WHKY: Quarter-final Preview

Article by Brian Swane, special to CW

Feb. 15, 2024 - The quest for the Catherwood Cup begins this weekend, with a pair of best-of-three quarter-finals in Canada West women’s hockey.

One series pits the Saskatchewan Huskies against the Calgary Dinos in Saskatoon, while the Manitoba Bisons are traveling to Calgary to take on the Mount Royal Cougars in the other match-up. At stake are spots in the semifinal round, where the quarter-final victors will take on the two-time defending champion UBC Thunderbirds or the Alberta Pandas in best-of-three series scheduled for Feb. 23 to 25.

After claiming gold at the U SPORTS Women’s Hockey Championship in 2023, the Cougars are looking for another magical postseason run this year. Manitoba is no stranger to championships, itself, just five seasons removed from the rare feat of winning both the Canada West and U SPORTS titles in the same year.

While they’ve faced off four times in the last 16 weeks, this will be the first-ever meeting of the Bisons and Cougars in the Canada West women’s hockey playoffs.

As hosts of the 2024 U SPORTS Women’s Hockey Championship, slated for March 14 to 17 in Saskatoon, the Huskies already know they’ll have a chance to play for a national title. But to keep their hopes alive for a conference championship, the Huskies will need to hold off a surging Calgary team that is 8-3-1 in its last 12 games after starting the season 4-11-1.

Both the Huskies and Dinos are one-time Canada West women’s hockey champs, having captured the cup a decade and a dozen years ago, respectively.

Catch all Canada West playoff actions live and on-demand at Canada West TV. 

No. 3 Mount Royal Cougars (20-7-1, 41 points) vs. No. 6 Manitoba Bisons (10-17-1, 21 points) at Flames Community Arena in Calgary

• Series schedule:
  • Game 1 – Friday, February 16 – 2 p.m. MST
  • Game 2 – Saturday, February 17 – 2 p.m. MST
  • Game 3 (if necessary) – Sunday, February 18 – 2 p.m. MST
• Regular season head-to-head:
  • Oct. 27: Manitoba 1 at Mount Royal 6
  • Oct. 28: Manitoba 3 at Mount Royal 4 (OT)
  • Jan. 12: Mount Royal 5 at Manitoba 2
  • Jan. 13: Mount Royal 2 at Manitoba 1
• Who to watch:
  • Emma Bergesen (Mount Royal, fourth year, defence) showed why she was named Canada West’s Top Defenceman in 2022-23 with a plus/minus rating of 16 this season.
  • Camryn Gillins (Manitoba, fourth year, defence) has just three goals in 98 career Canada West regular season games, but two of them came this season against the Cougars.

No. 4 Saskatchewan Huskies (19-7-2, 40 points) vs. No. 5 Calgary Dinos (12-14-2, 26 points) at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon

• Series schedule:
• Game 1 – Friday, February 16 – 3 p.m. CST
• Game 2 – Saturday, February 17 – 3 p.m. CST
• Game 3 (if necessary) – Sunday, February 18 – 2 p.m. CST
• Regular season head-to-head:
  • Nov. 10: Saskatchewan 2 at Calgary 3
  • Nov. 11: Saskatchewan 3 at Calgary 1
• Who to watch:
  • Camryn Drever (Saskatchewan, fifth year, goaltender) posted an incredible .954 save percentage to lead Canada West and is tied for first in the conference with 15 wins.
  • Elizabeth Lang (Calgary, fifth year, forward) finished with the second most points in Canada West this season after scoring 12 goals and recording 18 assists in 28 games.