2026-27 MANITOBA BISONS/USPORTS

[Hollywood2]

October 23, 2026: BRUCE’S HAT-TRICK LEADS BISONS TO WIN

MANITOBA BISONS 4
ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 2

Links:
➤ Summary: Game Centre ∞ Game Report ∞ Tabbed Boxscore
➤ UofM: Team Website
➤ UofA: Team Website

Quick Summary
Man: S. Bruce (18:46 1st) , S. Bruce (10:03 3rd) , D. Pasternak (12:22 3rd) , S. Bruce (19:04 3rd)
Alta: C. Doherty (02:24 3rd) , A. Thacker (09:15 3rd)
Goal: Man: Holt (20 shots, 18 saves), Alta: Langkow (17 shots, 14 saves)

I was watching this one without sound due to being at a loud night with a bar band. Not to mention the vain attempts to keep updated with the World Series, the CFL, and the out-of-town scoreboard. This was a key win for the Bisons, enabling them to dream of the possibility of hosting a playoff series this year.

Both sides were focussed on playing strong defence. Skylar Bruce scored his first of three goals late in the 1st period, a period in which the Bisons carried the play. Things changed in the 2nd period, however the pressure by the Evil Monkeys never produced any goals. Thus the game was 1-0 Bisons after two periods.

Then came the 3rd period explosion. Colin Doherty scored after two minutes after sustained Monkey pressure. Then the Apes took their first lead of the evening when Alex Thacker scored after nine minutes. Oddly, that go-ahead goal breathed life into the Bisons. Less than a minute passed before Bruce scored his second goal of the game to tie it up. Sustained pressure by the Bisons resulted in a powerplay, where Dawson Pasternak notched the winner. The Monkeys still had almost eight minutes to tie it up, but never looked overly dangerous down the stretch. Bruce’s empty-netter completed his hat-trick and lifted the Bisons to a 3-2-0 record.

Despite the winner coming off a powerplay, each side had just two minor penalties on the night. No game stories have yet been posted by either side.


OUT-OF-TOWN SCOREBOARD

SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 3
REGINA COUGARS 2
(in a shootout)

Links:
➤ Summary: Game Centre
➤ UofS: Team Website
➤ Huskie Fan: Huskies open home and home with shootout win over Cougars
➤ UofR: Team Website

Quick Summary
Sask: R. Rhinehart (06:53 1st) , R. Pelletier (14:50 3rd)
Reg: C. Wirun (19:59 1st) , O. Hanson (05:45 2nd)
Goal: Sask: Maier (24 shots, 22 saves), Reg: Cunningham (40 shots, 38 saves)

The Banjo-Cats came up with another good performance. Could they be the “real thing” at long last? This was a tight game throughout. However, the Banjo-Mutts took control in the 3rd period and overtime, where they outshot the Banjo-Cats 16-5. In this game, even the shootout went to overtime. It took 5 rounds before the Banjo-Mutts won it 2-1. The only game story here comes from Huskie Fan.

CALGARY DINOSAURS 4
MOUNT ROYAL COUGARS 1

Links:
➤ Summary: Game Centre
➤ UofC: Dinos score twice shorthanded to hand Cougars first loss (with boxscore)
➤ MRU: MHKY: Dinos take a commanding victory over Cougars (with boxscore)
➤ YouTube: CBC YouTube Channel

Quick Summary
Calg: J. Poole (10:39 1st) , H. Pakkala (17:32 1st) , L. Hauer (14:55 2nd) , C. Massier (12:26 3rd)
MRU: B. Singleton (15:21 2nd)
Goal: Calg: Tetachuk (35 shots, 34 saves), MRU: Zahara (31 shots, 27 saves)

It appears to me that the CW has “squished” this year, with the leading teams coming back to the pack. With this result, none of the Alberta teams could win three straight to start the season. The Bluegars had an edge in the shots department. However, the powerplays were the turning point. Bedrock U scored two shorthanded goals, plus one on the powerplay. Calgary is now 2-3-0, and MRU falls to 2-1-0. Remember that Saturday’s rematch is available free on CBC Gem and YouTube.

