ACAC Men's Hockey Finals Preview
by ACAC Sports Writer Curtis J. Phillips
Some sort of record must have been achieved when the Grant MacEwan University Griffins defeated the Red Deer Kings in their best-of-three 2018-2019 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Men's Hockey Championships semi-final series.
A total of seven overtimes were spread over three games.
The final game was this past Saturday with MacEwan winning 3-2 in triple overtime on home ice.
The series had opened Thursday March 14, 2019 at MacEwan, once again a triple overtime verdict, this time a 4-3 score.
The middle game in Red Deer found the Kings winning Friday 2-1 in overtime.
"I don't know if I've been a part of a series ever that's that tight where it's gone to overtime in every game. The margin for error is so small, so credit to our guys for finding a way to get the job done in the end," said Griffins coach MacEwan head coach Michael Ringrose in an interview with Jefferson Hagen of MacEwan Athletics.
In the other ACAC semi-final, it was NAIT OOks taking the series against SAIT Trojans 2-1 with bookend wins of 2-1 and 7-2 with the Calgary school claiming the middle game 5-3.
"I thought we played with good speed in the first, which helped us get out to the early lead," said NAIT head coach Tim Fragle of the Game 3 win. "I liked our power play tonight. We changed a few things up and found some success that we can take moving forward."
MacEwan, two-time defending ACAC champion, will now play Ooks in a best-of-three Championship series.
This will be the third year in-a-row the two teams have met for ACAC bragging rights.
And yes there have been overtime games in those past results. When the two teams met In 2016-2017, MacEwan had two overtime wins against NAIT 3-2, 4-3.
The puck drops Friday March 22, 2019 at NAIT Arena at 7 p.m. with Game 2 at the MacEwan's home Downtown Community Arena at 6 p.m. Saturday.
A third game, if necessary, Sunday March 24, 6 p.m. at NAIT Arena.
Prior to the Griffins going on a two-year quest, the NAIT Ooks had captured the ACAC men's banner on their own back-to-back skates 2014-2016.
MacEwan University Griffins
Head coach: Michael Ringrose
19 wins 7 losses 1 overtime loss 1 tie 135 goals for 58 goals against
Top Guns: Brett Njaa 14 goals 21 assists 35 points, Ryan Baskerville 10 goals 19 assists 29 points, Garan Magnes 14 goals 13 assists 27 points
The Puck Stops Here: Marc-Olivier Daigle 46 goals against 1.85 goals against average 679 saves 7 wins 1 tie
Betcha Didn't Know
Brett Magee will be playing against his old teammates having worn a Ooks jersey from 2016-2018.
Tyler Morrison played an impressive 202 games in the WHL from 2011-2016. Majority of his time was spent with the Vancouver Giants.
Sean MacTavish's dad is Craig MacTavish of NHL player-coach fame.
Bryan Arneson played two years of minor pro hockey with the Mississippi River Kings and Worcester Railers.
Cam Gotaas's dad Steve played in the NHL for Pittsburgh Penguins and Minnesota North Stars
Nic Correale's older brother Dan played four years with the University of New Hampshire while his other bro Gus was at Lake Superior State University on a hockey scholarship.
Nolan Yaremchuk's dad Ken Yaremchuk not only played for Team Canada but with the Chicago Black Hawks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
NAIT Ooks
Head Coach: Tim Fragle
20 wins 7 losses 1 tie 130 goals for 64 goals against
Top Guns: Jake Mykitiuk 12 goals 22 assists 34 points, Thomas Foster 9 goals 21 assists 30 points, Brayden Harris 13 goals 13 assists 26 points
The Puck Stops Here: Brenden Jensen 33 goals against 2.08 goals against average 448 saves 5 wins 1 tie
Haven't We Met Before? In the four game regular season match-up between the two teams, NAIT won two by margins of 2-1, 3-1 and tied a game at 1-1. MacEwan's lone win was a 5-2 thumping of the Ooks on March 2, 2019.
In an early season exhibition encounter September 22, 2018, NAIT won 2-0.
Betcha Didn't Know
NAIT goalie Brenden Jensen has earned his air miles the last 10 years playing for the following teams: Vancouver Giants, Wenatchee Wild, Spruce Grove Saints, Fargo Force, University of Manitoba, Evansville Thunderbirds and Fort Saskatchewan Chiefs. Oh yeah, he has played for the Ooks from 2015-2017 and again now into 2018-2019.
Jake Mykitiuk led the ACAC in scoring last year with 15 goals and 27 assists for 42 points.
Macklin Pichonsky played on back-to-back AJHL Champion Spruce Grove Saints 2013-2015.
Tanner Dunkle led the ACAC in most goals in 2016-2017 with 24.
Thomas Foster's older brother T.J. Foster is in his fourth year of pro hockey, now suiting up for the Guildford Flames,
Jarid Hauptman has played in the AJHL, WHL, U Sports and now the ACAC.
At 6-foot-5, Jesse Roach is one of the taller players in the ACAC.
Tyler Robertson played with the Edmonton Oil Kings WHL Championship team in 2013-2014