At the completion of the 2015-16 Canada West conference men's hockey regular season, the Manitoba Bisons finished fourth in the Canada West standings with a 13-13-2 record and now will host the fifth place Calgary Dinos (12-12-4) in the Canada West Quarter Final best-of-three playoff series on the February 19-21 weekend.
The best-of-three playoff series starts on Friday, February 19 with a start time of 7 p.m. CT for game one then game two on Saturday, February 20 at 7 p.m. CT and, if necessary, game three will be play on Sunday, February 21 at 3 p.m. CT. All playoff contests will be played at the Wayne Fleming Arena at the Max Bell Centre.
During this season, Manitoba went 4-0-0 against Calgary as they swept the Dinos at home (W 6-4 on Feb. 5/16; W 5-2 on Feb. 6/16) and road sweep (W 3-1 on Oct. 30/15; W 5-2 on Oct. 31/15). Since the beginning of the second half of the 2015-16 season, the Bisons have gone 6-6-0 and won four of those last six games at home.
In Canada West playoff history between the two teams, Calgary leads 5-1 and Manitoba last two playoff series against Dinos were in 2014 and 2012. Calgary won 2-0 at Manitoba in 2012 and 2-1 at Calgary in 2014 (both were semi-final series).
Last season in the conference playoffs, the Bisons lost 2-1 at UBC on the road in the quarterfinal best-of-three series. Manitoba last won a playoff series was in 2014 at home against Mount Royal with a 2-1 margin in conference quarter-final series.
In conference scoring, Bison third year forward and co-captain Jordan DePape finished in first in Canada West with 41 points (19 goals, 22 assists) and has scored in ten of last 12 regular season games. Third year Bison forward Shaq Merasty was tied for sixth with 30 points (14g, 16a) while first year Brett Stovin was third in rookie scoring with 26 points (12g, 14a) and second year Channing Brescani was tied for fourth in defenceman scoring at 17 points (1g, 16a).
In the nets, first year Bison goaltender Justin Paulic was seventh in conference and second year Bryon Spriggs was tenth in Goals Against Average at 3.22 and 3.51 while Paulic sixth and Spriggs ninth in Save Percentage at .905 and.895. Paulic is fifth with seven conference wins and Spriggs tied for sixth with six.
Bison men's hockey - 2016 Canada West Quarter Final series home schedule
Date Game Time Place
Fri, February 19 Game 1: Manitoba vs. Calgary 7 p.m. CT Wayne Fleming
Sat, February 20 Game 2: Manitoba vs. Calgary 7 p.m. CT Wayne Fleming
*Sun, February 21 Game 3: Manitoba vs. Calgary 3 p.m. CT Wayne Fleming
* if necessary
Bison men's hockey - Quarter Final Playoff Ticket Prices: $12 adults; $7 non-U of Manitoba students and seniors while children under 12 (accompanied by at least one adult) are free and U of Manitoba students are free. Group Playoff packages are also available and more information at Bison Sports website (gobisons.ca). Playoff single game tickets will be available at the door.
