Canada West Final: Bears outduel Bisons to win conference crown

by Matt Gutsch, U of Alberta Sports Information

Photo courtesy Uwe Welz / U of Alberta Athletics

EDMONTON - For the third straight season, and ninth time in 10 seasons, the University of Alberta Golden Bears hockey team are Canada West champions, thanks to a 4-2 game three win over the Manitoba Bisons Sunday evening at Clare Drake Arena.

Forwards Sean Ringrose, Eric Hunter and Jesse Gimblett, along with freshman defenseman Ian Barteaux, combined for 10-points in the Golden Bear victory. Gimblett and Ringrose each scored once and added two assists, while Hunter and Barteaux notched a goal and assist each.

Manitoba got goals from Rick Wood and Tyler Dittmer.

The conference title is Alberta's 48th in team history, and after finishing the regular season as the No.1 ranked team in the country, the Evergreen and Gold likely head to the University Cup tournament as the No. 1 seed.

The national championship runs March 25-28 at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and will feature the Golden Bears, the McGill Redmen, the host Lakehead Thunderwolves, the Manitoba Bisons, the University of Québec Trois-Riviéres Patriots and a still undetermined team from the Atlantic conference. The AUS championship best-of-five series currently stands at two games to none in favour of the St. Mary's Huskies over the St. Francis Xavier X-Men.

For the first time in the 2010 Canada West championship series, Alberta scored the game's opening goal. In fact, before the game was even 10 minutes old, the Bears owned a 2-0 lead, which is a stark contrast to game one when they outshot Manitoba 18-4, but trailed 2-0 after the first.

"Once we got those first couple of goals you could see the ease settle into the bench, and we started playing really confident hockey," said Alberta bench boss Eric Thurston.

Newly promoted Ian McDonald, the 2008 University Cup MVP, fired a cross-ice pass from below the hash-marks to Barteaux at the blue-line, and the Edmonton freshman snapped a low shot through Bison goalie Steve Christie's pads just 1:17 in for the first goal. Fourth-year Derek Ryan also drew an assist on the play.

McDonald was seeing time with Ryan and Brian Woolger due to the hellacious hit Canada West MVP Chad Klassen absorbed during the first period of Saturday's game. The conference leading scorer missed Sunday's championship tilt with an upper-body injury. The terrific trio of Ringrose, a freshman, and fourth-years Hunter and Gimblett connected on the second goal.

Hunter fed Gimblett in the slot, and while Christie stopped the initial shot, Ringrose was at home near the crease to pot the rebound past a diving Christie for the 2-0 lead at the 8:34 mark. That line combined for 14 points in the regular season against Manitoba, and had plenty of success against them in the post-season, connecting for 13 points in three playoff matches.

Manitoba struck back to within one on the power-play, when Rick Wood finished off a pretty passing play down low, rifling a one-timer past freshman Golden Bear goalie Travis Yonkman on a cross ice feed from Ian Duval at 12:35. But, before the period was out, Alberta restored their two-goal advantage when Hunter buried a rebound past Christie on the power-play with just 28 seconds left in the period. Ringrose and Gimblett drew the assists.

The Bisons stepped up the physical play in the second period, stapling Golden Bears to the boards or ice whenever they got the chance. But, it was a hit by Hunter that might have changed the game. The Oakbank, Manitoba native, and 2006 NHL draft choice of the New York Rangers (176th overall), buried Greg Beller in the corner of the Manitoba zone, and shortly after, Gimblett scored on the power-play with Barteaux and Ringrose picking up the helpers on the 4-1 goal.

"Once again, that line was a force all night long," said Thurston. "That hit by Hunter on Beller in the second really changed things around for us."

The teams continued to trade hits and chances in the third, but both Christie and Yonkman were sharp, until, Bison Tyler Dittmer beat Yonkman with shot that deflected off the rookie goalie's stick and into the top corner with just four seconds left in the contest.

Despite the three-game series going to the max, Manitoba head coach Mike Sirant, named Canada West Coach of the Year earlier this week, found little solace in the silver medal.

"We came here with the intention of winning the championship, and to come this close, including being tied going into the third period in game two, only to lose to heartbreaking. There isn't much a coach can say to console the guys in the room," said Sirant.

Prior to skating in Edmonton, the Bisons defeated the Saskatchewan Huskies in three games in Saskatoon; the first team any team has beaten the Huskies at Rutherford Arena in the playoffs in 17 years. That series win cemented the Manitoba berth into the University Cup tournament, their first appearance since the 2005 championship in Edmonton.

Special teams were a factor in the series all weekend long as well, as the Bears earned a 21% (4-19) success rating with the extra attacker, while Manitoba went 2-16 (12.5%) on the power play.

Both teams now head to Thunder Bay for a shot at the CIS national championship, which Alberta last won in 2008, their CIS record 13th title in team history. Manitoba last won the national title in 1965, the same year as their last conference banner.