Huskies visit T-Birds in CW semi-final (Image Credit: Huskie Athletics)

By Wray Morrison

Listen: Coach's Show with Brandin Cote

Huskies and T-Birds meet in CW semi

Feb 26, 2026 | 7:00 PM

The defending Canada West men’s hockey champions are two wins away from making a return trip to the conference final. On Friday, February 27th, the Huskies kick off a best-of-three semi-final against the UBC Thunderbirds in Vancouver. UBC will be well rested after finishing the 28-game regular season with an impressive 23-2-2-1 record and earning a first-round bye in the Canada West playoffs.

Saskatchewan posted 5-0 and 3-2 overtime victories over the Alberta Golden Bears in last weekend’s quarter-final at Merlis Belsher Place. “I thought our starts were really good”, said head coach Brandin Cote. “I thought our 5 on 5 play was solid on Friday, on Saturday our power play had some looks.” 

UBC had the best power play in the Canada West regular season, operating at 34.3%. The Huskies, who had the top power play last season, were fifth in 2025-26 at 26.4%. “Our ability to stay out of the box is going to be important”, said Cote. “We have confidence in our power play too.” 

The teams split their regular season meetings with the Huskies pulling out a 3-2 overtime win on November 28th at Merlis Belsher Place. The T-Birds outscored Saskatchewan 7-4 on November 29th.   

The well rested Thunderbirds will be led by veteran Sasha Mutala who had 46 points in 28 regular season games. Mutala was one of two 40-point players in Canada West hockey in 2025-26. Saskatoon product Brett Mirwald, who is in his second season with the T-Birds, had a conference best 2.27 goals against average in 14 appearances. On the USask side, Chantz Petruic led the conference with 18 goals and after winning six of nine regular season starts, goaltender Nolan Maier had a .92 goals against average in the playoff series against the Bears. 

Listen: Coach's Show with Brandin Cote

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HuskieFAN’s Ryan Flaherty caught up with Huskie head coach Brandin Cote when the team arrived in Vancouver.

 The Huskie-T-Bird Canada West semi-final can be heard on the free HuskieFAN app. Pre-game coverage on February 27th, 28th and the 29th if necessary, will start at 8:45 PM. The Calgary Dinos will take on the Mount Royal Cougars in the other Canada West semi-final starting on February 27th.

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wray.morrison@pattisonmedia.com

X: @wraymorrison