Blogging hiatus

By now I'm sure that those of you who have followed this blog with any regularity over the time it's been up could guess, given the lack of new content, it's a busy time for myself.

A full class load in my final semester coupled with a new gig at the Edmonton Journal have meant that South Campus Sports has been neglected.

While I plan on getting back in the swing of things here, the next month may be very sparse in terms of new content. Hopefully I'll be able to kick this blog back into high gear in the not too distant future, but for now the blog will largely be put on ice.

Thanks for all the reads in the past and I hope to be back in the swing of things at some point.

Huskies' slip sets up true showdown for first

For those of you who are college football fans, you witnessed last night the game dubbed the 'game of the century' when Alabama-LSU battled for the second time this season, but this time around with the national championship on the line. We all know how that one wound up, exposing that yet again the hype around a game is often times more intriguing than the actual result.

That being said, I'm going to hype this weekend's Alberta-Saskatchewan series in Toon Town with the full understanding it could be a dud, but don't expect that from these two teams.

Thanks to Saskatchewan's surprising loss Saturday night against the Lethbridge Pronghorns on the heels of a four point night Friday — albeit in more dramatic fashion than expected — the Huskies head into their series agains the Bears tied atop the table instead of in sole possession of first place with both teams sporting 13-3-2 records.

Those two points the Sled Dogs let slip away could very well come back to haunt them when the regular season is said and done. It also magnifies the importance of this weekend in terms of the standings as well as tie-breakers. Both teams have a win in the season series, with one coming via OT (AB) and another in a SO (SK).

To add to the intrigue surrounding this series is that both teams come into the weekend inside the national top 10 at number-four (AB) and number-five (SK) respectively.

Both games will also be played this weekend at the Credit Union Centre instead of the dingy confines of Rutherford Rink, meaning the Huskies could make some coin off the crucial series. That being said, I think the change of scenery will actually help Alberta given Rutherford is a miserable place to venture to on so many levels especially for opposing teams.

Playing at a virtual neutral site, this weekend will truly show us which one of these teams is the better hockey squad at this point of the season and setup a race to the finish for first place.

New year welcomes new names to the fold

With 2012 now here and the second half of the Canada West season just days away there will be a few new faces in the lineup this weekend for several schools, as they prepare to make a push to the playoffs.

With the race for first in the conference extremely tight between Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba a midseason addition could prove to be the difference between a first round bye and an extra playoff series. The Huskies and Golden Bears both added some talent up front over the break, while the Bisons stood pat. Fourth-place Calgary also added some new talent to the mix in the hope that they'll be able to put a mediocre first half of the season in the rearview mirror and make strides.

Here's a look at those key additions for Saskatchewan, Alberta and Calgary.

SASKATCHEWAN

The Huskies have added Kindersley product Shayne Neigum to the lineup after the forward played the first half of 2011-12 with the Ontario Reign of the ECHL where he had an underwhelming four points in 19 games. Despite those numbers Neigum will be a welcome addition to head coach Dave Adolph's team providing some depth up front.

He's not going to be a major scoring threat for the Sled Dogs based on his junior numbers which were predicated more around girtty, hard work and penalty minutes, as opposed to putting points up. Neigum was fourth in WHL penalty minutes in 2010-11 with 194 playing with Chilliwack, Kamloops and Regina.

The scrappy 5'11 forward had a cup of coffee in the AHL last year as well playing for the New York Islanders affiliate in Bridgeport.

ALBERTA

Head coach Stan Marple and company knew this one was coming from a mile away. After committing to Alberta in the offseason former Red Deer Rebel Brett Ferguson skated with the Bears leading up to his tryout with the Oilers, but after being cut opted to try his luck in the ECHL with the understanding he would be welcome back to the Green and Gold at the half depending on his pro stint. Academics also played a role in Ferguson's decision to play pro in the first half based on some university credit he had already achieved during his WHL days.

Fast forward and Ferguson's two points in 15 games with Utah led the Vibank, SK native to decide and come back to Alberta and continue his hockey career while working towards a degree. He will be a welcome addition to an Alberta team that didn't get some of the offence they had hoped for from some of their rookies.

I heard some people say during the first half that if Ferguson joined the team for January he'd put the Bears over the top. While I'm not sure about that, he certainly adds a player who can play up and down the lineup, making them a better team now than they were when the first half wrapped up in early December.

CALGARY

The Dinos have added a pair of players to the mix to erase their underwhelming first half that looked like — if there is such a thing — almost championship hangover. Last season was a breakout campaign in the Stampede City with the program's return to the national stage, but the first half of this season has been a letdown after that stellar campaign that ended in Fredericton. The additions of Kevin King and Spencer Edwards to the Dinos lineup, however, could be the spark this club needs.

