Brian Swane, Special to Canada West
EDMONTON – At last it's here.
This is what they've been playing the last several months for.
After 28 regular season games apiece, the playoffs have arrived in Canada West men's hockey, beginning this weekend with the quarter-finals. UBC hosts Mount Royal while Lethbridge visits Calgary in best-of-three series, looking to advance to the next round of the post-season.
In waiting are last year's champs Alberta, and runners-up, Saskatchewan. The Bears and Huskies will host semifinal action next weekend.
No. 6 Lethbridge (9-17-2) -AT- No. 3 Calgary (18-7-3)
- Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary
- Game 1 – Friday, 7 p.m. MST
- Game 2 – Saturday, 6 p.m. MST
- Game 3* - Sunday, 6 p.m. MST
A Calgary men's hockey program that is used to playing well into February welcomes a Pronghorns squad that is making the team's first post-season appearance since 2012. Lethbridge steps onto the Father David Bauer Arena ice as mammoth underdogs against the Dinos having lost all four head-to-head contests with Calgary during the regular season, while being outscored a combined 14-to-1. The Dinos average 3.64 goals per game, led by forward Riley Sheen, who scored 19 times to rank second in Canada West, and added 15 assists to sit third among all players with 34 points. Lethbridge will look to Justin Valentino to continue as their offensive catalyst, after the right-shot senior had a team-best nine goals and 17 assists during the regular season.
No. 5 Mount Royal (12-11-5) -AT- No. 4 UBC (14-12-2)
- Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sport Centre in Vancouver
- Game 1 – Friday, 7:30 p.m. PST
- Game 2 – Saturday, 7:30 p.m. PST
- Game 3* - Sunday, 6 p.m. PST
These teams split their regular season meetings, with each going 2-0 at home, though Mount Royal out-scored UBC 13-8 over the four games with its two head-to-head wins coming by an average of four goals. The Cougars are looking to reverse a late-season slump that saw MRU lose seven of eight, with four of those defeats coming by at least four goals. UBC, meanwhile, finished their schedule with three consecutive victories to leap-frog Mount Royal in the standings and secure home ice advantage for this QF series. While the T-Birds score just 2.46 goals per game, they were the conference's third best team on the power play, converting 16.1 per cent of the time. First-year netminder Riley Morris (10-5-1, 2.27 goals against average, .919 save percentage) aims to continue his strong play between the pipes for Mount Royal in his Canada West post-season debut.