For the first time since the 1996-97 season, the Calgary Dinos traveled to Saskatoon and left with two wins. The eighth ranked Dinos skated to 5-3 and 4-1 victories to earn their first series sweep against the fourth ranked Saskatchewan Huskies at Rutherford Arena since January 17-18, 1997 when they earned 3-0 and 4-1 victories. In the nine seasons between sweeps, Calgary could manage only a 3-14-1 record in conference games in Saskatoon.
The Calgary- Saskatchewan series was one of three series played in Canada West Hockey on the weekend of Friday-Saturday, October 27th-28th. The number one ranked Alberta Golden Bears needed a four-goal outburst in the third period on Saturday to earn a come-from-behind 6-4 win and a series sweep of the visiting Manitoba Bisons at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton. Alberta took the first game of the series 4-2.
In Regina, the Cougars and Lethbridge Pronghorns split their series with the Regina earning a 3-2 victory in the series opener as Jason Weitzel scored the lone, and deciding goal, in a shootout before Lethbridge took the series finale 3-1.
Jarret Lukins four goals and an outstanding goaltending display by Jordan McLaughlin and Scott Talbot led Calgary to their back-to-back wins. Lukin earned Canada West Hockey Player of the Week honors with a five-point weekend as he netted two goals in each game and added an assist in the series finale for a five-point weekend.
In the series opener, McLaughlin stopped 36 of the 39 shots sent his way by Saskatchewan to even his season record at 4-4-0, while Talbot allowed only a single goal on Saturday with a 43 save performance. Talbot blanked the Huskies for the first 51:42 of the game before Brett Parker ruined the shutout bid with a shorthanded goal at 11:42 of the third period.
At Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton, top ranked Alberta registered its second series sweep of the season with two wins over Manitoba. Ben Kilgour led the way with two goals and an assist in Fridays 4-2 win. His second goal, a powerplay goal 11 seconds into the second period, was his conference leading third game winning goal of the season. Kilgour added two more points, including a third period powerplay goal, in the Golden Bears 6-4 win on Saturday.
After taking a 2-0 first period lead in the series finale, on goals by team captain Harlan Anderson and freshman Dale Mahovsky, the Golden Bears fell behind 3-2 after 40 minutes of play. Dustin Hughes and Chris Falloon sparked the Bisons comeback as they combined to scored three goals in a span of 2:53. Falloon began the comeback with the first of three consecutive powerplay goals at 9:56. Hughes tied the score at 11:48 and Manitoba captain Rob Smith gave the Bisons their only lead of the weekend at 12:49. Manitoba outshot Alberta 26-10 in the second period as the Bisons converted on three of seven powerplays. All three of the Bisons second period powerplay goals came with Manitoba enjoying a two-man advantage. Hughes was involved in all four Manitoba goals on Saturday, scoring a goal and three assists, while Falloon netted his powerplay goal and two assists.
Richard Hamula scored twice in the third period to lead the Alberta comeback that saw Alberta outscore Manitoba 4-1. Hamula tallied a powerplay goal at 2:40 and then netted the game winner while shorthanded at 8:09. Aaron Sorochan picked up his second shorthanded assist of the season with a helper on Hamulas goal. Both Harlan Anderson and Dylan Stanley registered four point games with a goal and three assists and Hamula added an assist for a three-point outing.
Manitoba put a total of 50 shots on the Alberta goal, marking only the fourth time in conference history that the Golden Bears have allowed 50-or-more shots on goal in a single game.
Jason Weitzel, who leads Regina in conference scoring with 8-3-11 in seven games, scored the only goal in a shootout to give the Cougars a 3-2 win over Lethbridge on Friday night. The<