At the completion of the 2013-14 Canada West conference regular season, the Manitoba Bisons women's hockey team finished in fourth place in the Canada West standings with a 17-7-4 record for 38 points and now will host the fifth place Regina Cougars (11-13-4) in the Canada West Quarter Final best-of-three playoff series on the February 14-16 weekend.
The best-of-three playoff series commences on Friday, February 14 with a special matinee start of 3 p.m. CT for game one then game two on Saturday, February 15 at 2 p.m. CT and, if necessary, game three will be play on Sunday, February 16 at 2 p.m. CT. All playoff contests will be played at Wayne Fleming Arena at the Max Bell Centre (U of Manitoba campus).
During this season, Manitoba went 3-1-0 against Regina as they swept them at Regina (W 3-2 OT on Jan. 31/14; W 3-2 on Feb. 1/14) and split at home (L 1-0 on Nov. 2/13 and W 5-3 on Nov. 3/13).
This is the first time the Bisons have hosted a playoff series since the 2010-11 season when they captured the Canada West Championship (second in program history). Last season, the Herd played at UBC in the conference quarterfinal series and lost 2-0 in games. In 2011-12, the Bisons did not qualify for the post-season.
Overall in the 17th season of CIS women's hockey, Manitoba has played Regina three times in best-of-three series and won all three on the road by a 2-1 game margin. This is the first time Manitoba will host the Cougars in the playoffs and first time they meet each other in the post-season since the 2006-07 season.
At the end of this conference regular season, there were four Bisons in the Top 10 scoring race. Bison forward Kyleigh Palmer (14 goals, 15 assists) led the team and ended up third in conference scoring with 29 points while forwards Meagan Vestby (8g, 15a) was sixth with 23 points, captain Amy Lee (8g, 14a) was tied for seventh with 22 points and Maggie Litchfield-Medd (9g, 11a) was tied for tenth in Canada West with 20 points. Caitlin MacDonald (6g, 4a) was tied for fifth in conference defenceman scoring with ten points while Alana Serhan (4g, 7a) was tied for third in conference rookie scoring with 11 points. In Canada West Goals Against Average stats, goalies Amanda Schubert (1.78 GAA) was fifth and Dée-Ana Marion (1.93 GAA) was seventh as Shubert won nine games while Marion had eight wins plus both has two shutouts each.
Bison women's hockey - 2014 Canada West Quarter Final series home schedule
Date Game Time Place
Fri, February 14 Game 1: Manitoba vs. Regina 3 p.m. Wayne Fleming Arena
Sat, February 15 Game 2: Manitoba vs. Regina 2 p.m. Wayne Fleming Arena
*Sun, February 16 Game 3: Manitoba vs. Regina 2 p.m. Wayne Fleming Arena
* if necessary
Bison Quarter Final Ticket Prices: $12 adults; $7 student and seniors while children under six are free.
