EDMONTON – If this weekend taught us anything, it's to never count the Golden Bears out of a playoff series.

After losing Game 1 and falling behind 2-0 in Game 2, the Golden Bears stormed back to win their best-of-three semifinal series over UBC, punctuated by a 6-3 win in Game 3 at Clare Drake Arena.

The Bears will now visit the Calgary Dinos in the conference final next weekend, marking the 13th ever meeting between the provincial rivals in the CW Final. The Bears and Dinos last met in the final in 2014 and 2015, with the Bears sweeping both series.

The Dinos last hosted the CW Final in 1996, and last hosted the Bears in 1990. 

The semifinal win also clinches a spot for Alberta in the 2023 University Cup, March 16-19 at UPEI. 

"The guys finally got pissed off, and started playing mad. They knew they had better in them, and they proved it starting yesterday," said Bears head coach Ian Herbers on his team bouncing back. "It wasn't pretty at times, but our powerplay yesterday and today was the difference."
 
First-year Bear Adam Hall scored twice in Game 3 for Alberta, to go along with goals from Wyatt McLeod, Josh Prokop, Jared Freadrich and Justin Hall. Fellow rookie Ethan Kruger stopped 25 UBC shots in the win.
 
"I thought I played well all series, and tonight the puck just went in. Our line was clicking all night," said Adam Hall. "We realized in Game 2 we needed to play our game, and play playoff hockey. We knew when we played Bears hockey, we can beat anyone, but it took us four periods to get it going."
 
Game 3 was an exclamation mark on an exceptional series between the budding rivals. Jordan Sandhu, Scott Atkinson and Liam Kindree scored for UBC, with goalie Kaeden Lane stopping 31 of the 36 Alberta shots he faced.
 
Hall scored the first of his two on the night late in the first, giving Alberta a 1-0 lead through 20.

The second frame was as exciting as a period gets, with UBC tying the game at 1-1, goals for both teams being waved off after being called goals on the ice, before Alberta scored two late markers to take a 3-1 lead into the intermission.
 
Alberta scored three in the third, including an empty netter, to seal the Game 3 win.
 
Game 1 of the 2023 Canada West Final between Alberta and Calgary is scheduled for Friday night at Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary.
 
"It'll be a tough weekend; they've had a great year," continued Herbers. "Credit to Mark and their staff. But we want to go in the front door to nationals, so we need to be ready for Friday — we will have our hands full."