Goal a constant talking point for Huskies’ Kozun

Dogs open Canada West semi against Dinos on Friday

Taran Kozun scored a goal by shooting the puck into an empty net.

    Taran Kozun’s goal has become a never ending conversation piece for the 25-year-old goaltender.
    On Jan. 18, Kozun made 22 saves backing the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team to a 3-0 U Sports regular season shutout win over the University of Calgary Dinos at the Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary, Alta. Normally, the shutout win would be the highlight of the night for a puckstopper.

    On this outing, Kozun netted his team’s final goal of the contest scoring into an empty net with 2:49 remaining in the third period. With that tally, Kozun became just the second goalie in the history of the Canada West Conference to score a goal.

    “Everybody likes talking about it, so you kind of got to go with it,” said Kozun, who is still fielding questions about the tally over a month later. “If a goalie scores, talk is going to come with it.

Taran Kozun has been a first team Canada West all-star two straight years.

    “I’d kind of like to (keep it) a secret a little bit, but what are you going to do. Everybody wants to talk about it. Even when you go back home, everybody has to mention it and talk about it and see what happens.

    “I tell the story lots, and it is all not that bad. It would be nice to just be able to go home and not talk about it, but it is alright.”

    Kozun was actually the first goalie in the history of the Canada West Conference to score a goal by shooting the puck into the opposing net.

    Way back on October 26, 2012, U of Alberta Golden Bears netminder Curtis Mucha was credited with his team’s first goal in a 7-1 victory over the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns in Lethbridge, Alta. In that instance, a member of the Pronghorns accidentally passed the puck the length of the ice into his own empty net during a delayed penalty call.

Taran Kozun was the Canada West goaltender of the year last year.

    Since Mucha was the last Golden Bears player to touch the puck, he was credited with the goal.

    Kozun admitted he tried in the past to score a goal during his days playing in the WHL with the Kamloops Blazers and Seattle Thunderbirds from 2011 to 2015.

    “I probably tried about five times throughout my junior career,” said Kozun, who is in his third season of U Sports eligibility. “I think I missed the net four times and hit my D-man in the back on one other one.

    “I figured I’d try it again. You never know what is going to happen.”

    Kozun will once again be facing the team he victimized for his goal. The Huskies, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, will take on the Dinos, who are rated eight in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series.

Taran Kozun was the U Sports goaltender of the year last year.

    The Huskies finished second in the Canada West regular season standings with a 22-4-2 record, while the Dinos placed third with an 18-7-3 mark. U of S won three out of the four head-to-head encounters in the regular season between the two sides.

    The Dinos swept the U of Manitoba Bisons 2-0 in a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series to get to this point, while the Huskies had a bye into the semfinal set.

    Game 1 between the Huskies and Dinos is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place. Game 2 is slated for Saturday at 7 p.m. at Merlis, and if necessary, Game 3 follows on Sunday at 7 p.m. at Merlis.

    Of course, Kozun, who is from Nipawin, Sask., is best known for stopping the puck. During his final major junior campaign in 2014-15 with the Thunderbirds, Kozun was named a first team WHL Western Conference all-star and he claimed the WHL’s Top Goaltender award.

Taran Kozun had five shutouts in each of the past two seasons.

    Last season in his first full campaign as the Huskies starting goalie, Kozun was named a first team Canada West all-star, the Canada West goaltender of the year, a first team U Sports all-Canadian and the U Sports goaltender of the year.

    On Wednesday, he was named a first team Canada West all-star once again. 
    Kozun appeared in 22 regular season games posting a 17-3-2 record, a 1.87 goals against average, a .931 save percentage and five shutouts.

    He topped Canada West in wins, goals against average, save percentage and shutouts. 
    The five shutouts equal a record he set last year along with Golden Bears netminder Zach Sawchenko.

Collin Shirley was a second team Canada West all-star.

    Kozun helps the Huskies maintain a strong presence in goal that started in 2002 with Thomas Vicars, who gave way to Jeff Harvey, was passed on to Ryan Holfeld, who handed down to Jordon Cooke and was inherit by Kozun. 
    All five of those netminder have won 40 or more career regular season games stopping pucks for the Huskies.

    “The smartest coach has the best goaltender,” said Huskies head coach Dave Adolph with a sly grin.

    To say Adolph was happy to bring Kozun on board before the start of the 2017-18 campaign is a sizable understatement. 
    Kozun took over the starter’s roll that season when Cooke was injured in Game 1 of a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series against the Dinos, which the Huskies claimed 2-1.

    “Taran Kozun has been one of the top goalies in the country since he has been 18,” said Adolph. “We are real fortunate to have him in terms of the progression after Jordon Cooke.”

    Kozun was happy he was named a first team Canada West all-star for a second straight campaign.

Gordie Ballhorn was a second team Canada West all-star.

