The road to Saskatoon and Merlis Belsher Place for the U Sports national women’s hockey championship tournament will start for the U of S Huskies and all Canada West Conference hopefuls on September 29.
A day earlier, the regular-season starts for Canada West men’s hockey. The Huskie men open Thursday, September 28 in Winnipeg against Manitoba while the U of S women are home to the Bisons on Friday the 29th to open their respective 28-game campaigns. The following weekend, the Saskatchewan men are home to MacEwan while the women are in Edmonton to play MacEwan. The women’s U Sports nationals run March 14-17. Following is the news release from the Canada West Conference…..
HKY: Canada West introduces ’23-24 hockey schedule
Puck drops on a new season Sept. 28
June 20, 2023 – Another exhilarating season of Canada West hockey action returns to the ice this September.
The conference has unveiled both men’s and women’s slates for 2023-24, with each gender featuring nine teams each playing a 28 game schedule.
The journey towards lifting the prestigious Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy for the men and the Catherwood Cup for the women begins with an action-packed opening weekend Sept. 28 to 30.
The 16-week schedule will take the top six teams into playoffs with quarter-final action starting Feb. 16. The top two regular season finishers receive a bye into the semi-final round, which begins the following week on Feb. 23.
The Canada West finals will start March 1.
All three playoff rounds are best-of-three series.
This year’s U SPORTS national championships are slated for March 14 to 17. University of Saskatchewan hosts the women’s championship in Saskatoon, while Toronto Metropolitan University welcomes the men’s event.
WHKY | Thunderbirds, Cougars hope to build on memorable campaigns
Last year’s Canada West women’s hockey season had no shortage of feel good moments, none bigger than a magical national championship run by the Mount Royal Cougars.
Entering the national tournament as the eighth seed, the Cougars rattled off a trio of upsets and secured their first U SPORTS national championship in program history. The run was capped by Emma Bergesen’s dramatic championship-winning overtime goal, sealing the win over third-ranked Concordia.
While the Cougars took home national glory, it was the UBC Thunderbirds who claimed their second straight Canada West conference title. The Thunderbirds downed MRU in a tightly contested Canada West final, delivering a tense 1-0 victory in a winner-take-all game three.
Fans will have to wait until Nov. 3 for the first rematch between UBC and MRU next season.
Elsewhere around the conference, the Saskatchewan Huskies will look to build on a 14-win campaign as they prepare to host the 2024 U SPORTS national tournament. The Huskies upset the Calgary Dinos in the quarterfinals last season before falling to UBC in the semi-final round.
The Huskies will look for revenge over the Thunderbirds in their first matchup of the season on Nov. 17 in Vancouver.
MHKY | Can Dinos roar to another conference title?
The University of Calgary Dinos finally broke through last season, defeating arch rival Alberta in a Canada West final that turned into an instant classic.
The Dinos comeback 2-1 win in the deciding third game brought home the program’s first conference championship since 1996, the crowning achievement of an incredible season that also included a 23-game win streak.
While Alberta fell short in the Canada West final, the Golden Bears rebounded with a great performance at U SPORTS nationals, running all the way to the national final before falling to the University of New Brunswick.
The Golden Bears and Dinos will renew acquaintances Oct. 20 in Edmonton.
