The No. 1 ranked Manitoba Bisons clinched first place in Canada West conference women's hockey regular season standings for the first time since the program's inception and being an official sport in CW in 1997-98 (21 seasons). The Bisons won 6-0 over the Calgary Dinos on Friday, February 9 at the Wayne Fleming Arena to secure the first spot in the conference.

With one game left in the 2017-18 season, Manitoba holds a 18-5-3-1 record for 61 points (three points given out for regulation win). The Herd stayed ahead of UBC, Alberta and Saskatchewan in a tight battle for first place that went down to the last weekend of the regular season. The Bisons had already clinched a spot into the 2018 conference playoffs – sixth consecutive season in the post-season.

With clinching first place, the Bisons now earn a playoff bye as they will await the winners of the two 2018 Canada West Quarter Final series on Feb. 16-18 weekend. In addition, Manitoba will have home ice advantage for the remainder of the 2018 playoffs as the best-of-three series are all played at the home of the highest seed.

Bison women's hockey head coach Jon Rempel, in his 14th season at the helm, commented after the historic win, "We've been close a few times and you know, we've gotten down to the wire a few times. We really have never been able to close the deal but I thought this year we approached things well in the second half and it paid off. The team followed the game plan and played smart and did the right things and it paid off for them."

This season, the Herd holds a strong 8-3-2-0 record at home and have won four of the last five home games since the start of the second half of the season.


Bison women's hockey: 2017-18 home regular season results
Date                      Result/Opponent        
Oct. 13-14             L 4-3 vs. Alberta; W 4-2 vs. Alberta
Nov. 10-11            W 4-0 vs. Regina; W 2-1 vs. Regina
Nov. 17-18            W 1-0 (SO) vs. Lethbridge; W 2-1 vs. Lethbridge
Dec. 1-2                L 3-0 vs. UBC; W 2-1 (1st OT) vs. UBC
Jan. 12-13             L 3-1 vs. Saskatchewan; W 1-0 vs. Saskatchewan
Jan. 19-20            W 1-0 vs. Mount Royal; W 2-0 vs. Mount Royal        
Feb. 9                   W 6-0 vs. Calgary