The #6 Bison women's hockey team continues the 2016-17 Canada West conference season by hosting the Alberta Pandas on November 18-19 weekend at the Wayne Fleming Arena (U of M Fort Garry campus). Puck drop versus the Pandas will be 7 p.m. CT on Friday and 1 p.m. CT on Saturday. Tickets available at the Arena door.

The Bisons look to extend win streak at home in 2016-17 conference play. Manitoba is 3-0-1-0 so far at Wayne Fleming Arena (W 5-1 vs. Reg. on Oct. 20/16; W 7-1 vs. Reg. on Oct. 21/16; OTW 1-0 vs. Cgy. on Nov. 4/16; W 5-0 vs. Cgy. on Nov. 5/16).

Heading into the two game weekend series, Manitoba sits in second place in the Canada West standings entering the weekend with a 7-2-1-0 record for 23 points (three points given out for regulation win) and only two points out of first spot held by UBC. The Bisons have won four of last six consecutive conference games. Alberta is fifth in the eight team conference as they hold a 2-3-2-3 record for 13 points and lost two of last three games.

This is the first weekend series between the two teams this season. In 2015-16, the Herd went 1-3 against the Pandas (W 2-1 on Oct. 3/15 and L 4-0 on Oct. 4/15 at home; L 2-0 on Jan. 8/16 and L 3-0 on Jan. 9/16 on the road).

Manitoba and Alberta have five players in the Canada West Top 10 scoring. For the Bisons, third year forward Lauryn Keen is tied for second with 11 points (five goals, six assists), third year forward Alanna Sharman (4g, 4a), fourth year forward Alana Serhan (4g, 4a) along with third year defenceman Erica Rieder (3g, 5a) are tied for sixth. For Alberta, Amy Boucher (5g, 4a) is fifth with nine points.

In the nets, Bison fourth year netminder Rachel Dyck has played in seven conference regular season games and in first place in Goals Against Average with 1.23, first in Save Percentage at .944, tied for first with five conference wins and first with three shutouts. Bison fourth year goalie Amanda Schubert is second with 1.43 GAA, seventh with .919 Save Pct., third with three conference wins and tied for fourth with one shutout.

Bison Notes: Bison second year (third year eligibility) forward Venla Hovi returns from a four game absence as she played for Team Finland in the 4 Nations Cup and scored the winning goal in the bronze medal victory while making her 150th national appearance.
Bison women's team raised almost $5,500 for CancerCare Manitoba in 2016 Female Hockey Fights Cancer during the Nov. 4-5 weekend.