CALGARY – The Mount Royal Cougars men's hockey team claimed a 2-1 victory over the University of Calgary Dinos in the 12th installment of the Crowchild Classic from the Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday night. 

The highly anticipated annual matchup continued to break U SPORTS men's hockey regular season game attendance records, tallying 13,324 fans throughout the evening - an increase of the record-breaking 13,139 the 'Dome was filled with in 2025.

"The crowd is awesome," said third-year Dino Jake Poole. "In the first period, you can't hear anything; you can't even hear the people on the bench. It's really nice that everyone comes and shows the support. We really, really love it and it's just too bad we didn't get the win."

It was the Cougars who struck first on the NHL ice. A stray puck trickled through the blue line down the right side of the ice and found its way onto Vaughn Watterodt's tape. A quick deke around the Dinos' defence, followed by a slick backhand shot, had the puck popping its way over Carl Tetachuk's left shoulder, right into the top corner, lighting the lamp for the first time of the night at the 7:58 mark in the first period.

The Dinos quickly responded at 14:13 with a power play marker to even up the score. After Shane Farkas made the initial save on a Sean Strange rocket from the blue line, the rebound was easily cleaned up over Farkas' left pad by Poole, giving the Dinos the equalizer.

"I saw Kydder pass it behind the back to Strange and he was ready for a one-timer, so I was just trying to take the goalie's eye's away," Poole said. "I saw the shot go off the pad, so I just tried to put it in as quick as I could."

The game winning goal came from senior Cougars' defenseman Clay Hanus just six minutes into the second period, finalizing the score early on the night.

Despite the lack of scoring in the third period, it was an ever-entertaining battle between the goaltenders. With the back-and-forth between ends and the heckling from fans, both Farkas and Tetachuk continually made key saves to keep the score where it was for the remainder of the night, closing out the 2-1 game.

"[Tetachuk] was great," said Dinos head coach Mark Howell. "He made a handful of spectacular saves, controlled his rebounds, did a really good job of moving the puck.

"This time of year, when your goalies are playing well, it's hard to score. You have to find a way to get traffic. We were a little bit late on Farkus a couple times getting in his face, so that makes it easier for him."

Tetachuk finished the night with a season-high 39 saves, while Farkus finished the night with 23 saves.

With the Thursday night event, both teams will have a chance to reset on Friday before going head-to-head again on Saturday at the Flames Community Arena with a 5 p.m. puck drop.

"Just a little recovery from today," Poole said. "It's nice to have a day off to just reset because Saturday's a big game and we need the two points to get back in first place."

Added Howell, "The emotion of [the Crowchild Classic] is draining. The energy of the building is great, but for the players, they put a lot into it and it takes a lot out of them. I think a chance to regroup and breathe tomorrow, we can watch the video and sort out a new game plan going into Saturday."

-UC-