Hockey
Provincial Foes Battle – First Time
For the first time in history, provincial foes the Regina Cougars and Saskatchewan Huskies will battle for the Canada West women’s hockey championship in a best-of-three series at Saskatoon’s Rutherford Rink this weekend.
The matchup begins Friday and is the first time in history the Huskies will host the final. The winner will advance as the lone Canada West representative at the CIS championship, hosted by the St. Thomas Tommies, March 13-16 in Fredericton, NB
Game 1 puck drop is 7 p.m. Friday, with Game 2 set for Saturday at 7 p.m. Game 3, if needed, is Sunday. All games will be webcast on http://canadawest.tv.
Regina and Saskatchewan have met in four Canada West playoff series – 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. In all but the 2004 series, Regina advanced to the conference finals.
The Cougars (11-13-4) have ploughed their way through the conference playoffs sweeping the fourth-seeded Manitoba Bisons in the quarter-final and upsetting the top-seeded and nationally fifth-ranked Alberta Pandas semifinal. Regina won both series on the road.
After earning a bye to the semifinal, the Huskies (18-4-6) defeated the UBC Thunderbirds in three games at home. In Rutherford
Rink in 2013-14, the Huskies are 13-2-2
Meghan Shervan led the Cougars through the regular season tallying six goals and five assists, while eight other players scored three or more goals.
In the five playoff games, Kylie Gavelin and Stephanie Sawchuk have been the offensive forces combining for five of the 10 goals scored in the postseason.
Saskatchewan’s top line of Cami Wooster, Kaitlin Willoughby and Sara Greschner provided the bulk of the Huskies’ scoring during the season combining for 39 of the teams 71 goals.
Leading the Huskies through the playoffs was goaltender Cassidy Hendricks, who stopped 73-of-79 shots and posted a shutout in the two game series against Thunderbirds.
Conference awards will be announced on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. Central Time, along with All-Stars and the All-Rookie team.
HEAD-TO-HEAD TEAM PREVIEWS
University of Regina Cougars
Head Coach: Sarah Hodges (16th season)
Regular season record: 11-13-4
Regular season standing: 5th
Playoff record to date: 4-1
Season overall record: 16-17-4
Season record vs. Saskatchewan: 1-2-1
Top 10 final ranking (Feb. 26): NR
Top 10 best ranking: #5 (two weeks)
Top 10 number of weeks ranked: 8 out of 16
Points leader: Meghan Sherven (11 points)
Goaltending leader: Jennifer Schmidt (7-7-1, 1.90, .937)
Canada West championships won: 1
Last Canada West championship: 2001
CIS championships won: N/A
University of Saskatchewan Huskies
Head Coach: Steve Kook (9th season)
Regular season record: 18-4-6
Regular season standing: 2nd
Playoff record to date: 2-1
Season overall record: 24-6-6
Season record vs. Regina: 3-0-1
Top 10 final ranking (Feb. 26): 10th
Top 10 best ranking: #8 (five weeks)
Top 10 number of weeks ranked: 13 out of 16
Points leader: Cami Wooster (31 points)
Goaltending leader: Cassidy Hendricks (11-4-3, 1.77, .924)
Canada West championships won: 0
Last Canada West championship: 2003-04
CIS championships won: N/A