Cougars can’t contain Golden Bears
The University of Alberta Golden Bears are the gold standard in Canada West men’s hockey — and the University of Regina Cougars are hoping to go for gold.
“That’s what we’re striving to be,” Cougars forward Liam Brennan said Saturday after Alberta beat Regina 5-2 at the Co-operators Centre.
“When you think of Canada West and the best team, the U of A is often mentioned. I feel like we play them hard and we play them fast, but we just can’t find a way to beat them this year.”
It’s not just this year. The Cougars have lost 23 straight regular-season games to the Golden Bears; Regina’s last victory was a 3-2 shootout win on Jan. 30, 2009.
Alberta improved its firstplace record to 23-2-1 with Saturday’s victory — its fourth in as many games against the Cougars this season. Regina fell to 11-13-2.
The Golden Bears also went 4-0-0 against the Cougars last season, making Alberta the only team in the conference that second-year Cougars head coach Todd Johnson hasn’t beaten in his tenure at the U of R.
Alberta has won 50 conference championships and 13 national titles, so its continued excellence in the league dates back many years — including the five (1993-98) that Johnson spent at the University of Calgary.
“When I played, you measured yourself against the U of A,” said Johnson, who enjoyed one sweep of the season series with Alberta during his time with the Dinos.
“Look at their roster (this season). They’ve probably got 12 players who had at least 80 points (in a season) in the WHL. They’ve probably got five or six captains from the WHL.
“You can see it in the way they play. They’re very consistent. Even when you have them under pressure, they’re relaxed. They play with confidence.”
The Golden Bears’ history gives them a leg up in the recruiting wars in the conference. On the ice, they play at a pace that few other teams can match, which Brennan said generates mistakes — and those errors often end up in the opponent’s net.
The key for the Cougars, if they want to level the playing field with Alberta, is to ramp things up.
“They’re the fastest team in the league,” Brennan said. “If we find a way to play at that speed all the time instead of having them push us to that speed, we’ll get used to it and be more effective.”
Johnson predicted before the weekend series that the Cougars would be a better team after playing two games against Alberta — and he reiterated that thought Saturday.
For Johnson, the proof will come next weekend, when Regina completes its regular-season slate with a home-and-home series against the Saskatchewan Huskies.
On Sat u rday, Sean Ringrose scored two goals for Alberta, which got singles from Drew Nichol, Brett Ferguson and T.J. Foster. Tyler Henry and Ward Szucki replied for Regina.
Kurtis Mucha stopped 19 shots in the Golden Bears’ net. Cougars goalie Lucas Gore made 38 saves.
“I’m not happy that we didn’t win either game this weekend, but I am happy with the way we competed against them,” said Johnson, whose fifth-place team lost 5-0 on Friday.
“I really do feel that, in the second round of the playoffs, we’re going to get these guys and we’ve got to build off these moral victories.”
■ The Cougars women’s hockey team completed its Canada West regular season Saturday with a 4-0 loss to the Alberta Pandas in Edmonton.
Regina finished with an 11-13-4 record to place fifth in the conference. The Cougars are to visit the fourthplace Manitoba Bisons in a bestof-three quarterfinal next weekend.
Michala Jeffries stopped 12 shots for the shutout and Deanna Morin scored twice for the first-place Pandas (20-5-3).
Tess Houston and Jes - sica Kampjes also scored for Alberta, which fired 23 shots at Regina goalies Toni Ross
and Morgan Cooper.