2024-25 Schedule: Griffins kick off season vs. rival Alberta under new divisional format
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Featuring a change to a new two-division format, the 2024-25 Canada West women's hockey schedule will see the MacEwan Griffins vying for one of three playoff spots amongst a pool of five teams.
Their quest for the program's first Canada West playoff berth begins Oct. 4-5 with a home-and-home series against cross-town rival Alberta with their home opener on Oct. 5 (5 p.m.).
All Griffins home games are played at the Downtown Community Arena.
SEE THE FULL 2024-25 SCHEDULE HERE
"With the new schedule format comes new opportunities to challenge ourselves and grow as a team," said Griffins head coach Chris Leeming. "Preparation and focusing on getting to our game early, regardless of our opponents, will be key."
The Griffins will be grouped in a division with Alberta, Saskatchewan, Regina and Manitoba, while Calgary, Mount Royal, Trinity Western and UBC comprise the other division.
As a result, they'll play an unbalanced schedule, facing Alberta and Regina six times, Saskatchewan and Manitoba four times and all foes from the other diivision twice – travelling to meet UBC, hosting Trinity Western and holding home-and-home series with the two Calgary teams.
"Our league has demonstrated that it is highly competitive every weekend matchup, so it will be interesting to see if and how the new format may impact the bigger picture in terms of standings and the playoffs," said Leeming.
The top three teams in each division qualify for the post-season with the division winners getting first round byes and 2-3 crossing over to meet each other in the quarter-finals.
MacEwan would need to make the Canada West final to qualify for the U SPORTS national championship, which will be held March 20-23 in Waterloo, Ont.
