Men's Hockey | 10/5/2017 12:26:00 PM
FRIDAY: vs. Saskatchewan, 7 p.m., The Co-operators Centre
SATURDAY: at Saskatchewan, 7 p.m., Rutherford Rink
The 2017-18 Canada West men's hockey season will kick off this weekend as the University of Regina Cougars will face the Saskatchewan Huskies for a home-and-home series.
The Huskies won all four regular season games against the Cougars a season ago but Regina has already fared better this season with a 4-3 pre-season win over Saskatchewan in September. The Cougars also played games against Calgary, St. Cloud State, Minnesota State and two against Manitoba to complete the pre-season schedule.
Big-Time Recruits
The Cougars have brought in a number of highly-touted recruits for the 2017-18 season, highlighted by former Kelowna Rockets goaltender
Michael Herringer. The Courtenay, B.C. product won a WHL championship with the Rockets in 2014-15 season and posted a 71-29-5 record in his WHL career to go along with a .904 save percentage and a 2.88 goals-against average.
Also joining the Cougars are rookies
Zachary Zborosky,
Corwin Stevely,
Ben Duperreault,
Lucas Nagel,
Brandon Holtby and University of Alaska transfer
Jordan Burns.
Fifth-Year Influence
The Cougars boast a strong contingent of fifth-year skaters, as
Cody Fowlie,
Christian Magnus,
Stephen Langford,
Ian McNulty and
Brody Luhning all enter their final seasons of eligibility. Fowlie, who captained the team a season ago and will again, joins McNulty as the team's top two scorers from last season.
In The Crease
Joining Herringer as Regina's last line of defence are rookie
Brandon Holtby and third-year netminder
Dawson MacAuley. Holtby spent the 2016-17 season with the Dauphin Kings of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League and recorded a 3.13 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage. MacAuley made nine appearance for the Cougars a season ago and posted a .871 save percentage.
