Playing in front of a sold-out, record-breaking crowd of 13,139, the University of Calgary Dinos took a dominant 4-0 win against the Mount Royal Cougars in the annual Crowchild Classic at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Friday night Canada West matchup set the U SPORTS attendance record for a men’s hockey regular-season matchup, breaking the previous mark of 12,859 set during the 2016 Crowchild Classic.
“The atmosphere — it gets us going and it’s just really fun to play,” said Dinos goaltender Carl Tetachuk, who posted 34 saves in his shutout against the city rivals. “It means a lot, especially having a little slow start to the season, so I definitely needed that shutout.”
“It’s awesome, especially for a lot of the fourth-year guys graduating this year to have a sold-out building in our last year,” Jake Gricius added post-game regarding the attendance. “It’s something that we will probably cherish for the rest of our lives.”
Gricius broke open the scoring for the Dinos halfway through the first frame. A fumble in the Cougars end before their final rush on a power-play initiated the chain of events, followed by a stolen puck off MRU’s defence from Jadon Joseph. A quick dish to Gricius and the puck was popping over Shane Farkas’ shoulder and into the back of the net for a Dinos shorthanded goal.
“It’s always fun to score, especially in an environment like that,” Gricius commented. “It was a great play by Joe (Jadon Joseph) to get it out there, and anytime you can score in front of a crowd like that, it’s obviously super memorable.”
A Cougars penalty in the eighth minute of the second period would continue to show Calgary’s special teams’ effectiveness. A few quick passes between Zach Wytinck and Connor Gutenberg allowed Dinos leading goal-scorer Colson Gengenbach to situate himself for success, sniping one top shelf on Farkas. With just three minutes remaining in the second period, the Dinos broke the game wide open, thanks to a saucer pass from Mack Stewart. Tyson Galloway slid past the crease, managing to get his stick on the puck resulting in a tip in through the blue paint, putting the Dinos up 3-0.
The Dinos continued to roll through the third, capitalizing on a loose puck at the 8:52 mark. With a cross-centre pass from Brendan Lee, the puck bounced off the boards, right onto the stick of Dallon Melin and eventually into the Cougars goal, marking the final goal in the 4-0 shutout for Tetachuk. Farkas made 15 saves.
“Something we talk about is having a good start. I think me being dialed in and a rock back there kind of helped the guys up front be calm and not get too stressed out or make stressful plays,” Tetachuk said. “We had a struggle at the beginning of the season, so just trying to get back to our game and get those points back.”
“I thought our energy and how we played got harder as we played on,” added Dinos bench boss Mark Howell. “We started to win more races and won more puck battles, and the last part of the game we kept on the outside.”
The Dinos improved to 13-8-2, while the Cougars fell to 17-6-0.
The rivals will face off again Saturday at Father David Bauer Arena with a 7 p.m. puck drop.
In the first instalment of the rivalry game in 2012, the Crowchild Classic broke a 42-year-old Canada West record with 4,275 fans in attendance, and it has only grown since – annually serving as one of the premier fixtures in all of U SPORTS and Calgary sports. With this year’s record-breaking attendance, a total of 110,903 total fans have come through the gates for the annual event in its 11-year history.
The event was possible thanks the support of the Calgary Flames and the Flames Foundation, who gave the Dinos and Cougars the opportunity to play in an NHL facility with the full Flames entertainment experience.
“The Crowchild Classic never disappoints, and tonight was another outstanding showcase for Canadian university hockey,” said Dinos director of athletics Ben Matchett. “With our partners at MRU and with the incredible support from the Flames Foundation and the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation, we’ve captured something special here in Calgary.
“Our thanks to all the Saddledome, CSEC, and foundation staff for all their hard work supporting this incredible event, and a huge shoutout to our student bodies for getting behind this year after year.”
Mount Royal director of athletics Karla Karch added; “We are extremely grateful to the Flames organization for providing MRU with an opportunity to yet again showcase our hockey programs. Thank you to all those who attended and set a record for this amazing U SPORTS and CW competition. The spirit of both schools was on full display.”