With a sweep of the Mount Royal University Cougars last weekend, the University of Alberta Golden Bears hockey team will compete for their 53rd (not a typo) Canada West Championship this weekend. The series will be played in Saskatoon against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. With the semi-final series win against Mount Royal, the Bears not only qualified for the Canada West Championship, but also the 2016 University Cup in Halifax.
The Golden Bears have won the last two national championships and will be competing for their 16th national title (Alberta currently holds the CIS record with 15). With another win on the national stage, Alberta will have captured 5 national crowns in the past ten years (2005-06, 2007-08, 2013-14, 2014-15). The Golden Bears will also be making their 39th University Cup appearance, which is also a CIS record.
The matchup with Saskatchewan in the Canada West final was predictable. Saskatchewan finished 3rd in the final national rankings– just ahead of the 4th ranked Golden Bears.
Alberta swept a recent two-game regular season series against the Huskies during the second-last weekend of the season. They split when the two teams met at the Clare Drake in the fall. The 3-1 regular season record shouldn’t give the impression that the Golden Bears will have an easy walk to the Canada West Championship.
The final series will pit the Huskies’ Kohl Bauml against the Bears’ Jordan Hickmott. Bauml, in his rookie season with the Huskies, was the 4th leading scorer in the Canada West and tied for 20th position in scoring nationally. Hickmott, a fifth year Bear in his senior and final season, finished in 3rd spot in the Canada West scoring race and tied as the 14th leading scorer nationally. Both players are former 30 goal scorers in the WHL and lead their team’s respective attacks.
On defence, the Golden Bears are led by another senior, Jordan Rowley, and will look to his playoff experience to bring home yet another Canada West Crown. The Huskies will counter with Jordan Fransoo, a second year player who came from the WHL’s Victoria Royals, and Connor Cox, a third year player, who came to the Huskies from the Everett Silvertips.
In goal, Alberta’s Luke Siemens will look to edge Saskatchewan’s Jordon Cooke. For the past two playoffs, Siemens was the backup to current Edmonton Oil Kings goalie coach Kurtis Mucha. In the semi final-series versus Mount Royal, Siemens went 2-0 with a 2.00 GAA and a 0.902 SP. In Saskatchewan’s semi-final series versus the Calgary Dinos, the second year Cooke went a similar 2-0 with a 2.30 GAA and a 0.902 SP.
Even though the series is being played in Saskatoon, you can catch all the action on CanadaWest.tv.
So Long
The series clinching game versus Mount Royal University last Saturday, marked the final appearance at the Clare Drake for the following seniors:
Hopefully, most of these players will make their way to the ECHL, AHL, and Europe like so many of their former teammates. Good luck to all of you!
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