Battle-tested Griffins at the top of their game as they face stingy, speedy, hard-working Dinos in first round

Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – While the sum total of the Canada West playoff experience that MacEwan men's hockey veterans have is only five games over the past two seasons, they know full well what it means to be battle-tested.

Was there a more rugged series in the conference last year than MacEwan's three-game set against UBC in the opening round?

"I could tell you firsthand, my body has never felt worse in my life," said Griffins captain Sam Simard of a series that had it all, featuring a heroic OT winner, massive hits, great saves, multiple blocked shots, at least one suspension and a parade of penalties before the Thunderbirds outlasted MacEwan 2-1 by narrowly winning the deciding game 4-3. 

"To have had the opportunity to play in a three-game series last year against a big, physical, super skilled team in UBC, if it were to go three games (this weekend), we kind of know what it's going to take and we kind of know how it's going to feel. Then it just becomes mind over everything."

OT MAGIC!
Loeden Schaufler makes history, scoring the overtime winner to lift the @MacEwanGriffins to their first @USPORTS_Hockey playoff win - 3-2 over the defending @CanadaWest champion @ubctbirds in Game 1 of their QF series in #YVR. #GriffNation pic.twitter.com/lVvR7s7ldb

— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) February 22, 2025

Simard and the Griffins have earned the right to host a Canada West playoff series for the first time after finishing second in the West Division at 12-11-3-2. They'll host East Division No. 3 Calgary (19-8-0-1) in a best-of-three quarter-final series on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, if necessary (all 7 p.m., Downtown Community Arena, Canada West TV).

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MacEwan clinched home ice advantage with a huge 6-2 win over cross-town rival Alberta last Friday at Clare Drake Arena – a game that showed them at their best. 

"Every part of our game is clicking right now," said Simard, who matched a program record with four points that night. "That game at U of A, we scored two powerplay goals, we scored five on five and our penalty kill was great.

"Our game feels really complete as a team."

That's fed into a week of extremely high-tempo practices with lots of smiles as players love the routine of staying at home.

"This week has been great for us," said Griffins head coach Zack Dailey. "They don't have any classes, so they've been able to get a little bit of rest that way. We've been practising in the morning still and they've had most of the day to relax. 

"Being at home and being able to do a routine that you're comfortable with is always a good thing."

Logan Dowhaniuk throws a check on Calgary's Brendan Lee during their Oct. 31 meeting at the DCA (James Maclennan photo).

They're going to need everything they have to knock off the Dinos, a team that finished 10 points ahead of them in the standings but were forced to play on the road for the post-season when they ended up three points behind division leader Mount Royal and one back of second-place Saskatchewan.

The Griffins and Dinos met twice during the regular season with Calgary winning 5-3 in Edmonton on Oct. 31 and 4-1 in the rematch in #YYC on Nov. 1. They've never met in the Canada West playoffs before.

"They're a very good defensive team," said Dailey of the Dinos' 67 goals against in 28 regular season games – tied for tops in the conference. "They have the best penalty kill in the league (83.6%) and second-best powerplay (30.0%). So, if we want to be successful, we're going to have to stay out of the box. That's probably the biggest thing. 

"We just need to make sure we're patient offensively. Any time we're playing a good defensive team, it's easy to get frustrated and start throwing pucks blind, trying to create offence when there's nothing there. So, we just have to stay patient, spend time in their O-zone and get pucks and bodies to the net."

Kadyn Chabot tangles with Calgary's Hayden Pakkala in an Oct. 31 meeting (James Maclennan photo).

Simard noted the Griffins' focus has been locked in for the last month trying to finish second in the division so they could host. Now that they've accomplished that goal, they've shifted to a new one this week.

"In doing that, we're super proud of ourselves and what we accomplished, but our biggest focus and biggest mindset shift is our goal this year wasn't to finish second place in our division, our goal is to win," said Simard. "We're all confident that we can win. So, that's what we're shifting to. 

"We're glad that part of our accomplishment is done, but now our shift is to Calgary and what we can do to beat them. They're obviously a phenomenal team, but we know if we play the way we have been playing and can play when we're at the best of our ability, not many teams can stick with it."

The Griffins had a more potent five-on-five offence than the Dinos did this season (averaging 2.64 goals/game at even strength, compared to Calgary's 2.25) and are coming off a 66-shot performance against Trinity Western earlier this month - tied for the third most in a Canada West game by anyone over the last 25 seasons.

M��| RECAP
Firing a program record 66 shots - tied for the 3rd-highest total in a @CanadaWest game over the last 25 seasons - @GriffinsMHKY routs the @TWUSpartans 6-1 and moves three points up on @GBHKY in bid for home playoff series.#GriffNation

STORY➡️https://t.co/N7C7arUfZN pic.twitter.com/rV68MFALw8

— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) February 8, 2026

Balancing that lethal attack is the fact Dinos' goaltenders Carl Tetachuk and Carl Stankowski ranked 1-2 in the conference in save percentage.

"Calgary is already an unbelievable team defensively and in playoffs goals are five times harder to come by," said Simard, one of the guys who make a living taking hacks and whacks standing in Ryan Smyth's office in front of the opposing goaltender. 

"The pretty ones aren't going to be the ones that are going to win it. The one where you're standing in front of the net, getting cross-checked three times and it goes off your shinpad and in – those kind of plays. Those hard nitty-gritty, in the grease area – those kind of plays are going to be what separates the wins and losses this weekend."

And that's exactly in the wheelhouse of a Griffins team who are well versed in how many icepacks it takes to compete in the Canada West playoffs.