    “It is a huge honour just for me, but it also shows that the team played in front of me,” said Kozun. “I feel like for a goalie getting an all-star and doing well a lot of it comes down to the D in front of him and the forwards coming out to help me out and making my job as easy as possible and being able to play as a team in the D-zone.

    “It makes your goalie look pretty good.”

    Things didn’t look good for the Huskies at the start of the campaign, when they stumbled to an 0-3-1 start after their first four regular season games. A large number of injuries – specifically on defence – hurt the Huskies in the early going.

    The Huskies posted a 22-1-1 mark from there and have won 11 straight heading into the playoffs.

    “It was a tough start for everybody myself included,” said Kozun. “It was a long summer off.

    “Getting back into things, we just quite weren’t ready to go as a team. It is the way it goes some years. Some years you come out flying, and the next year you might come out a little slower than in other years.
    “It got us into the mindset right off the start that if we play the wrong way we are not going to win. Throughout the second half, we proved to ourselves that if everybody buys into the system that is going on out on the ice that we have a good chance to win every night.”

Jared Dmytriw was named to the Canada West all-rookie team.

    Kozun was joined on the Canada West all-star team by left-winger Collin Shirley and defenceman Gordie Ballhorn, who were both named second-team all-stars.

    Shirley had nine goals, 17 assists and a plus-16 rating appearing in all of the Huskies 28 regular season games. Ballhorn has four goals and 15 assists skating in 24 regular season contests.

    Centre Jared Dmytriw was named to the Canada West all-rookie team after leading the Huskies in scoring with 10 goals and 18 assists appearing in all 28 regular season games.
    Matthew Alfaro, who is a third-year forward with the Dinos, took home first-team Canada West all-star honours after leading the conference in regular season scoring with 15 goals and 21 assists.

    Dinos fifth-year forward Coda Gordon was named a second team Canada West all-star finishing second in U of C team regular season scoring with eight goals and 20 assists.

Taran Kozun (#31) hopes to enjoy a number of post-season wins.

    Dinos forward and Saskatoon product Kaden Elder and netminder Brodan Salmond were placed on the Canada West all-rookie team.
    Elder had 13 goals and eight assists in 25 regular season games with the Dinos. Salmond played in 15 regular season games posting a 9-2-3 record, a 2.40 goals against average, a .900 save percentage and one shutout.

    The Dinos like to utilize fourth-year veteran Matthew Greenfield in a platoon-type fashion with Salmond.

    Kozun said his Huskies will have their work cut out for them.

    “It is going to be a really close series,” said Kozun. “Every time we play them even last year and this year, it is usually a one or two-goal game.

    “We have to make sure that we are ready to go to play full 60, because they play a full 60. They play a hard full 60. They have three or four lines that are really good, and they have six D that can play.

    “They have two of the better goalies in the league over there too, so we are really going to have to make sure that we buy in. If we are not ready to go, they can take it to us pretty quickly.”

Young Stars on the rise

Emily Holmes scored the winning goal for the Stars on Thursday.

    The Saskatoon Stars have caught fire during a season where they have undergone a massive rebuild under an entirely new coaching staff.

    On Thursday at Merlis Belsher Place, the Stars scored three times in the third period to down the visiting Battlefords Sharks 4-1 in a Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League regular season contest. The win was a third in a row for the Stars, who have posted a 7-1-1 record in their last nine games.

    Thanks to that surge, the Stars have improved their record to 12-12-0-3 to sit fourth in the SFMAAAHL just two standings points back of the 14-11-2 Notre Dame Hounds.

    In the SFMAAAHL, teams earn three standings points for regulation wins, two for extra time wins and one point for an extra time setback.

Arden Kliewer makes one of her 29 saves in goal for the Stars on Thursday.

    The Hounds have 41 standings points coming on 11 regulation wins, three extra time wins and two extra time setbacks.

    The Stars have 39 points with all their wins coming in regulation and three extra time setbacks.

    In Thursday’s clash with the Sharks, Sydney Mercier scored early in the first period to give the Stars a 1-0 lead. Madison Glynn replied for the Sharks with 3:02 remaining in the third to even the score at 1-1.

    Defender Emily Holmes score 46 seconds into the third to put the Stars up 2-1. Mercier scored on the power play to complete a two-goal night to give the Stars a 3-1 advantage.
    Ava Metzger sealed the win with an empty-net tally with less than 35 seconds to play in the third to round out the game’s scoring.

The Stars celebrate their win on Thursday.

    Arden Kliewer made 29 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Stars. Yelena Zaleschuk turned away 18-of-21 shots to take the setback in goal for the Sharks (9-17-1).

    The Stars finish out the regular season playing three times on the road. If they can finish fourth or higher in the league standings, the Stars will have home ice advantage for a best-of-three SFMAAAHL quarter-final series.

    The highest Saskatoon can finish in the SFMAAAHL standings is third and the lowest is fifth.

    The Stars return to action on Saturday, when they travel to Regina to face the SFMAAAHL leading Rebels (22-1-1).

    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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