Ab SchHeading into the Canada West Final Four, the Bears and Pandas hockey teams are in familiar territory as the teams to beat.
Last year, both teams finished at the top of their respective conferences and both teams were favoured to win the championship. The Bears succeeded, dominating the Calgary Dinos in the finals and eventually winning the CIS championship. On the other hand, the Pandas were shocked by the Cinderella story Regina Cougars, who came within one win of the Canada West championship despite being in fifth place in the conference.
Pandas head coach Howie Draper said it’s critical for his team to not make the same mistakes they made in last year’s upset.
“The thing about this conference is that it’s been so tight that we don’t have a chance to take anyone lightly,” he said. “Every team has shown us that they could beat us if we aren’t on our game and they can put a lot of pressure on us if we’re sitting on our heels.”
The Pandas will host the Calgary Dinos in their semifinal series this weekend, a team that Draper said they struggled with this season despite winning the season series 3-1.
“The season has helped build us up a little, and help fortify us against that lackadaisical mental attitude going into games,” he said. “ Calgary owned us throughout times we played them this season, so we can’t really see Calgary as being a lesser opponent.
“The rivalry has grown between our two teams, it’s grown into something quite exciting and that will certainly play a huge part in motiving us for the weekend for sure.”
The Pandas will head into their series well rested, as they haven’t played a game since Feb. 14, a 3-1 loss to the UBC Thunderbirds. Calgary, on the other hand, had an easy time with the Saskatchewan Huskies last weekend, sweeping their series in two games.
While the rest has been nice for the Pandas, Draper said it has it can either work in a team’s favour, or against them.
“I think it can go either way, I’ve seen times where it’s really been helpful to have the extra energy. Then last year, I felt that it worked against us,” he said. “Hopefully it works out well. It really depends on the job we do as coaches to prepare, but also what the leaders do to get the players to where they need to get to.”
The Golden Bears will open their championship defence on Friday when they host the UBC Thunderbirds at Clare Drake Arena. The Bears won their season series with the Birds 3-1, winning both of their games at Clare Drake in commanding fashion, by scores of 5-1 and 5-0.