MACEWAN GRIFFINS 4
TRINITY WESTERN SPARTANS 3

Links:
➤ Summary: Game Centre
➤ MacU: Sundar's clutch finishing kick rallies Griffins to 4-3 triumph over Spartans for their first win of 26-27 (with boxscore and video)
➤ TWU: Spartans Battle Macewan at Home (with boxscore)

Quick Summary
MacU: C. Chorney (05:50 1st) , K. Chabot (10:59 2nd) , L. Hughes (17:37 3rd) , E. Sundar (18:19 3rd)
TWU: M. Simchuk (12:25 1st) , A. Knutson (01:35 2nd) , Z. Whittaker (19:07 2nd)
Goal: MacU: Ironside (39 shots, 36 saves), TWU: Audet (35 shots, 31 saves)

Holy Trinity has a hard time holding onto the lead thus far. They surrendered two late goals to blow another lead here, and never even got a point. This is the first win for The Family Guys, who now stand at 1-3-1 for 3 points, one point behind the rest of their division.

These results are beginning to make it look like the Bisons have a knack of being assigned to the better division in the CW’s rotation plan. Division “B” (the Bisons’) now has the first four teams in the overall standings and Division “A” has teams 5th through 8th.


NEXT UP
Sat Oct 24 Regina Saskatchewan 7:00 CST/8:00 CDT
Sat Oct 24 Manitoba Alberta 7:00 MDT/8:00 CDT
Sat Oct 24 Mount Royal Calgary 7:00 MDT/8:00 CDT
Sat Oct 24 MacEwan Trinity Western 7:00 PDT/9:00 CDT
Bye: UBC


OUT EAST

Thu Oct 22 U.Q.T.R. 2 McGill 1
Thu Oct 22 Western Ontario 2 Guelph 5
Thu Oct 22 Laurier 4 Toronto 5 (ot)
Fri Oct 23 Ottawa 5 McGill 4 (ot)
Fri Oct 23 Carleton 2 Nipissing 8
Fri Oct 23 U.Q.T.R. 4 Concordia 2
Fri Oct 23 Waterloo 1 York 3
Fri Oct 23 Toronto Metropolitan 3 Toronto 5
Fri Oct 23 Windsor 4 Lakehead 5 (ot)
Fri Oct 23 R.M.C. 2 Queen's 6
Sat Oct 24 Western Ontario at Brock 2:00 EDT/1:00 CDT
Sat Oct 24 Carleton at Nipissing 4:00 EDT/3:00 CDT
Sat Oct 24 R.M.C. at Ontario Tech 5:00 EDT/4:00 CDT
Sat Oct 24 Windsor at Lakehead 7:00 EDT/6:00 CDT
Sat Oct 24 Toronto Metropolitan at Waterloo 7:00 EDT/6:00 CDT
Sat Oct 24 Laurier at York 7:00 EDT/6:00 CDT
Sat Oct 24 Ottawa at Concordia 7:00 EDT/6:00 CDT

Fri Oct 23 St. F.X. 4 Dalhousie 1
Fri Oct 23 Acadia 3 Moncton 6
Fri Oct 23 Saint Mary's 1 New Brunswick 5
Sat Oct 24 Dalhousie U.P.E.I. 7:00 ADT/5:00 CDT
Sat Oct 24 Saint Mary's Moncton 7:00 ADT/5:00 CDT
Sat Oct 24 Acadia New Brunswick 7:00 ADT/5:00 CDT

Links:
➤ USports: Presto Schedule & Results
➤ OUA Hockey Tech: Daily Schedule
➤ AUS: Schedule & Results


OUT WEST

Fri Oct 23 N.A.I.T. 6 Concordia-Edmonton 2
Fri Oct 23 Portage College 3 UA-Augustana 6
Fri Oct 23 Red Deer Poly 2 Briercrest College 4 (ot)
Sat Oct 24 Red Deer Poly at Briercrest College 2:00 MDT/3:00 CDT
Sat Oct 24 UA-Augustana at Portage College 7:00 MDT/8:00 CDT
Sat Oct 24 N.A.I.T. at Concordia-Edmonton 7:00 MDT/8:00 CDT

Fri Oct 23 Vancouver Island 8 Simon Fraser 4
Fri Oct 23 Okanagan 6 Thompson Rivers 4
Sat Oct 24 Vancouver Island at Okanagan 5:45 PDT/7:45 CDT

Links:
➤ ACAC: Schedule & Results
➤ BCIHL: Schedule & Results : YouTube

 

[Hollywood2]

October 24, 2026: BISONS SWEEP THE MONKEYS

MANITOBA BISONS 5
ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS 2

Links:
➤ Summary: Game Centre ∞ Game Report ∞ Tabbed Boxscore
➤ UofM: Team Website
➤ UofA (preview): Bears & Pandas Weekly Preview - October 19, 2026
➤ UofA (Friday late): Bruce’s hat trick lifts Bisons past Golden Bears (with boxscore)

