The dates had already been set and now the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's hockey team knows who it will host in the first round of the Canada West playoffs.
UBC Thunderbirds will fly into town for the Mar. 6-8 best-of-three opening round series after they swept University of Calgary Dinos this past weekend. The T-Birds opened the weekend out of the playoffs but went on the road to sweep the Dinos, not only clinching a post-season berth but leapfrogging University of Regina Cougars and grabbing the fifth seed.
The Pronghorns played what was essentially a tune-up series against top-seeded University of Alberta Golden Bears. Both teams were minus players attending the University Games in China and both clubs had their playoff positions cemented entering weekend play. The Bears earned a sweep with a pair of one-goal victories (5-4 in a shootout on Friday and 2-1 Saturday night).
Now, the fourth-seeded Horns (14-13-1) face a T-Birds (11-14-3) squad that is not only on a roll but that owned the Pronghorns in the season series. UBC took the series 3-1, winning the last three games after the Horns won the opener 7-2 back in October.
The Canada West playoff series is Mar. 6-8 at Nicholas Sheran Arena with games at 7 p.m. all three nights.
Winter Universiade
Canada continued to roll at the 2009 Winter Universiade, running its record to 3-0 in men's ice hockey preliminaries with a pair of weekend victories.
Pronghorns defenceman Ryan Pottruff and forward Dustin Moore helped Canada to an 11-2 win over Great Britain and a 3-1 triumph over the Czech Republic. The club is back in action Tuesday when it meets Kazakhstan.
