EDMONTON – Kurtis Mucha stopped 32 shots and conference MVP Derek Ryan scored a pair of goals as the Alberta Golden Bears took the opener of the 2011 Canada West Men's Hockey Final by a 3-0 score over the Calgary Dinos at Clare Drake Arena Friday night.

BOX SCORE

Making their first appearance in the conference championship series since 1996, the Dinos fell victim to a slow start and turnover woes as the Bears scored twice in 52 seconds in the first five minutes of the game, grabbing momentum and leaving it up to their rookie goaltender, former Kamloops Blazer Mucha.

Alberta takes a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series and will look to take their 10th Canada West title in the past 11 seasons in Game 2, which is slated for a 7:30 p.m. face-off Saturday night. Game 3, if necessary, goes Sunday night at 7 p.m. Both teams have already qualified for the CIS University Cup March 24-27 in Fredericton, N.B.

The Dinos had some good an even dominant play at times after the Bears went up 2-0, but momentum never really swung the visitors' way with a big crowd behind the home side.

“I don't think mentally we were ready to play,” said Canada West coach of the year Mark Howell of the Dinos. “Both goals they scored in the first were direct results of turnovers in our end with our defencemen not ready to make hard plays. When you have those guys on the ice – and it's not just Ryan and (Chad) Klassen, but (Sean) Ringrose and other guys too – they're quick on the puck and when you turn it over on your own face-off dot, it's going to end up in a dangerous situation.”

Ryan's first of the night was a beauty. After the Calgary turnover deep, Klassen skated behind the net and fired it out front to Ryan, who one-timed it past Calgary starter Dustin Butler's glove to give the Bears the lead at the 3:53 mark of the opening period. Moments after that goal was announced, the Bears struck again when Ringrose took a couple of whacks at it from the side of the net before finally beating Butler. The two goals came in a span of 52 seconds and put the Dinos behind the eight-ball less than five minutes into the contest.

The Dinos had a chance to get right back in it when they had 50 seconds of five-on-three power play time, but despite territorial advantage Calgary couldn't hit pay dirt. Their best chance came when Aaron Richards snapped a shot from the right face-off circle that beat Mucha but clanged off the post, and the Bears were able to kill the rest of their disadvantage.

From there, it was all Mucha. Calgary's play improved significantly and the Dinos showed flashes of brilliance in the second and third periods, but none of their 32 shots found its way into the net. The Dinos outshot the Bears by a 13-9 margin in the second period and had some opportunities in front of the net, but the bounces just didn't go their way. Calgary had three power play advantages in the second and the Dinos moved the puck well but didn't get any solid scoring chances.

“Our battle level was real high and we played strong in the second period and even the third,” said Howell, “but it's funny – when momentum isn't on your side and you get down early, you don't get those bounces sometimes. There were lots of pucks in the crease that just bounced over our sticks or fluttered by us…when you're going and you deserve those chances and you have the momentum, those bounces tend to go your way.”

Ryan iced the game at the 7:24 mark of the third period  from virtually the same spot on the ice as his first goal, wristing a nice feed from Klassen top shelf over Butler to make it 3-0. The goal chased Butler from the net after he gave up three goals on 24 shots, and Kris Lazaruk went the rest of the way in goal for the Dinos.

“(Lazaruk) hasn't played in three weeks, so after that goal we wanted to make sure he got some time in there,” said Howell. “It's playoff hockey and there's still lots to be played, and you never know when you're going to need another goalie.”

Both teams went 0-for-5 on the power play on the night, and both had extended two-man advantage situations but were unable to capitalize. Calgary outshot Alberta 32-29 in the affair, with Walker Wintoneak and Cory Pritz leading the way for the Dinos with five shots apiece.

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
ALTA Ryan (Klassen, Lindemulder), 3:53
ALTA Ringrose (Hunter, Rodgers), 4:45

2nd Period
No scoring.

3rd Period
ALTA Ryan (Klassen, Szaszkiewicz), 7:24

-UC-