Quick Summary
Man: C. Zaplitny (08:41 1st) , E. Pastro (04:13 2nd) , S. Bruce (07:22 2nd) , E. Alarie (08:21 2nd) , L. Brennan (09:58 3rd)
Alta: G. Tkach (01:27 2nd) , S. Popowich (06:35 3rd)
Goal: Man: Kieper (27 shots, 25 saves), Alta: Langkow (27 shots, 22 saves)

As I post, the Saturday game stories have not been posted. However, the Evil Monkeys posted the Friday game story on Saturday. They got both sides’ records wrong in that story. They stated Alberta fell to 1-2 and Manitoba improved to 2-3.

Turning to Saturday’s game, the shot totals were deceptive. The Evil Monkeys pulled even due to outshooting the Bisons 12-4 in the 3rd period, when they trailed 4-1 and the Bisons seemed to be running oout the clock. Once Alberta reduced the margin to 4-2, the Bisons woke up. I believe that when Lucas Brennan scored mid-period, it was their first shot. Skyler Bruce scored his 5th of the season (and 4th of the weekend), Caden Zaplitny scored his 2nd, and Erik Pastro, Eric Alarie, and Brennan all recorded their 1st.

Unofficially, this is the first weekend sweep for the Bisons away to Alberta. They have had back-to-back wins on separate weekends.

Also, I should point out that the goaltending rotation continued. Matthew Kieper and Braden Holt are now both 2-1-0. Kieper’s save percentage is .933 and Holt’s is .922. While NHL save percentages are going down, the top ten goalies in the CW are now .900 or better.


OUT-OF-TOWN SCOREBOARD

MACEWAN GRIFFINS 6
TRINITY WESTERN SPARTANS 3

Links:
➤ Summary: Game Centre
➤ MacU: Team Website
➤ TWU: Team Website

Quick Summary
MacU: M. Gauld (06:05 1st) , E. Sundar (08:25 1st) , Z. Coutu (19:19 1st) , K. Chabot (05:21 3rd) , E. Sundar (14:04 3rd) , T. Kowaluk (17:25 3rd)
TWU: M. Simchuk (04:38 3rd) , D. Korzhyletskyi (09:11 3rd) , C. Schmidt (12:13 3rd)
Goal: MacU: Onyskiw (34 shots, 31 saves), TWU: Savage (12 shots, 12 saves), Bacovsky (17 shots, 14 saves)

The start times of two games changed without me noticing, including this one. The Hockey Tech stats appear to be wrong. The Spartan goaltenders had a combined 26 saves on 29 shots, yet gave up 6 goals. They also said each TWU goaltender played 20 minutes. Makes no sense to me. Those dang AI robots doing their thing, I guess.

Anyhow, this was a 4-3 game with 6 minutes left. So it was a bit of a misleading scoreline. Anyhow, a loss is a loss for Holy Trinity. Of note, Mikhailo Simchuk scored his 6th goal of the season for the Spartans, to go with 3 assists. Not to mention Aiden Knutson (6 GP, 2 G, 5 A, 7 Pts) and Christian Lowe (6 GP, 0 G, 6 A, 6 Pts). They visit the Bisons next weekend, and those are players I’ll be watching.

MOUNT ROYAL COUGARS 3
CALGARY DINOSAURS 2
(in overtime)

Links:
➤ Summary: Game Centre
➤ MRU: Team Website
➤ UofC: Dinos rally twice but fall to Mount Royal in overtime (with boxscore)

Quick Summary
MRU: V. Watterodt (05:24 1st) , C. Bouchard (15:39 2nd) , L. Feist (03:12 1st OT)
Calg: L. Hauer (14:31 2nd) , B. Lee (18:23 3rd)
Goal: MRU: Zahara (23 shots, 21 saves), Calg: Tetachuk (30 shots, 27 saves)

In a season where rotating goalies is in vogue, Carl Tetachuk has now started 5-out-of-6 for Bedrock U. A split was likely the common forecast in this one, so no surprise here. The Dinos get the satisfaction of a 3-2 “win” on points. I was disappointed when I discovered the change of start times here. It was due to be my post 9:00 p.m. backup game. I might just watch the “on demand” broadcast on Sunday.