King comes home to Calgary after a very good junior career that he followed up with a brief, yet successful pro experiment with Syracuse (AHL) and Elmira (ECHL) to start 2011-12. The 6'1 forward played all five of his WHL seasons in Kootenay with the Ice where he had three 50+ point seasons including a career high 33 goal, 43 assist campaign last year.

He also carries with him a playoff pedigree after a march to the Memorial Cup last season in which he notched 16 points in 19 playoff games. He can play, and he can produce meaning he'll be an indispensable part of the Dinos from the get-go if they hope to close the gap in the standings.

Spencer Edwards also joins the Dinos after a pro trip to start this season. Edwards played briefly with the Allen Americans of the CHL before heading to Calgary. He has a groin injury that is going to hold him out of the lineup for the time being, and may mean his Dinos debut comes in the fall, as opposed to this season. The Coquitlam, BC product had a strong 20-year-old season in 2010-11 with Moose Jaw where he posted 66 points in 63 games. I'm not sure Edwards will be a top six forward right away in Calgary given his injury, but he certainly will be a useful player for head coach Mark Howell down the road.

Ryan's Austrian experience stellar so far

With the World Junior tournament about to take over the cities of Edmonton and Calgary (and my life covering it for the Edmonton Journal), in the spirit of international hockey I thought it was worth taking note of a great season so far for a former Canada West MVP.

Derek Ryan, who led the conference in scoring last season with 47 points, has been tremendous thus far for Székesfehérvár in the Austrian league. Through 30 games this season for the league's lone Hungarian based team, Ryan has 21 goals to go along with 15 assists. His 36 points are good for 5th in the league.

While it should come as little surprise that Ryan has adjusted well to the European game given his offensive talent and skating ability, it's still unexpected to see it translate into the point totals that rival veteran North Americans playing in Austria this early into his career (three of the four players ahead of Ryan in league scoring have at least significant playing experience in the AHL, with two of those three having NHL experience).

With Ryan inside the top five in league scoring at this point of the season playing under Kevin Primeau, it illustrates that the potential he showed at the U of A to be a successful professional player — especially in Europe — was in fact achievable, and has Ryan positioned as the league's top rookie.

The former Spokane Chief was one of those players who consistently got better over his university career, and has reached a new level in Europe making it hard to debate the fact that his departure after four years was indeed the right decision.

Week 9 wrap: Huskies, Bisons best of the first half

So far this season it's no surprise who the top four teams are, but to say there's been no intrigue over the first half of the Canada West season would be a mistake.

Sure, the fact that Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and Calgary are 1-2-3-4 in the conference isn't a shock and just which teams are the best of the conference is foggy given the up and down season we've seen so far. That being said a pair of teams have shown me enough this season to anoint them the cream of the Canada West crop, even if one of them isn't inside the top two.

DaSilva-less Huskies have been as advertised

For the people out there that think no matter how detrimental a player's attitude and habits are to a team, if they have talent they'll make you better team, you are wrong. Look no further than the Saskatchewan Huskies who without Steven DaSilva this year have been a far better team.

DaSilva was one of the most talented players in the conference last year regardless of what his stats said. That last sentence in itself should explain why Saskatchewan is better this season. It was clear last year that the Huskies weren't reaching their potential and DaSilva was a microcosm of that.

Call it a culture shift, a better locker room dynamic, or whatever you want, but regardless this season has been about getting back to basics for the Huskies who are riding players like Kyle Ross and Derek Hulak who are the entire package — skill and leadership.

Coach Dave Adolph will be the coach of the year this season barring an epic collapse in the second half thanks to the Huskies renaissance of sorts. He along with the leadership of the Huskies have been able to change the vibe around Saskatchewan from that of a quasi country club to one where effort and excellence are once again expected and rewarded.

While I don't think the process has played itself out fully in Saskatoon — we'll know the final result in the coming years when the Sled Dogs host nationals — it's been good to see Saskatchewan make gains in the standings so far this season thanks in no small way to the subtractions they made in the offseason.

