Box Score
CALGARY – Connor Bouchard's overtime winner gave the Mount Royal University Cougars a 5-4 win over the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in a heated rematch of the 2025 Canada West men's hockey championship on Friday night at Flames Community Arena.

Huskies' forward Liam Keeler nearly opened the scoring for the visiting team but was robbed by the glove of Shane Farkas point blank.

Farkas was playing in just his third game of the season but was fantastic between the pipes for MRU. He made 27 saves on Friday.

Shortly after Keeler's high danger chance, Mount Royal headed to the powerplay with former Cougar centreman Ethan Regnier headed off for a high sticking minor. 

Breaking into the Saskatchewan zone, Bouchard fed a phenomenal pass to Spencer Moe who was cutting hard to the crease. Moe received the pass in stride and  made an even better deke, beating Huskies' netminder Jordan Kooy on the backhand.

Moe and Bouchard have developed seamless chemistry on the ice, putting it on full display early in the contest. 

"We communicate really well with each other," said Bouchard on his linemate, Moe. "I love playing with him – who wouldn't want to play with him?"

Later in the opening period, Mount Royal was penalized severely for a controversial hit. Justin Lies was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a check from behind. 

Already without top point producers Josh Tarzwell and Teague Patton due to injury, losing Lies put an even bigger dent in the Cougars' offensive firepower. 

Just seven seconds into the five-minute man-advantage, the Huskies tied the game at one. Chantz Petruic found Dawson Holt wide open and the doorstep of the net for a casual tap in where Farkas had no chance of stopping it.

The rest of the major penalty was negated by a high-sticking double minor committed by Raphael Pelletier, who caught MRU blueliner Clay Hanus up high in a scary incident. Fortunately, Hanus was able to stay in the game after a quick trip to the trainer's room. 

After heading into the intermission tied at one, the Cougars regained their lead a few minutes into the second. Blake Stevenson extended his goal streak to six games and tied his career high of 10 with a shot in close that beat Kooy five-hole.

The Huskies found an equalizer yet again midway through the period. Ethan Regnier scored on his own rebound for his first of the season.

With under four minutes in the second, Regnier struck again to take their first lead of the game. A wild scramble in front caused traffic in front of Farkas to lose sight of the puck and Regnier whacked it in. 

Immediately after the goal, a scrum ensured that made it four-on-four. With more room on the ice, Connor Bouchard went to work – skating end to end and scoring a beautiful individual goal to tie it at three just 30 seconds after Saskatchewan took the lead. 

The Canada West championship rematch headed into the final 20 minutes still looking for one team to take firm control of the contest.

Mount Royal got an early powerplay and took advantage. Jayden Wiens swung around the Huskies' net to find Cougars captain Kyle Walker drifting in from the point. Walker quickly fired a one timer, finding the top corner before Jordan Kooy could react.

Unsurprisingly, the game was tied once again two minutes later. Former Calgary Flames draft pick Cole Jordan let a laser go from the point, beating Shane Farkas clean blocker side.

With the clock trickling down, Vaughn Watterodt broke away for a chance to score and give the Cougars the win in regulation. Kooy stopped Watterodt at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.

In sudden death three-on-three, the Huskies and Cougars traded chances. 

Halfway through overtime, Kooy made one of the best saves of the season, sprawling across his crease to make a paddle save and rob Bouchard of the winner. 

But just a few seconds later, Bouchard got his revenge. The Cougars top-line forward entered the zone dishing it to Moe who deked around the Huskies defenceman before feeding it back to Bouchard who shot it into the open net, winning the game for Mount Royal.

"[Kooy] made an unreal save on the first one and almost had me on the second one again," said Bouchard. "But again, what a play by [Spencer Moe], he was a stud today."

One of the best games the Canada West has seen all season, which should be expected for two of the best teams in the country. 

"That's Canada West hockey for you. There's a reason we have the first, second, third and fourth ranked teams in U SPORTS. I'm proud of how we played tonight," said Bouchard.

The two juggernauts will face off again on Saturday night at Flames Community Arena. Puck drop is set for 5 p.m. MST.