The Mount Royal Cougars have entered uncharted territory.

After defeating the University of Alberta Golden Bears in the Canada West Men's Hockey Semifinal, the Cougars have advanced to the conference championship for the first time in program history. The 2-1 series win over Alberta also secured MRU a spot at the 2025 University Cup in Ottawa later in March.

But before the Cougars start to think about the national championship, they turn their attention to the Canada West Final as they visit the regular season champions, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

The Huskies finished the 2024-25 campaign with the most points in the league (46), putting up a 23-5-0 record. The regular season was the Huskies' best since 2018-19 when they also finished first in the conference. Led by newly named Canada West Coach of the Year Brandin Cote, Saskatchewan has been proficient in both the offensive zone and their own end. They recorded the third most goals-for (120) during the season, much in part of fourth-year forward Chantz Petruic who was tied for the league lead in goals with 20. The "Dogs" also allowed the fewest goals of any team in the league with 61. Their stellar defence was thanks to second-year blueliner Landon Koisor along with this season's conference Goaltender of the Year and former NHL draft pick Roddy Ross. The veteran netminder posted league-bests in goals against average (1.99) and save percentage (14).

The Cougars and Huskies played twice this season back in October. Each team picked up a win with MRU shutting out Saskatchewan on Oct. 25 by a 4-0 score and the Huskies rebounding on Oct. 26 to win 4-3. Both games were played in Saskatoon. Much of the two contests were marred by excessive penalties. The two teams will have to be much more disciplined for this winner-take-all final.

Mount Royal hopes to ride the high of defeating Alberta last weekend into the championship series against Saskatchewan. They'll still be relying on the play of veterans like Robbie Holmes, Connor Bouchard and Kyle Walker, to name a few. In addition to the vets, the semifinal series saw rookies Teague Patton and Vaughn Watterodt step up in big ways. Patton recorded a magnificent assist on Justin Lies' game-winning goal in game three while Watterrodt saw important time on the penalty kill and brought the playoff intensity that he experienced last season while on a postseason run with the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL.

In between the pipes, Shane Farkas was phenomenal for MRU and even though Saskatchewan's Roddy Ross was named goalie of the year, Farkas proved he is right there at the top as well. The goalie battle could shape out to be an all-timer starting this Friday.

Although the Cougars are playing in their first-ever Canada West Final, they could not be more ready for this moment. Head Coach Bert Gilling knew that to make it to the championship series, they would have to get past the Golden Bears because of the long history of success Alberta has had in men's hockey.

Following the game three win last Sunday, Gilling said: "I have a ton of respect for the Golden Bears and their history. I've always said that if and when we break through, it has to go through Alberta." 

Even though Mount Royal has kicked down the wall to advance to the championship series, they are not satisfied and are even more hungry. Winning the semifinal against Alberta was just the first step for the team.

"Our confidence level going into [the final] is fantastic. But I don't want this semifinal win to be the high point of the season," continued Gilling.

The combination of confidence and hunger to win sets the Cougars up well for their toughest challenge yet and the biggest games in program history. They are committed to doing whatever it takes and have all bought into that mentality. All that's left to do is drop the puck.

Canada West Men's Hockey Championship Schedule:

All games are to be played at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon, Sask.

Game 1: Friday, March 7, 2025 at 6 p.m. MST 
Game 2: Saturday, March 8, 2025 at 6 p.m. MST
Game 3 (if necessary): March 9, 2025 at 5 p.m. MST

All the action can be streamed live on Canada West TV – Powered by BioSteel.