Bisons better against the best

I touched on this stat over at the CIS Blog, but it's worth further analysis. Manitoba is 6-2-2 this season against last year's playoff teams. That record is far and away the best in the conference, just take a look at the other three teams from last year's playoffs head-to-head combined records:

Saskatchewan vs. AB, MB, CGY: 3-2-1
Alberta vs. SK, MB, CGY: 3-3-2
Calgary vs. SK, AB, MB: 4-4-0

From those numbers it's hard to deny Manitoba has been the best, against the best this season. That is why through the first half of the season I think it's safe to say this Bisons team is the second best team in the conference. From top to bottom Manitoba has used balanced scoring, solid goaltending and a strong defence core anchored by the likes of Jeremy Schappert and Dane Crowley to get the job done.

The Bisons have also been able to weather the storm without Steve Christie in goal, as Joe Caligiuri and Jess Deckert — to my surprise — have been just as good as virtually any goalie in the league this season save for Real Cyr.

Having seen Alberta play the most this season perhaps I've been privy to witnessing first hand their flaws more than the Bisons, but overall I think Manitoba has proven through their strong resume against Canada West's best that they hold a slight edge over the Bears for the second best team in the conference so far.

Week 8 wrap: Late, sans scoreboard

Sorry there blogosphere, but this post is going to be brief and as opposed to looking back on what was another topsy, turvy weekend in the conference, I'll be looking ahead to this weekend's matchups.

Here's a few thoughts for the final regular season weekend of November, and the second to last before the end of the first half.

Dinos can finish on a high

This weekend marks the final regular season series for Calgary in 2011, and that means the Dinos have a longtime until their next conference game - January 6th to be exact. This team has been an enigma wrapped in shiny new jerseys (anyone else like the Dinos new duds this season?).

To say it's been an up and down first half would be an understatement, although, as their record indicates it's been more up than down. Over the last five weekends this team seems to have hit their stride, and in fact have been the best team in the conference going 8-2-0 in their last 10. Even if Calgary can manage a split this weekend against Manitoba they should feel good about where they are heading into the break.

UBC needs to solve Saskatchewan

The Thunderbirds have struggled against the Huskies over the last three seasons. Saskatchewan is an impressive 11-1-0 against UBC over that stretch during the regular season, and UBC will be in tough to turn that around this weekend at Rutherford Rink.

The Huskies are coming off losses last weekend to Calgary and should be recharged heading into their second to last weekend of the first half.

At this point there are only a handful of T-Birds that have ever tasted success against Saskatchewan, meaning the Huskies have the psychological edge heading into the weekend. UBC, however, has been tough all season long and could be in for a rare regular season win against the Sled Dogs.

Cyr top of the CW crease class

It's been a surprising season for Real Cyr. He's tops in conference GAA (1.22) and SV% (.949) and has played the best hockey of his U of A career this first, and arguably his entire career. Whether or not he gets both starts in Regina this weekend remains to be seen, but expect him to get at least one of the two starts against the Cougars.

I'll have more on Cyr this Friday in the Edmonton Journal.

Week 7 wrap: Time for Tait in Lethbridge

It's never easy for a coach to toss aside a beloved veteran in favour for some fresh blood, but it's looking more and more like that needs to happen when it comes to the goaltending situation in Lethbridge.

The Pronghorns have struggled this season to put it mildly, sitting with only five points 11 2/3 games, and while it's never one single players fault, the numbers don't look kindly on Scott Bowles performance in goal. This past Friday it took Manitoba exactly 5:27 and 11 shots to get four goals past the fifth-year netminder before he gave way for rookie Dylan Tait.

Having not watched the game I can't put a number on how many of those goals were 'bad', but the numbers point to Bowles' play being a major factor in the 'Horns struggles overall. He's last in conference GAA at just over 4, and has a SV% of .883. Those numbers simply won't cut it.

It's a tough position for head coach Greg Gatto who I know has the utmost respect for Bowles and realizes that the goalie has been a warrior in goal during his days in Lethbridge where he gets peppered with more than his fair share of shots. That being said, it's time to give the rookie Tait a chance to play regularly, especially at this stage when it's tough to say that Bowles gives the Pronghorns the best chance to win.

It's evident Gatto wants to give Bowles every chance possible to get some confidence back given Bowles got the start Saturday against Manitoba after his disastrous start a night earlier, but the opportunity for a vet to find some confidence shouldn't come at the expense of the team.

Tait is most likely the goalie of the future unless Gatto snags a big recruit in goal, and while I'm not advocating for Bowles to never see the crease again this season, at the very least let Tait - who in three games has a 1.44 GAA and stellar .963 SV% - play half the games the rest of the way and then come playoff time, if Lethbridge gets that far, decide whether or not Bowles is the man.

It's a tough call to make given what Bowles has meant to that team, but it's time to change things up for the 'Horns by giving Tait a regular chance to show what he has.