Alberta Golden Bears 2014-15

[RED ARMY EAST]

Alberta

Alberta sweeps NCAA swing with a convincing 6-1 victory tonight over Dartmouth in New Hampshire.
Alberta outshot the "Big Green" 35-13. Combined with a 3-0 victory over Yale last night in New Haven the Golden Bears outshoot their opponents 76-34 over two games.
We will probably here the excuses coming out of the NCAA about the Bears players being older and the IVY League schools just starting to practice...yadda...yadda...yadda!
Have always said top end CIS programs can easily compete with NCAA teams...and for 15 years the U of A hasn't been able to convince an NCAA team to come to the fertile recruiting grounds of Alberta and play a perennial CIS power at Clare Drake Arena...
Why?
To paraphrase the "Tragically Hip"...wouldn't want to debunk the American Myth.

Cheers.

Strong performance by Alberta, Yale did win it all just a couple of years ago. It's hard to believe that the ECAC has yet to play a game and it's the end of October?
Have the U of A been that aggressive in trying to attract an NCAA team to travel to Edmonton during the December break??
New Bruswick has had Boston College, Maine and Union College travel to Fredericton for a pair of exhibition games, since 2009.
There is talk of an NCAA Div 1 hockey East team (BC) coming again this year.
UNB does have a close connection with Maine (3 hrs away) and BC, who they have played several times during the past few years in the US.
Manitoba, has the connection with North Dakota and play on a yearly basis.
American teams can only play outside of the country, once every 5 years?
It also takes money to bring them North.

 

[mikeandI]

Strong performance by Alberta, Yale did win it all just a couple of years ago. It's hard to believe that the ECAC has yet to play a game and it's the end of October?
Have the U of A been that aggressive in trying to attract an NCAA team to travel to Edmonton during the December break??
New Bruswick has had Boston College, Maine and Union College travel to Fredericton for a pair of exhibition games, since 2009.
There is talk of an NCAA Div 1 hockey East team (BC) coming again this year.
UNB does have a close connection with Maine (3 hrs away) and BC, who they have played several times during the past few years in the US.
Manitoba, has the connection with North Dakota and play on a yearly basis.
American teams can only play outside of the country, once every 5 years?
It also takes money to bring them North.

they just don't want to get on "deplane" boss

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

Alberta looked dead in the water, down 3-1 with less than 10 to go and pull of another sweep.
They seem to be at a different level than the best of the West and haven' t shown a lot of weakness so far.
It's a given that we will see them in Halifax and most likely matched up against the third OUA team or host X in their first game.

 

[Drummer]

Alberta looked dead in the water, down 3-1 with less than 10 to go and pull of another sweep.
They seem to be at a different level than the best of the West and haven' t shown a lot of weakness so far.
It's a given that we will see them in Halifax and most likely matched up against the third OUA team or host X in their first game.

If Alberta goes to Halifax as #1 or #2 (assuming the AUS entry is #1) I think they're going to get SFX on Friday night either way - I can't see the committee having two AUS teams play against each other in the first round.

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

Bears look to be at another level vs the rest of CanadaWest. Wonder if they have booked their tickets for Halifax??

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

They should start looking for seat sales...no one out there appears to be on their level. It seems like Manitoba and Saskatchewan have taken a step back this year and I don't believe in MRU. Calgary might give them a run, but like I say every year, the Bears are the favourites until proven otherwise.

 

[Champion39]

Bears look to be at another level vs the rest of CanadaWest. Wonder if they have booked their tickets for Halifax??

Very very impressive to watch, well coached and a lot of good talent on the ice

 

[Bob Stauffer]

Went to Bears-UBC Saturday night. Alberta dominated every facet. Golden Bears have won 14 straight including sweep of NCAA teams.
The addition of Stephane Legault and Riley Kieser gives Alberta more grit and speed in 3rd/4th line roles.
Trust me when I say this. Alberta's offence is still not completely clicking...but Head Coach Ian Herbers has team playing with real structure and process.
This is the best the Bears program has looked since the mid 2000's.

Cheers

Bob Stauffer
Oilers Radio Network

 

[Rob]

Is it just the Bears that are charging for their broadcasts this year or is it the whole Canada West?

 

[CanWestFan]

As far as I know it is just the U of A charging to view their games. First noticed this when I tried to watch one of their football games. Not too sure why

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

Calgary 5-3 winners over The UofA last night at home. The wide shot margin 45+ to 20+ favoured the Bears,
Will there be any free Webcast?

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

Calgary beats Alberta for the second night in a row, this time in Edmonton. Alberta scores in the final minute to break the shutout, score 2-1. This proves that Thursday's game wasn't a fluke!

 

[Rob]

Calgary beats Alberta for the second night in a row, this time in Edmonton. Alberta scores in the final minute to break the shutout, score 2-1. This proves that Thursday's game wasn't a fluke!

Well the Dinos Lazaruk and Deserres are probably the best goaltending combo in the CIS.

 

[Bearpaw]

Was at the game last night and Dinos full value for the win. Bears did dominate the first period but could not find the back for the net. The second period until half way through the third was all Dinos. Second goal was a back breaker - weak behind the net pass. Bears could not finish their opportunities.

Going back a few years, the Dinos have had Alberta's number. They are built to play physical and quick - neutralizing the Bears north / south game and making them go east / west which is not their game.

Based on what I have seen so far, these teams look to be the class of CW.

 

[Bob Stauffer]

Alberta outshoots Calgary 75-39 over 2 games and gets swept.

 

[FreddyFoyle]

Alberta outshoots Calgary 75-39 over 2 games and gets swept.

Shots don't always equal results. In three match-ups this season UNB has outshot Saint Mary's a combined 98-62, but has only one win to show for it.