REGINA COUGARS 0
SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES 5

Links:
➤ Summary: Game Centre
➤ UofR (Friday late): Cougars push No. 3 Saskatchewan to shootout in 3-2 loss (with boxscore)
➤ UofR (Saturday): Cougars shut out 5-0 by Huskies in Saskatoon (with boxscore)
➤ UofS: Maier’s Shutout, First Period Fireworks Lead Huskies to UPC Win Over Cougars (with boxscore)
➤ Huskie Fan: Men’s Hockey

Quick Summary
Reg: none
Sask: L. Keeler (01:07 1st) , J. Dureau (04:36 1st) , R. Pelletier (15:32 1st) , K. Sorensen (18:41 1st) , C. Bertholet (18:30 3rd)
Goal: Reg: Hawryluk L (19 shots, 15 saves), Cunningham (24 shots, 23 saves), Sask: Maier (19 shots, 19 saves)

After escaping in overtime on Friday, the Banjo-Mutts outshot the Banjo-Cats 19-2 and outscored them 4-0 in the 1st period. From there on in, it was time to coast to victory. Break out the moonshine!


NEXT UP
Fri Oct 30 Trinity Western at Manitoba 7:00 CDT
Fri Oct 30 MacEwan at Calgary 7:00 MDT/8:00 CDT
Fri Oct 30 Alberta at Mount Royal 7:00 MDT/8:00 CDT
Fri Oct 30 Saskatchewan at U.B.C. 7:00 PDT/9:00 CDT
Bye: Regina

STANDINGS

OUT EAST

Sat Oct 24 Western Ontario 4 Brock 3 (so)
Sat Oct 24 Carleton 3 Nipissing 6
Sat Oct 24 R.M.C. 2 Ontario Tech 5
Sat Oct 24 Windsor 3 Lakehead 4 (ot)
Sat Oct 24 Toronto Metropolitan 2 Waterloo 4
Sat Oct 24 Laurier 4 York 1
Sat Oct 24 Ottawa 3 Concordia 1
Thu Oct 29 R.M.C. Ottawa 7:00 EDT/6:00 CDT
Thu Oct 29 Toronto Brock 6:00 EDT/5:00 CDT
Thu Oct 29 Lakehead Toronto Metropolitan 6:15 EDT/5:15 CDT
Thu Oct 29 Western Ontario Laurier 7:00 EDT/6:00 CDT

Sat Oct 24 Dalhousie 2 U.P.E.I. 3 (ot)
Sat Oct 24 Saint Mary's 2 Moncton 3 (ot)
Sat Oct 24 Acadia 4 New Brunswick 6
Wed Oct 28 Acadia Saint Mary's 7:00 ADT/5:00 CDT
Fri Oct 30 St. F.X. New Brunswick 7:00 ADT/5:00 CDT
Fri Oct 30 Dalhousie Moncton 7:00 ADT/5:00 CDT
Fri Oct 30 Acadia U.P.E.I. 7:00 ADT/5:00 CDT

Links:
➤ USports: Presto Schedule & Results
➤ OUA Hockey Tech: Daily Schedule
➤ AUS: Schedule & Results


OUT WEST

Sat Oct 24 Red Deer Poly 3 Briercrest College 2
Sat Oct 24 UA-Augustana 5 Portage College 2
Sat Oct 24 Concordia-Edmonton 4 N.A.I.T. 3
Fri Oct 30 Red Deer Poly at N.A.I.T. 6:00 MDT/7:00 CDT
Fri Oct 30 Concordia-Edmonton at S.A.I.T. 6:30 MDT/7:30 CDT
Fri Oct 30 Briercrest College at UA-Augustana 7:00 MDT/8:00 CDT

Sat Oct 24 Vancouver Island 9 Okanagan 2
Fri Oct 30 Thompson Rivers at Simon Fraser 7:00 PDT/9:00 CDT
Fri Oct 30 Vancouver Island at Victoria 7:30 PDT/9:30 CDT

Links:
➤ ACAC: Schedule & Results
➤ BCIHL: Schedule & Results : YouTube

 

[Hollywood2]

October 25, 2026: SUNDAY MORNING LINKS

Links:
➤ UofM: Bisons complete weekend sweep of Golden Bears (with boxscores on both games)

GoBisons.ca uploaded a story on the weekend as a whole. They are using the panda logo instead of the Evil Monkey logo, however. The UofA has yet to upload an article.

