Golden Bears hockey sweep the Cougars to create 11-1-0 record
A brutal weekend for the Cougars who just could not catch up to the Golden Bears.
Fair Frames | Game 1 | Period 1 | Period 2 | Period 3 |
| Golden Bears | 1 Goals: Nash Assists: Popowich, Laventure | 2 Goals: Preziuso, Florchuk (SH) Assists: J. Hall, A. Hall, Thacker | 2 Goals: de la Gorgendiere (EN, unassisted), J. Hall (EN) Assists: A. Hall, de la Gorgendiere |
| Cougars | 1 Goals: Runke Assists: Whyte | 0 | 1 Goals: Kesslering Assists: Shindle, Fishley |
| Game 2 | Period 1 | Period 2 | Period 3 |
| Golden Bears | 4 Goals: Belcourt, Nash (x2), Thacker Assists: McClennon, Prokop, Ward, Gustafson, Lajoie, J. Hall | 5 Goals: Hall, Florchuk (PP, x3), Thacker Assists: Lajoie (x2), Thacker, Belcourt (x2), Preziuso, Carmichael | 0 |
| Cougars | 1 Goals: Houk (PP) Assists: Holoien, McNutt | 0 | 0 |
After a brutal sweep on November 15 and 16 over the Regina Cougars, the Golden Bears hockey team is sitting pretty comfortably in the Canada West standings. If they secure another sweep over the Saskatchewan Huskies on November 22 and 23, it’ll be a strong feat for any team to knock them out of their number one spot.
This weekend’s games saw the absence of the Bears’ left winger, Brett Hyland. Heading into this weekend, Hyland was second in goal-scoring for Canada West and left as third.
“As for next weekend, it’s up in the air whether or not I will get to play. I am expecting to be back next weekend or the next,” Hyland said.
Hyland’s absence created an opportunity for rookie left winger Ty Nash to leave his mark. He took his opportunity and racked up three goals throughout the weekend.
After star defensemen Aidan de la Gorgendiere and Marc Lajoie took a slight back-seat this weekend, Mason Ward and Blake Gustafson took over to maintain consistent control of the defensive zone.
The Bears secure Friday nights’ game with two empty netters
The first period of game one saw a bit of a slow start but some excellent speed heading into the offensive zone from Tyson Laventure, Josh Prokop, and Justin Hall. After a patient play from Alex Thacker, the Bears started to play like they are actually the best team in Canada West.
Throughout the second, the Bears turned their luck around on their once troublesome penalty kill. The penalty was successfully killed due to key plays on the forecheck that the Cougars could not get ahead of.
A crazy thirty seconds with two minutes left in the third period, saw two empty net goals to take the Bears to a 5-2 win. A beautiful hit to the boards from de la Gorgendiere sent the puck flying into the net at the exact right angle. An unlucky turn of events for the Cougars who looked like they could catch up.
A strong start for the Bears only gets better at Saturday’s game
After a slow start on Friday, the Bears fired in shot after shot to finish the first period with a 4-1 lead. However, their only goal against on the shorthand created a bit of a set back for a unit that looked to be turning itself around.
The Bears continued to bury the Cougars after a five-goal second period that couldn’t have been any worse for an already struggling team. Eric Florchuk had a wild performance as he brought some heat with three goals and a hat trick. Both teams seemed to lose their momentum heading into the third which resulted in no goals scored.
The overall style for Saturday night’s game was strong passing and overwhelming offensive pressure. Of course, we can’t forget the offensive defensemen that really set up the forward line.
Fans are seeing a weird development on the special teams
Over the past two weekends, the Bears have seen their power play drop from first in Canada West to fourth. On the other hand, their penalty kill went from sixth to fifth. A rather steep drop and steady incline for the two units that could do a complete flip. Over the weekend the Bears were 1-9 on the power play while giving away one goal against on the shorthand after eight penalty kills.
While it would be beneficial to secure the penalty kill, is it worth it at the expense of the power play? Absolutely. Given that the Bears average 5.17 goals a game, they’re not struggling to score. Locking down the penalty kill prevents unnecessary goals against. If they can get the power play back to what it was, they would be a definite championship team.
