The University of Regina Cougars started the seasons second half with a bang as Canada West Hockey resumed conference play for the first time since early December with three series being played on the weekend of Friday-Saturday, January 6th and 7th.
Caine Pearpoint and Chad Anderson each scored twice and Clint Chalmers made 31 saves to lead the Cougars to a 5-1 win over the University of Saskatchewan Huskies at the Sherwood Twin Arenas in Regina on Saturday, January 7th. The loss ended the Huskies undefeated streak at 14 games as Saskatchewan had compiled an 11-0-3 record dating back to October 21st.
Canada West Hockey resumed conference play following the Christmas break with four series as all seven of the conferences teams saw action. Saskatchewan began the seasons second half the same way it ended the first half with a win as the Huskies skated to a 3-2 win over Regina at Rutherford Arena in Saskatoon on Friday, January 6th.
Both the University of Alberta Golden Bears and UBC Thunderbirds came away with four points following series sweeps in southern Alberta. The third ranked Golden Bears extended their undefeated streak in conference play to nine games with 4-2 and 3-1 wins over the University of Calgary Dinos and UBC solidified its hold on the third and final playoff position in the conferences Mountain Division with two wins over the University of Lethbridge, defeating the Pronghorns 2-1 and 4-2.
In non-conference play, the University of Manitoba Bisons took both ends of a series against the visiting SAIT Trojans, winning 5-1 and 5-2 over the first place team from the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference.
Regina was the last team to defeat Saskatchewan prior to their undefeated streak as the Cougars earned a 3-1 win at Saskatoon on October 17th. Dave Adolphs number one ranked Huskies have lost only four games this season, including three in conference play, and three of the four losses have come at the hands of Blaine Sautners Cougars. Regina also earned a 5-3 home ice win in non-conference play on September 17th. The Lethbridge Pronghorns are the only other team to defeat Saskatchewan, defeating the Huskies 2-1 in the Canada West Hockey season opener for both teams on October 7th.
Dean Beukers goal at 7:49 of the third period broke a 2-2 tie and lifted Saskatchewan to a 3-2 win on Friday in the opening game of its home-and-home series with Regina. Beuker also earned an assist on Colin Johnsons second period goal as the Huskies scored twice in the middle frame to erase a 1-0 Regina lead. Jason Weitzel opened the scoring for Regina with a powerplay goal at 16:05 of the first period. Curtis Austring and Johnson scored in the second to give Saskatchewan a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes before Lance Herauf tied the game with the Cougars second powerplay goal only 23 seconds into the third period.
The series shifted south to Regina on Saturday and Pearpoint put the Cougars up by two with goals at 14:31 and 17:13 of the opening period. Pearpoints second goal came on the powerplay and proved to be the game winner as Matt Girling was the only Huskie to beat Cougars goaltender Clint Chalmers. Girling netted a powerplay maker at 2:48 of the second period, but Chad Anderson restored the Cougars two-goal advantage 63 seconds prior to the end of the period. Lee Schaefer and Anderson, with his second of the game, rounded out the scoring for Regina in the third period. Both Josh Garbutt and Clay Thoring had two assists as four Cougars finished the game with two points.
Beuker and Brent Twordik earned assists on the Huskies lone goal by Girling. The assist gave Beuker a goal and two assists for the series and gives the conference scoring leader a total of 31 points on the season. He holds a nine point lead in the scoring race over Calgarys Ryan Annesley (7-15-22) and teammate Twordik (4-18-22). One of only two players to reach double figures in conference goal scoring, Be