Big weekend for Cougars

It’s a rivalry steeped in over 40 years of history.

On one side, you have the Mount Royal Cougars men’s hockey team, 12-time and defending ACAC Champions. On the other side, the SAIT Trojans, 11-time provincial champions and the team Mount Royal defeated in March of this year to capture the crown.

And now, after eight long months, the rivalry is set to be renewed.

This Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18 and 19, the Cougars and Trojans will face off for the first time this season in a home-and-home series. SAIT hosts the opener Friday at 7 p.m. while the Cougars host the return bout the following night at 7:30 p.m. at Flames Community Arenas.

“I’ve had this one circled on my calendar since the schedule came out,” admitted Mount Royal Captain Darnell Glass. “This one isn’t going to be hard to get up for.”

Both teams are neck and neck going into these games. Mount Royal (10-0-2) holds a three-point lead on SAIT (9-2, one loss in overtime), with the Trojans having one game in hand. The Cougars have scored 56 goals (second in the ACAC) and yielded only 19 (first) while SAIT has netted 55 goals (third) and given up only 20 (second).

SAIT owns the league’s best penalty killing record and second-best powerplay, while the Cougars are second and seventh respectively in those areas.

“We know special teams are going to be huge and discipline is going to be a factor,” said Glass.”But we also know these games are going to be really intense, and we’re going to have to go out and battle and leave it all out on the ice.”

Glass said despite the Cougars being the defending ACAC title holders, his team sees these as statement games.

“We want to go out and prove that last year wasn’t a fluke, and that we deserved to win,” said Glass.

SAIT head coach Ken Babey is taking more of a reserved approach to this weekend.

Babey, now in his 25th season as the Trojans’ bench boss, said while he isn’t giving these games extra credence because of what happened last season, he is looking forward to renewing the rivalry and seeing how his troops compete against the league’s best team.

“I think this is going to be a really good measure of where we are as a team,” said Babey. “We know Mount Royal is going to provide a strong challenge.”

Babey was quick to assert that losing the final to Mount Royal last year is not a motivating factor for his team this year. In fact, with “12 or 13” new players on the Trojans, many of them weren’t with the squad then. Instead, Babey contests, the Trojans are motivated by the rivalry itself.

“The rivalry really motivates itself. Both teams have players that grew up in Calgary and played minor or junior hockey against each other, so it’s been there for a long time with some of them,” said Babey

“Last year is last year and we came up a little short. It’s a new season and an old rivalry,” he said.

Games are always free for Mount Royal students and staff at Flames Community Arenas.

Saturday’s game also welcomes international students from around the globe, as the Cougars pair up with the department of International Education, celebrating International Education Week!

If you aren’t able to join us at the rink, check out the game online at:

http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/mtroyal.portal#