Men's Hockey 2/19/2022 10:30:00 PM Lauren Zandee

MHCKY: Cougars clinch Canada West quarter-final playoff position

For the seventh consecutive season, the men's hockey team has clinched a spot in the Canada West Playoffs.

Finishing third overall in Canada West conference standings with a 13-6-1 record and 27 points, the men's hockey team will host the University of Regina Cougars in the Canada West quarter-finals. The games will be played in a best-of-three series on February 25, 26 and if necessary February 27. All men's quarter-final games will begin at 7 p.m. MT at Flames Community Arena.

Tickets for the men's hockey games can be purchased here.

It's been a tight race in the Canada West men's hockey standings with Mount Royal, the University of British Columbia, University of Saskatchewan and University of Calgary all within a three-point span of one another. But, the Cougars were able to hang on to a third-place finish thanks to the power line of forwards Nolan Yaremko, Riley Sawchuk and Brad Kennedy. All three players are listed within Canada West's top five scorers with 39 points (19G, 20A), 38 points (15G, 23A) and 22 points (9G, 13A); respectively.

With captain Tyson Helgesen commanding the blue line, the defensive core has also proved valuable in supporting the back end, finishing second overall on the penalty kill, stopping 85.7 per cent of power-play shots from opponents over the season.

Riley Morris has been the men's star in net during the regular season earning a 11-3-1 record in 16 games, 3.03 goals-against average, .893 save percentage and two shutouts. The Cougars will look to Morris to continue stabilizing the defensive group and tighten up the GAA versus their opponents.

In the final week of regular season play the Cougars were named to the U SPORTS Top 10 Rankings with their highest rating overall this season with a third-place position. The team received five top 10 ranking positions overall ranging from 10th to third throughout the year.

Members of the men's hockey team have also received recognition through the Mount Royal Athletes of the Week presented by Players Bench program, the Canada West Men's Hockey Player of the Week award and U SPORTS Male Athlete of the Week award.

Date / Player	MRU Athlete of the Week Award	Canada West Men's Hockey Player of the Week Award	U SPORTS Male Athlete of the Week Award
Oct. 21 Riley Sawchuk	X	X	X
Nov. 11 Ryley Lindgren	X
Nov. 18 Nolan Yaremko	X	X
Jan. 28 Ethan Regnier	X	X
Feb. 4 Nolan Yaremko	X	X
Feb. 11 Riley Sawchuk	X	X

In 2019, the Cougars faced off against the UBC Thunderbirds in their CW quarter-final matchup resulting in a three-game series. After losing game one to the Thunderbirds 4-2, the Cougars fought back in game two winning 5-3, forcing a third game that led to a overtime defeat of 5-4.

With a different opponent on table in the Regina Cougars, the Mount Royal Cougars will look for a different fate in this quarter-final series. Earlier in January, Mount Royal hosted Regina for a two-game home series, sweeping the weekend. Friday, Jan. 21's game was a hard-hitting, last-minute comeback at Flames Community Arena resulting in a 4-3 win for MRU followed by a steady performance on Saturday, Jan. 22 that earned Mount Royal a 5-1 win.

Although Regina finished in sixth place in CW standings, their 10-9-1 record in 20 games really only puts them behind Mount Royal by one two-game series loss, proving they shouldn't be taken lightly. Forward Turner Ripplinger 19 points (8G, 11A), defenceman Brennan Riddle 18 points (6G-12A) and netminder Brandon Holtby who holds a 7-6-1 record in 14 games, 2.75 GAA and .913 save percentage are threats on all sides of Regina's game that MRU will need to be on the look out for.

Don't miss a minute of playoff action as the first game of the series kicks off on Friday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. at Flames Community Arena. Skip the line and purchase your tickets in advance here.

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Players Mentioned

#3 Tyson Helgesen: Defence; 6' 3"; Second Year

#18 Brad Kennedy: Forward; 6' 2"; Third Year

#17 Ryley Lindgren: Forward; 6' 0"; Second Year

#33 Riley Morris: Goalie; 5' 10"; Second Year

#23 Nolan Yaremko: Forward; 6' 1"; First Year

#9 Ethan Regnier: Forward; 5' 9"; First Year

#13 Riley Sawchuk: Forward; 5' 11"; Second Year

Players Mentioned

#3 Tyson Helgesen
: 6' 3"; Second Year
: Defence

#18 Brad Kennedy
: 6' 2"; Third Year
: Forward

#17 Ryley Lindgren
: 6' 0"; Second Year
: Forward

#33 Riley Morris
: 5' 10"; Second Year
: Goalie

#23 Nolan Yaremko
: 6' 1"; First Year
: Forward

#9 Ethan Regnier
: 5' 9"; First Year
: Forward

#13 Riley Sawchuk
: 5' 11"; Second Year
: Forward