Huskies’ McFaull wins U Sports community service award

Huskies captain Kendall McFaull won a major U Sports award.

    Kendall McFaull is the unquestioned leader of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team on the ice, and this year he has been rewarded for his leadership off the ice.

    On February 28, the 25-year-old standout defenceman was named the winner of the Student-Athlete Community Service Award for the Canada West Conference. On Wednesday at the U Sports men’s hockey awards gala in Fredericton, N.B., McFaull claimed that same honour on a national level being named the winner of the U Sports Dr. Randy Gregg Award for student-athlete community service.

    McFaull, who is completing his fifth and final season with the Huskies, appeared in 27 regular season games recording four goals, five assists and a plus-nine rating in the plus-minus department. He was named a second team Canada West all-star. In his U Sports career, the Rosetown, Sask., product has played 139 career regular season games recording 13 goals, 26 assists and a plus-36 rating.

    Away from the rink, the mechanical engineering student has volunteered for various organizations including the Huskie Athletics Academic Council, Huskie homeroom, Saskatoon Minor Hockey and Recess Guardians, which is a program that helps elementary school students learn to interact and develop leadership skills through games and social interaction.

Huskies captain Kendall McFaull has been a leader on and off the ice.

    McFaull was an academic all-Canadian last season and entered his final semester with an 88 per cent average during the current academic year.

    Also at the men’s hockey awards gala, Huskies fifth-year winger Josh Roach and fourth-year netminder Jordon Cooke were named second team All-Canadian all-stars.

    The Huskies open play at the University Cup elite eight U Sports national championship tournament taking on the McGill University Redmen in a quarter-final match on Friday. The Huskies are seeding sixth, and the Redmen are seeded third.

    At the U Sports women’s hockey awards gala held on Wednesday in London, Ont., University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team sophomore netminder Jessica Vance was named a first team all-Canadian all-star.

    The Huskies open play at the U Sports women’s national championship elite eight tournament in a quarter-final match on Thursday against the Saint Mary’s University Huskies. U of S is seeded seventh and Saint Mary’s University is seeded second.

Dach line lights up scoreboard for Blades

Kirby Dach netted four points for the Blades on Wednesday.

    The line of Kirby Dach, Eric Florchuk and Max Gerlach powered the Saskatoon Blades to an upset victory over the Broncos in Swift Current on Wednesday.

    The trio combined for three goals and five assists to push the Blades to a 5-2 regular season win over the Broncos before a sellout crowd of 2,890 spectators at the Credit Union i-Plex. Dach picked up one goal and three assists centring a line with Gerlach at right wing and Florchuk at left wing. Gerlach had a pair of goals and an assist, while Florchuk had one assist.

    Dach scored on a give-and-go with Florchuk with 14.2 seconds to play in the first period to give the Blades a 1-0 lead. Overage left-winger Braylon Shmyr potted his 37^th of the season to give the Blades a 2-0 edge at the 4:47 mark of the second period.

    Kaden Elder and Matteo Gennaro, who potted his 41^st goal of the season, replied with singles for the Broncos to tie things up at 2-2 in the second.

    Inside of the final 10 seconds of the second, winger Michael Farren scored to put the Blades back out in front 3-2.

Eric Florchuk had an assist on Wednesday.

    Gerlach netted his 30th and 31^st goals of the campaign in the third to round out the win for the visitors. The 19-year-old Flower Mound, Texas, product has scored 30-or-more goals in all three of his seasons in the WHL.
    Overage netminder Tyler Brown turned away 42 shots to pick up the win making his first start in goal for the Blades since February 16, when Saskatoon dropped a 5-4 decision on the road against the Hurricanes in Lethbridge. Stuart Skinner turned away 22 shots to take the setback in goal for the Broncos.

    The Blades, who have been eliminated from WHL playoff contention, improved to 33-33-3-1. They are 2-6-1 in their last nine games. The Broncos fell to 47-17-4-2 and are cemented to finish second overall in the WHL regular season standings.

    Saskatoon closes its regular season schedule with a home-and-home series with the Prince Albert Raiders (32-25-9-4). The two teams face each other on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. They will go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Saskatoon at the SaskTel Centre.

    The Raiders have clinched a berth in the WHL post-season earning the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.

Ball delivers in double OT for Bears

Kate Ball scored a double OT winner for the Bears on Wednesday night.

    Kate Ball’s goal in double overtime capped a critical playoff comeback win for the Prince Albert Northern Bears.

    The 16-year-old centre scored at the 11:39 mark of a second overtime period to give the Bears a 3-2 victory over the Notre Dame Hounds in Game 3 of a Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League semifinal series at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert on Wednesday night. With the win, the Bears take a 2-1 lead in a best-of-five set with the Hounds.

    The Bears, who are the defending SFMAAAHL champions, will try to close out the series in Game 4 on Saturday in Wilcox, Sask. If the Hounds prevail in Game 4, a series deciding Game 5 will be held on Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

    Raine Smith gave the Hounds a 1-0 lead in the first period, and gritty forward Brooklyn Anderson replied for the Bears inside of the final minute of the opening frame to force a 1-1 tie.

    Jenna MacLean scored the lone goal in the second period to give the Hounds a 2-1 advantage.

    Veteran forward Camryn Amundson scored for the Bears to force a 2-2 tie with 1:48 remaining in the third period and force overtime. That set the stage for Ball to net the game winner.

    Ryan Fontaine turned away 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Bears. Kaitlyn Ross turned away 47 shots to take the setback in goal for the Hounds.

    The winner of the series between the Bears and Hounds will advance to face the Saskatoon Stars in a best-of-five SFMAAAHL championship series. The Stars swept away the Regina Rebels 3-0 in the other SFMAAAHL semifinal series.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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