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| The Stars and Bears are set to battle in the SFMAAAHL finals. |
On Friday at 8:30 p.m., the Stars and Bears will open their
best-of-five Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship series
at the ancient Rutherford Rink on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan.
It is believe this will be the last competitive playoff hockey encounter at the
88-year-old home of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies hockey teams, which
will be replaced by the new twin pad rink complex being constructed on campus
named Merlis Belsher Place.
During Huskies games, it is common for rust from the ceiling
beams to fall on the ice, if a puck hits the roof. The cleanup of the rust on
the ice creates a “rust break.”
The Stars actually experienced a “rust break” in their
current home the Agriplace Arena back on March 11, 2017, when they defeated the
Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats 4-0 to sweep a best-of-five SFMAAAHL
semifinal series 3-0.
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| Abby Soyko topped the Bears in scoring with 38 points. |
When this year’s SFMAAAHL championship series starts, the
Stars and Bears might experience this stoppage that has become infamous with
the Ruthy.
As for the series itself, the Stars and Bears are battling in the SFMAAAHL title series for the right to claim the Fedoruk Cup for the second straight year and the third time
in four years. The Stars swept the Bears 3-0 to take the title series in 2015,
while the Bears turned the tables and swept the Stars 3-0 in last year’s
championship set.
During the regular season, the Stars won three of the four
head-to-head encounters between the two clubs. The Bears claimed the final
meeting 2-1 coming back on Dec. 20, 2017 at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince
Albert.
The Stars finished first overall in the SFMAAAHL regular
season with a 24-3-1 mark, while the Bears were second overall with a 22-5-1 record.
Stars captain Mackenna Parker topped the SFMAAAHL in scoring
with 33 goals and 27 assists in 23 regular season games. She equaled the Stars
team record for most points scored in one regular season at 60 first set by
Emily Clark, who is a member of Canada’s senior national team, in the 2011-12
campaign.
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| Mackenna Parker led the Stars in scoring with 60 points. |
Stars forward Anna Leschyshyn finished second in SFMAAAHL
scoring with 24 goals and 29 assists appearing in all 28 regular season games.
Skilled centre Grace Shirley was fourth in SFMAAAHL scoring recording 30 goals
and 18 assists in 23 regular season games with the Stars.
Winger Joelle Fiala piled up 18 goals and 22 assists to finish
seventh in league scoring appearing in all 28 regular season games for the
Stars.
Sophomore 15-year-old defender Ashley Messier was the Stars
power-play quarterback leading all the team’s rearguards in scoring with three
goals and 23 assists.
Jordan Ivanco is the odds on favourite probable starter in
goal for the Stars posting a 12-1-1 record, a 1.76 goals against average, a
.917 save percentage and one shutout in 14 regular season appearances.
For the defending SFMAAAHL champion Bears, forward Abby
Soyko topped the team in scoring recording 21 goals and 17 assists appearing in
all of her team’s 28 regular season games to sit eighth overall in the league.
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| The Stars and Bears have good respect for each other. |
Jasper Desmarais was second in Bears team scoring with 10
goals and 16 assists. Camryn Amundson and Kate Ball each recorded 25 points
this season to sit right behind Desmarais.
Amundson recorded 11 goals and 14 assists, while Ball had
seven goals and 18 assists.
On the back end, physical defender Jordan Ashe keeps
improving as an all-around player and led all Bears rearguards in scoring with
seven goals and 13 assists. She also topped the team with 42 penalty minutes.
Captain Hannah Koroll was second in scoring among all Bears
defenders recording three goals and 14 assists in 26 regular season games.
Ryan Fontaine is the probable starter in the Bears goal
posting a 13-3 record, a 1.70 goals against average, a .925 save percentage and
three shutouts in 17 regular season appearances.
Game 2 of the series is set for Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Art
Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. Game 3 will be on Tuesday, March 27 at 6:30
p.m. at the Agriplace Arena.
If necessary, Game 4 will be held on Saturday, March 31 at
the Art Hauser Centre, and Game 5 will be on Sunday, April 1 at 7 p.m. at the
Agriplace Arena.
Huskies’ Masikewich named to Commonwealth
Games team
 |
| Summer Masikewich (#11) is Commonwealth Games bound. |
Summer Masikewich is receiving a welcome extension to her
basketball season.
On Tuesday, the star forward with the University of
Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team was named to the roster of Canada’s
women’s team that will play at the Commonwealth Games, which will run April
4-15 in Gold Coast, Australia. The 19-year-old Calgary, Alta., product
completed her second season with the Huskies finishing second in team scoring averaging
16.1 points per game, and she topped the Huskies averaging 6.9 rebounds per
game.
Masikewich, who stands 6-foot-2, helped the Huskies finish
second overall in the Canada West Conference with a 17-3 record during the
regular season. She was key in helping the Huskies make the Canada West title
game on March 2 in Regina, which they fell 75-55 to the host University of
Regina Cougars.
At the U Sports nationals elite eight tournament in Regina,
Masikewich aided the Huskies run to the title game on March 11, where they
dropped a 69-48 decision to the Carleton University Ravens.
On the international stage, Masikewich was a member of
Canada’s Junior Women’s National team in 2016 and 2017.
Back in the Express with feature on Rush
coach
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| Rush HC and GM Derek Keenan speaks at a rally in 2017. |
Keenan is the all-time leader in career head coaching
victories in the history of the National Lacrosse League, and he is basically
the circuit’s Scotty Bowman.
The bench boss is pretty personable, and the 56-year-old
showed his sense of humour when he was asked to reflect on his wins record.
“I’m old,” said Keenan with a laugh. “I’ve been doing it a
long time.”
Keenan has the Rush leading the entire NLL at the moment
with an 11-2 record. Local area fans will be pumped to know the Rush play four
of their final five regular season games at home. That final stretch of games
begins on Saturday when the Rush host the Rochester Knighthawks (6-7) at 7:30
p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.
I found my one-on-one interview with Keenan to be real
enjoyable, and I came away thinking the Rush were lucky to have him as their
head coach and general manager.
The story on Keenan can be found right here.
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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