Courtesy: Adrien Bazinet - Alberta Golden Bears

By Wray Morrison

Listen: Coach's Show with Brandin Cote

Another visit to Edmonton

Nov 19, 2024 | 3:34 PM

The east division elite of Canada West men’s hockey clash in the Alberta capital on the November 22nd-23rd weekend. The 11 and 1 Alberta Golden Bears host the second place Huskies (9-3) at Clare Drake Arena. UBC handed Alberta its only loss of the season back on October 26^th while Saskatchewan takes a five-game win streak to Edmonton. The Huskies have been led by veteran winger Dawson Holt who has 19 points so far this season.

Alberta tops the Canada West in offense, averaging 5.1 goals per game. First-year Bear forward Sean Tschigerl is setting the pace in the conference with eight goals in 12 games and is two back of the league leader, Holt, in the points race.

Huskie bench boss Brandin Cote coached a handful of Bear players during the 2019 Canada Winter Games, including Tshigerl. “I have his (Team Alberta) jersey at my house”, Cote said. “He was our captain. He’s a really good player. Those are the kind of guys we have to hone in on. They have a lot of depth, like we do.”

The U of S suffered a pair of 5-2 losses road losses to Alberta back on October 18th and 19th. “Their goaltending is good and their “D” is solid”, Cote said. The visitors need to dictate play more in this two-game series. “Getting inside…we didn’t do that enough the last time we were there.”

Saskatchewan’s special teams have been dangerous this season. The Huskies lead the conference with a 27.9% power play. 10 different players have scored on the man advantage. Chantz Petruic and Josh Pillar have two each. “Special teams against the Bears and other top teams will always be a factor”, Cote said.

Listen: Coach's Show with Brandin Cote

Red Deer Polytechnic visit Merlis Belsher Place to ring in the new year

Dec 12, 2024

homecoming

Mason Nyhus joins Huskie coaching staff

Dec 06, 2024

Listen: Coach's Show with Steve Kook

Wrapping up 2024

Dec 03, 2024

The Huskies are 5 and 2 on the road, while the Bears are a perfect 6 and 0 at home. Cote says his team is looking at games against Alberta as a series in itself. “We’re down 0-2. We can win two. We’ll start with the first one. We have to play heavy and focus on our process.” (The Bears visit the Huskies in the final two games of the season-series on January 24th and 25th.)

The November 22nd and 23rd Huskie-Bear games both start at 8:00 PM and can be heard on the free HuskieFAN app.

Here is Brandin Cote with HuskieFAN’s Wray Morrison.

—

wray.morrison@pattisonmedia.com

X: @wraymorrison