Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – It's not often you get an immediate chance at redemption against a team you just faced, but that's the case for the MacEwan Griffins men's hockey team this weekend.
After dropping back-to-back games against the Calgary Dinos at home on Nov. 5-6, they will be looking to reverse fortunes against them this Saturday (6 p.m., Canada West TV presented by Co-op).
"We had a weekend where they came into our rink and were able to take a couple from us, so we're looking to repay the favour," said MacEwan head coach Mike Ringrose. "For us, it's an opportunity to get right back it against a team we feel we're competitive with. Guys are excited at the opportunity for that, for sure."
However, for the moment, they've pushed those thoughts to the backs of their minds because they have another task to prepare for first.
On Friday, the Griffins will kick off a weekend road trip to Cowtown with a match against the Mount Royal University Cougars (7 p.m., Canada West TV presented by Co-op).
"We saw them a little bit early in the year in non-conference before the season started," said Ringrose, whose team split with the Cougars on the opening weekend of their non-conference schedule Sept.24-26. "They're a program that has established an identity for themselves and are reaching for the upper echelons of Canada West.
"They're a very good team and they work exceptionally hard. They play fast. We're going to have to be on our toes and prepared to play, especially going into their rink because they play well on the big sheet (at Flames Community Arenas)."
The Griffins (2-4-0) will be up against two 4-2-0 teams in the matches this weekend as they look to snap a four-game losing streak. Playing their own game will be key.
"I thought in the third period of the last game against Calgary, we got back to playing our game a little bit – playing faster, pushing pucks through and really getting after it," said Ringrose of a 3-2 loss where the rallying Griffins hit a post in the final moments. "I felt we pushed hard and couldn't really find a way to get that equalizer in the end.
"Obviously, we were disappointed with the result, but we weren't disappointed with the process last weekend. We ran out of gas a little bit in the end, but for us it's exciting to make a few adjustments and then go back and play that team again."
