For the first time since March of 2020, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies are back in the Canada West Championship Series. The Huskies were crowned champions that season on home ice as they swept the U-B-C Thunderbirds in two games. The past three seasons—excluding 2020-21, which was canceled due to the pandemic—have been challenging for the Huskies. The Huskies always found themselves putting together one of the top teams in the conference, but so did the competition. Saskatchewan suffered back-to-back playoff defeats at the hands of the Calgary Dinos in the quarter and semi-finals, then also lost last season in the quarter-finals in a nail-biting three-game series against their biggest rival, the Alberta Golden Bears. After winning the opening game, Alberta would win two straight in overtime, sending the Huskies home much earlier than they had hoped.
On the other hand, Mount Royal is getting ready for their first ever appearance in the Canada West Finals. Mount Royal entered the conference back in the 2012-13 season, which would be the only time they missed the playoffs. They are riding a 10-year streak of postseason appearances, but have struggled getting over the hump that is the semifinals. Mount Royal has gradually built one of the strongest programs in the conference and has been among the most feared teams since the pandemic, alongside Saskatchewan, Alberta, Calgary, and UBC. The only difference between those four teams and Mount Royal, is they’ve all had at least one appearance in the finals and a championship to their name. Mount Royal has neither of those and will be looking to change that this weekend.
This season, Canada West split the nine-team league into two divisions: East and West. This changed teams’ regular season schedules to limit the amount of travel needed. Teams in the East Division would only play teams in the West Division once, with a two-game weekend series, while teams would face teams in their own league more often. Saskatchewan and Mount Royal both finished atop their respective divisions, and one-two in the league. As a result, these two teams only faced each other twice during the 28-game regular season, back in October, where they split the series. Mount Royal won the first game 4-0, Saskatchewan won the second game 4-3. One may assume these two teams will be ready to faceoff after four long months.
With so much history in such little time between these two teams, both are asking the question and looking to answer…..
“Why is this going to be different?”
Here are my three keys for each team going into this weekend’s final.
Score first and play with the lead
You hear it in hockey all the time. “First goal is huge” or “Get the first one”. Every coach and team will have heard something along those lines all throughout their entire hockey career. This weekend, that will be one of my main keys, and the stats can back it up. In the regular season, Saskatchewan scored the first goal in 24 out of 28 games, winning 18. Mount Royal, on the other hand, opened the scoring in 18 games, winning 17 of those games. Both teams enjoy playing with the lead, as Saskatchewan, when leading after the first and second, is a combined 29-and-0, while Mount Royal is 35-and-0. Just as a comparison, Saskatchewan, when trailing after the first and second, is a combined 5-and-7, while Mount Royal is 4-and-10.
Playoffs always see teams set up physically, however I have a sneaking suspicion speed will be a bigger factor leading to which team scores first, and more importantly, who can hang on to the lead.
Who wins the goaltending duel?
Stats always play a role in sports, but they don’t always tell the full story. In the case of goaltenders, it’s pretty fair to state stats are giving us the full picture Mount Royal has Shane Farkas, who’s stats may not blow you away, with a 2.56 goals against average and a .895 save percentage, but he led all of Canada West in wins with 14. Riley Sims started in six games for Mount Royal, winning all six games he appeared in, but it’s safe to assume Farkas will lead the charge in goal for the entire weekend. Stats may not favor Farkas, but he consistently helps his team win. With Mount Royal’s offensive firepower, he can afford to allow two or more goals per game.
Saskatchewan, however, is an interesting story. Roddy Ross was statistically the best goalie in all of Canada West, even taking home the honor of Top Goaltender. Ross had nine victories with a 2.06 goals against average and a .926 save percentage, both numbers being the best in Canada West. His goaltender partner, Jordan Kooy, had 11 wins with a 2.22 goals against average and a .912 save percentage, both third best in Canada West. Head Coach Brandin Cote has stated throughout the whole season that the team is confident in both goalies and they each give the team an equal chance to win. Ross and the Huskies had a shaky opening game against UBC, with Jordan Kooy winning games two and three. It is unknown which netminder will get the nod for game one for Saskatchewan, but Cote and company will be confident with either one of their number one’s.
Special Teams battle
Special teams were a major factor in both semifinal series last weekend. Coming into the playoffs, Saskatchewan owned the number one power play and penalty kill. During game one against UBC, it looked like the total opposite, only scoring once on seven opportunities while allowing two goals against on seven chances, plus a short-handed goal against. Game two, Saskatchewan received a five-minute power play with just over five minutes left in the third, down by one, where they would score two goals to take the lead, and eventually the victory. UBC only had one power play opportunity during game three, where Saskatchewan had six, but their only goal on the man advantage would come late in the third giving them a two-goal cushion.
Mount Royal had the second-best power play in the regular season and fourth-best penalty kill. Both struggled early on in their semifinal series against Alberta. The Cougars went a combined 0-for-10 in the first two games, while Alberta went a combined 2-for-9 on the man advantage. Game three was dominated by special teams, with Mount Royal converting 2-for-4 on the power play, while Alberta went 2-for-3, with the first four goals all coming on the man advantage. Even though it was Mount Royal finally scoring at even-strength in the third to secure the victory, special teams played a factor throughout the series and I believe will continue to do so in the finals with both teams yet to show their full potential like we saw in the regular season.
This series has the potential to become a classic with all the storylines and star players on both sides, including a total of 50 WHL Alumni across both rosters, eight of them with ties to the Saskatoon Blades. These two teams have developed a bit of a rivalry in recent years that includes a quarter-final meetup in Calgary back in the 2022-23 season that saw Saskatchewan outlast the Cougars 2-1. The rivalry didn’t seem as heated or talked about due to the new divisions and having only played twice in the regular season, but now with the history behind it, and these two teams finally colliding on the biggest stage, one can expect one of the best Canada West Championships in recent memory.
Below is my quick chat Thursday afternoon with Huskies head coach Brandin Cote:
Canada West Men’s Hockey Championship Series (all games played at Merlis Belsher Place):
Game 1: Saskatchewan Huskies vs. Mount Royal Cougars – 7:00 p.m.
Game 2: Mount Royal Cougars vs. Saskatchewan Huskies – 7:00 p.m.
*Game 3: Saskatchewan Huskies vs. Mount Royal Cougars – 6:00 p.m. (if necessary)