Skyler Bruce carrying the puck during a 4-goal weekend, with Kaycee Coyle in the foreground.

Links:
➤ MacU: Griffins complete weekend sweep of Spartans with offensive explosion in 6-3 triumph (with boxscore and video)

The Family Guys uploaded a game story complete with video highlights of all their goals, as usual. Holy Trinity hasn’t uploaded a thing, despite playing at home. This is unusual for them.

Calgary uploaded a story yesterday, but MRU has nothing but silence.

Links:
➤ Huskie Fan: Huskies dominate Cougars in Saturday night contest

Both Banjo teams uploaded stories yesterday, but Huskie Fan was late. Here is their link. It is the best of the fan sites in USports.

To summarize, we have nothing from Alberta, Trinity, or MRU about their Saturday games.

 

[Hollywood2]

When was the last time the Bisons swept the Bears?

Depends how you look at it. On October 15, 2011, the Bisons won the Friday game 5-4. The Saturday game went into overtime. The Evil Monkeys scored with too many monkeys on the ice, so the goal was called off. Overtime continued, and the Bisons scored the winning goal. However, the Monkeys appealed and the CW gave them the win.

The historical records just go back to 2008 on the Bison website. On CWTV they said Manitoba had consecutive wins in Alberta before, but not on the same weekend.

Links:
➤ Winnipeg Free Press: U of M men’s hockey team at No. 2, despite dispute over win
➤ UofM: History from Jan 4, 2008 - Feb 8, 2020

My posts on those games from back in the day:

October 14, 2011

TIC TAC TOE, THREE IN A ROW!

The game started earlier than I expected so I missed the first period on CanadaWest.tv. At that time the Bisons had built a 2-0 lead on goals by Blair Macaulay and Myles Rumsey, and held a 13-10 edge in SOG. However, they were also two men shorthanded to start the second.

The officiating in the 2nd period was highly questionable. The Bisons started the period two men short and then were assessed a further 12 minutes in minors, a 5 minute major, and three 10 minute misconducts. The Evil Monkeys had a total of four minutes in minors. That means they had about 17 minutes of power play time during the period, often including two minute stretches of a 2-man advantage. On one play a little monkey named Ian Barteuax hacked and pushed at Jered Walker after the whistle. Walker pushed back and Barteaux flew Sedin-like to the ice. Walker got 5 minutes for his efforts.

Yet the Bisons out-scored the Monkeys by 2-1 in the period for a 4-1 lead. Tylet Dittmer scored on a rare even-strength situation. The Monkeys were able to finally score on a PP about 14 minutes in. Then, to rub salt in the wounds, the Bisons got a PP goal from Ian Duval in the final minute.

Joe Caligiuri was doing great work in the Bison goal, and the PK was very effective. However, the team looked tired in the 3rd. The Primates scored three unanswered goals to tie the game. But in the last 90 seconds Dane Crowley made a cross-ice pass to Mike Hellyer who one-timed it into the net for a 5-4 victory.

Saturday's game is also on CanadaWest.tv at 8:00 CDT.

October 15, 2011

HERD COMPLETES GRAND SLAM!

I saw this one on CanadaWest.tv. They had three games on tonight but since they all started at the same time I saw very little of the other two games. The game did not have the mean streak of Friday's game. It was still a well-played hockey game but was basically a normal 1-1 tie. Until the end.

The game went into overtime and the first OT (4 on 4) was scoreless. So they went to the second OT (3 on 3). The Evil Monkeys had two extra Monkeys jump out on the ice when they should have been swinging from a branch. One was fed a pass and before you know it the puck was in the net. But not so fast. The linesmen noticed the skullduggery and pointed it out to the referees. Since linesmen can call too many men, but cannot whistle the play dead, the call had to await the next whistle, which happened when the Primates were celebrating their "goal". After a pow-wow the call was made, a bench minor was called and the goal waived off. On the ensuing powerplay, Blair Macaulay notched his 3rd goal of the year and the Herd had their sweep.

Dane Crowley had Manitoba's first goal. Joe Caligiuri stopped 34 of 35 shots for his 4th straight win. The Bisons gradually too control of the game, and outshot the Monkeys 8-5 in the 3rd period and 8-3 in overtime.

Folks, that's four wins in four games in Saudi Alberta against the top two rated CW teams in the pre-season coaches' poll. The Bisons will only play 10 more away games this season (double-headers in Sask, UBC, Regina, Lethbridge, and Calgary)