The final weekend of Canada West Hockeys 71st season saw the final pieces of the conference playoff picture come into focus as the final placings in the Mountain Division were determined by the results of games played on Friday-Saturday, February 16th-17th.
Entering the final week of the conference schedule three teams the Lethbridge Pronghorns, UBC Thunderbirds and Calgary Dinos - were in the running to finish in second place in the Mountain Division and secure home ice advantage in the opening round of the Canada West Hockey playoffs which begin on Friday, February 23rd. In fact, all three teams could have finished in a three-way tie for second place with 29 points.
However, it was Lethbridge who secured second place in the Mountain Division as the Pronghorns skated to two road victories over the Calgary Dinos for their third series sweep of the season. Lethbridge clinched second place in the division by virtue of a 5-4 overtime shootout victory at Max Bell Arena in Calgary on Friday night and then earned the series sweep with a 6-4 victory on Saturday.
With the loss on Friday, Calgary could finish no higher than fourth place in the standings, while UBC claimed third place in the standings despite suffering back-to-back road losses at Edmonton as the Alberta Golden Bears finished the season with a four-game winning streak, skating to 3-2 and 2-0 victories at Clare Drake Arena. The two victories were the Golden Bears 19th and 20th wins of the season, marking the 21st time they have registered 20-or-more wins in a Canada West Hockey season and the ninth consecutive dating back to 1998-99.
The third series of the weekend saw the Manitoba Bisons and Regina Cougars split their series in Winnipeg. Regina took the series opener 5-3 before Manitoba ended its season with a 5-2 victory on Saturday. It marks the first time since 1993-94 that the Bisons will not participate in the post-season.
THE SECOND SEASON BEGINS THIS WEEK
The Canada West Hockey Playoffs begin this weekend with the division semi-finals on Friday-Sunday, February 23rd-25th. The best-of-three series with see the Regina Cougars host the Calgary Dinos in the Great Plains Division semi-final and the Mountain Division semi-final will see the Lethbridge Pronghorns host the UBC Thunderbirds.
Calgarys participation in the Great Plains Division semi-final marks the first time in conference history that there has been a team crossing-over from one division to the other for the post-season. Calgary finished fourth in the Mountain Division with 26 points from an 11-13-4 record and finished four points in front of Manitoba, who ended the season in third place in the Great Plains Division with 22 points (10-16-2). By virtue of their four-point advantage over Manitoba, the Dinos cross-over to face-off against Regina in the opening round of post-season play. If Calgary goes on to defeat the Cougars, than they would move on to play the Saskatchewan Huskies in the Great Plains Division Final.
The Regina Calgary series marks the fifth time, and the first time since the 1995-96 Canada West Hockey Final, that the Cougars and Dinos have met in the post-season. Each team has won two playoff series to date, with three of the four meetings taking place in the Canada West Hockey semi-final. Regina has hosted Calgary once before in the post-season as the Cougars defeated the Dinos in three games in the 1992-93 conference semi-final. The last time the teams met in the second season, Calgary swept Regina in two games in the 1995-96 conference final.
Calgary won the seasonal series against Regina with a 3-1-0 record, outscoring the Cougars 16-11. The teams split the two conference games played at Regina, with the Cougars winning 4-2 on January 19th and the Dinos skating to a 6-3 victory on January 20th.
Lethbridge, making its first appearance in the Canada West Hockey playoff since 2002-03, and hosting a playoff series for th