Everything you need to know for the 2026 Crowchild Classic
By Elliotte Buracas and Maggie Hsu, January 28 2026—
Crowchild Classic is back and it’s going to be heated! Our perennial rivalry with the MRU Cougars will once again culminate in the annual women’s and men’s hockey doubleheader at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
The women’s game will open the night at 4:30 p.m., followed by the men’s matchup at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are already sold out, ensuring a packed Saddledome filled with students from both schools looking to outdo each other on — and off — the ice.
Both Dinos teams enter the Classic near the top of the Canada West standings, but they’ll face a tough test against an equally strong Mount Royal program. With the UBC Thunderbirds holding first place in both the men’s and women’s standings, every point in the Crowchild Classic carries extra weight.
Women’s hockey: Defense, goaltending and a grudge match
The Dinos women’s team currently sits second in the East and third overall in Canada West with 30 points, while the Cougars lead the East with 37. Against UBC, Calgary has posted one overtime loss and one regulation loss — slightly better results than the men’s team — while MRU has split its two games with the Thunderbirds. Despite UBC’s place atop the standings, power rankings suggest MRU may be the stronger overall team, posing a significant challenge for the Dinos.
Against the Cougars this season, the Dinos women are 1-2-1. That trend reflects longer-term struggles in the rivalry, as Calgary has gone 6-14-2 against MRU over the past five years. Still, this season’s Dinos squad is among the conference’s strongest.
Calgary boasts the best home record in the East, outscoring opponents 34–18 at Father David Bauer Arena. However, at the Classic they will technically be the away team, meaning they won’t benefit from last change or familiar surroundings. On special teams, the Dinos’ power play sits in the middle of the conference at around 15 per cent, while their penalty kill ranks last in the East at approximately 82 per cent, despite allowing the third-fewest goals against in Canada West and scoring a conference-high three shorthanded goals.
The defining storyline for the Dinos women this season has been elite goaltending. Fourth year Amelia Awad and freshman Maisie Cope rank among the top netminders in Canada West with Cope recently posting the record for most saves in a game in modern program history, turning away 55 saves against the top-seeded Thunderbirds. Awad, meanwhile, rides an impressive .953 save percentage into the Classic as the consistent starter among the tandem. Whoever gets the start will be crucial against a Cougars team that is strong at both ends of the ice.
Offensively, Sydney Mercier and Alex Spence are players to watch. Mercier leads the team with 12-4—16, ranking seventh in conference scoring. Spence leads all Dinos defenders in points and brings valuable experience after transferring from MRU, adding an extra layer of intrigue to the rivalry.
Given both teams’ defensive styles, fans can expect a low-scoring, tightly contested game. If the matchup reaches overtime, MRU may have the edge, but if Calgary jumps out to an early lead, the Dinos are well positioned to protect it.
Our prediction?
Elliotte: 3-1 with an empty netter for the Dinos or 2-1 OT win for the Cougars
Maggie: 1-0 Dinos in the final minute — true nail biter.
Men’s hockey: Firepower and power plays
The men’s teams will close out the night in what’s likely to be a much more offense-heavy faceoff. The Dinos and Cougars are 2-2-0 against each other this season, with Calgary holding a 9-11-2 record in the rivalry over the past five years.
Calgary enters the Classic atop the East Division and owns the best away record in Canada West, having won ten of twelve games on the road. Despite playing at a neutral site, the Dinos will be considered the home team, giving them last change — a tactical advantage when matching lines and defensive pairings against MRU.
Special teams have been a major strength for the Dinos men. Their power play leads the East at just under 30 per cent, while their penalty kill sits around 83 per cent, bolstered by a conference-high five shorthanded goals. The Dinos have also excelled in shootouts, going a perfect 2-for-2, while MRU has dropped its only shootout so far. If the game goes beyond regulation and overtime, a shootout would favour Calgary, as the Dinos have yet to pick up an OT win this season.
The offensive spotlight will be on captain and third-year Adam Kydd, who leads both the Dinos and the entire Canada West conference in scoring with 37 points in 22 games. Kydd currently ranks fourth in U SPORTS scoring, just three points shy of the national lead. On the back end, fifth-year blue liner Sean Strange leads all Dinos defenders in both points and plus/minus, while fifth-year goaltender Carl Stankowski has been among the conference’s top performers between the pipes holding a CanWest second-place .909 save percentage and third-place 2.24 goals-against average.
With both teams boasting strong offensive depth, a high-scoring game is likely. As with the women’s matchup, the key factor will be the opening frame — both MRU and UCalgary remain undefeated this season when leading after the first period.
Our prediction?
Elliotte: 4-3 but whoever wins is a toss up.
Maggie: I think the crowd needs a straight barn burner but I think both teams will keep it tight and we’ll see 3-1 for the Dinos but they’ll drop game two over the weekend.
What’s the big picture? How have we matched up against MRU throughout the season?
Crowchild Classic is not just a hockey game, it’s the culmination of a season-long battle between us and the Cougars to see who really is the best (at least in terms of athletics… we all know we come out on top in everything else).
Historically, our all-time Crowchild Classic series results sits at 7-3-2 with the Cougars having taken the esteemed manhole cover three years in a row, dating back to 2022-23. Going into our big game at the Dome, our record sits at 5-7 with the Cougars leading by two wins and still 10 more battles to go in hockey, basketball and volleyball following the biggest game of the year so there’s still plenty to cheer for in the upcoming weeks after Crowchild. The hockey games will be pivotal in giving the Dinos the edge as historically, the Dinos fare well over the Cougars in basketball but it will all be decided on Feb. 7 in Jack Simpson Gym where our basketball teams take on the Cougars and Kenyon Court where our volleyball teams try to down MRU.