomas Vicars and Krister Toews were busy as the Huskies and Bisons combined for 84 shots on goal. Vicars faced 47 shots in goal for Saskatchewan and made 43 saves, while Toews, who has started all 26 conference games for Manitoba, made 33 saves.

After being held to only two points in his last two games, Canada West Hockey scoring leader Dean Beuker broke out with a three point game to lead Saskatchewan to a 4-1 win on Saturday. Beuker, who tops the conference scoring race with a career-high 22-25-47 in 26 games, scored the game winning goal and added two assists.

Beuker broke open a 1-1 tie with his conference leading 22nd goal at 16:56 of the second period and then assisted on third period goals by Alekcei McAvoy and Brett Dickie. Three of the Huskies’ four goals came on the powerplay as Beuker, Dickie and Adamus each scored with the man advantage as Saskatchewan converted on three of 11 powerplay opportunities. Dickie’s goal was his first of the season.

Paul Deniset’s second period powerplay goal was the only goal to elude Jeff Harvey, who made 29 saves in the Huskies net.

ON THE SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
Three series are on the schedule in the second to last week of the Canada West Hockey conference schedule, with two of the series having a huge impact on the standings.

Manitoba will host Regina in the race for second place in the Great Plains Dvision, while UBC visits Calgary to take on the Dinos for second place in the Mountain Division. The final series of the weekend will see Alberta visit Lethbridge.



PLAYOFF PICTURE
Entering the final two weeks of the conference schedule the six teams that will advance to the playoffs have been determined. Following two home losses to the Calgary Dinos, the Lethbridge Pronghorns have been eliminated from the post-season for the third consecutive season. Alberta and Saskatchewan have secured first place in the Mountain and Great Plains Divisions, respectively, but the race for second place in each division is still to be determined.

GREAT PLAINS DIVISION
SASKATCHEWAN: The Huskies have already clinched first place in the Great Plains Division and a bye in the first week of the playoffs. Two more points by Alberta over its final four games will give the Golden Bears first place in the Canada West Hockey combined standings and home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
Remaining Games: 2 (1 Home, 1 Away)
Home: vs Regina (Feb. 18)
Away: at Regina (Feb. 16)

MANITOBA: The Bisons conclude their conference schedule this week by hosting the Regina Cougars at Max Bell Arena in Winnipeg. With a three-point lead over the third place Cougars, Manitoba could clinch second place in the Great Plains Division and home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a sweep of the Cougars. The Bisons hold a 2-1-1 advantage in the seasonal series with Regina.
Remaining Games: 2 (2 Home, 0 Away)
Home: vs Regina (Feb. 10-11)


REGINA: With four games remaining in the season, the Cougars still have their eyes on second place. Heading into a make-or-break series against Manitoba in Winnipeg this season, Regina cannot afford to lose a game if they want to secure home ice advantage for the opening series of the post-season. Blaine Sautner and his Cougars could clinch second place in the Great Plains Division with a sweep of the Bisons this weekend. Two wins would give the Cougars 24 points, placing them one point ahead of Manitoba, which concludes its conference schedule with the series against Regina.
Remaining Games: 4 (1 Home, 3 Away)
Home: vs Saskatchewan (Feb. 16)
Away: at Manitoba (Feb. 10-11),at Saskatchewan (Feb. 18)

MOUNTAIN DIVISION
ALBERTA: Alberta needs only one win in its remaining four games to secure first place in the Canada West Hockey combined standings and secure home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
Remaining Games: 4 (1 Home, 3 Away)
Home: vs Calgary (Feb. 18)
Away: at Lethbridge (Feb. 10-11), at Calgary (Feb. 16)

CALGARY: Now that Calgary has secured a berth in the post-season for the 21st consecutive season with its road sweep of Lethbridge, the Dinos are looking to secure second place in the Mountain Division. The two wins at Lethbridge moved the Dinos three points in front of UBC and Calgary can secure home ice advantage for round one of the post-season with five more points. A sweep of UBC this weekend would clinch second place for the Dinos, while two losses would drop them back into third place, a point behind the Thunderbirds heading into the season’s final weekend. Calgary concludes its conference schedule with a home-and-home series against Alberta, while UBC will host Lethbridge.
Remaining Games: 4 (3 Home, 1 Away)
Home: vs UBC (Feb. 10-11), vs Alberta (Feb. 16)
Away: at Alberta (Feb. 18)

BRITISH COLUMBIA: With two road losses at number one Alberta last weekend, the Thunderbirds fell three points behind the Calgary Dinos in the race for second place in the Mountain Division. This week’s series at Calgary is crucial for UBC if the Thunderbirds want to secure home ice advantage for the first round of the post-season. If UBC wins both ends of the series, then the race for second will come down to the final weekend of the season. Two losses and UBC will finish in third place and have to return to Calgary in two week’s time for the best-of-three division semi-final.
Remaining Games: 4 (2 Home, 2 Away)
Home: vs Lethbridge (Feb. 17-18)
Away: at Calgary (Feb. 10-11)

LETHBRIDGE: The Pronghorns were eliminated from the post-season following its 2-1 overtime loss to Calgary on Friday, February 3rd. Depending on the outcome of this week’s UBC at Calgary series, Lethbridge could have an impact on the race for second place in the Mountain Division when it travels to Vancouver to take on the Thunderbirds on the final weekend of the conference schedule.
Remaining Games: 4 (2 Home, 2 Away)
Home: vs Alberta (Feb. 10-11)
Away: at UBC (Feb. 17-18)


CANADA WEST HOCKEY PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomroe goaltender SCOTT TALBOT of the University of Calgary Dinos has been named the Canada West Hockey Player of the Week for the week ending February 5, 2006. The 5’11", 195-pound Humanities student from Calgary, Alberta allowed only a single goal in the Dinos’ sweep of the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns on Friday-Saturday, February 3rd and 4th. TALBOT made 30 saves in Calgary’s 2-1 overtime victory in the series opener on Friday night and then recorded his second shutout of the season with 16 saves in a 1-0 victory in the series finale on Saturday. In the two road games, TALBOT stopped all but one of the 47 shots sent his way by the Pronghorns and lowered his goals-against average to 2.98, wile improving his save percentage to .903 and his record to 10-9-1. He currently sits fifth in the conference in goals-against average and his 10 wins are tied for second. Overall, TALBOT is 13-12-1 with a 2.95 goals-against average and .904 save percentage in 30 games.