The full 2017-18 Canada West conference women's hockey regular season schedule has been released and the Manitoba Bisons begins the season on the road at the UBC Thunderbirds on October 6 and the home opener will be versus the Alberta Pandas on Friday, October 13 at 7 p.m. CT at Wayne Fleming Arena (U of Manitoba Fort Garry campus).

Manitoba starts season against two-time defending conference winner (UBC) and then face the 2017 national champion (Alberta) in first two weeks of season during the 28 game conference regular season.

The schedule is subject to small changes and the Bisons will be road warriors to start the 2017-18 conference season as they are only at home for one weekend (Alberta Pandas on Oct. 13-14) for the first month of the season. The remainder of the first half of the season, after the conference bye on Nov. 3-4 weekend, has the Herd return to the Wayne Fleming Arena for three of the remaining four weekend series prior to the holiday break in December.

In the second half starting in January, Manitoba starts at Alberta (Jan. 5-6) and then host Saskatchewan (Jan. 12-13) and Mount Royal (Jan. 19-20) before two more road weekend series. The final weekend of the regular season is on Feb. 9-10 at home against the Calgary Dinos with the season finale and annual seniors player game on Feb. 10 at 1 p.m. CT.

The conference playoffs commence with Canada West Quarter Finals (best-of-three series) from February 16-18 then conference semi-finals (best-of-three) on Feb. 23-25 with Canada West Final (best-of-three) on March 2-4. The 2018 U SPORTS Women's Hockey National Championship will be at Western University in London, ON from March 15-18.

All regular season home games for Manitoba will be played at Wayne Fleming Arena at the U of Manitoba Fort Garry campus. The full 2017 women's hockey schedule is available on the Bison website (gobisons.ca).

Bison Notes: In 2016-17, Manitoba finished third in the regular season standings with a 16-7-3-2 record and defeated Mount Royal at home by a 2-0 game margin in the quarter-finals before losing to Alberta on the road in Canada West Semi-Final by a 2-0 series result. The Bisons have made five appearances at the nationals with the last one in 2010-11 season.


Full Bison women's hockey 2017-18 Canada West Regular Season Schedule (all times Central Time)

Date                                                        Location                                Time
Fri., Oct. 6: UBC Thunderbirds               Vancouver                             9 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 7: UBC Thunderbirds              Vancouver                             4 p.m.
*Fri., Oct. 13: Alberta Pandas              Wayne Fleming Arena         7 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 14: Alberta Pandas              Wayne Fleming Arena         7:30 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 20: Saskatchewan Huskies      Saskatoon                            8 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 21: Saskatchewan Huskies     Saskatoon                            6 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 27: Mount Royal Cougars        Calgary                                 8 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 28: Mount Royal Cougars       Calgary                                 4 p.m.
Nov. 3-4: CONFERENCE BYE
Fri., Nov. 10: Regina Cougars              Wayne Fleming Arena       7 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 11: Regina Cougars             Wayne Fleming Arena       4 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 17: Lethbridge Pronghorns  Wayne Fleming Arena      7 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 18: Lethbridge Pronghorns  Wayne Fleming Arena     1 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 24: Calgary Dinos                     Calgary                               8 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 25: Calgary Dinos                    Calgary                               4 p.m.
Fri., Dec. 1: UBC Thunderbirds             Wayne Fleming Arena     7 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 2: UBC Thunderbirds            Wayne Fleming Arena     1 p.m.
Dec. 3-Jan. 4: HOLIDAY BREAK
Fri., Jan. 5: Alberta Pandas                      Edmonton                          8 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 6: Alberta Pandas                     Edmonton                          3 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 12: Saskatchewan Huskies    Wayne Fleming Arena     7 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 13: Saskatchewan Huskies   Wayne Fleming Arena     4 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 19: Mount Royal Cougars       Wayne Fleming Arena    7 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 20: Mount Royal Cougars      Wayne Fleming Arena    1 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 26: Regina Cougars                   Regina                               7 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 27: Regina Cougars                  Regina                               3 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 2: Lethbridge Pronghorns          Lethbridge                         8 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 3: Lethbridge Pronghorns         Lethbridge                         2 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 9: Calgary Dinos                     Wayne Fleming Arena     7 p.m.
**Sat., Feb. 10: Calgary Dinos               Wayne Fleming Arena     1 p.m.


Feb. 16-18: Canada West Quarter Finals (best-of-three series)
Feb. 23-25: Canada West Semi-Finals (best-of-three series)
Mar. 2-4: Canada West Final (best-of-three series)
Mar. 15-18: 2018 U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship at Western University
*Home Opener
**Seniors Player Game and Season Finale