 

[Bearpaw]

Bears with a big win tonight 6-1 over the second place (and over matched) Dinos. Lots of big players missing from the lineup on both sides but the Dinos really missed Curran on the back end. They do not have the depth to be without his minutes. Rare occurrence tonight in that Deseres was chased from the net. Rematch goes tomorrow night in Calgary and will be interesting to see if some of the players return (Lazo, Crooks, Toomey for Bears and Wintonek and Curran for Dinos).

 

[Bearpaw]

Bears survived tonight with a 2-1 OT win over Regina. The Bears dominated play, but they were sloppy. Poor passing and puck control was the name of the game all night. Foster led the way with a goal and an assist and was by far the most dangerous Bear all night. Nice to see Koper play physical and create space for himself in the offensive zone. The defensive pair of Yadlowski and Archer had a difficult game. Mucha made a few keys saves but was rarely tested.

The game day lineup card indicated that Swedish defenseman Joel Ostman who joined the Bears last January has returned to Sweden. He has apparently been hampered by a nagging injury he has had since he arrived and he returned home to heal. While his departure does remove some depth, it does not affect the game day lineup.

Game two in the series goes tomorrow night at 6:00.

 

[Bob Stauffer]

2 games left in regular season

Alberta will have home ice advantage through-out the Canada West Play-offs which means every Golden Bears play-off game will be played at Clare Drake Arena.
Saw the Bears lose 3-2 in OT to Mount Royal on Friday night in front of 2400 fans at Clare Drake Arena.
Spoke to Ian Herbers, Fernando Pisani and Stan Marple after and I knew the Golden Bears would be bringing it Saturday night.
Alberta crushed Mount Royal 7-1 and out-shot the #10 ranked Cougars 41-22 in their own barn.
Bears played the week-end without Jesse Craige who might be the best offensive D-man in the League.
Alberta goes to Saskatchewan for the final week of the reguar season before the Conference gets ready for the World University Games.
This is a deep Golden Bears squad on the level of the teams that Rob Daum built in the mid '2000's.

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

Alberta

To compare the new Bears to Rob Daum's teams of the mid 2000's is indeed a compliment!
University Cup teams 2003,2004,2005,2006 were well oiled machines, similar to UNB dominant teams of 2009,2011,2012,2013.

I would ask the question"have they been pushed"??
I believe MT Royal and Calgary have pushed Alberta in the 8 games played between these rivals, beating the Bears 3 times. Also, many games vs sub-par competition within CanadaWest.
Alberta dominated NCAA Div 1 (Ivy league,ECAC) competition in a first half exhibition tour in New England, although these were not your traditional Hockey East powers that play host to many of the AUS pre-season competition. The result was still impressive.
They once again run the table on CanadaWest competition with perhaps only two teams reallistically capable of upsetting the Golden Bears. That being Calgary and MT Royal, a program new on the scene,but on the rise!
Saskatchewan, after surprising the field and capturing a national silver medal in 2014, has had a poor recruiting year and is no longer the Bears best natural rival!

With two teams from CanadaWest going to Halifax, Alberta will be there!
They will be carrying the target on there back, just as Daum's teams carried into Freddy in 2003-4.
Maybe a first game meeting with host X, who have played much better heading down the stretch in an ultra-competitive AUS. Stauffer may remember the loss to X in 2003 Nationals, with a team that had lost only 1 game or two all season, before an upset to the hands of Danny Flynn and the X-Men. Another loss to X recently in Freddy at 2011 Nationals with Mucha in nets.

This years Bears have the experience of wiining last years Nationals and probably have the most dangerous duo of forwards in the CIS, in TJ Foster and Jordan Hickmott.
I would assume that for anyone to have success against this team that these two will need to be contained. Hickmott took 120 shots in 28 games, averaging between 4-5 shots per game.
They have a lot of depth throughout the lineup on all lines, similar to New Brunswick.
D led by Rowly looks solid and mobile. Goaltending has been split between Mucha and Siemens, but I assume that Mucha will be the go to guy in Halifax??
What happened to Zach Daily?? only 6 games played. I assume he isn't good enough to crack the starting lineup?

T.J. Foster 18 goals 42 pts
Jordan Hickmott 19 goals-40pts

 

[Big Bad Jon]

Already salivating with an opening round Alberta vs. X game. X aren't the push-over they have been in recent years. They are 15-2-1 in their last 18.....not too shabby.

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

With Canada West receiving two berths at the University Cup now, Alberta should be there every single year. It would be a monumental upset for them not to make it considering all they would have to do is beat a 4th place or lower team with every game played at home.

 

[AUS Fan]

Already salivating with an opening round Alberta vs. X game. X aren't the push-over they have been in recent years. They are 15-2-1 in their last 18.....not too shabby.

15-3-1 in their last 19. Lost a bit of ground last night.

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

Alberta

Haven't heard from Bob for some time?
CanadaWest conference with a long layoff after the break from the world University games.
For Alberta and Calgary, its an extra week, as they get a bye in the first round.
For Calgary, this could be a problem if they end up facing crosstown rival Mount Royal.
On the other hand, I think that the chance of a non-top 10 team knocking off Alberta in a best of 3, all at Claire Drake is not going to happen!
Win 1 series and they are in, book the ticket!

They have dominated the West again and have enjoyed the #1 ranking for the entire regular season, I guess this makes them the team to beat heading to Halifax.

 

[Drummer]

They have dominated the West again and have enjoyed the #1 ranking for the entire regular season, I guess this makes them the team to beat heading to Halifax.

All to lose to 'X' on Friday night (much like 2003). Although, they had to play on Thursday afternoon in 2003.

I'm assuming X plays Friday night to get the best draw.

I don't believe Alberta has won a title east of Toronto?