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| Huskies captain Lauren Zary, right, slips a past past a Cougars forward. |
They will say the right things leading up to the first game
day, but those words will fail to hide the intensity that is to come.
On Friday, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies will face the
University of Regina Cougars in Game 1 of a best-of-three Canada West
quarter-final women’s hockey playoff series at 7 p.m. at the Ancient Rutherford
Rink. Game 2 is set for Saturday at 7 p.m. at Rutherford, and if necessary, Game
3 will be held on Sunday at 7 p.m. at Rutherford.
Don’t be deceived. There is no way anyone on either team
wants to be on the losing side of this series.
The women’s hockey rivalry between the Huskies and Cougars
is a rivalry in its purest form. In Western Hockey League terms, this is old
Regina Pats taking on the Moose Jaw Warriors, the Saskatoon Blades tangling
with the Prince Albert Raiders in the 1980s and 1990s or the Medicine Hat
Tigers battling the Red Deer Rebels in the 2000s.
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| Kaitlin Willoughby has to play at an all-world level to power the Huskies. |
To see proof of that, all one has to do is look back at the
last post-season encounter between the Huskies and Cougars, when they engaged
in an epic clash in the 2014 Canada West championship series.
Every game in that series went to overtime, and the
best-of-three series between the two sides featured 17 periods of hockey that
totaled up to 296 minutes of ice time.
The series deciding Game 3 was a war. While there were only
four minor penalties called in the contest, there were numerous scrums after
every whistle where punches were thrown. The game was physical, but it was also
played with a lot of skill and heart before a packed crowd of 760 people.
When the dust settled, the Huskies came away with a 2-1
victory in double overtime, where Kaitlin Willoughby, who was named that season’s
U Sports rookie of the year, netted the winner with a shot from the left side
wall.
The Huskies return eight players from that series as do the
Cougars, and the veterans do have long memories of what happened in the past. The
majority of the players on both sides came up through the minor hockey system
in Saskatchewan and know each other well. Those links give this series that
much more of an edge.
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| Jaycee Magwood had a stellar campaign for the Cougars. |
Out of all the teams in Canada West the Huskies could face
at home in the post-season, the Cougars are likely the opponent that will be
the least affected by the deficiencies and the unique characteristics of the
Rutherford Rink.
They have probably already addressed in team meetings the
atmosphere they are going to face. That will include anticipating the fact the
majority of the members of the Huskies men’s hockey team, who are on a bye
weekend before beginning their post-season run, will likely be in attendance to
give the gears to the opposition wearing green and gold.
Veteran Cougars head coach Sarah (Howald) Hodges, who has
had lengthy involvement with Canada’s national women’s team program, always ensures her
teams are well prepared. While she may appear to be quiet, she is no nonsense
and holds her players to very high expectations. Her players always bring the
effort to meet those expectations.
Expect the Cougars to enter Rutherford as the outlaws
looking to wreak the party.
As far as the regular season went, not much separated these
two clubs. The Huskies finished fourth in Canada West with a 15-10-3 record,
while the Cougars were fifth with a 14-13-1 mark.
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| Kylie Gavelin is aiming for a memorable farewell run. |
Normally, you would assume the Huskies would have the
advantage playing at home, but this series is a tossup.
In order to win, the Huskies have to rely on Willoughby, who
is now in her fourth year, captain Lauren Zary and fifth-year veteran goalie
Cassidy Hendricks. Willoughby topped the Huskies in scoring with 11 goals and
10 assists in 24 regular season games. The Prince Albert product has been
playing at an all-world level for over a month and just came off of helping
Canada’s women’s team win a silver medal at the FISU Winter Universiade in
Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Zary appeared in all 28 regular season games for the Huskies
netting five goals and 15 assists. Hendricks, who backstopped the Huskies to
the 2014 Canada West title, had another stellar year in the U of S net posting
an 11-9-3 record, a 1.67 goals against average, a .928 save percentage and two
shutouts.
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| Rachel Johnson dumps a puck into the offensive zone. |
Also on the down side, U of S struggled on the power play all
season. The Dogs cashed in on only 14-of-132 power-play chances for a 10.6 per
cent clip that ranked second last in Canada West and likely cost U of S some
wins.
The Cougars have more a little more scoring depth, and their
forward unit includes two players that also played for Canada at the Winter
Universiade in Jaycee Magwood and Kylie Gavelin. Magwood, who is a sophomore,
topped the Cougars in scoring with 12 goals and 12 assists in 24 games.
Gavelin, who is in her fifth and final season, had seven goals and nine assists
in 24 games.
U of R also received solid seasons from third-year forward
Emma Waldenberger and four-year forward Kylee Kupper, who both appeared in all
28 regular season games. Waldenberger had nine goals and eight assists, while
Kupper had eight goals and eight assists.
Fifth-year captain Alexis Larson, who also suited up for
Canada at the Winter Universiade, eats up a lot of minute on the Cougars blue-line
picking up two goals, nine assists and a plus-two rating in 24 regular season
games.
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| Jane Kish (#31) has had a strong season in goal for the Cougars. |
One of the big wildcards in the series might be the fact the
Huskies are led by positive and upbeat first-year interim head coach Robin Ulrich, who
was once a Huskies captain. Ulrich is strong at connecting with her players,
and that seems to bring out the best in those wearing the green and white.
At even strength, the Huskies play as a unit of five has
been very strong this season. They need to continue that strong play to
transition the puck up ice to create scoring chances.
On both sides, the ultimate key to the series might be which
team can stay the most composed, when the intensity cranks up. When the series
wraps up, the winner might just be battle hardened enough to go on a long run
that might result in a berth at nationals that run March 16-19 at Queen’s
University in Kingston, Ontario.
Back in the Express with Hendricks
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| Goaltender Cassidy Hendricks has had a stellar career with the Huskies. |
The story went to press right before the Huskies played
their final two regular season games, so it doesn’t contain a final update of
the impressive final career totals put up by the North Vancouver, B.C.,
product.
During her five-year career in regular season play,
Hendricks appeared in 117 games, recorded a 57-44-13 record, a 2.04 goals
against average, a .922 save percentage and 12 shutouts.
She ranks third on the all-time Canada West career wins list and first in all-time minutes played at 6,973.
She ranks third on the all-time Canada West career wins list and first in all-time minutes played at 6,973.
The story on Hendricks can be found right here.
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