Steve Knowles has kindly consented for Thunderwolveshockey.com to carry his weekly reports on the Canada West Conference. Steve works for the Edmonton Oilers, the CIS, and the University of Alberta in various hockey roles.
Canada West Hockey opens its 69th season of play this week as the conference schedule begins on three fronts on Friday, Saturday, October 8th-9th. The four-time defending conference champion Alberta Golden Bears begin defence of their title as they travel to Winnipeg for two games against the Manitoba Bisons. Other series will see the defending East Division champion Saskatchewan Huskies visit the UBC Thunderbirds in Vancouver and the Lethbridge Pronghorns host the Regina Cougars.
Calgary will be the last team to begin conference play as the Dinos have the bye this week before hosting UBC on October 15th-16th. Although the Dinos will not be seeing conference play this week, they will not be inactive as they play two non-conference games against NCAA opponents. Calgary visits the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers on Thursday, October 7th and the Minnesota State University-Mankato Mavericks on Saturday, October 9th.
For the first time in its 22 history, the Golden Bears-Brick Invitational had co-champions as the Saskatchewan Huskies and Grant MacEwan College Griffins shared the title. Both teams finished with a 2-0-0 record and a goal differential of +3 to clairm the crown. It was the fourth time that Saskatchewan has claimed the Brick Invitational title (1983-84, 1992-93, 1999-00 and 2004-05), while Grant MacEwan claims its first title in its first appearance at the tournament. Griffins goaltender Brent Walker was named tournament MVP, backstopping Grant MacEwan to a 3-2 overtime win over the Lethbridge Pronghorns and a 3-1 victory against the Alberta Golden Bears. Walker stopped 68 of the 71 shots he faced for a .958 save percentage and a 1.48 goals-against average. Saskatchewan earned its share of the tournament championship by defeating the UBC Thunderbirds 3-1 and the Calgary Dinos 5-4. Following are the final standings and all-tournament team for the Golden Bears-Brick Invitational.
Other non-conference play saw the Regina Cougars split a non-conference series with the SAIT Trojans, losing the opener 5-4 before rebounding to take the finale 4-0 on Clint Chalmers second shutout of the season. The Cougars sophomore goaltender made 28 saves to extend his scoreless streak to 131;32. Jason Weitzel scored twice in the third period, including a penalty shot goal, to lead the Regina offence, while Shayne Emmons scored twice in the loss.
Paul Deniset scored all three goals for the Manitoba Bisons in an 8-3 non-conference loss to the University of North Dakota. Two of Deniset's three goals were scored shorthanded, while two were scored unassisted. Deniset's two shorthanded goals were two of the four shorthanded goals scored in the game as the Fighting Sioux also tallied twice on the penalty kill.
Deniset's hat trick was one of two scored by Canada West Hockey players on the weekend as Alberta's Ben Kilgour registered his first career collegiate hat trick in a 5-2 win over Saskatchewan on Sunday, October 3rd at Wainwright, Alberta.