Dinos v. MRU Cougars, Scotiabank Saddledome. Jan 31, 2025. Photo by Michael Sarsito.

A Classic for the ages: Dinos sweep Cougars in front of record-breaking crowd

By Maggie Hsu, February 1 2025—

It was another record-breaking Crowchild Classic crowd at the Scotiabank Saddledome as the Dinos men’s hockey team defeated the Cougars in a shutout 4-0 win in front of an energetic crowd of 13,139—a U SPORTS attendance record for a men’s regular season hockey game.

After almost eight minutes of scoreless play in the first period with the Cougars occupying the Dinos’ defensive zone for a majority of the time and an untimely penalty by defenseman, Noah King, the Dinos found themselves in some trouble as the energy from the women’s victory started to fade. However, the Dinos broke into the offensive zone and struck first with a shorthanded goal by Jake Gricius from a strong breakout play by Jadon Joseph.

Jake Gricius; Dinos v. MRU Cougars, Scotiabank Saddledome. Jan 31, 2025. Photo by Daman Singh.

“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.”

The score would sit at 1-0 for almost 20 more minutes despite the Cougars’ continuous shots on Dinos’ goaltender Carl Tetachuk. A pair of coincidental penalties and an inconvenient Cougars’ penalty would give the Dinos the upperhand in a 4-on-3 powerplay. It wouldn’t take long for the Dinos’ to flex their offensive prowess with a welcomed goal by top scorer and recent FISU University Games gold medal winner, Colson Gengenbach, silencing the Mount Royal side and drawing out the taunts from Dinos’ fans at Cougars’ goalie Shane Farkas.

The second period would conclude with a shot counter of 28-8 against the Dinos, reflective of the Cougars’ efforts to solve the Dinos’ defensive wall and Tetachuk but not did nor correlate to the score of 2-0 for the Dinos.

Intermissions throughout the night provided opportunities for all teams to regroup and reorient themselves but competition was still happening on and off the ice. With mini-games between MRU and U of C students, providing all those who attended a chance to participate in their own Crowchild Classic. U of C, of course, would win the night with four wins over MRU’s two—giving U of C students one more thing to hold over the heads of MRU for another year while the Cougars’ disciples hoped for a third period come back that would (spoiler alert!) not come.

Returning to hockey, the Dinos would step back on the ice with some renewed energy, further silencing the Cougars’ side of the Dome. The first third period goal by Tyler Galloway from a breakaway feed from Mack Stewart on a 2-on-2 rush would be the nail in the coffin, causing many fans in blue to pack up and end their nights early. The Dinos would strike one more time for good measure with Dallon Melin putting one more away behind Shane Farkas to seal the deal and claim the 4-0 shutout for the first star of the game, Carl Tetachuk.

“I thought we did a good job,” Head Coach Mark Howard commented on Tetachuk’s performance. “You need a great goalie to be a good team and Teddy (Carl Tetachuk) showed why he’s one of the best goalies in the country and he was really solid tonight … you need everybody to help you win a game and we needed him in the first for sure.”

The team now looks ahead to Saturday night for one final game against the Cougars for a valuable two-points. With a playoff mentality moving forward, they are hungry to end the season on a high before making a deep playoff run.

“[We’re] battling for second here. So I think every point matters right now,” Tetachuk said, looking forward to the rest of the season. “We gotta catch UBC. So you know, we just gotta keep sticking to our game.”

The win ties the 2025 Crowchild Classic series to 9-9. Both teams will return to the ice on Father David Bauer on Saturday at 7 p.m. for the final face off of the season with the Dinos looking to scratch further at the heels of the Cougars who sit just above them in the standings.


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