Ethan Sundar is chased by a pack of Dinos on Saturday (James Maclennan photo).
Ethan Sundar is chased by a pack of Dinos on Saturday (James Maclennan photo).
November 1, 2025

Griffins' quick start not sustained as speedy Dinos rally back to earn a 5-3 victory

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Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – After scoring two goals on their first two shots in the first two minutes of the game, the MacEwan Griffins looked like they might continue their torrid pace of late, entering Friday's contest against Calgary with wins in three of their last four games.

Cue the record scratch.

The Dinos stormed back to take a 3-2 lead before the first period was done and cruised to the finish – a 5-3 waxing of a Griffins team that was second to pucks for most of the night, caved in by the excessive speed at which the top team in Canada West runs their show.

"I tried to warn these guys that Calgary is an extremely hard-working team that does everything the correct hard way and if we want to be successful and have a chance we have to match that, and we did not match that whatsoever," said Griffins head coach Zack Dailey. "Very disappointed with our compete level. Second to pucks, lost battles in front of our net. We kind of got away from things that have made us successful in the past."

With the result, the Griffins saw a two-game winning streak snapped as they fell back to .500 at 4-4-1. Calgary, ranked sixth in the country, is now 7-2-0, atop the Canada West East Division.

Dinos forward Jake Poole led their offensive effort with a four-point night (two goals, two assists), while Calgary came in waves, outshooting MacEwan 44-17.

But it was the home side that struck first as Sam Simard wired a routine point shot on net 1:03 into the contest that Carl Stankowski just whiffed on, deflecting it in off his blocker.

The Dinos goalie had no chance on the second shot he faced just 53 seconds later as Liam Hughes finished off a highlight-reel tic-tac-toe passing play with a back door one timer off passes by Dwayne Jean Jr. and Caden Cabana.

However, the game was mostly all Calgary from there as they spent large swaths of time in MacEwan's end of the ice, putting 44 on net, but had upwards of 25 more shots that were blocked.

Gavin Schmidt got the Dinos on the board at 5:02 of the first, converting Poole's pass on an odd-man rush down low before Poole took over himself with two goals in just over six minutes to close out the period.

"Just a lack of maturity with our group," said Dailey. "We got two quick ones and think it's going to be an easy game and kind of take our foot off the gas and couldn't find it again. 

"It was a learning opportunity for our group that nothing is easy in this league, and we've got to make sure we're working. In this league if you don't work and don't skate you're not going to have a very good chance of winning hockey games, so that's my message to our group."

The winning goal was a weird one, coming 3:09 into the second period as Brendan Lee got just a bit on a shot attempt through a scramble that slid slowly through a mess of bodies and in after Eric Ward's slide on the initial chance took him out of the crease.

Ward made 39 saves for MacEwan, while Stankowski stopped 14 for Calgary.

Sean Strange made it 5-2 Dinos with 52 seconds remaining in the second before Jean Jr. provided one of MacEwan's top moments of the night, getting the Griffins back within two just 24 seconds later. Hughes hit him in stride with a terrific pass, and he walked in alone, ripping it in off the iron.

"I think the execution today wasn't terrible," said Dailey. "I just think we were second to everything and we didn't have chances to execute. Hughes made some great offensive plays and Jeaner used his speed. That's what happens when you use your feet, use your speed, you put pressure on people. It just unfortunately didn't happen enough tonight."

Some lessons for the Griffins to put into action for Saturday's rematch (7 p.m. in Calgary, Canada West TV).