Well, it turns out that I keep getting all my predictions wrong.  The original ones, the revised ones, the one I’m going to make at the end of the post.  But now it’s time to take a look at the CIS University Cup Hockey Championship final between the UNB Varsity Reds and the Western Mustangs.

University of Western Ontario Mustangs (1-1, 10 GF, 6 GA)
The OUA champions have had one predominant theme throughout the six months of the season: heart. It’s a cliche, I’ll admit that. But this Mustangs squad wouldn’t have made it this far if not for their determination. They were a .500 hockey club at the end of November and on the verge of missing the playoffs. Since the calendar turned on November, Western has lost a total of five games. They gelled and got hot at the right time and proved time and time again that they are a team to fear. Fast forward to Friday’s game against McGill where the Redmen outplayed them and left the ‘Stangs heading into a tough spot (a nearly impossible spot) against the Saint Mary’s Huskies. They could have packed it in and looked forward to an early trip home but Singer’s boys buckled down and took the required three goal lead in under ten minutes in the third period.

Now the Mustangs face their toughest challenge of the season. A task that seems so insurmountable that beating Saint Mary’s by three was like a sunset stroll along the beach. UNB may be the most complete team from top to bottom in this tournament. Their one weak point may be their offense. Despite that big win over Alberta, I’m not convinced that UNB are that high-flying an offense. That should make things easy for goalie Brad Topping and the UWO defence. They have to do all in their power to keep it a low scoring game. In addition, Western’s captain Sal Peralta and Jeff Martens will be playing their last game in the CIS and will be inspired to play out of their minds for the championship. Being two of the key catalysts for this Mustangs team means that if they can get up and go for 60 minutes, the rest of the team will follow.

Results:
McGill 4 – Western 3
Western 7 – Saint Mary’s 2

University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds (2-0, 9 GF, 3 GA)
The Reds swept their pool en route a berth in the national championship game. Unfortunately for UNB fans, they won’t get a chance to seek revenge against the SMU Huskies. Instead, the Reds, who are going for their third championship in team history by the way, could build one of the great future rivalries in Canadian university sport. The Reds looked decidedly impressive in their two round robin games and showed why they pipped Alberta at the post for the #1 rank in the final national rankings.

The Reds are going to need a big game from their rookie goaltender Travis Fullerton. He’s the second best goalie in the country and will need to play like it if he is to matchup with UWO’s Brad Topping who has played like the best goalie in the country since the start of the playoffs. To that point, the UNB offense has to pepper Topping with shots to get goals. Topping has solid fundamentals, cuts down on angles well and has excellent rebound control. The UNB offense will have to work hard to put enough through the Western netminder.

Results:
UNB 6 – Alberta 3
UNB 3 – Lakehead 0

Prediction:
This is going to be a close one. Mind you, the last time Western went to the CIS hockey final, it was a three overtime game against UQTR. This time around, we could see more of the same. These two teams have goaltenders that can dominate a game, steal a win, and bail their team out of trouble. I think defence will be the difference and no team can buckle down on defence like Clark Singer’s boys. They did hold SMU’s top ranked power play to 0-for-8 on Saturday after all. As much as my predictions are a jinx, I have to go with the Western Mustangs to take home the University Cup for the second time in school history.

We’re going to try live blogging tomorrow’s game at 2:00 PM.  Check back in around then for our coverage.

The Lowdown’s CIS Hockey Championship Coverage:
March 25th: Preview
March 27th: Update
March 28th: Update
March 29th: Update
March 29th: Live Blog
March 29th: Finals Recap